Mice are NOT nice

I see from some of the other threads that many of our group have had problems with mice recently. I can't believe they actually get into the winter sowing jugs, too.

Julie and I had very serious problems with mice in our greenhouses last year. They ate many of her sprouted seedlings and they decimated my sweet corn starts which I had to replant three times. The problem with the greenhouses is that they have vents that mice and slugs can both use for entrance.

I think the mice population has diminished a bit this year, but we should still be on guard.

I found that the best counter-attack last year was using old fashioned traps baited with peanut butter. I plan to start setting traps again in the very near future.

Anyone else have success defeating these critters?
Please also share where you found your plants to be surprisingly vulnerable. Forewarned is forearmed!

Get a cat or two. Cats = 0 mice!

I was on the daylily forum reading and they were talking about Maine Coon cats. They are really great looking cats. Never heard of them before. They can weigh up to 12 lb.
I would like one but the dogs here think cats are a toy and DH hates them. So will have to pass.

I had such and issue that I ended up building boxes with hinged lids for my seedlings. They have wire screen on the top and the bottom. The boxes are 4ft wide, 30" long and 12" tall. It made such a huge difference that I'm planning on building more this year.

I also have dogs who are not cat-friendly. Would also love to have a couple out-of-doors but that usually spells doom for them.

My fuzz nuggets keep the mouse population at zero between naps.

My two very old cats couldn't catch a mouse if it ran up and bit their noses.

I'm terrified of mice---shouldn't be, but am. Husband is terrified of spiders, I'm not. He catches the mice, I take care of the spiders. Planning to get a greenhouse in a few years. I never considered that mice would enter the greenhouse, but that makes sense. Didn't know they would eat seedlings. Loathsome creatures! That would frustrate me so much. Getting chickens this spring, so I know mice and rats (even scarier to me), could become a problem. Nervous about it, but want my chickens more than my nerves stopping me.

I have a greenhouse and even before we got the cat, I never noticed any mice or rats in it. I did seeds in there for at least one or two seasons before we got the cat.

if you get chickens, rats will come. It's a given.

My husband says he's seen evidence of rats tunneling around one of our chicken coops. However I have never seen a rat out there. A friend who doesn't have a mouser says she has rats in her coop every day.

We got our cat from freecycle and he was a mouser before we got him. We were specifically going for a mouser. He's a saavy hunter and has avoided the owl that used to live on our property as well as all other cat predators (coyotes and such). He's a scrappy little thing. And very curious. Twice he's disappeared for 2 or 3 days and then come home starving. Pretty sure he gets locked in a neighbors garage for the weekend or something. Whenever we can't find him, we open all our doors to start with. That usually turns him up. He's snoozing on my bed right now. Looks like an innocent angel instead of the neighborhood terror that he truly is.

The only good thing about my neighbor dog, Rat Boy (my name for him), is that he does indeed catch small burrowing creatures. He's one of those small rat/russell/something terriers, which I am not fond of. And, curiously, he has taught my boxer mix to hunt as well, who looks rather ridiculous with her square nose in a hole -- but she has caught her share of critters as well, so all is good. I did find some rootless pasque flowers last weekend, and am hoping I do not have the dreaded voles that seem to plague so many of you.

We also always have one or two barn cats which helps with small mammal control.

Feisty is maine coon. She is a large girl with lots of fur. She would love to catch mice, but she is not allowed outdoors as her hair gets matted and leaves get stuck in it. :)

My cats are 17 and 18 years old, and the most energy they expend is jumping up on the bed to nap. Their names are Flea and Myrtle - neither of which was bestowed upon them by me. Funny the things you are left to care for when kids go off to college and then begin their adult lives.......

Yikes, isn't that old for cats? Mine is 13 and I thought she was in her twilight years. Maybe not, huh? How long do they live?

BeaHive,
Great picture of you cat. Do the Maine Coon cats really have a different personality than the other breeds. More like dogs, I thought I read this some were.
Anyway yours is beautiful.

CATS CAN LIVE TWENTY YEARS OR SO. MINE WILL BE18 THIS APRIL

Yeah, I think cats live a lot longer than dogs!

I think the coons are smarter than other cats I have had.She is smarter than my 2 chihuahua's, but that is not saying much. She is very sweet most of the time, but can be feisty sometimes, thus her name. Prior to Feisty, I had a calico who lived to 22 years. Feisty now lives with my daughter as my allergies were going crazy with her fur. Wish there was a hypo-allergenic cat with fir. Those bald ones are not to attactive!

Posted this one before but this one was taken as she was hiding from me between to dog beds that were on top of the washing machine. Took me forever to find her!! I am sure she had a good laugh as I must have passed her numerous time while looking for her!! Little stinker!!

Aren't cats funny? I can just picture her hiding and laughing to herself as you passed. What a little princess.

Cats are very funny. Happy that my daughter is moving back to town next month as she is now a head chef at a new restaurant in town. Early & very long days for her...and Feisty will be just a few blocks away so I can take a walk and visit her, but leave the hair at my daughters home!! Best of both worlds!

I would use packing tape on the floor, on the posts and on the areas the they could travel. Put hot pepper on all of the surfaces and they will leave your nursery. I stapel the non-sticky surfaces together and then staple the stickys to the surface. Mice hate sticky and more important they remember pepper on their feet. Cats are my source too but the real way with hunting dogs is to get a Jack Russell terrier to stop the movement of anything that crawls, jumps, or moves. Give me a call Julie and I will get you the easiest mellow JRT.