I hates mice

[slugworth]

See what mice did to my 20oz plus omar's lebanese.
I had an onion bag around it for camouflage/protection but they still got at it.
Garden is fenced.
I lost about 75% so far this summer to mice.

[wildcat62]

I've had a running battle with raccoons doing the same thing this summer.

[brownrexx]

Do they climb the plants and get the higher tomatoes? I have something biting into mine but only the ones near the ground. I think that it's a groundhog.

[Salsacharley]

Pick your fruit at first blush and you might beat them to it.

[brownrexx]

Originally Posted by Salsacharley

Pick your fruit at first blush and you might beat them to it.

That is what I have been doing for 2 reasons. To avoid the critters and also the cracks from the excess rain that we have been getting.

[wildcat62]

Same here

[slugworth]

they don't like funny colored tomatoes like the indigo ruby,so those are safe.
They just nail the ones close to the ground,so far.

[Cole_Robbie]

I live in a mobile home and my family has a few more as rentals. The ducting underneath a trailer is typically plastic, flexible stuff and not metal like a house. Now I know why they make house vents out of metal - so the mice won't chew through them and make the ducts into mouse highways. The only thing I have found that works to get rid of them is a "rodent block" poison product. I think Tomcat is one brand. It is a brick that they chew on, and lasts a long time. The mice will be gone in a few days.

[Nan_PA_6b]

That looks like a lot of damage for mice. Something is getting into my garden, too- must be small but puts a big bite in low-hanging tomatoes; rat or small rabbit?

I agree with putting mouse/rat poison out.

I killed a rat in the garden this year. Whatever it is eating my maters, it really likes the green w/ red streaks Wild Tiger best.


Nan

[brownrexx]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

I agree with putting mouse/rat poison out. Nan

Well I don't. You can end up killing birds or other animals. That is why commercial traps for rodents put the bait inside of a metal box with small holes for the rodent to enter.

I am not opposed to killing the mice or rats, just opposed to putting poisons outside for any animal to eat.

Not only that, I have not lost enough tomatoes to make it worthwhile killing anything. The critters that ate mine have only bothered the lowest tomatoes and the upper ones are untouched.

[bower]

There's a mousetrap for every situation.

https://mousetrapmonday.com/category/mousetrap/

I like the Mascall spring traps best although there is a lot of very cool stuff in these videos.... Not too hard to make your own spring trap, really no risk to anything bigger than mouse sized.

[Nan_PA_6b]

I wasn't thinking of putting poison where anyone could get it. My garden is close enough to my house I don't want rats there. I use a Tomcat box that keeps out most animals.
Nan

[swellcat]

There's a mousetrap for every . . .

In other words, there's a trap for that.








[Pop-culture reference.]

[slugworth]

forget poisons
the are supposed to go outdoors looking for water but end up in my cellar instead.
I still get dead ones in the cellar from poison I put in my little garage 10 years ago.

[brownrexx]

I think that if you have mice indoors traps are definitely better than poison. It kills the mice quickly and you can see the evidence and remove it right away instead of having dead rodents inside of your walls.

Last year I had mice in my basement for the first time ever. I put out some snap traps and caught 6 of them. 4 were field mice but 2 of them were deer mice. I have not had a problem since then.

I would not use snap traps outdoors unless they are inside of a box because other animals can step on them or get them snapped on their nose from sniffing the bait.