bullsie
Well-Known Member
Just read your location and being this time of year, yep, most definitely mice!
The Case of the Mysterious Muncher
- Thread starter Gcroz
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FlowerFaerie
Guest
Set a couple of mousetraps with cheese or peanut butter. Now they should have a complete meal... and pay for it.
That would trap me too - cheese & peanut butter is a very nice combination. :drool:
John M
Orchid Addict
Well, it was my turn yesterday. I thought I'd managed to get through the fall without any mouse damage; but, as soon as I thought that....BAM! A Phrag. ecuadorense that I've been coaxing back to health suddenly had a leaf chewed off. The plant was only a single growth and only had about 5 leaves. I noticed that the leaf had been chewed off while I was watering on Monday......by the time I finished watering, I forgot about the plant and didn't set out any fresh traps. I spent the day in the house and finally remembered about the chewed plant mid evening. So, I went down to the greenhouse to set out some traps in the area where the plant was. TOO LATE! The mouse had come back already and chewed off the whole growth at the pot! I was so-ooooo angry! If only I hadn't forgotten about it for a few hours..... I set out 6 traps all around the area where the plant was. Today, I found one dead Field Mouse in one trap and the other traps had not been touched. I expected it to be a Field Mouse. The damage was so typical of what they do. Those ones don't take a nibble here and there, they chop down whole plants, especially anything with long, narrow, grass-like leaves. They love to destroy whole Phrags by cutting off virtually every leaf and hauling them away to build a nest.
My poor Phrag might die now; but, maybe not. The roots are still there and if there's enough rhizome, I might be lucky that it sends up a survival growth....if there is an untouched, dormant eye. Finger's crossed!
John, your not alone. I noticed a few spikes that were partially or totally gone. At first I blamed myself for being careless. I even thought, possible my lovely wife did it while trimming dead leaves, but as we all know it's those darn mice. I was also watering the greenhouse a couple of weeks ago and saw one of the mice. I didn't know what to do, so sprayed the water at it. Like that will do anything other then give him a cold bath. I also set out traps and poison. The next day in the same area I found one mouse in the trap. I thought I had it under control but noticed the poison missing. I haven't seen any more mice or any more damage (but did lose about 6 spikes) since the start. My question is, if one bite of the poison kills them, then where does all the poison disappear too?
Well, since you all figured it out, I have killed 5 mice in the greenhouse. Unfortunately, there is at least one mouse, probably more, which routinely gets the bait off the mouse trap without springing the mechanism. Now it's become all out vendetta in the greenhouse!
friend in orchid club had mysterious invaders chopping things off in his small greenhouse, and couldn't catch anything. he finally got some of those industrial strength sticky traps, and a few day later there were some reddish-brown hairs where a chipmunk had gotten partially stuck and managed to dislodge itself. it would sit in the aisle and watch mike as he was repotting plants at his bench. I think finally someone told him to remove all clutter against the outside of the greenhouse and it didn't come around after that
I had a very nice polystachya tayloriana that was quickly turning itself into a nice specimen, that I had placed on a deck railing years ago. one day, half of the plant was gone and a big hole in the media on one side of the pot; a squirrel had dug/chewed into the pot, and the plant was so insulted it curled up and died :fight: :sob:
I had a very nice polystachya tayloriana that was quickly turning itself into a nice specimen, that I had placed on a deck railing years ago. one day, half of the plant was gone and a big hole in the media on one side of the pot; a squirrel had dug/chewed into the pot, and the plant was so insulted it curled up and died
:fight: :sob:
Put the trap on a smooth plate of glass or ceramic. Their little feet won't have any grip when trying to move out. Works every time. :evil:
I don't know if I should be happy or sad. Caught another mouse this morning in a spring trap. This summer, I also had a chipmunk invade the greenhouse. I started noticing pots tore up and on their side. Especially, 2 inch seedlings. Lost a number of plants before I saw the little guy. I put out a small have a heart trap that I picked up at one of the big box stores. Laid a trail of nuts into it and had the little guy within 24 hours. I kept the trap set for a few more weeks but never got another one.
NYEric
Well-Known Member
One good thing about having cats!
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koshki
Guest
Without permission (
) my daughter came home with a fancy rat as a pet. She hid him in her room in a small cage for several days, until she felt sorry for it and asked me to get a larger cage for the varmint.I'm such a softy, I couldn't toss the critter out in the lake; instead I went to the pet store a dropped $100 on cage, food and toys for that goofy animal.
Ah, you ask, but what about my three cats? Well, those guys are ALL afraid of that goofy rat. They will occasionally sit and watch it in his cage, but if he is roaming around on the floor, they scoot.
So, I'm not convinced my cats would solve my rat problem!
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Marc
Guest
If you want something to take care of rats I can recomend a Dachshund or Dachshund Jack Russel crossbreed. My parents have two of them and the oldest of them has proven to be an excellent rat killer. Two times in a week or so it managed to kill a rat in the following way.
The oldest one searching like crazy through the garden and then standing still and barking at the door of the big shed in my parents backyard. I go there and as I open the door he charges in and before I even have fully openend I hear a loud squeeeek and as I turn the light on I see a rat on the floor twitching with a broken back. The dog sniffs the rat one more and looks at me then walks away.
The oldest one searching like crazy through the garden and then standing still and barking at the door of the big shed in my parents backyard. I go there and as I open the door he charges in and before I even have fully openend I hear a loud squeeeek and as I turn the light on I see a rat on the floor twitching with a broken back. The dog sniffs the rat one more and looks at me then walks away.
OK! Question from a cat person. What do you do with the dog once all the rats are dead? :evil:
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koshki
Guest
I may have to borrow my sister in law's dog!
We had a long haired dachshund when I was growing up, but I can't imagine she would have killed anything. Sweetest dog I ever knew...Mutzi.
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Eric Muehlbauer
Guest
My wife's cousin breeds wire haired dachsunds.....they're really cute.
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Marc
Guest
Can't help you with that, I'm a dog person and as a bonus I'm also allergic to cat ( or cat hair ) so I have no answer to your question.
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goldenrose
Guest
My dogs prefer bigger game, I'm not a cat person but refrained from chasing off the stray cat, which is now 2 but little rodents have disappeared!
Justin
Well-Known Member
They can transport the poison back to their nests. With the common household mouse poison they don't die immediately.
We've had lots of trouble with mice where we live, and traps were largely ineffectual.
I finally started putting out poison. Problem solved.
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koshki
Guest
I was thinking about this thread today, as I was watching The Green Mile!
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biothanasis
Guest
Be careful with poisons, as rodents in general get immune over the time...
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