View Full Version : Send away the mice
In organic agriculture using green disinfestation known as a clean and un hurt solution to send away mice .
wondering if any one used Mentha Piperita to send away mice during tenting or being in a shelter ? :-?
Elaikases
02-18-2017, 08:23
If it works, I don't care if it is a "no hurt" solution to mice or not ...
But I'd love something that was basically leave no trace and that worked.
What about the sonic mouse repellents I see advertised, do they actually work?
The sonic mouse repellents are doing a good job, I think that its be better to use will camping.
Mentha Piperita leaves no trace
Sandy of PA
02-18-2017, 11:40
The woods is the mice natural home, you are the guest there. Why do anything to the mice? If you don't want to sleep with them, don't feed them, and don't stay in the nice houses that people have built for them in the woods.
Yes. I will sometimes make my own essential oil insect and small rodent repellents in an almond oil base that I've diluted from 100% pure oils. This doubles sprayed on the ground around the perimeter of my sleeping area(36"X7'). I place into a 2-4 oz spritzer bottle. I'll spray lightly on things like groundsheet, exterior backpack, MAYBE food stuff sack, and top of sleeping bag/quilt. I will also use Dr Bronners Liquid Peppermint Soap to wash my apparel and sometimes gear(make sure diluted and test for being safe first) and to wash me. It all helps.
What will also help keep the mice away is not camping where others typically have camped. AT lean-to's typically have mice issues!!! Mice are attracted by way of human behavior.
As you are probably aware Mentha piperata(peppermint) and Mentha spicata(spearmint) are both widely used in various mouse repellents. This is a proven effective method. I've seen mice, rats, skunks, other small rodents, insects(fire ants, cockroaches/palmetto bugs, centipedes, pill bugs, etc) as well as a few snakes upon reaching the circumference barrier of spray turn away. I learned to do this since I cowboy camp on the ground not often enclosed in a tent in a range of buggy tropical environments.
Before someone says it I'll add never had Black Bears attracted to peppermint.
The main problem if say sleeping regularly in AT lean-to's or on the ground cowboy camping doing this is the amount of spray I start using. The solution to the mice thing in this regard is to bring along a small 1 oz bottle of 100% peppermint essential oil and 2 0z cheap plastic $1 spritzer bottle(bought at Wal Mart in the shape of a tube) periodically making some diluted solution.
BTW, even though the AT lean-to's are rodent magnets, 2 and 4 legged variety LOL, other well used lean to's and campsites on other trails can harbor similar issues.
The woods is the mice natural home, you are the guest there. Why do anything to the mice? If you don't want to sleep with them, don't feed them, and don't stay in the nice houses that people have built for them in the woods. The shelters weren't built for the mice, nor was my tent designed for their habitation...Hantavirus is not cool.
MuddyWaters
02-18-2017, 22:46
I pee around my tarp.
I tell people its to keep mice and bears away
But its really because Im too lazy to walk away to do it.
T-Bone01
02-18-2017, 23:17
What about the sonic mouse repellents I see advertised, do they actually work?
Not at all. No. Never did. Fake hype.....
(pro pest control business owner.)
Sarcasm the elf
02-19-2017, 01:42
What about the sonic mouse repellents I see advertised, do they actually work?
Those sonic devices don't go over well around people with good hearing. My wife and I both used to have good enough hearing to detect them and it drove us nuts.
(I think my wife can still hear them, a decade of using power tools and firearms knocked my hearing down to where it's no longer an issue for me. :()
quads4life
02-19-2017, 02:38
does this work?
Those sonic devices don't go over well around people with good hearing. My wife and I both used to have good enough hearing to detect them and it drove us nuts.
(I think my wife can still hear them, a decade of using power tools and firearms knocked my hearing down to where it's no longer an issue for me. :() Good to know, after a few years in the Army my hearing is one notch better than a fence post so I wouldn't even know if the thing was turned on. :-)
Not at all. No. Never did. Fake hype.....
(pro pest control business owner.) Thanks, how about the old adage of leaving mothballs under your vehicle to prevent critters from chewing the wiring harness?
Pretty much all the shelters have resident mice so just use them as a last resort.
Just another reason to tent! Plus tenting is warmer than most drafty shelters.
I shake my tent out each morning and have rarely had any problems but then I do package everything in zip locks once opened....
