The Dive Watch Connection

I’ve been battling mice in the chicken coop all winter; a losing battle at that.

The other day we realized we also have rats.


A combination of the wood piles and the chicken coop make us a perfect target for both.

I had been using a poison bait in places where the dog and the chickens can’t access, but that didn’t seem to help.


I went to Home Depot and Tractor Supply and bought glue traps and spring traps; using peanut butter as bait in the spring traps.


First catch today (a rat), after traps were down for about four hours.

You’re gonna want to season that with teriyaki sauce.

I’ve dealt with both rats and voles - they are a PITA. Once I was done with both, I got rid of the bird feeders and bought some solar powered ultrasonic pest control stakes, and they haven’t been back.

BacoNoir wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 03, 2022 4:03 pm

I’ve dealt with both rats and voles - they are a PITA. Once I was done with both, I got rid of the bird feeders and bought some solar powered ultrasonic pest control stakes, and they haven’t been back.

Only one active bird feeder at the moment; might be time to take it down.

I've been taking the food out of the coop each night, but the mice have been coming in during the day; little fuckers.

be careful with the poison. even if the dogs can't get to where the poison is, if the rats/mice eat it and die where the dogs can get to the rats/mice, they can still ingest it if they decide to eat the rats/mice.

i use regular old school traps. the glue traps have had some legs left behind where the mice chewed them off. put peanut butter on the traps.

gwells wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 03, 2022 6:19 pm

be careful with the poison. even if the dogs can't get to where the poison is, if the rats/mice eat it and die where the dogs can get to the rats/mice, they can still ingest it if they decide to eat the rats/mice.

toxicavenger wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 03, 2022 7:19 pm

i use regular old school traps. the glue traps have had some legs left behind where the mice chewed them off. put peanut butter on the traps.

Ok; will switch over to all spring traps.

mattcantwin wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 03, 2022 7:22 pm

toxicavenger wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 03, 2022 7:19 pm

i use regular old school traps. the glue traps have had some legs left behind where the mice chewed them off. put peanut butter on the traps.

Ok; will switch over to all spring traps.

Good call. Losing a dog or local hawk/falcon to this would be horrible.

mattcantwin wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 03, 2022 7:22 pm

toxicavenger wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 03, 2022 7:19 pm

i use regular old school traps. the glue traps have had some legs left behind where the mice chewed them off. put peanut butter on the traps.

Ok; will switch over to all spring traps.

do not use the newer traps with the plastic trigger. they totally suck. use the old school style. I think i got mine from walmart.

toxicavenger wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:14 pm

Do not use the newer traps with the plastic trigger. they totally suck. use the old school style. I think i got mine from walmart.

What's wrong with them?

I caught the rat pictured with the plastic trap.

Bam!






Not going to post any more pictures or updates; looks like the spring trap/peanut butter combo is working.

I’ve been over run with coyotes this summer. Just last week I terminated 5 in 4 days all within 100 yards of the house. Good luck with the rat/mouse reduction efforts.


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Captdave wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 04, 2022 1:34 pm

I’ve been over run with coyotes this summer. Just last week I terminated 5 in 4 days all within 100 yards of the house. Good luck with the rat/mouse reduction efforts.


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Believe it or not, I’ve seen them in Cambridge and Charlestown, Massachusetts.

Do you shoot them? What do you do with the remains?

saw a coyote in falls church, va last week (inside the DC beltway) while walking the dog. i thought it was a big, skinny fox at first because we have lots of foxes around. i'm just glad Dany didn't notice it because she would have flipped out about it. and i still had a 1/2 mile to get home.

Selym wrote:

Captdave wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 04, 2022 1:34 pm

I’ve been over run with coyotes this summer. Just last week I terminated 5 in 4 days all within 100 yards of the house. Good luck with the rat/mouse reduction efforts.


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Believe it or not, I’ve seen them in Cambridge and Charlestown, Massachusetts.

Do you shoot them? What do you do with the remains?

I put my .22 to good use. Find it’s effective out to 100 yards on coyotes. I live in a pretty rural area obviously if I’m shooting coyotes in my front yard, so disposal of the remains is pretty easy. Generally just toss them into the tree line and let nature take its course.


