Rodent Control - Small Cabin Forum


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Small Cabin Forum / Nature / Rodent Control

Author	Message
Anonymous	# Posted: 29 May 2008 10:52 Reply Hi, I have a small cabin in the mountains, and I have been plagued by mice. I have used common control methods, but none seem to work. When I put out poison, they eat it, but it does not seem to affect the population. Do you have any suggestions how to control mice? Thanks, Anonymous
CabinBuilder Admin	# Posted: 29 May 2008 11:04 - Edited by: CabinBuilder Reply Perhaps the mice population in the area is too large to control this way, and those few that get killed by the poison are only small potion or the population. There are times in nature when conditions are just right for population of certain species to explode. Usually, later the population either cannot longer sustain itself or a natural predator takes care of it, and eventually the population spike goes away to its normal levels. Hopefully the rodent problem around you cabin will go away, naturally. I also have mice in the area around my cabin, but I see them quite rarely - I may see one once in several days running around.
Vince P Member	# Posted: 1 Jun 2008 07:01 - Edited by: Vince P Reply I have dealt with the same issue for some time and I think I may have finally become mouse-free. My cabin is deep in the woods and of course mice are part of the natural fauna. At first I was against any kind of lethal means until one day at the cabin, I woke up and found a huge amount of mouse feces in the pillow case I had been sleeping on! Not to mention, in my shoes, in the cupboard, in the couch, in the kids bunks, all over the floor, all over the loft, etc.... At first I would use live traps called "mouse cubes" and I would wake up about 5 times a night to release one in the woods. That was fine until I realized the same mice would just make their way back inside the cabin. The solution was to find out where they were getting in from. In my case there were all sorts of places around the soffit. I used left over metal roofing cut into pieces to cover any suspected areas and it took me a few weeks of trial and error to get in mouse proof. At first I set out 4 regular baited mouse traps (the traditional kind with the spring) and every visit I would find at least 3 or 4 dead mice in them. Once I covered every possible hole, I still was catching mice, this I later realized, was the resident popualtion that was living inside the cabin somewhere. After a while no more mice! One tip for those planning to use traps. Unless you are at your cabin daily, put the trap on a surface that can be cleaned. I use the tile under my woodstove, but at first I would put them in the loft where the wood floor would become saturated with mouse guts and still stinks to this day... a year later.
Camper Member	# Posted: 5 Jun 2008 13:42 Reply I hate mice! For about the past 10 years or so I have been mouse free; first in a camper and now in my small cabin. I have a ritual that I follow after every visit. Sweep the floor, mop the floor and then spray a solution of water and peppermint oil in all the corners and on the floor. Mice do not like peppermint oil (the real stuff.) If you think you know where they live or where they are getting in, put peppermint oil directly on a cotton ball and put it in that area. Use gloves because the oil is an irritant to the skin. As for the spray, I spray as I'm leaving because I have heard that the fumes are irritating. Give it a try, it has worked for me. Camper

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