hello - i have finally purchased my country cottage :) - i have no desire to keep a cat on my property and have begun researching mice deterrents - so far i have found suggestions of mint, mothballs, cedar chips, and "bounce" dryer sheets --------- anyone else have any experience to share - this is for my barn - thanks -

-- jane harlow (jane@tiw.net), November 14, 2001

Answers

I have tried a few "repellant" methods and none worked. I know you don't want a cat but unless you do serious trapping its the easiest way to rid yourself of mice in my opinion. Good luck and I hope you foind the method thats right for you.

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), November 14, 2001.

You might try releasing a few black rat snakes into the barn. If you have a local zoo, they might even give you some. (Our zoo gets them from city people trying to be kind to the snakes.) One snake won't eat as much as one cat, but if you are set against cats...

-- michelle (nospam@please.com), November 14, 2001.

You want the cat! Even if you dont want a cat there will be cats adopt you.

All your deterrents are just a stop gap to keep them out. If there is food and/or shelter you cant keep the alive and keep them out.

-- Gary (gws@redbird.net), November 14, 2001.

If you have a barn, it is a strong likelihood that you will acquire cats whether you want them or not. People see a barn and think that's a good place to dump their unwanted animals, especially cats. You might get some dogs dumped too.

You might check out the recent "Rat" threads for trapping suggestions.

If she plans to keep chickens in the future, is it smart to put snakes in the barn? Won't they move on to chicken eggs when the mouse supplie diminishes?

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), November 14, 2001.

I like the snake idea. if i didn't have chickens i would consider a snake.

I've also heard that the mouse poison, One Bite, works really good.

-- Buk Buk (bukabuk@homail.com), November 14, 2001.

How about a Rat Terrier (dog), they might keep the cat AND the mouse AND the snake population down. Good Luck!

-- cowgirlone (cowgirlone47@hotmail.com), November 14, 2001.

I wouldn't be too concerned about mice in the barn. I mean, they're just mice,not rats. If you are worried about grain storage, you have to keep it enclosed because of birds, anyway, so it isn't much difference to keep it mice proof. As for hay, yes, they can eat the strings off of small square bales but you have to have a lot of hay stored to really attract them in to do major damage.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), November 14, 2001.

Hi Jane,

All the info so far is great. We found with poisons you have to be very careful. Not only do other critters try to snack on them and die, but the rats and mice wise up after a day or so and won't eat it any more. There are traps. We always tied the bait in a piece of cloth and tied it on so they couldn't steal it without getting caught. None the less, they are crafty! I'm afraid the others are right and you will probably inherit some cats inspite of not wanting them. Nice thing about many barn cats is they want nothing to do with you, so will happily catch your rodents and hide from you! The downside, they do have babies! We now have 3 fixed cats who are on rodent patrol, they fend off roaming wanderers, and live in harmony with all our other critters! Darlene

-- Darlene in W WA (tomdarsavy@cs.com), November 14, 2001.