As Winter nears, mice begin to look for a warm place to spend during the colder months. Sheds, greenhouses, RV’s, outbuildings, and even your home are all on the travel list.
When Mice move in, they bring diseases and bad habits. They will defecate around your places, nibble on foods, rip up cloth and paper for nesting, and drive house pet’s crazy. Hunta virus is no joke. Having mice chew up your tents and other gear or possessions is no fun.
Remember that when the mice move in, the snakes will follow. Snakes feed on mice. Other critters that eat mice will also look for warm winter digs. Mice also leave their poop pellets everywhere they go.
There are ways to address mouse migration.
Inspect your home and potential mouse houses. They need an opening that is just ½ inch to crawl in. Seal up cracks, openings around plumbing, screen holes, and avenues that mice may travel. Look at seals along garage doors and entry points. Steel wool, stuffed into a hole, will keep the mice out.
Keep your doors closed Mice will take advantage of an open garage or entry. They can easily jump over thresholds. Mice will also eat the flexible garage door seals and gain access.
Use traps Some folks hate to kill even a mouse, but traps are effective tools to remove mice.
Spring Traps Spring traps are a traditional option. Sometimes the mouse gets snapped but can still be mobile and drag the trap around. Mice also become experts at stealing bait without setting the trap off.
Sticky Traps If you have a smart mouse that manages to avoid all traps and baits, place a sticky trap in their path. It may seem cruel, but the mouse will be caught.
Box Traps These traps work well. They are rectangular and effective. The shape requires that the mouse must enter the box to get the bait and there’s no way to avoid the jaws of death.
Live Traps You can get live traps if you must.
Water Traps A bucket of water with a tipping bridge works well but you will end up with a bucket full of drowned and rotting mice.
Trap Baits Cheese, peanut butter, and artificial baits will work. I recently learned that Cotton is a great bait. Mice will be attracted to nesting materials. The hollow end of a mouse trap trigger is designed to place cotton inside. Use a Q-tip to load the cotton spot. It just takes a little.
Poisons The problem with poisons is that when the mice eat them, who knows where they will die. If that means in a wall or ceiling, their carcass will stink for a month. Pets also can get into the poison bait or eat the poisoned mouse. They say the poison will not harm pets but…
Mice Shields If you have power lines, pipes, or ropes connecting to your house, boat, or RV, make an 8 inch in diameter shield. Simply slide it over the cord or pipe. The mice will be blocked. Boaters use this for mooring lines to keep mice from crawling from the shore onto their boats. RV cords and hoses are a similar attraction to mice.
Dryer Sheets Placing these into your tent and camping bags will deter mice. I have also used moth balls to keep insects and spiders out of gear and spaces.
Manage and maintain your traps and baits. My dad oversaw dealing with the mice in our Waterfowl Hunting Camp. He made a map of his trap sites and kept count.
Join the Mickey Mouseless Club!
Montana Grant
