Mouse Rodent Damage Prevention

Many years ago I had a minor problem with mice who had been attracted into the house by the sacks of dried dog food I had stored. I didn't like the idea of killing them so tried a couple of different types of humane traps, these were absolutely useless. I then tried sonic rodent repellent devices, again these had no benefit whatsoever. The problem was in the few weeks I'd been faffing around trying not to harm them, and with access to unlimited food stocks, they'd bred like crazy and a minor problem had become a much more significant one. A mouse can produce a litter of typically 6-8 every 3 weeks and these can be breeding after only 6 weeks. The numbers I had living in the walls, attic and under the boards of my 150 year old cottage were beyond managing by conventional kill traps so I was reluctantly forced to use rodenticide, it saw them off. So by trying to harm no mice I ended up having to kill dozens of them.

If you're finding rodenticide ineffective you probably need to re-think what you're using and how you're delivering it. You'd also need to bear in mind that if they are nesting inside vehicles and you poison them you will end up with reeking rotting mice inside hard to access corners of your old cars.

If you're still considering humane options, try a deep bowl, a bucket or perhaps an old bathtub with bait at the bottom and a plank to enable access, they get in but can't get back out, you'd then need to catch them and release them a couple of miles away as apparently they're pretty adept at finding their way back.

Another avenue worth exploring; ferret waste, (faeces / urine), is supposed to be a very effective deterrent for mice and rats. It's very pungent and the rodents believe one of their most feared predators has moved into the area so they move out pretty sharp-ish. If you know anyone with ferrets or have a pet shop nearby that sells ferrets you could try getting hold of some of the sawdust from the bottom of the ferret cage and scattering it around where you have the problem.

I used to be plagued with mice in my garage from an elderly gardening neighbour whose garage was full of newspaper and seeds, the colony overspilled to me, traps with chocolate helped, 7 caught one night. Then, my other neighbour inherited a very large, evil, tom cat, who I encouraged to stroll around my garage occasionally (when he wasn't trying to rip my hand and arm off). Mice stopped visiting.
I have since built a new, relatively mouse proof garage, the cat tried it on with a passing truck, and lost, the mouse house has been cleared for a bereavement sale, and so far no more field mice. Remember they are crafty little rascals, no matter how cute they look, and don't be lulled into thinking humane traps and field release will work, they are like homing pigeons.

Thank you for the suggestions. Unfortunately rodent population control is not really viable so I was rather hoping there was a scarer option that would work?

I parked a car in the yard one afternoon, the following morning the mice had chewed the screen wash bottle!

A bit left field but...

A few months ago, I had to park in one of Manila's less salubrious areas (are there salubrious ones?) and a local rat decided my engine bay was a good place to crash.

By pure coincidence, I washed the engine, then sprayed WD40 everywhere. Never saw the rat again!

So yeah, flirt some WD40 around. You never know.