My first night on the trail was at Springer shelter..mice crawled right over my face twice!
rocketsocks
02-19-2017, 09:21
Those sonic devices don't go over well around people with good hearing. My wife and I both used to have good enough hearing to detect them and it drove us nuts.
a decade of using power tools and firearms knocked my hearing down to where it's no longer an issue for me. :()yeah me too, now I hear a constant ring!
Good to know, after a few years in the Army my hearing is one notch better than a fence post so I wouldn't even know if the thing was turned on. :-)
What? Say again?:banana
ggreaves
02-19-2017, 12:39
Power Tools and Firearms would be a great band name
nsherry61
02-19-2017, 14:12
. . . to send away mice. wondering if any one used Mentha Piperita to send away mice during tenting or being in a shelter ? :-?
No. Not me. I wonder how it would work as bear bate? ;-)
BlackCloud
02-20-2017, 22:45
I have found that leaving a small tea light candle lit all night keeps the mice at bay. You still hear them scampering about but they won't come anywhere near the flame.
glassman
03-19-2017, 20:47
So we should plant mint around the shelters?
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AtWokman
03-19-2017, 21:10
pour out cig butts around your tent. smear peanut butter on that one guys tent before bed.
or just lower someone's food bag to the ground and walk away, just like putting a human sacrifice into an angry volcano.
Sarcasm the elf
03-20-2017, 00:25
......................
H I T C H
03-20-2017, 05:15
So we should plant mint around the shelters?
... And dig a moat. :)
Hitch
ScareBear
03-20-2017, 20:48
I have found that leaving a small tea light candle lit all night keeps the mice at bay. You still hear them scampering about but they won't come anywhere near the flame.
On a wooden pallet. In a wooden shelter. While everyone is asleep.
Awww....go for it!!! What could go wrong? Sounds like a great plan to me. Be sure and use an 8 hour Plumber's candle!!!
*Note, this Bear doesn't do shelters...just sayin..
The forest is my home to. Mice are the #1 cause of Lyme. They keep the shelters infested with ticks and fleas. I see good old mouse traps at many shelters, I put them to use. At on shelter I found 13 mouse traps, so I set them all, on a ledge, no bait. next morning there were 12 less mice in the shelter and the wildlife was well fed.
Here is a great thing to do, spray cotton balls with Permethrin they really weight nothing, leave a few at each shelter on ledges, mouse paths, they will carry them back to there nest where they will kill all the ticks and fleas! Lyme is real!!
H I T C H
03-21-2017, 10:41
There was a segment on ticks and Lyme on NPR.
They said that a single mouse can host 150 ticks :eek:
Hitch
glassman
03-21-2017, 23:17
pour out cig butts around your tent. smear peanut butter on that one guys tent before bed.
or just lower someone's food bag to the ground and walk away, just like putting a human sacrifice into an angry volcano.
Grrrr....[emoji26] [emoji107]
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CHILL_TX
03-24-2017, 14:56
What about cayenne pepper? I've heard it keeps the mice away, and I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's not a smell that bears would be attracted to. Anyone ever tried it?
What about Mexican mice? Or we could just build a wall and let those Mexican mice pay for it��
What about Mexican mice? Or we could just build a wall and let those Mexican mice pay for it��
Referring to the cayenne pepper.
CHILL_TX
03-24-2017, 15:50
#mouselivesmatter
What about Mexican mice? Or we could just build a wall and let those Mexican mice pay for it��
Spencer828
04-03-2017, 10:59
............
rmitchell
04-03-2017, 15:44
I wonder if dog or cat fur would leave enough residue smell to make a rodent think that a predator was around?
I Think Mice are Rather Nice
I think mice are rather nice.
Their tails are long, their faces small
They haven’t any chins at all.
Their ears are pink, their teeth are white,
They run about the house all night.
They nibble things they shouldn’t touch
And no one seems to like them much.
But I think mice are nice.
Riocielo
04-03-2017, 17:51
I wonder if dog or cat fur would leave enough residue smell to make a rodent think that a predator was around?
If so, my beagle can give us an unlimited supply!
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love to eat them mousies
mousies what I love to eat
bite they little heads off
nibble on they tiny feet
- B. Kliban
What we need is a few good recipes for mouse dishes. Mouse problem solved, less food to carry. I did like the idea of the permethrin-soaked cotton balls, too - might work. Personally, I just stay away from most shelters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWVw-j8eYSk