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Author Topic: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars  (Read 3115 times)

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Offline Yuri Bezmenov

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Re: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars
« Reply #135 on: June 01, 2016, 01:07:06 PM »
DE or Diatomaceous Earth.

I used to live in the same town as the largest diatomaceous earth mine in the US (at one time, the entire world).

Offline MLA

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Re: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars
« Reply #136 on: June 01, 2016, 01:48:38 PM »
DE or Diatomaceous Earth.

I used to live in the same town as the largest diatomaceous earth mine in the US (at one time, the entire world).


Offline WolFish

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Re: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars
« Reply #137 on: June 01, 2016, 02:47:26 PM »
Carpenter ants.

DE or Diatomaceous Earth. You can get the food grade, non toxic, they have an accordion like thing on amazon too (pest pistol) to spread it with (definitely wear a mask, it's not poison but you don't want to inhale it).

DE is a drying agent, basically they get coated with the dust and will wither and die. Go along the baseboards and the base of the foundation if you can.

This crap works on spiders, millipedes, and centipedes too.

Unfortunately it does diddly squat to asian stinkbugs.  :P

In florida we made a poison for the pharoh ants we had and it worked for a little while.

worked wonders on the roaches though. i made a batch and put it in plastic because their favorite thing was to come in under the doors or windows - though the windows were pretty well covered by anoles and toads, some still got through. Anyway, they would head straight for synthetic stuff - they seemed to like styrofoam, silicone (they ate the silicone covering on my water bottle) and plastic wrapped stuff. So I made baits with wax paper and plastic and put them near the doors (and yes, I never thought of changing the door sweep). They would come in, eat through the plastic and then go out. In a few days they started showing up dead.

Never saw any dead ants, just a reduction in activity and a few days absence after a while. Then they were back. Followed their path outside and sprayed regularly with this foul smelling all natural stuff and same thing - gone for a few days, then back. Can't remember what finally worked, just that it was a less toxic formula that had to be reapplied if you looked at it wrong. Haven't seen anything like it here, that's why the research. Apparently the U.S. is a lot better at some kinds of toxic.

Since we are on the second and third floors I would not be able to do the base of the foundation without letting our neighbors know. Would that stuff harm dogs. There is a little one I don't care about, but there is also a very friendly aging german shepherd named Larry who eats our steak bones. Wouldn't want to harm him.

What about the window sills? Could they be coming in there? There is also a chance they are coming in from the roof. The sleaze was repairing the gutters, which were attached to the roof via the wood he replaced. Very strange arrangement. The building is from the 1800s. I also have a hole in my wall. My bedroom is under the back part of the roof, and the hole is about 3/4 down from the top of the roof, which might leak. I could put some in there, but I don't want to waste what i have until i get a source for more. Haven't seen that here either.
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Offline Icequeen

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Re: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars
« Reply #138 on: June 01, 2016, 10:00:47 PM »
They say it won't hurt animals/pets (foreseeable that it could dry out the pads of their paws and cause them to crack if they walked through it enough) which was why I went that route...I do not put it anywhere my fur kids might track through it though.

We had carpenter ants bad here. Had steps up the hillside made out of railroad ties, they were totally infested with them. The kitchen faced the steps and that was the room that was affected the most. I dusted at the base of the foundation and along the bottom of the baseboards inside. It kept them at bay until I finally ripped the steps out last year.

We had the T 111 siding taken off in 95 and went with vinyl and I think they just migrated to the steps since they couldn't eat the siding anymore. Been dusting with this stuff for almost 3 years now...I haven't seen a carpenter ant in 2 years, and don't see many bugs at all now, even though I have a jungle of plantings all around the house and woods in back of me. Stinkbugs are the exception. There is always one.  :LOL:




Offline WolFish

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Re: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars
« Reply #139 on: June 28, 2016, 11:11:17 AM »
we only see the occasional carpenter ant these days. mostly the little ones show up if we drop something on the floor and don't see it.

unfortunately the ketch-all is still working. py took out the garbage a couple of days ago because it smelled so bad but today when i was washing the floor i had to move it and it wasn't the garbage smelling. except now it is because stupidly i thought that two layers of plastic bag would contain the smell.

had to wash the trap so not sure it will work now. pretty sure the mouse must have died of heat exhaustion because it got trapped on one of the really hot days.

we have also graduated to flies. time to make more screens; meanwhile have to track down how they are getting in - a loose screen somewhere, i think. so far flypaper is not working.
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Offline WolFish

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Re: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars
« Reply #140 on: June 29, 2016, 12:25:53 AM »
found the loose screen but now we have an undetermined number of flies in the house.

two have met their match: one died in a plate of grease drained from the fried chicken i heated up today. the other was (literally) doing the backstroke in a glass of water that py had left on the table at her place - hopefully it will be dead by morning. i am still hoping for the flypaper, that it will work without my having to sacrifice any real food.
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Offline WolFish

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Re: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars
« Reply #141 on: September 04, 2016, 12:18:49 AM »
First there were indeterminate signs, then we caught two in three days in the ketch all - no bait at all.
It's the cold nights.
There is one in my room now.
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Re: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars
« Reply #142 on: September 04, 2016, 09:15:20 AM »
The PR freaked out because there was a cockroach in the car yesterday.  AFAIK it's still there.  If you hear a scream followed by a screech and a BAM then you know I found it while driving.
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Offline "couldbecousin"

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Re: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars
« Reply #143 on: September 04, 2016, 09:18:51 AM »
The PR freaked out because there was a cockroach in the car yesterday.  AFAIK it's still there.  If you hear a scream followed by a screech and a BAM then you know I found it while driving.

