Not entirely sure why, but we’ve experienced a serious mouse overpopulation problem in the barn this spring. A few mice, I don’t mind, but they are everywhere. I planned to stuff as many 5+ foot black snakes as I could find on the property into all the dark recesses of the barn, but I haven’t found any snakes (yet!) this season.
Soooo, I did a little research. Some people swear by the high(er) technology electronic traps that zap and immediately dispatch the mice, so I found a higher rated model on Amazon and ordered two at about $40 a pop. Just for grins, I also bought one of those “walk the plank” traps.
After about 2 days of evaluation, I pulled the two electronic traps out of the barn and put them in the basement. If they catch one mouse each per month, I’ll be happy. As demonstrated in this video, I don’t really like their design, and will be writing a critical product review on Amazon soon.
Now, the WTP trap is simply amazing in terms of effectiveness. The single plank trap in the barn caught 16 mice in one day! I think poor Hunter is getting tired of dispatching mice. That might be a good thing, because she’s been hunting mice in and around the barn all day, every day, for about 2 months now. Drives me nuts. She’s constantly under foot … chasing some prick mouse. Knocked me off my feet once. Tripped over her twice. THAT’s why the mice have to GO!
We’re dispatching the mice in the same general spot, and the local hawks, ravens, and turkey vultures have seemingly locked in a GPS waypoint, because they’re cleaning up all the mice out of the field.
I call that a win-win-win-win-win. Everybody (chickens, Hunter, me, local birds of prey, …) wins, except the mice. But, that’s what they get for being such vermin. 😉
2018.05.08 UPDATE …
See … I try to give the mice a sporting chance to survive.