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Captdave wrote:

Selym wrote:

Captdave wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 04, 2022 1:34 pm

I’ve been over run with coyotes this summer. Just last week I terminated 5 in 4 days all within 100 yards of the house. Good luck with the rat/mouse reduction efforts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Believe it or not, I’ve seen them in Cambridge and Charlestown, Massachusetts.

Do you shoot them? What do you do with the remains?

I put my .22 to good use. Find it’s effective out to 100 yards on coyotes. I live in a pretty rural area obviously if I’m shooting coyotes in my front yard, so disposal of the remains is pretty easy. Generally just toss them into the tree line and let nature take its course.


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You should use a 9mm. It will blow their lungs right out of their body.

mattcantwin wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:00 am

toxicavenger wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:14 pm

Do not use the newer traps with the plastic trigger. they totally suck. use the old school style. I think i got mine from walmart.

What's wrong with them?

I caught the rat pictured with the plastic trap.

smaller field mice seem to not get caught as easily in the plastic traps. i have been running traps for the last few summers.

59yukon01 wrote:

Captdave wrote:

Selym wrote:

Captdave wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 04, 2022 1:34 pm

I’ve been over run with coyotes this summer. Just last week I terminated 5 in 4 days all within 100 yards of the house. Good luck with the rat/mouse reduction efforts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Believe it or not, I’ve seen them in Cambridge and Charlestown, Massachusetts.

Do you shoot them? What do you do with the remains?

I put my .22 to good use. Find it’s effective out to 100 yards on coyotes. I live in a pretty rural area obviously if I’m shooting coyotes in my front yard, so disposal of the remains is pretty easy. Generally just toss them into the tree line and let nature take its course.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You should use a 9mm. It will blow their lungs right out of their body.

I have gotten one with a 10mm. Devastating!


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toxicavenger wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 04, 2022 7:03 pm

mattcantwin wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:00 am

toxicavenger wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:14 pm

Do not use the newer traps with the plastic trigger. they totally suck. use the old school style. I think i got mine from walmart.

What's wrong with them?

I caught the rat pictured with the plastic trap.

smaller field mice seem to not get caught as easily in the plastic traps. i have been running traps for the last few summers.

Thanks for explaining.

I have four plastic traps (under milk crates) in the coop.

If they don't get any mice in the next day or so, I'll switch over to the old style trap.

We Moved to our current house in the country about 4 years ago. Wow, so many animals out here. Mice, voles, chipmunks, moles, groundhogs, raccoons, gangs of squirrels, coyotes and foxes… and hawks, buzzards… it’s insane.

A few things I learned:

Like others said, don’t use poison because something else will end up eating it and getting poisoned. Confirmed by my father in law - veterinarian.


We got a “garage cat” and she has taken care of anything and everything that even thinks about sneaking around our house. Before we got her, I spent hundreds of dollars 3 times getting wiring on my Hyundai Sonata replaced (they use soy coating instead of traditional wires).

But if anyone has any suggestions for moles I am all ears. They have been tearing up my yard for years, I mean at one point most of my backyard was so soft your feet sank in the dirt from all of their tunnels. Still not sure how to get them.


Hard at work:

BBK357 wrote:We Moved to our current house in the country about 4 years ago. Wow, so many animals out here. Mice, voles, chipmunks, moles, groundhogs, raccoons, gangs of squirrels, coyotes and foxes… and hawks, buzzards… it’s insane.

A few things I learned:

Like others said, don’t use poison because something else will end up eating it and getting poisoned. Confirmed by my father in law - veterinarian.


We got a “garage cat” and she has taken care of anything and everything that even thinks about sneaking around our house. Before we got her, I spent hundreds of dollars 3 times getting wiring on my Hyundai Sonata replaced (they use soy coating instead of traditional wires).

But if anyone has any suggestions for moles I am all ears. They have been tearing up my yard for years, I mean at one point most of my backyard was so soft your feet sank in the dirt from all of their tunnels. Still not sure how to get them.


Hard at work:

We also had a mole problem and the stray cats we feed took care of them. They are always outside and besides spending way too much money on cat food and the random gift left on our doorstep every so often, it’s nice to have them around.

We have a couple of "neighborhood cats" that come by; but our dog is not very welcoming to them.

I felt like I was being watched in the yard the other night. This guy was enjoying some of my mangoes.

CGSshorty wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 07, 2022 8:06 pm

I felt like I was being watched in the yard the other night.

I know the feeling.