  Last winter I saw something scuttling down the hall in my apartment.  Before I killed it, I got a good look,
  and I'm about 96% certain it was a cockroach.  I haven't seen one since.  I know they occasionally
  gain entrance to a home in the folds of paper grocery bags or by other means.  This evidently was not
  an infestation, since there have been no others.  But I have to check my paper bags more carefully.  :tinfoil:
"I'm finding a lot of things funny lately, but I don't think they are."
--- Ripley, Alien Resurrection


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People forget.
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Offline WolFish

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Re: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars
« Reply #144 on: September 04, 2016, 09:23:49 AM »
The PR freaked out because there was a cockroach in the car yesterday.  AFAIK it's still there.  If you hear a scream followed by a screech and a BAM then you know I found it while driving.
The kind of lysol spray that comes in a yellow bottle - it has ammonia in it. It will drive the roach out of hiding and if you spray it directly, it will kill it.

We had them climb into the car from places like grocery stores when we lived in Florida. Then unexpectedly they would climb or drop out from the wheel wells or other places.
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Offline WolFish

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Re: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars
« Reply #145 on: September 04, 2016, 09:26:12 AM »
The PR freaked out because there was a cockroach in the car yesterday.  AFAIK it's still there.  If you hear a scream followed by a screech and a BAM then you know I found it while driving.

  Last winter I saw something scuttling down the hall in my apartment.  Before I killed it, I got a good look,
  and I'm about 96% certain it was a cockroach.  I haven't seen one since.  I know they occasionally
  gain entrance to a home in the folds of paper grocery bags or by other means.  This evidently was not
  an infestation, since there have been no others.  But I have to check my paper bags more carefully.  :tinfoil:

you killed it so badly that it was unrecognizable afterwards?
i am never sneaking into your apartment in the middle of the night...
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Offline "couldbecousin"

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Re: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars
« Reply #146 on: September 04, 2016, 09:28:40 AM »
The PR freaked out because there was a cockroach in the car yesterday.  AFAIK it's still there.  If you hear a scream followed by a screech and a BAM then you know I found it while driving.

  Last winter I saw something scuttling down the hall in my apartment.  Before I killed it, I got a good look,
  and I'm about 96% certain it was a cockroach.  I haven't seen one since.  I know they occasionally
  gain entrance to a home in the folds of paper grocery bags or by other means.  This evidently was not
  an infestation, since there have been no others.  But I have to check my paper bags more carefully.  :tinfoil:

you killed it so badly that it was unrecognizable afterwards?
i am never sneaking into your apartment in the middle of the night...

  Heh, bugs are fairly soft, so squashing them is easy enough.  :laugh:
"I'm finding a lot of things funny lately, but I don't think they are."
--- Ripley, Alien Resurrection


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--- Edward Walker, The Village

People forget.
--- The Who, "Eminence Front"

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Re: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars
« Reply #147 on: September 04, 2016, 10:23:02 AM »
The mice in the shed have gotten out of control not really sure why but they are getting into everything and the cat doesn't seem to care so I'm making a bucket trap today
"Eat it up.  Wear it out.  Make it do or do without." 

'People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.'
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Offline "couldbecousin"

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Re: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars
« Reply #148 on: September 05, 2016, 09:51:39 AM »
The mice in the shed have gotten out of control not really sure why but they are getting into everything and the cat doesn't seem to care so I'm making a bucket trap today

  The cat's too busy watching Hoarders on TV!  :tv: :flo:
"I'm finding a lot of things funny lately, but I don't think they are."
--- Ripley, Alien Resurrection


"We are grateful for the time we have been given."
--- Edward Walker, The Village

People forget.
--- The Who, "Eminence Front"

Offline "couldbecousin"

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Re: Mouse (and other Pest) Wars
« Reply #149 on: November 20, 2016, 03:31:34 PM »
  Well, it seems my neighbor across the hall had a mouse in her apartment just now. 
  I returned home from lunch at my friend's house to hear several minutes of ear-splitting screaming
  and panicked running and thumping around, as my neighbor and her guests chased something.
  One of them brought it outside, while another yelled, "Take it far, so it doesn't come back!"  Then the
  first one reported, "It's coming back in!"  Sounds like mouse behavior to me.  Time to gear up! :pirate:
"I'm finding a lot of things funny lately, but I don't think they are."
--- Ripley, Alien Resurrection


"We are grateful for the time we have been given."
--- Edward Walker, The Village

People forget.
--- The Who, "Eminence Front"