Field mice taking over my shop

I live in the country. This is the worst year yet for field mice moving in my shop. I've tried traps, repellent(peppermint and cinnamon oil). I've cleaned, tried sealing every opening around the shop. I have the mouseblocker pro advertised on car shows. They run right by it. I have poison, have not resorted to it don't like the dead mouse smell, but I think I am to that point. I have rat snakes around, but they can only eat so much, LOL. Help!!!!

If you can stand them, cats will kill way more than they will eat.

Sprinkle crushed bay leaves around where you see them. That will get rid of them.

Don't mind cats. Actually thought about it. Our local shelter has a barn cat program. Have not tried bay leaves, may try that.

A cat, or better yet get a snake. I found a snake skin in a rock wall on the edge of my property that must have been 7' long, so he/she's definitely eating good. My wife wasn't too keen on the idea I let the snake go but snakes, possums, and spiders are my kinda cohabitants.

We've had a few cats over the years for the mice, no other method I used to control the mice worked as good as cats.. We had a young male that ran away to the neighbors, picked fights with everything. Old male cat, great cat for indoors and outdoors, went missing one night when the coyotes were around. The best cat is the cat we've had for about 4 years now, younger female long hair. She comes in at night but prowls the yard during the day. She has decimated the local mouse population, now she is after gophers, weasels, birds and what not. The size of the stuff she can kill is pretty shocking.

I don't see mice too often, but my mouser has killed a few mice, rats, birds and even eaten scorpions for a snack. She is a German Shepard and not much gets past her.

female cats are the best mousers

I work and have my cars in a huge old barn. Mice are a constant problem. But then so are squirrels and dirt daubers. I do the best that I can to keep the mouse population down, but it is a constant battle. The cat thing is a non starter for us. They just kill anything and everything that they come across. When they bring the crippled baby bunnies up to the house, or kill a chipmunk, my wife cries. It is just too much for her in order for me to control the mice in the barn. So, I have to eliminate the cats and control the mice. The cats are a larger target, so they are not a problem. The wife feeds the little colored birds, and chipmunks, and bunnies. We even have flying squirrels now that the cars are gone. All that and mice, too. But no cats.

That's the problem with cats, they're killers. They kill everything. I hate mice and would rather have a snake around than a mouse.

BTW traps with peanut butter work great, it that don't catch them put a piece of bacon on the trap.

I agree with justinp61 Peanut Butter in the traps. Has always worked like a siren song for mice.

A guy named Shawn Woods has a Utube channel where all he does is test mouse traps. The best he's found is this one available on Amazon. American made, but beware Chinese knock-offs.

I like the idea of the buckets with a ramp and a rod, where the mice climb up the ramp, stroll out the rod, it rotates, they fall in the water in the bottom of the bucket and drown.
I had problems with mice getting under my hood of my daily driver after "work from home" began last year with the pandemic. I tried everything to get repel or kill the mice. I put peanut butter on a mousetrap and the little buggers somehow where managing to eat the peanut butter off the trigger without snapping the trap. A few times the trap was snapped but no mouse? I also tried those sticky sheets and they were managing to eat the seeds and peanut butter I put in the middle of the sheet without getting caught. They even had the nerve to chew up the sheets leaving scraps of the paper under my hood. One time I opened the hood to find the bait gone off the sheet and a bunch of mouse hair stuck in the stickum on the sheet, somehow the sob managed to get himself free after getting stuck!

long story but had pretty good luck with these.AMAZON LINKY

You might also look a bit harder to find out how they are gaining access. has to be openings somewhere

Tractor Supply has a peanut flavored poison bait. They work real well! They drive the mouse out in search of water. The poison bait comes in a gallon bucket.

You can also look at this system -

https://www.acehardware.com/departm...OCDYLX08XkaAumIEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Here's an elaboration on the "ramp and bucket" trap:


5 gallon plastic bucket, drill two holes across from each other about an inch or so below the top.

Drill a hole in the bottom of a water bottle.
Slide a dowel through the bottle and through the holes in the bucket.
Put a couple inches of water in the bucket. Cold weather, add anti-freeze.
Prop a board from the floor up to the top of the bucket.

The mice walk out on the dowel, when they go to get on the bottle it will spin them into the water. Use a slotted scoop, like used for cat litter, to scoop them out.
They generally don't stink because they are in the water. I hate poison, as they go off to die in places that you can't find them and they stink the place up.
Relatively humane, too. Drowning can't be fun but it's not like being glued to a board and left to squirm until you die.

This has worked really, really well for me.

Now if only there was a trap like that for feral cats

The problem with poison is if the mice leave and haven’t died yet, you wind up poisoning other creatures that feed on them: snakes, owls, hawks, foxes, etc.. Please use traps or the bucket idea. Cats are good; they need homes too.

And, when you don't need them anymore, you can sell them to a Chinese restaurant.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I ordered a couple of the US made bucket traps. I will give them a few days and report back. I have been sealing up holes also with steel wool and expanding foam. Around pipes, etc. maybe slow them down.

