Little $#!+ mice, need peace of mind

[Joewalla88]

Some little a hole mice chewed a hole in a 55lb bag of grain. I bought a new bag of grain last week, and kept it up off the floor thinking it qould be safe there for for a few a days. But those little $#!+s managed to find it and chewed a couple little holes in the corner. I put it away in my grain cupboard now, but just wanted to check, I don't have anything to worry about with that bag do I? I hadn't had a mouse issue till just recently, and I thought I'd had it handled with traps and repellent, but there must be at least one that's out smarting me.

 

[AzOr]

Dry hopped Hauntavirus ale has a nice ring to it.
I’m sure it’ll be fine. Any little nasties wouldn’t survive the boil.

 

[Joewalla88]

Dry hopped Hauntavirus ale has a nice ring to it.
I’m sure it’ll be fine. Any little nasties wouldn’t survive the boil.

I figure it's fine. I opened the bag and made sure there wasn't anything gross in there. Just getting really f'ing annoyed by these little crapheads. I guess it could be something else like birds or squirrels. I do leave the garage door open a lot during the day. But the bag looks clean on the inside, and I reset my traps and put my grain somewhere safe now.

 

[AzOr]

I use the food grade 5gal buckets from Lowe’s with Gamma lids. Comes out to less than $15. When I’m out of grain, I use them to store wood smoker pellets.

 

[Brushwood Brewing]

Agree with above. You'll be fine with the boil.

 

[AlexKay]

Incorporate 130 F mouse-poop rest into mashing schedule.

I'm irrationally squeamish and would probably not want to use the grain. But rationally, mice have been in grain for as long as humans have been storing it. It's probably one of the big reasons for the boil in the first place.

 

[Conehead]

I have been fighting mice for years. One year I got 11 in my traps. This year I got 5. I got traps all over my house. Since it is spring, they head outside until the cold weather gets here. I just can't find the spot where they are getting in.

 

[Joewalla88]

Agree with above. You'll be fine with the boil.

That's what I figure. I opened the bag and no mice or poop inside. I think they were just trying to rob me one grain at a time from the hole they made. Just wanted to hear the forum friends say its okay.

 

[beren]

Bet they can't get into https://www.lowes.com/pd/Behrens-20-Gallon-Silver-Galvanized-Metal-Trash-Can-with-Lid/999995394

 

[Joewalla88]

Bet they can't get into https://www.lowes.com/pd/Behrens-20-Gallon-Silver-Galvanized-Metal-Trash-Can-with-Lid/999995394

Storage really isn't an issue. This was just me being lazy and not putting it away when I should've. But they found it pretty quick.

 

[seatazzz]

Vittle vaults are also a nice option. I use them for my base malt and also the pet food. One field mouse got into my garage 2 years ago, when my youngest cat (born feral, still a weird little SOB) still hadn't reached a year old. He stalked that thing for days, and one morning I came out to the kitchen to find a nice present under the table; said mouse, very dead. Cat got a lot of praise and treats for that. Have had no more varmints since then; either the cat chases them out, or word got out on the mouse interwebs to avoid my house.

 

[pvtpublic]

The boil will take out anything other than some "chocolate grain"

 

[AlexKay]

The boil will take out anything other than some "chocolate grain"

I spilled a bunch of chocolate rye on the garage floor and couldn’t get it all up. My wife saw the scattered little brown seeds … and was rather alarmed.

 

[T Murph]

If they only made a small hole then grain spilled out, they got some grain and they went away happy. They most likely never actually entered your bag. The bag of grain is fine. I would probably empty the bag into a sealable container but it's fine. And like others have stated, the boil would eliminate any issues. BTW the FDA allows a small amount of mice feces in human consumable food. Think of the huge mills and processing plants. No way can they keep 100 % of the animal feces and other undesirables out. Soooo don't stop eating bread and cereals now it's just a fact of life.

 

[beren]

Apropos Carlin:

 

[rallenhall]

Not that this applies to homebrewing but it brought back a vivid memory .... was with a small brewpub when a state Dept. of Ag. inspector found a mouse dropping on the outside of a bag of malt. Condemned the whole pallet and waited while we opened and poured all 40 bags into a dumpster followed by dousing with a case of bleach. What a stupid and expensive waste that was.

 

[beren]

I’d have gone to court over that…

 

[Yesfan]

If you can find them, Ziplock's WeatherShield boxes are great. I like them over the Vittle Vaults as they are stackable. The 60qt boxes hold a full sack of grain and the smaller 16qt boxes I use for my specialty grains. I like them as they are stackable and have a foam gasket in the lid so there's a good seal to keep the critters out. Amazon, Target, and Walmart are some places to get them, but they are hard to find. I have seen them listed under the brand name Iris too.

 

[Protos]

Incorporate 130 F mouse-poop rest into mashing schedule.

In a yesterday thread on a very similar subject of admissibility of weevil poo in the mash, the overwhelming majority voted in favour of that being totally fine and permissible, citing the solid argument that fish piss, poop and vomit into the sea and still we swim in there. I was looking weird and ridiculous with my germaphobic advice to sieve the bug frass out, so I won't give my advices here. I may have some deep thoughts to share about mice-borne Leptospirosis, Iersiniosis and Tularemia but I prefer to not look weird and ridiculous once again

 

[day_trippr]

Gross!
For the record, I would not knowingly go along with that philosophy...

