Ayesha, Dan and Tom’s comments are right on the money. Ultrasonic devices are not effective in the least. Cat’s are not worth the return – they can cause more damage than the mice, added to your concern that the cats would be poisoned. (I lived in a duplex with mice and cats and a bunch of artists. One was a very good potter. The cats made a habit of knocking down her gorgeous plates and breaking them while they chased the mice. The mice would quickly duck into cupboards and into the other apartment escaping disaster).
Generally mice move around the perimeters – the walls, along the edges of the cabinets, under shelves (they are smart and wily). The best way to trap them is with snap traps. Place the business end of the trap perpendicular to the wall. There are many things you can bait with- peanut butter, chocolate (they love chocolate – we used Hershey kisses), nesting material. Make sure the trigger is sensitive. If the mice get wise – change up the bait. If they jump over the trap place two traps together. Use a UV light to identify trails. They urinate as they run and the urine fluoresces under UV. This can help you track where they are getting in. Since you do not have control of the adjacent spaces, look for holes into your space – along the walls., floors and ceiling (especially if it is a drop ceiling. Block all holes. Do an in depth cleaning of the space – as much as you can. Get rid of as much clutter as possible. If you have not banned all food and drink from storage then do so. Take a look at the Museum Pest Network web site: MuseumPests.net Finally – I usually do not do this, but I teach 2 integrated pest management courses through Museum Study LLC. Museum Study Introduction to Integrated Pest Management<https://www.museumstudy.com/introduction-to-integrated-pest-management> Check them out, we talk a lot about mice in the classes. Gretchen Anderson Conservator Carnegie Museum of Natural History From: pestlist@googlegroups.com <pestlist@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Dan Wixted Sent: Monday, November 14, 2022 7:26 AM To: pestlist@googlegroups.com Subject: [PestList] RE: Question about mice CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Ayesha, I’m unaware of any evidence that ultrasonic devices repel rodents. I’ve even seen footage of a mouse happily sitting on one. Cats are insufficient for rodent control. They might catch some who live on the periphery of good habitat, but they don’t usually get to the heart of the problem. Try setting up a trail cam to see where they’re getting into your space and then try to exclude them. Dan Wixted Extension Support Specialist Cornell Cooperative Extension Pesticide Safety Education Program 135 CALS Surge Facility 525 Tower Road Ithaca, NY 14850 psep.cce.cornell.edu<http://psep.cce.cornell.edu/> dj...@cornell.edu<mailto:dj...@cornell.edu> 607-255-7525 Cornell Cooperative Extension is an equal opportunity, affirmative action educator and employer From: pestlist@googlegroups.com<mailto:pestlist@googlegroups.com> <pestlist@googlegroups.com<mailto:pestlist@googlegroups.com>> On Behalf Of Ayesha Fuentes Sent: Monday, November 14, 2022 5:39 AM To: pestlist@googlegroups.com<mailto:pestlist@googlegroups.com> Subject: [PestList] Question about mice Hello all I’m working as part of a moves project at the moment and we’re having a dramatic increase in mice activity in our collections space recently. We think it’s related to works in another part of the building and we know the storage space next door has a lot of mice too. We’re working on moving out of the building as soon as possible (another 2-3 years) but were wondering in the meantime if anyone has any successful strategies for discouraging mice from getting into collections. We’ve found only one or two nibbled objects but there has been a lot of evidence of nesting, especially on lower shelves. We thought about bringing a cat in but next door has been using poison on their mice; we’re not super keen on cleaning up dead mice either. Has anyone used one of those ultrasonic repellents? Any suggestions are welcome, Ayesha. -- Dr Ayesha Fuentes Isaac Newton Trust Research Associate in Conservation Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology University of Cambridge -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MuseumPests" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pestlist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<mailto:pestlist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. 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