arsenic - NOT REPTILE RELATED - looking for opinions

BoAddict · 12-13-04, 07:40 AM

ok so i have this place i have mice in my wall driving me crazy , it is winter so yea they come indoors and im not quite ready to let my snake go yet to get them lol

so is arsenic the solution for mice as well as rats ?

i have never seen 1 in my apartment but i can see where they are chewing in my closet , so yea i know they been in but havent found droppings yet

also the closet is the only spot ive found for them to get in
b4 i use those brutal traps i would use live traps or glue traps right across the closet they are not quite as brutal as the death traps and i would the throw them in the pond and let them fend for them selves after i unstuck them from the paper of course, feed the in a sense as we have some nice pike in the ponds in front of my house.

opinions soon as this is becoming worse and worse a situation and id rather deal with than my landlord

Mike

marisa · 12-13-04, 11:53 AM

I am a bit cold hearted. LOL. I would have those "brutal" traps already set up as I would feel extremely uncomfortable having wild mice around my animals and my other captive mice.

I would also like to share a quick story about those glue traps (which I also use)

My friends had a small mouse problem in their kitchen. They set up a glue trap near the edge of the floor one night, hoping to catch him.

The next morning they found two bloody paws stuck to the trap, no mouse. It had chewed off its feet and gone under the fridge where it died. Sometimes the brutal traps can be the most humane.

Marisa

Removed_2815 · 12-13-04, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by marisa
The next morning they found two bloody paws stuck to the trap, no mouse. It had chewed off its feet and gone under the fridge where it died. Sometimes the brutal traps can be the most humane.

Oh my GOD! That's horrible!
I have a blind Siamese cat that walks into walls on a regular basis but still somehow manages to catch mice (on the rare occasion that one gets into the house). Like the typical cat, he rarely kills and seems to be content with torture - I can usually get to the mouse while it's still in pretty good health though (and then I can relocate it far away).
I recommend the humane traps, they're super cheap and they work just as well. These traps contain the mouse in a little compartment so that it can be released far away from your house. I hate killing anything...
Ryan

Removed_2815 · 12-13-04, 12:13 PM

In response to the original question: arsenic? I think the commercial mouse/rat poison is Warfarin. I wouldn't recommend that anyway as the only thing that will come of this is a bunch of dead vermin in your walls which will quickly decompose - the smell is not great... Use humane traps.
Ryan

joey · 12-13-04, 12:32 PM

Glue strips are cruel! Use the snap traps as they are very quick. The live traps are the best but you have to relocate the mice/rat very far from where you live --at least a mile-- or they will come back.

I lived in a cabin that was rodent infested and I ended up moving out! Mice don't have bladders so they pee on EVERYthing. Very unsanitary.

Good luck!

snakehunter · 12-13-04, 01:44 PM

*CONFUSED* A while back when I fed FK a post was made about the killing of rodents for herps. I had always used a pair of needle nose pliers and crushed/severed the spinal chord at the base of the skull. Isnt that basicaly what the mouse snap traps do? It was noted to me that my method only paralized the animal and that it died from lack of oxygen and basic system failure.

With this in mind the humane traps sound a bit nicer. ON THE OTHER HAND when I was young we had mice and my 'rents used the snap traps and allmost all the time it would shear the head right off.

peterm15 · 12-13-04, 02:06 PM

the snap traps are very qiuck with minimal pain... its almost instant..... but personally if it wasnt a HUGE problem id use the humaine....

we had one live in our garrage 2 years ago.... it was a male so we saw no need to get rid of it.... there was no other mice around and it was only the garrage its not that big of a deal.... well my dad decided that it was time to get rid of it but quickly changed his mind when he walked into the garrage and saw a mouse sleeping on the load of wood that was stacked beside the wood stove.... the mouse got up looked at my dad ran off the wood and then, this is the best part..... sat on his boot... he never ended up getting rid of it but it was gone a few mnths later...

clint545 · 12-13-04, 02:34 PM

Have you thought of getting a cat?

Siretsap · 12-13-04, 02:36 PM

The 2 most common types of rodent poisons are the anticoagulants and the hypercalcimic ones.

the 1st one basicly liquifies the blood so thin that the animal bleeds to death.

The 2nd thickens the blood till the heart can't pump it and stops.

We used the anti coagulant our cottage when we had an infestation, and we never noticed a smell, most times the rodent simply dries out.

We also used the "humane traps" only problem we had with that, was that some of the mice prob had their tails at the bottom of the door that closes, so they were able to open the door cause it wasn't closed completly.

joey · 12-13-04, 02:46 PM

they are very sweet creatures -even though they are VERY destructive- I've caught so many in the live traps in the past. Every time I would take them out to release them into the woods, I would open the trap door and out would slide this little creature that was so afraid to even move.

One of my cats brought one inside once and it got away---- I found it in another room on the very top of some branches I had in a corner. It looked like a it was on a life perserver in the middle of an ocean. I went to take it outside and it jumped on my jacket and hid in the hood ---I just walked outside and released it. It ~seemed~ very grateful.

My mother went into work one morning and the maintance guys had a mouse that was stuck on a glue strip---it was still alive and half it's body was stuck in the glue and it was crying.. The guys just wanted to 'throw it away' ---my mother said some one should put it out of it's misery. No one wanted to do that, so she ended up drowning the poor thing. I HATE GLUE STRIPS.

Removed_2815 · 12-13-04, 04:39 PM

I once used a regular snap-trap and I awoke one night to hear an odd rattling in the cupboard. When I opened the door, I found a mouse with a partially severed leg trying to get through a hole with the trap still attached. The mouse's leg eventually ripped off and it ran through the hole. So, all I accomplished was that I effectively maimed this poor creature... I only use humane.
Ryan

CamHanna · 12-13-04, 05:03 PM

I consider the poisons to be almost as inhumane as glue traps. At work we use the anticoagulent type which seems to be rather inefficient; mice take a couple hours to die and don't seem to enjoy it. I normally just give them a stomp (we have far too many to relocate) but if they're in your walls that may not be an option.

If you use mouse traps it's a good idea to anchor them, I've had rats get caught and walk away.

In my house I use a live trap (for the few rodents I get).

justinO · 12-13-04, 05:35 PM

recently we had a few feeders escape and we used the large rat snap traps.

it killed the rats quickly and effectively.

i'd not feel comfortable using the poisions or glue traps. too much can go wrong.

my $0.02