Operation Mouse Kill

**Doc Safari** · 07-31-14, 17:32

For the last couple of months I began to see evidence that my humble domicile had been invaded by vermin of the rodent persuasion. It seems like I would hear things like objects on the countertop being rattled in the wee hours of the morning. Sure enough, upon close examination of the countertop I could see multiple spots of mouse poop on the counter. I quickly moved any foodstuffs and tabletop appliances out of the way. I thoroughly cleaned and disinfected every inch of the counter.

It was then that I set about devising my plan to vanquish my invaders.

First I tried the spring-loaded traps. I managed to catch one mouse in one trap, but I began to see evidence that some mousy entity was smart enough to lick the peanut butter off the trip lever without activating it. Clearly I was dealing with a professional standing army of trained infiltrators.

Next, I set out the cylinder type traps, four to be exact. Again, I caught one mouse, but the rest of the traps remained untripped for days while my enemy bivouacked on my counter top at night.

Frustrated, I turned to mouse sized sticky traps.

Again, I caught one mouse one night. I thought surely the infestation is over.

Wrong.

Night after night the other sticky traps remained untouched. At the end of a long week, one trap had clearly been stepped on but the mouse managed to chew the edge of the trap, wedge it between the counter and the stove, and get away.

Clearly, my quarry was not your run-of-the-mill mouse. I was dealing with an advance rodent demolition team.

I switched to rat sized sticky traps. One must plant the appropriate type of landmines, right?

I nailed three mice in one night!

I thought the war was over. I cleaned and disinfected the countertop, and moved all my tabletop appliances back to their original positions. I was secure in the knowledge that I had vanquished the last furry creeper in the night.

But then...about a week later...I began to notice the return of.........you guessed it......mouse poop.

How many more of these bastards are there?

I lay in wait one night. As I heard movement on the counter, I flipped the light on. Staring back at me was a creature with an attitude that said, "I am just as smart, and just as trained as you." As I lunged toward him he ran back into the crevice between the counter and the wall.

Damn. What to do now?

During this entire conflict, I had resisted resorting to chemical warfare, modern conventions being what they are and all.

Still, having an unwelcome squatter in my territory was no Bueno por chit.

I caved in to the temptation to purchase some OTC rodenticide. IIRC it contained difethialone which the manufacturer claims may kill in one dose.

I set out my chemical landmine and waited. Sure enough, the next day most of the poison was gone, and the rest of it had disappeared the following day.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

I reread the packaging. "May take a few days to kill" or something to that effect.

Peachy. With my luck the mouse would probably die behind the counter and I'll have to choose between tearing the cabinets out or smelling dead animal.

I read some literature on the net that tells how the poison kills, and how the dying mouse will probably wander around disoriented out in the open before dying.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, after a night of socializing, I came home and went to bed. The next morning I saw Mr. Gray Mouse, of late deceased, lying in the middle of the floor in all his rigor mortised glory. A quick swipe with the broom into the dustpan and my last holdout was disposed of.

I have been mouse free for nearly a month now, and I have a new education about what kills and what doesn't.

1. Spring-loaded trap: old school and too easy for a mouse with a light touch to eat the bait without tripping it.
2. Cylinder type: good for very small mice only. Other mice learn to ignore it.
3. Small sticky trap: too easy for mice to struggle enough to get away.
4. Large sticky trap: Very effective, but the other mice learned to steer around them.
5. Rat Poison: The Winner. Enemy soldier never suspected his rations were tainted with anti-coagulant.

Summary:

Doc Glockster for the win.

I think I will go right to large sticky traps and poison from now on.

**Moose-Knuckle** · 07-31-14, 17:36

Damn, mice and swallows . . . good thing BCM is runnings sales on their complete uppers!

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...d-a-pellet-gun

**Bulletdog** · 07-31-14, 21:01

Oh Doc. I think you might be jumping to an early conclusion. Where those ones found their way in others will follow. You might have just won the current battle. Did you find and close off their entry point from the outside?

Snap traps are effective if used correctly. Peanut butter is useless except for feeding the rodents, as you discovered.

