Mouse Around Brewing Equipment

[FSR402]

No better mousetrap needs to be used other than the old Victor type. My bucket experience was purely by accident.

Mice travel in a very small area once they find food. They simply go back over the same area again and again. The standard trap will work eventually. I had a mouse in my basement and set the trap and it took about 3 weeks, but persistence pays off and the little bastage finally took the bait. A few times he was able to actually lick the PB off the trigger, but the law of averages will eventually catch up. If he licks off the PB a time or two, you know he will come back. Just keep at it.

I try not to give them to much time.

A mouse is pregnant for about 20 days, and after giving birth can become
pregnant again within just 12 hours! If a female doesn't get pregnant again
within the 1st 24 hours, she will be able to get pregnant again every 4-5 days onwards.

In a single litter a mouse can have anywhere from 4 to 12+ pups.

So the moral of the story? Get a cat. Or 2.

 

[rico567]

Clean & sanitize is always a good practice -always- and particularly this time of year. Fruit flies have arrived a long time ago, and they can get on your equipment and deposit wild yeasts, bacteria or etc., and might escape notice.

 

[Bubba_Mustafa]

The song "Good Rats" by The Dropkick Murphys comes to mind.

Turn that Guinness to gold!

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

One minor point on the bucket trap; I suggest moving the approach board 90* around the bucket. As pictured the mouse can keep rear feet on the dowel as they approach the peanut butter. They have the opportunity to reconsider their situation and back away. I set the approach so that it faced the side of the can, with a modest gap to force a jump. That way the little buggers have to leap onto the can side, which will then roll them to their fate.

 

[njnear76]

The wife called me up on Friday and told me that the little bugger died in the corner by the dryer. The cause is unknown, but it is entirely possible he found poison. The previous owner did have a mouse problem at one time.

We ended up cleaning up the whole basement, which was kind of dusty. Every shelf, every box, and the entire floor was mopped. Pine Sol and Bleach. I filled up a bunch of holes with Great Stuff. A bunch of old boxes, bags, and some other unnecessary clutter was thrown away. Hopefully, we can prevent the next one from coming in or at least make it unattractive enough to make them want to leave.

The traps will remain set. I'm not convinced I solved the mouse problem yet.

 

[bovineblitz]

I doubt you'll be able to keep them out by plugging holes. They can fit into anything that their head can fit through since they have no collarbones... and their heads are tiny!

You did all you can. My parents used to have a mouse problem so they got one of those sound devices that makes a high pitched noise that drives rodents away. Idk if it bothers other pets tho.