Little Feet
If you're lucky, you don't spend a lot of time thinking about mousetraps. But the unusually mild weather earlier this winter had one undesirable side-effect -- the local mouse populations seemed to boom. So when the weather did get cold, lots of people in southern Maine started getting some unwelcome tiny visitors -- mice."The mild early winter and the lack of snow cover allowed them to thrive, so we're seeing larger populations than usual and getting more calls than usual," said Mike Peaslee, technical manager for Modern Pest Services, which is based in Brunswick and has locations throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. "I've been in my house (in South Portland) for 10 years and never had mice, but this year I've got some nesting under the shingles."
Modern Pest has an array of ways to kill mice, including some poisons. But for people who don't want poisons in the house, they also have a variety of mousetraps that they'll set, and depending on the level of service you've purchased, come back and empty. The traps Modern uses help illustrate that manufacturers are always striving to build the proverbial better mousetrap. In a mousetrap they use that incorporates poison, for instance, the poison is in a solid chewable block. Peaslee said some store-bought poisons for mice come in pellet form, so loose pellets could be knocked loose into the home.
Another trap that Modern Pest uses is a little box with half-inch holes that resemble the holes mice bore into walls. Once the mouse enters this trap, there is a spring-loaded revolving door that pushes the mouse into a holding area. So the trap can catch several mice before it has to be emptied. Peaslee says it's not likely any mouse can stay alive for very long in a trap.
"Mice generate a small amount of heat, so they really need to remain active to stay alive," said Peaslee. "Mice also are very curious, and will check out things that are new to them or new to their area." They are always looking for nesting materials, too. So if you want to bait a trap, say the old-fashioned snapping bar kind, you could use food they like, such as peanut butter, oats or chocolate. Or you could use things that look like nesting materials, such as dental floss. If you look around online or in stores, you'll find there's a pretty wide variety of mousetraps available these days. Yes, the standard wood slab with a metal spring-activated bar is still available, but so are mousetraps that use glue, revolving doors, electric shocks and sound waves. One of the larger makers of mousetraps, a Pennsylvania-based brand called Victor, has a very detailed Web site with the specifics, instructions and prices of lots of traps.
To see it, go online at www.victorpest.com.
NUMBER OF DESIGNS AVAILABLE
Here are some examples of the various types of mousetraps available today:
Electronic -- Usually a small box that the mouse enters and immediately encounters a high-voltage shock. A blinking light tells you if there's a mouse inside, then you just bring the box to the trash, flip open the lid and dispose. Usually costs $19.99 and up depending on the size.
Electronic -- Usually a small box that the mouse enters and immediately encounters a high-voltage shock. A blinking light tells you if there's a mouse inside, then you just bring the box to the trash, flip open the lid and dispose. Usually costs $19.99 and up depending on the size.
Glue -- These usually come in either little open trays or little covered cardboard boxes with a special nonpoisonous glue inside. The mouse gets stuck in the glue, then you throw the tray or box away. About $1 a piece for the trays and $5 for the boxes.
Covered Traps -- Works like the old-fashioned traps, but have a covering so you don't see the mouse. Victor makes one with a pop-up cover that clamps down after the mouse is caught.
Live Traps -- Some mouse experts would tell you that it's very hard to trap a mouse live, because depriving them of food for a period of time will kill them. But there are traps that just close once the mouse enters. So if you check them often enough, you might be able to return a live mouse to the outdoors.
Sound -- The Victor Sonic PestChaser features two speakers on a little stand that is supposed to produce a sound that repels mice.
Repeating Traps -- Large metal boxes with sort of a revolving door. Mouse enters and a spring-loaded paddle wheel pushes it into a holding area. Then another mouse enters, and the same thing happens.
For any trap to work, it has to be placed properly, said Peaslee. Mi0ce can enter a home through holes as small as a quarter-inch, and then generally travel through the home by following the holes used for plumping or heating pipes. And once they enter the interior of the home, they generally will be too afraid of people to cross an open room. They will generally run along a baseboard, which is the best place to put any trap, Peaslee said.
As far as preventing mice from entering your house, a good place to start is to fill up or cover up any holes in the walls for wires and plumbing and the like, as well as holes in your foundation. Keeping your house clean and your food in plastic containers are certainly good measures for prevention, but just because you have mice doesn't mean your house is messy, Peaslee said. "Mice are pretty opportunistic, and they'll find any little bit of food," he said. And how do you know if you have mice? Oh, you'll know. Peaslee said a mouse will leave 50 to 75 "droppings" in a typical 24-hour period. Common places for mice to live in a home are in the attic, near insulation, or in the basement.
Other than putting traps out, the main thing you can do is seal up your home as tight as possible, leaving no dime-sized holes for mice to enter, Peaslee said.
And it wouldn't hurt to wish for an early winter next year.
Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:
