Dealing with Mice Safely?

[Aquila]

I live in a fairly large apartment complex, on the bottom floor, my windows being at ground level. Mice are unavoidable, though I don't see them often, I know they're attracted to the bird food. I keep everything in tupperware, and try to keep around the cages and my kitchen area clean.

They don't seem to be attracted to the poison at all, and although I have used glue traps, that was a last resort, and I do not like using them at all. I've heard the sonic repellers are okay, until the mice figure it out, and I'd be concerned it'd bother the birds too. Snap traps work okay, but not great, again, I'm wary of having them around my birds just in case.

I know I need to get behind the oven to patch a hole, but that's going to be a big job for just me, though I already have a foam sealant and a wall patch kit ready (had it on hand for some other apartment repairs, since the maintenance crew is terrible.)

What are some other bird safe or relatively bird safe ways to deal with this annoying problem?

 

[Conuregirl]

i had this years ago in my old apartment. i moved my bird cages away from where i hsd seen the mice. also, i placed traps along the walls where they are likely to run. most of the things you are doing are really good. i don't have much advice to give but i really hope your problem gets better.

 

[Casey]

I saw one in the garage and put warfin poison down along walls about every 6 feet. After they eat it they usually go back outside after water and die.

My father has no pets so he places jar lids around his basement with antifreeze in them. The mice drink it because its sweet just like dogs & cats will drink it for that reason. He's not had mice in years.

 

[Kiwibird]

You can buy live traps for the mice. I'm not sure where you would release the mice you catch with the live trap (maybe a local park, far away from your apartment?), but if the bird accidentally got near the live trap, it wouldn't pose any kind of danger. Really, mice aren't going to pose a serious problem to your bird in the first place. Bars on modern bird cages are spaced too close together for mice to sneak through, and as long as you keep the fresh food sealed up, your bird isn't going to ever come in contact with a mouse or accidentally be exposed to their droppings. I would absolutely not use poison, nor the snap traps (I don't even want to think about a bird getting in one of those). Basically, unless you have a serious infestation, I wouldn't worry about the occasional mouse. The means to get rid of them are more dangerous to the bird than the mice themselves.

 

[MeganMango]

I would go for live traps. The poisons lead to an unstoppable, and excruciatingly slow and painful death. You do NOT want your bird to get into this. The sonic thingies work well, my parents have used them for years and not had any trouble.

 

[MollyGreenCheeks]

Use a mouse trap with peanut butter as the attractant. I've never seen a trap set with PB go more than 24 hours without catching a mouse unless of course there are no mice around to be caught.

 

[henpecked]

Everybody hates my suggestion, but it works great. Get a small corn snake. Turn it loose and it will find the mouse nest and eat them all. The ones that are left will leave. So will the snake after it's done. Corn snakes rock.

 

[MeganMango]

Everybody hates my suggestion, but it works great. Get a small corn snake. Turn it loose and it will find the mouse nest and eat them all. The ones that are left will leave. So will the snake after it's done. Corn snakes rock.

You have to live somewhere that the snake can actually survive on its own. I gets as low as -40 where I live, I could never do this.

 

[henpecked]

Yeah , i guess they're not native to Canada. How about a weasel or mink?

 

[MikeyTN]

Henpecked is all about natural solution! Unfortunately I hate snakes. Birds are part of their diet too, same with the other animals.....lol

 

[MeganMango]

How about a weasel or mink?

These will happily eat your birds, they are vicious hunters! A ferret will kill small animals for fun!

 

[Blue]

Yeah , i guess they're not native to Canada. How about a weasel or mink?

My mom has a fabric shop, which is surrounded by a hay field, so she gets mice... and occasionally a weasel (its so cute). One day she heard a splashing in the bathroom and the weasel was bathing in the toilet... so she had an all purpose weasel, pest control and toilet scrubber

 

[Aquila]

Well the poison I used was inside a little thing for the mice to get into, it actually just seemed to attract cockroaches. The same for the glue traps, they were inside a container like the ones we use at work. I seem to only have the problem during season changes, but I think once I seal up a few holes I should be alright, my only problem really stems from I share a wall with a utility closet, and I believe that's where they have gotten in (plus we used to have trash bins in the hallways, though they're gone now.)

 

[vicky2200]

Good luck. We have been having mice problems on and off for years. We cant figure out how they are getting in. Since we have birds and dogs, they can almost always find food. We have set traps. Traps with peanut butter, cheese, chocolate, crackers... you name it (BACON!)They don't care. I think we have got 2 or 3 in about the same amount of years. They have even set off the traps, magically didn't get killed, and ate the food! It was so bad that they were going IN the bird dishes and the birds got mad and were sitting on the dishes so they couldn't. Luckily, they seem to be leaving the inside of the bird cages alone this time. Those things that you plug into the wall that is supposed to make them leave didn't work. We tried peppermint oil and planting peppermint by the doors. I tried catching them to keep them as a pet. When they are this determined, the only thing that will get rid of them is to burn the house down ( I wish I was joking).

