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I've got one of two sheds that is prone to mice. Has anyone tried one of these, or similar rodent repellers with any success?
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I tried one when rats were getting in the attic. The rats were not disturbed, but I had to leave. I could hear it better than they could, apparently.
I suggest instead that you get one of these: -
We had a bunch of mice a few years ago. Now we keep a box of D-Con available for them. No problems since. If we get a mouse in the house, it's only a matter of a couple of days before he is no longer around.
EdDo you know about kickback? Ray has a good writeup here... https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles...mare-explained
For a kickback demonstration video http://www.metacafe.com/watch/910584...demonstration/Comment
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I got one of those several years ago but wasn't able to use it long enough to find out. I had a mutant squirrel and it drove her nuts so it does appear to have some affect on some critters.Comment
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That's a laugh. The misnomer about cats being "mousers" applies to the little toys sold in pet stores that squeek when they are moved. Years ago, I took in a stray cat to the shop that just stared at mice. All he did was get fatter. I thought about sending him to a "search and destroy" program at our local National Guard Armory, but he lacked a high school diploma/GED.
I've got three cats in the house that even have a problem chasing each other.
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C-Man, it sounds like you got some cats that are lazy and/or overfed. I have a neighbor whose cat has staked a claim not only to her own yard, but to mine and several others. Other than the occasional very dead "gift" she brings me and shows off, I have not seen a rodent here in three years, where previously I had to fight them off with a whip and a chair.Comment
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I think general consensus is that those electronic repelers might work in some instances, but are not a panacea. While a box of D-Con will work, you have to worry about where the rodents might crawl to die (and eventually start to smell). I've had better luck with spring traps baited with peanut butter (those sticky pads are just inhumane).
MichaelComment
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Years ago, we had a cat that loved to go out and find a mouse. It wouldn't kill it, it would make you think it was eating it, and then drop it. The mouse would come out of shock, stop playing dead, and run. Got a couple in the garage as kids this way.
You look at the cat and its look back was "you want me to do what with my toys"!She couldn't tell the difference between the escape pod, and the bathroom. We had to go back for her.........................Twice.Comment
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A year or so ago I found a web site that tested all types of pest "repellents," but can't locate it now.
In general, the ultrasonic types like you listed "sometimes" work well, but may not. The types that plug in and "use your home wiring" are a total scam and waste of money. In one test where an ultasonic was used and there was food readily available for the mice, after a while it seemed they had more mice, the ultrasonic seeming to act as a "there's food here" beacon! Guess the mice told each other!Comment
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About 20 years ago I called our university extension service about ridding my old house of mice. I told them I was buying D-con in 3 lb. boxes and still had problems.
He said, "you have a dog, right?". "Yes", I said, "how did you know?".
He said that dog food acted as a antidote to the D-con. Mice have to have several meals of D-con for it to be effective.
He suggested a "single meal" poison that the mice would carry back to the nest and feed the young. At that time you had to buy it from a pest service now you can get it from hardware stores.
A side benefit is that this type of poison causes the mice to become dehydrated so they go back outdoors looking for water. My experience has been great. The brand I use is called "Contrac".
And, BTW, the ultrasonic mice repellers work just as well as ultrasonic mosquito repellers, that is, not at all, IMHO.
I put them in the same class as $89 HDMI cables and $100 speaker cables!Last edited by eccentrictinkerer; 01-03-2008, 04:42 PM.You might think I haven't contributed much to the world, but a large number
of the warning labels on tools can be traced back to things I've done...Comment
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I have some of those types of devices from another manufacturer. I don't think they really work. I have them set up around the perimeter of the living room. Last summer we had a mouse in the kitchen, and my wife was worried about our young daughters playing around where mice might have been. The product I have says it protects against spiders too, and I still find the occasional spider web near the devices, hence my skepticism of the product in general. On the other hand, seeing the device, with its power-on indicator light does seem to be re-assuring to my wife.
In general, I think your money is better spent on steps to pest-proof your home and/or shed, rather than on devices like this to "scare" the critters away once they are already inside.
I have had a couple of different pest management/control companies come out and give me assessments and help me pest proof some things. Money spent on doing that has been worth while. I do not have a pest management subscription, which a lot of companies want to sell you. I have my own bait stations outside and my own 5-gallon bucket of the contrac blox type bait. Inside the house, I have traps that I can put out when/if I think they are necessary.
As another person already pointed out, inside a home you want to trap rodents, and not use poison because you don't know where they will go to die . I have never smelled a dead rodent in my walls and/or attic, nor do I intend to!
In my experience, glue type traps are of limited use in rodent catching. Sometimes you don't know if you are dealing with large or small rodents, so getting the right size of glue trap is a guessing game. Recently, I did find a use for those types of traps -- I had some crickets invade an exterior wall. I placed the traps on the exterior of the home, along the wall where the crickets were, and within a few days the traps captured the crickets as they came out of the wall. Now I can enjoy the quietness of the living room once again!
good luck!
BrianComment
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Been there, done that with the electronic gizmos. Didn't work. Poison, traps or cats will get her done.
RAGS 
Raggy and Me in San Felipe
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My cat, a man's cat, is the best thing in the world for the occasional rodent control. If you see him staring at the cabinets or something for a long period of time then chances are there is something alive inside. I found this out the hard way when he sat staring at the cabinet under the sink for a while. After asking him (yes, I talk to my cat) if he wanted to check it out I opened the door and as soon as he could fit he sprang through the opening knocking over everything inside and jettisoning half of it onto the kitchen floor in an instant. He came out mere seconds later with a mouse in his mouth. I had no idea there were even any in the house. The hard part is getting them away from him after they are dead. He will fight with you and when you finally get it he gives me a look like he is going to do #2 in my shoes or something.
The reason I always refer to him as a man's cat is that he is not tempermental like most cats. Other cats I have had get upset when you play with them too roughly. He likes to wrestle around. I have had cats before that would shun you for a week if you make them mad. He seems to forget things after a minute and forgive you. Ever step on a cat's tail and then it ignores you for a week? He will be back by your side as soon as it quits hurting. And what do you name a man's cat? Sh!the@d of course.
As for everything but cats, traps and poison, I think it is snakeoil. The house I just moved into had them plugged in in the basement. I found mouse droppings and nests in drawers right by them. If they can sleep and raise their young within 3 feet of a so called repellent then they are not worth a plug nickel.
Sorry for the long-winded reply. I just love my cat. hehe"A fine beer may be judged with just one sip, but it is better to be thoroughly sure"Comment
Those sticky boards seem mean but they kill by causing hypothermia.
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