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I've got mice in my garage. As I have to store car seats, kid toys, and other things I don't want doused with mouse wastes, I'm looking for a way to drive them out, short of getting a garage cat. Any "scarecrows" or other non-lethal ways of driving them off? We have often used and heard of others successfully using Predator Urine to rid their yards, garages, etc. of varmints! We are fortunate that our local hardware store carries these products but if yours does not here is the Web Site: predatorpee.com They seem like nice people and in fact referred us to a local distributor thus saving shipping costs! Get a cat, the living mousetrap. The cat will never get tired of going out into the garage to find mice. The ones she kills, she will bring to you and the ones she doesn't will have run off and stayed off, for the smell of cat will keep them away. On top of this expert 'round the clock service you will have a barrel of fun playing with the cat indoors. You will hardly even notice the cat taking over your life and your home. By then you will not care. Tip: Get your mouser at a local animal shelter. Ours had to put down 600 unwanted cats last month but gives coupons for vet services for those who are adopted. This solution does work, and it is short of getting a cat. Get some USED kitty littler from a friend's cat. place it in small tubs (margarine) in several places around the garage. Mice think "smell like cat--must be a cat". Same with gophers pour it down the hole. Wear gloves and do not use if you are expecting. The best solution for getting rid of mice is to get rid of their food source. Find out what is attracting the mice to the garage and get rid of it or seal it up. We had a mouse problem in our home and did this. We put our garbage in a sealed container, wiped up any food spills, sealed up pet food, and didn't leave food sitting out. Our mouse problem disappeared! I use this method and it keeps my garage completely clear of all living creatures. Buy a net laundry bag for washing nylons and other delicate fabrics at Wal Mart. Buy 5 boxes of moth balls. Put them in the bag and hang it in your garage near the door. That's all there is to it. I use this in my out building and in the storage facility that I rent. No bugs, no mice, and no birds. To prevent mice from gaining entry to your garage, stop up any openings (i.e., around door frames, holes in baseboards, etc) with steel wood pads. Mice will not chew through these! I thought up a way to help my mother with her mouse problem, and it worked pretty good, without killing the mice. Build a "pit trap." You need a narrow,deep, smooth sided container- a five gallon bucket might work, but make sure it has no scratches on the inside walls. You place a ramp up to the lip of the bucket and place some sort of smelly bait (peanut butter, cheese) in the bottom. It works best if you have some sort of lid on the bucket with a hole about 3 inches in diameter that the mice can drop down through, as mice can jump rather high. This way, they will hit the lid when trying to leap out. If the bucket has any scratches or grooves on the inside, they mice will be able to climb out. To release them, you simply turn the bucket on its side with the hole at the bottom. Make sure you are some distance from your house (and anyone else's) when you release them, or they may move right back in! Depending on your mouse problem, you may have to do this several times. This trick works great and won't kill the mice: sprinkle ground cayenne around the garage (inside & out), and especially near entry holes. The critters can't stand the stuff! Having lived on dairies and in rural areas for all of my adult life, I have had to deal with mice on occassion. I found my answer in a product called *Just One Bite*. I have never in the years I've used it had a mouse die in the house. I put the pellets out in jar lids and within 2 or 3 days the mice are gone. I can't recommend it highly enough! Mice hate the scent of peppermint extract. Simply sprinkle *pure* peppermint extract on the items in your garage you don't want the mice in or on. A friend of mine has used this in the interior of his antique car as well as on it's upholstery and never had a problem. It needs to be repeated monthly. Do you have a time or money saving idea that wasn't included in this article? Please send it to tips @stretcher.com. We get the best ideas from our readers! If you liked this article sign up for our free eNewsletter Surviving Tough Times Do it today and we'll give you our ebook featuring over 200 ways to save on groceries (a $19.95 value). Follow The Dollar Stretcher on Twitter. |
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