 

[ann]

i don't know how to get rid of them, but i know how to keep your pets safe from them. you can put the legs of the cage in small tubs of water so they cant climb into the cage. but i would leave a way for them to escape the water so they don't drown. i just think mice are so cute, i used to have pet mice lol, so i wouldn't want them to drown. you can try catch and release traps as kiwibird mentioned. good luck!

 

[Thingamagigs]

There are only two ways to humanely trap mice and rats.

1. Snap traps are the fastest way to kill a mouse/rat. Invest in a high quality reusable one that allows you to not have to touch the mouse. Most mice will be caught over the head (an instant death) or over the back (not as instant but still a faster death than poisoning!!!!!!!). There are also small boxes you can get that you can put the snap traps in that will allow the trap to work but limit their danger.

2. Humane traps are not only a humane and kind method, but are safe for other animals in your house or even natives you may not even know are lurking around that you might be devastated if you killed. This is the method I use, including the following disposal method.
To ethically dispose of mice or rats caught in humane traps (releasing them just moves them and depending on where you release they may be back!), gassing is the most humane method. A mouse can be emptied from a humane trap into a X-LARGE zip seal bag. Snap the bag closed leaving enough room for a straw to be slipped in and limit the amount of "air" in the bag. Pop the straw on the end of a soda stream and slowly release one large squirt as to not excessively frighten the mouse. Seal the bag up completely and allow to sit for a minute. The mouse will slowly become unconscious. Once the mouse is unconscious, use one more squirt into the bag and then seal up for good and leave it. The mouse should slip away within another minute or two. The mouse can then be disposed of in the bag eliminating both cruelty and the need to touch the animal.

I believe all animals, no matter WHAT they are... deserve to be treated with respect, even when we need to control their numbers. Poisoning ensures a slow and painful death and can be ingested by pets or natives. I would never ever condone poisoning and frankly no matter how disgusted you are by the creatures, there is no reason for it what so ever. I think it really speaks to the persons character when they are happy to allow another creature to suffer, no matter what that creature is. I don't mean to attack, just putting my opinion across.

 

[Remy]

What about the electric zappers? If you have mice (and not rats), most of the medium/larger birds wouldn't fit in them, so it would be less of a hazard for the birds. They are humane since they don't feel pain.

I had a hole in my bathroom that rats kept entering in. I tried to stink them out with repellent, but it stopped working. I tried plugging it up with aluminum foil, which didn't work. Eventually I got some heavy duty mesh, heavy duty clippers for said mesh, and a heavy duty stapler. I threw a bunch of stinky stuff in, and then stapled the heavy mesh on there. They haven't been in since! A couple weeks later, I heard one of the cats catch a rat in that vicinity, which also may have helped.

 

[Aquila]

Haven't ever tried the electric ones, not sure of the cost. I really need to get behind the stove, but like I said, it's a difficult task for a 23 year old female like myself to do without help. And I'm a little concerned what might be lurking behind there!

 

[MikeyTN]

When I used to live out in the country side, the moment it starts to get cold outside, here comes the mice getting into the house and we have absolutely no idea where they're getting in from. They were getting into my dog's food and they were going into my bird room which that was unacceptable since there were baby chicks that we can not risk them getting in with. We never poison as my dogs would catch mice and kill them. That's a risk if we were to poison them. We used mouse snap traps. They make them so cheap these days that they don't really work unless you tinker with them a bit. I had to use mouse trap for a school project while in elementary school and I learned on how to set it just right to make it snap. So that helped me using the snap trap as it works for me 100% of the time as we were catching mice left and right on a daily basis inside the house. You really don't want rats nor mice inside your house as they bring diseases and such, how the black plaque came about....They come in with fleas, they bite you and there it goes, same with squirrels and other similar....I've been watching Monsters Inside me, a couple got bit by fleas down in Texas and they contracted black plaque and the husband almost lost his life as the wife was saved early enough to pull through. He had to have his legs amputated because of it. They had squirrels around the property and they were the carriers....

 

[Thingamagigs]

What about the electric zappers? If you have mice (and not rats), most of the medium/larger birds wouldn't fit in them, so it would be less of a hazard for the birds. They are humane since they don't feel pain.

You obviously have not been electrocuted. It is very painful!!