Cheers!

 

[Yesfan]

I remember an old show on Discovery called Brewmasters that followed Sam Calagione. One episode, he brewed a beer made with blue corn that required the employees to chew up the corn, and spit it out so it could be mashed. The spit helped make the starches break down easier for mash conversion.

Even though everything is killed in the boil, I still don't think I'd drink that particular beer.

 

[day_trippr]

Oh, yeah, the chicha brew. Made me wanna...you know...

 

[Yesfan]

Oh, yeah, the chicha brew. Made me wanna...you know...

It could be worse. A few months after Discovery pulled the plug on Brewmasters, there was an article someone one here linked about a brewery overseas that was going to use.....horse semen.

Definite hell no there!

 

[T Murph]

Is that what some of our mega breweries do?

 

[Yesfan]

Is that what some of our mega breweries do?

If that was a reply to me, then no, not that I know of (and I hope not!)


I think this was the article. It's from 2015.

Horse Semen Infused Beer? I Say Neigh!

 

[Clint Yeastwood]

I just got a new roof because of mice. They were getting in through the old one. I have been battling mice while waiting, and I have learned some things. I kill mice like crazy now. No problems.

Buy Tomcat white plastic snap traps. Buy peanut butter. Buy Victor rat poison balls. They're green, and they look like corn Kix cereal that has been dyed. Don't buy wooden traps. They're a waste of money.

When you set a trap, put a glob of peanut butter in the trigger tray. Then use the peanut butter to glue one Victor bait ball into the tray. When the mice try to get at the peanut butter which is under the ball, they will trigger the trap. I have had mice beat glue traps, wooden traps, and Tomcat neurotoxin bait. I have had them turn their noses up at special mouse bait that comes in squeeze bottles. I have had them clean peanut butter off trap triggers without getting caught. They NEVER beat the poison ball and peanut butter combination. I have flushed all sorts of dead mice this year and last.

You can dump a mouse out of one of these traps and into the toilet without touching the rotten mouse or its blood, guts or brains.

The Victor balls are very good on their own, if you don't mind dead mice in your walls. Mice love them, and if they're not resistant to the poison, it kills quickly. The Tomcat neurotoxin blocks are supposed to kill with one feeding, but mice will eat them for days before dying.

 

[Yesfan]

I don't like the wooden traps because they seem like a one time use, but they are the best bang for the buck for getting rid of mice. The old school wooden Victor mouse trap is still the king of the hill in my experience. Victor makes a plastic reusable trap that is "user friendly" that has been golden for me. It doesn't hurt near as bad and less F bombs if you accidentally trigger it trying to set it. It's not much more than a pack of the wooden ones. Easy to set, and like mentioned, a little peanut butter goes a long way.

I don't like poison for many reasons. First, I do not recommend it at all if you have kids/pets. Second, the last thing you need is for the mouse to remain hidden somewhere within your house, but you know it's dead and still there due to the scent of its dead rotting carcass because the poison didn't kill it right away.

The glue pads work but......the sounds of the mouse struggling to break free and hearing them "chirp" in pain trying to break free is, well, uncomfortable to hear.

 

[shoengine]

+1 for the wooden traps. Had chickens that attracted rats. Chickens were out a few hundred feet away but the rats took up residence in the house. Ate up our tea lights, soap, decorations, anything that wasn't nailed down. Called the professionals out and they put down 10 or so wooden traps with some sort of jelly bait on it. Placed them around well-traveled areas and soon we were hearing snapping in the middle of the night. I think 8 or so found home. One actually caught two at the same time. That was awkward.

 

[Yesfan]

.....One actually caught two at the same time. That was awkward.

Two traps?? That sounds like a bad ass mouse to me. If he has brothers, might have to break out the heavy artillery (stray cat, small dog, rpg...)

 

[MaxStout]

I don't like the wooden traps because they seem like a one time use, but they are the best bang for the buck for getting rid of mice. The old school wooden Victor mouse trap is still the king of the hill in my experience. Victor makes a plastic reusable trap that is "user friendly" that has been golden for me. It doesn't hurt near as bad and less F bombs if you accidentally trigger it trying to set it. It's not much more than a pack of the wooden ones. Easy to set, and like mentioned, a little peanut butter goes a long way.

I don't like poison for many reasons. First, I do not recommend it at all if you have kids/pets. Second, the last thing you need is for the mouse to remain hidden somewhere within your house, but you know it's dead and still there due to the scent of its dead rotting carcass because the poison didn't kill it right away.

The glue pads work but......the sounds of the mouse struggling to break free and hearing them "chirp" in pain trying to break free is, well, uncomfortable to hear.

I don't like poison, either. It doesn't kill fast enough, so the critters can get out and end up eaten by raptors. The old-school spring traps work great with a tiny bit of peanut butter smeared into the little hole on the bait lever. Make 'em work for it and WHAM!

Glue traps work well, but if you don't check them daily you'll have suffering mice stuck to them. And they squeak.

We had a crop of voles this year (lots of snow to hide in). They didn't make it inside the house, but they laid waste to a lot of our shrubs--chewed the bark clean off. Guess we'll be replanting some things this summer.