I have been told repeatedly that Tootsie Rolls make the best bait for snap traps. The mice cannot resist chocolate, the Tootsie Roll is much harder to get off than peanut butter or hot dog, and the Tootsie Roll lasts a long time. Another hint is to put the baited end near to the wall. That way a mouse that crawls across the bail won't just get flung off.

Yep^ I've been told mice can't see very well so they always run near the walls. I have a couple snap traps outside my house with that end against the wall....catch a couple here and there....I don't even bait the traps!

D-Con

I second the bucket traps. If you search youtube - there is a guy that tests all different traps. The bucket trapdoor and tightrope roller work amazing. I'm afraid of the dogs finding poison or a poisoned mouse. We have a cat but he's like 16 now and apparently retired.

I forgot to mention the bait - on the bucket trap spread peanut butter on the water bottle

That’s the best thing about cats! They have a territory, they patrol it regularly and absolutely no trespassing allowed. Every once in a while we’ll get a field mouse in the house but the house cats are too well fed to be much use. They just have a big old time playing with them. The bit that annoys me the most is when they won’t let me have the mouse because they know I’ll just toss their toy in the yard.

Peanut butter in a cheap plastic snap trap works great. These things have hair triggers and never miss:

https://www.tomcatbrand.com/en-us/products/mice/tomcat-mouse-snap-traps

We have 12 of these things spread around in the equipment shed, garage and attic. They work really well.

Train your puppy. I have a little beagle/mix that has become a pretty good mouser. She just bats them with her paw and its lights out for furry pests. I know she has brought me at least three in the fast few months. Of course the mice might have been running in terror from the copperhead I had out front in the bushes a few weeks ago.
Todd

My son has a few chickens on his farm that d-e-s-t-r-o-y mice when they see them. Talk about attacking their prey!

Cats are an invasive, introduced species to North America and native species have no natural defenses against them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_predation_on_wildlife

Cat predation on wildlife is the result of the natural instincts and behavior of both feral and domesticated cats to hunt small prey, including wildlife. Some people view this as a desirable phenomenon, such as in the case of barn cats and other cats kept for the intended purpose of pest control; however, contrary to popular belief, there is no scientific evidence that cats are an effective means of rodent control, and ecologists oppose their use for this purpose because of the disproportionate harm they do to beneficial native wildlife. As an invasive species[1] and superpredator,[2] they do considerable ecological damage.[2] In Australia, hunting by cats helped to drive at least 20 native mammals to extinction,[3] and continues to threaten at least 124 more.[3] Their introduction has caused the extinction of at least 33 endemic species on islands throughout the world.[2] Feral and domestic cats kill billions of birds in the United States every year, where songbird populations continue to decline.[4]

Terriers are great too, if you want a dog. I really enjoy watching the vids on youtube when they take the dogs to a farm overrun with rats/mice.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlKc6y-zehQ&t=308s

And 99% of all species that ever existed are extinct, one might say that is the normal course of events.

I don't really like cats all that much and cannot stand people who have "outside cats" because their damned cats do not stay on their property. I catch a cat on my property, they go away.

While basically true, you're first sentence is absent a lot of pertinent facts. And I resemble your next two sentences.

Well, I didn't want to write a book about it, lol.

Cats kill way more birds than windmills but you don't see ecoweenies wanting to ban cats.

My 2 cats (brothers..one of which passed away 4 years ago) have killed many mice, and other creatures...including birds, voles, baby rabbits, and I've even found a mauled bat. They ate none of their kills, that i know of... It was all fun for them

While I can see where this is pretty well true and I can't argue against it.

I will say that Blonde, Brown and Red Haired women are also an invasive species in North America. They, like cats, are never happy with the room temperature, will develop an attitude problem and not tell you why, they are constantly hungry and their hair is everywhere. Feral and domestic women have cost men trillions of dollars in damages, especially when Kohl's has a sale.

Still, I think they are worth it. LOL

So black-haired women are ok?

If you have cars stored there, put some tin cans with one end cut off over the tail pipes, block off any air cleaner snorkels and close vents.
I like the old fashoned victor traps with the metal tab, not the cheese looking pad, bait with peanut butter, and put dry flour on a couple. Quicker than drowning.

Totally agree with blocking off the exhaust and intake. I remember one of my friends firing up his A12 car in the spring. It lit and then sounded 'funny' so he romped on it hard and it was normal. Went to the rear of the car and the quonset wall had the remains of dead baby mice and mice nest crap splattered all over the wall from both exhausts.

I stuff my exhaust tips with dryer sheets, then cover them up with heavy plastic sandwich bags, secured with rubber bands. Never a problem with anything getting inside my exhaust.

Get some scorpions, its rare I see one (a mouse) but when I do its either a meal or soon to be one. It funny to see a mouse or big spider running hard then you see whats behind it.

Oh yeah, that's what I want to see; my dog playing with a scorpion. And then the wife sees one. About that time, mice would be the least of my problems.