If there is such a thing as a season. We've had a sudden burst of warm weather here, I've noticed an up-tick (pardon the pun) in the number of rodents caught. It gets around to spring, the rodents want to breed. They are out hunting places to nest up for this purpose. So I have to monitor my traps more closely. Then recently when it was cold, I was keeping watch as well, rodents like to find warm places (like in your house) to ensconce themselves. So really when you get right down to it, the rodent season never ends. I live in a forested place, lots of rodents.
When I was in the army, it used to crack me up as to the junior officers' additional duties. One such was Vermin and Vector Control Officer. I never saw one doing their job, though. I don't need a second lieutenant around here, I just do it myself.
If your car sits still too long, mice can get in. My wife and I were away on a cruise for a week, then when I got in her car to move it I could hardly breathe. It stank of dead bio matter. There was no way to air it out; the dead matter was in the heater plenum. I took it to the dealer, they took it all apart to remove a dead mouse that had gotten in there and got trapped. It was an insurance claim under comprehensive.
I had another car invasion recently. I have a 1972 Ford station wagon that I drive to haul stuff in. It doesn't get driven every day, but lately every two or three days (remodel project). 1971 and 1972 are the full-sized Fords that have windshield wipers that retract down under the rear edge of the hood. You can't see the wipers when they are turned off. So there is a space between the windshield, rear hood edge and air intake screens in the cowl. I was driving along, and in my peripheral vision, I saw what I thought was a leaf blowing around in this area. A few minutes later, I saw this "leaf" moving again; it wasn't a leaf, it was a mouse, running around under the engine compartment trying to find a way out.
I stopped a few minutes later and raised the hood, of course no mouse. So I set traps in the car over night; next morning the mouse was in a trap. He was a recent stowaway, as the car didn't smell of mouse pee. One time a couple of years ago, this same car sat for about a month. I opened the door, and what a Reeker. I knew right away that mice had nested in there and sure enough, they were under the back seat. First, I caught all the mice, about five including babies. One got it with a baseball bat but the other four died in traps. The next day after that, I spent several hours cleaning the car out including using a special chemical to remove the mousy smell.
Best bait for mouse and rat traps: Peanut butter. I don't like to use poison. Rodents ingest the poison bait, then crawl off to some hidden place to die. Could be inside a wall or some other inconvenient place.
I've caught a few small birds in mouse traps which were obviously lured by the scent of peanut butter. It makes me sad to see a bird dead in a trap. I've caught small squirrels in rat traps; I have no such sad feelings for them. I've caught mice by the tail in rat traps; only the tail stays in the trap, the mice chew their tail off to escape. I've lost traps that got dragged away by partially caught rodents. Some traps, I've weighted down by screwing to small squares of plywood that makes the rig too heavy to be carried off by a small critter. I've caught rodents in traps that were subsequently devoured by a third party, leaving only a stripped skeleton.
When I was in the army, it used to crack me up as to the junior officers' additional duties. One such was Vermin and Vector Control Officer. I never saw one doing their job, though. I don't need a second lieutenant around here, I just do it myself.
If your car sits still too long, mice can get in. My wife and I were away on a cruise for a week, then when I got in her car to move it I could hardly breathe. It stank of dead bio matter. There was no way to air it out; the dead matter was in the heater plenum. I took it to the dealer, they took it all apart to remove a dead mouse that had gotten in there and got trapped. It was an insurance claim under comprehensive.
I had another car invasion recently. I have a 1972 Ford station wagon that I drive to haul stuff in. It doesn't get driven every day, but lately every two or three days (remodel project). 1971 and 1972 are the full-sized Fords that have windshield wipers that retract down under the rear edge of the hood. You can't see the wipers when they are turned off. So there is a space between the windshield, rear hood edge and air intake screens in the cowl. I was driving along, and in my peripheral vision, I saw what I thought was a leaf blowing around in this area. A few minutes later, I saw this "leaf" moving again; it wasn't a leaf, it was a mouse, running around under the engine compartment trying to find a way out.
I stopped a few minutes later and raised the hood, of course no mouse. So I set traps in the car over night; next morning the mouse was in a trap. He was a recent stowaway, as the car didn't smell of mouse pee. One time a couple of years ago, this same car sat for about a month. I opened the door, and what a Reeker. I knew right away that mice had nested in there and sure enough, they were under the back seat. First, I caught all the mice, about five including babies. One got it with a baseball bat but the other four died in traps. The next day after that, I spent several hours cleaning the car out including using a special chemical to remove the mousy smell.
Best bait for mouse and rat traps: Peanut butter. I don't like to use poison. Rodents ingest the poison bait, then crawl off to some hidden place to die. Could be inside a wall or some other inconvenient place.
I've caught a few small birds in mouse traps which were obviously lured by the scent of peanut butter. It makes me sad to see a bird dead in a trap. I've caught small squirrels in rat traps; I have no such sad feelings for them. I've caught mice by the tail in rat traps; only the tail stays in the trap, the mice chew their tail off to escape. I've lost traps that got dragged away by partially caught rodents. Some traps, I've weighted down by screwing to small squares of plywood that makes the rig too heavy to be carried off by a small critter. I've caught rodents in traps that were subsequently devoured by a third party, leaving only a stripped skeleton.