Here are some tips for when the invaders return:
Get the snap traps that have a metal trip plate with a little triangle shaped spike meant to hold the bait. Bend that spike upward toward the sky. If you can't find the metal plated ones, run a small screw up through the bottom of the plastic plated ones. Then you need some dog or cat kibble with holes in the center. You can usually get free samples at the pet store. The kibble really attracts them. Impale this kibble on the spike. Then, placement is everything. The end of the trap with the trip plate and bait needs to be placed in a "high traffic" area up against the wall. Mice don't usually run around out in the open, so the traps need to be in the areas where they do run, along the corners where the walls or cabinets meet the floor. This way they run right into your bait as they move around. They don't lift the kibble up, they tug sideways on it trying to pull it toward them and this almost always trips the trap while their neck is in just the right place. This upward facing spike and kibble with the holey center is critical to the success of the operation because it prevents them from absconding with the meal you've provided.

I can't use poisons around my places because of all my other animals. Even though they say the rodent poison only affects rodents, lots of other animals die from eating the dying rodents filled with poison.

Just like with our guns, its not enough to just have the hardware, you still gotta use it correctly. It took me a long time to figure these things out, I hope they can help you eliminate some rodents from the world.

**scottryan** · 07-31-14, 22:31

You want dead mice in your light fixtures stinking up your house, then go ahead and put poison out.

**.46caliber** · 07-31-14, 22:38

Trapper Mini-Rex

http://www.solutionsstores.com/mobil...ctCode=bell052

If you're particularly vengeful, get the rat size for your mice. Watch your fingers.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

**Jellybean** · 07-31-14, 23:06

Congratulations on your victory Doc. However, as BD mentioned, the war is just begun.
They will return one day when you least expect it- likely in greater numbers.

My house just survived an invasion by 5 Micentruppen. And a snake that they sent in ahead of their advance on a solo recce.
Luckily he was spotted before he could get far, and gave away their point of infiltration.
We tried appeasement by simply blocking the route, but they found the material used to be edible and had damn near chewed though it by the next morning.
Unfortunately we were only issued outdated equipment to combat this assault in the form of spring loaded traps, so we decided that given the lack of superior technology, numbers would have to win the day.
The Micentruppen were using a stairway from the lower levels of the building to gain access to a small slot under the door at the top of the stairway.
We could have attempted to storm their hideout in the lower levels, but the ground favors them fully here, and they would have been able to ambush us with impunity at every turn- they also have the aid of the local spider populace, who we all know are experts at CQB. While our superior weapons would likely have mitigated their ground advantage, the damage sustained to our own facilities embedded in these sublevels would have been unacceptable. Further, the possibility of contaminating our own forces with poison was to great to employ such a penultimate weapon, since our friendlies are inclined to eat anything left on the ground.

So at the top of the staircase, the door slot was again blocked, and a field of five spring traps laid, baited with peanut butter- that being the only thing found to be resistant to their Trap Ordinance Disposal specialists.

At first things weren't looking good- the next day, one trap had snapped to no result, and another had been licked clean without activating.
Luckily, these were clearly not Elite Micentruppen, because after that first hit of peanut butter they got cocky.
After resetting the trap field, the next day two enemy were destroyed- one caught clean in a trap, and the other apparently killed himself when he panicked over a trap snapping and fell off the staircase with it (told you they weren't the brightest).
They then tried both a daylight attack, and a night infiltration, both failing and netting a single mouse each.
Finally last night what seems to be the fifth and last Micentrupper made a lone Banzai charge into the trap field, but was snapped as well.
It has been quiet on the southern front since then, however the trap field has been reset to 100% readiness and other points of possible infiltration are being monitored.

Lessons- low tech spring traps can be effective when deployed correctly at a choke point, and in large numbers.

Of course, in-home Alamo methods are simply delaying the inevitable. If things continue to escalate like this, we may need to work out a means to take the fight to them. I recall one intrepid soul here who had great success using such tactics with a NOD and a suppressed .22....

**Ned Christiansen** · 07-31-14, 23:51

You guys don't know about the 5-gallon bucket trap?

**SeriousStudent** · 07-31-14, 23:56

Originally Posted by Ned Christiansen

You guys don't know about the 5-gallon bucket trap?

I honestly have not heard of it. Please tell me more when you have a chance, Ned.

**MountainRaven** · 08-01-14, 00:28

I find this relevant to my interests, as my house also has been infiltrated by Maustruppen in unknown numbers. One has been disposed of near the site where one was first spotted using a traditional spring trap. Baited with artificial peanut butter. So far, nothing has come of a second spring trap deployed in the vicinity and baited with traditional peanut butter.