More mouse issues

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I just tweaked by garage door bottom seal to better seal the garage door. Looks like my garage floor is not perfectly flat.

Anyway mouse chewed most of the seal that I just added. But he fell hard for the peanut butter.

So I have some new garage door bottom seal on order that can seal 2" plus an air tube inside the seal fold that you cap with plugs. But would prefer not to install the new stuff and have mouse chew it up. It's $2.50/ ft.



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Poor lil deer mouse. NOT! Never seen a plastic snap trap before. TOM Kats are Chinese , but they're still wood!
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A little late for you but it might help someone else. I had a similar problem, not as bad, and made a mouse trap from a 5 gallon wallpaper paste bucket. It worked better than glue strips, humane traps, and snap traps, all baited with peanut butter. I took a small plastic peanut bottle and drilled a hole dead center in the top and bottom, then drilled two holes about 4" down from the rim of the bucket. I used a welding rod to suspend the bottle, and cut a slot for a ramp which was set about 2" away from the peanut bottle and above it by about an inch. Basically the mouse has to jump for it. The thing spins like it has ball bearings. I baited it with peanut butter. It will catch several mice. You can put a few inches of water in it, anti-freeze if you can't tend to the trap every day and are concerned with the water freezing,. Or leave it w/o water and release them if you choose. A 5 gallon joint compound bucket will work, the paste buckets I have are a little deeper, so water is not needed. From what I've been told antifreeze is a quicker kill than water, and they won't decompose and stink as quickly.

You put it against a wall, with the ramp alongside the wall, they run along the corners formed where the walls meet the floor. If the garage is empty you can put it against the wall with two ramps.

I stole the idea years ago when the dead end I live on had a rat problem because the village cheaped out and didn't use rat poison in the creek. The village used a 55 gallon drum with water with the same design and caught quite a few stragglers after they put out poison.

It took all of about 10 minutes to build, including digging out some tools for drilling and cutting.

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Don't remember where I grabbed this picture (not mine), but I got a good chuckle out of it. Have no idea of its efficacy (wouldn't it just trip a breaker?), but it struck me as being pretty clever.

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OMG, hahahahahahah that's the best mouse trap I've ever seen.

I'm currently renting a log home in PA. The mice have decided they like my home. One night, I felt a mouse scratching on my back while I slept. Trying to climb up on me I guess. The covers flew off, that was war. The next day, I caught 3 of them immediately and 2 more a bit later on.
 
They can be challenging to get rid of.
What helps is that their stupid. Their brains don't evolve and adapt to hazards.

I always had mice under the concrete slab at my front door.
Last two Weeks I trapped six of them. Using plastic traps with peanut butter.
To solve problem, I added more dirt along the side of walkway so they can't easily burrow under concrete.

If their getting IN your garage, try and trap them outside.
1) Get rid of any Bird-Feeders
2) Discard any objects in your yard they may hid under
3) Set out traps and ALWAYS maintain with fresh bait.
 
What brand of seal did you get? I have the gab issue too.

Northshorecommercialdoor.com has a rodent proof seal that interests me.. Just not sure on the gab coverage.
 
I ordered the seal from northshorecommercialdoor. It's $2.50 a foot and fits in the normal T track. That seal appears to cover a gap up to 2". That was before I saw the mouse chewing. Now thinking of getting the rodent proof seal.

That company seems to have a wide variety of bottom seals to seal up to almost 3" gap. Even an air be bladder you slide in the seal and then blow it up.

I also had a garage door company come and adjust my door a little so it was hitting the floor as flat as it could.
 
Catching them is not the problem. The plastic mouse traps work fine (mostly)..

But I do not want them chewing the bottom seal to get in.

Not sure how a mouse thinks or smells. Did the mouse smell peanut butter from outside the garage and chew the garage door seal to get in and get some yummy peanut butter? Or did he chew to get warm and then found the peanut butter.

If the garage door was perfectly sealed would the mouse have attempted. The seal was not 100% and the mouse made the space larger and then climbed in.

They sell garage door seal with an anti-rodent lining. But the seal I have on order should seal better.
 
I'm interested in how the new seal works for you. As far as the traps, you had much better luck than I did. I was dealing with Houdini, but he didn't escape the bucket trap.
 
Originally Posted by demarpaint
A little late for you but it might help someone else. I had a similar problem, not as bad, and made a mouse trap from a 5 gallon wallpaper paste bucket. It worked better than glue strips, humane traps, and snap traps, all baited with peanut butter. I took a small plastic peanut bottle and drilled a hole dead center in the top and bottom, then drilled two holes about 4" down from the rim of the bucket. I used a welding rod to suspend the bottle, and cut a slot for a ramp which was set about 2" away from the peanut bottle and above it by about an inch. Basically the mouse has to jump for it. The thing spins like it has ball bearings. I baited it with peanut butter. It will catch several mice. You can put a few inches of water in it, anti-freeze if you can't tend to the trap every day and are concerned with the water freezing,. Or leave it w/o water and release them if you choose. A 5 gallon joint compound bucket will work, the paste buckets I have are a little deeper, so water is not needed. From what I've been told antifreeze is a quicker kill than water, and they won't decompose and stink as quickly.

You put it against a wall, with the ramp alongside the wall, they run along the corners formed where the walls meet the floor. If the garage is empty you can put it against the wall with two ramps.

I stole the idea years ago when the dead end I live on had a rat problem because the village cheaped out and didn't use rat poison in the creek. The village used a 55 gallon drum with water with the same design and caught quite a few stragglers after they put out poison.

It took all of about 10 minutes to build, including digging out some tools for drilling and cutting.

Very nice. I use the bucket without the wheel. its pretty effective. But i think the wheel will make it even better. Thanks for the tip!
 
Mice are always out exploring and prefer to travel along (the bottom of) walls (may give them a sense of security).
If you use a 'snap type' trap, place it along the wall.
 
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