Killing mice in trees at night with neighbors nearby

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sgtclark

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I have a problem I hope someone can help me with. My dog starts barking almost every night around 10pm because there are multiple mice that start climbing around in trees at the edge of my yard. I would like to get rid of them so my young and curious dog doesn't piss off the neigbors (and me) every night.

The trees aren't very tall, so their activity attracts the dog, but they're far enough up that I can't get to them. And they are privacy trees at the edge of the yard, so I don't want to cut them down.

I've tried to shoot them with a pellet gun (quiet), but they're pretty small so that hasn't been easy.

I can't put poison out there anywhere because of the dog. And I don't see how I could set a trap in the tree, or if that would even be effective.

Has anyone ever had this problem, or can anyone think of something to try?
 
Zip tie few sticky traps to tree. Sounds like my be a losing battle though. Is a cat and option. I live in the country but am still amazed how many mice and various rodents the cats drag into the yard to eat.
 
We have a problem with Porcupines climbing our Fur Trees. They "Ring" the bark and kill the tree tops. You can not be out there all the time. We wrap tin around the bottom of the trees. This stops climbing pest from getting in the trees. :thumbup:
 
put screws through the base of mousetraps into the trees high enough the dog cant get to them. Then bait and set the traps.
Either do this or get up on a ladder and put poison up in the tree where the dog can't get to it.
 
Use that exploding target stuff and wait for a mouse to crawl onto it, then shoot the exploding target!

Really though, screw or zip tie some normal mouse traps to the tree and give the mice some nice peanut butter. Or Nutella works well, as do the other brands of "Nutella" (I think Jif makes a hazelnut/chocolate spread, and other store brands). Or chocolate frosting works well too!
 
There are some good suggestions here. As for mouse trap bait, I've started using small chunks of sweet potato. Mice seem to like it, and it's not messy. It does dry out and need to be replaced every few days.
 
Seems to me that you now have a demonstrated NEED for night vision apparati. FLIR or other thermal imaging, maybe some NVG, and a 410 pump gun with one those 3 foot long barrel extensions that screw in the place of chokes to make them super quiet. Ninja suit, of course. You can't use traps; God only knows what could happen.

I'm certain the wife will understand. After all, it's for the dog.
 
I'd continue with the pellet gun for a while. I'll admit it would be challenging but it would be good practice on small targets. My 22 cal Benjamin trail works on squirrels out to about 25 or 30 yards and is pretty accurate with a 3-9x airgun scope. You didn't mention if your pellet gun had optics but based on my experience with the scoped Benjamin I'd enjoy plinking at some small mice size targets. It would be fun to take a picture of my Benjamin with a dead "trophy mouse" next to it to verify its accuracy.
 
The dog barks at mice? If the mice were to disappear would the dog not bark at squirrels or any other small rodent? I've had to use a bark collar (with success) on a young dog or two. After a month of training, each have only barked at knocks on the door, strangers in the yard or cars pulling up. Exactly what I want. On the other hand if your having a mouse problem, others have suggested good ideas. I caught 14 in my basement one fall years back. Picked up 2 barn cats and the traps have been empty ever since.
 
I don't know why you can't shoot your pests with a pellet gun from the ground to the top of a say, 20ft tree. I have a Sheridan Blue Streak circa 1972 that is adequate for Eurasian doves, Richardson squirrels and pocket gophers out to 20 yds at least.
On the other hand, 10:00 pm is about my bedtime so traps are what I would default to when my enthusiasm for actual hunting began to wane.
Right now I'm fighting an infestation of mice in the garage and Victor traps baited with salted peanuts has yielded 5 harvests in the last 5 days:
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Here's a towfer. Normally I'd clean the trap when the count goes down but I've caught another
10z6ypu.jpg
since these two yesterday and the peanut is still in the trigger so I'm going for #6.
 
I was sitting in my tower blind the night before deer season opened just to see what was around. All of a sudden I had mice running across my neck and down my arm from the ceiling. I remembered I had a couple of sticky traps in my truck so I went and got them. I opened them up and left them fastened together. I baited them with a couple of pieces of payday candy bar and left them by the door when I closed up the blind.

In the morning I could not see the traps for all of the mice piled on the traps. I never did count the number of mice that were there. That was the end of the mice in the blind that year but it has been a continuing battle trying to keep them out.
 
I use this method on chipmunks . A 5 gallon bucket filled half full of water with a couple of handfuls of black sun flower seeds thrown on top of the water. A board to serve as a way for the chipmunks to get to the edge of the bucket and a few sun flower seed to entice them to walk the plank.
They jump right in the bucket. It might work for mice too as I have caught a few this way.

A few years ago we were getting over run with chipmunks and the above worked very well to less the herd.
 
Problem with mice is, for everyone you see, there are 20 more somewhere. Mice don't live in trees. If what you are seeing really are mice, you have an heavy infestation somewhere. Garage, storage shed, maybe even the neighbors house. I'd give the water bucket a try, it always worked well for me in the chicken coop. Otherwise the wind up multiple catch traps work well if baited, as well as the idea of the sticky/spring type traps in the trees. I'm curious, is there a food source in the trees that is attracting the mice? Just the idea of multiple mice in small trees every night is something out of the ordinary. Trees are not a "safe" place for mice, unlike a hole in the ground or even running and hiding. (think owls/hawks and cats).
 
I've never heard of or seen mice in trees so you have some sort of unique problem. You could consult the county agent to ask for solutions. Lots of good ideas here. I've had good success with simple spring traps placed in all sorts situations. Shouldn't be that difficult to place a platform(s) of some sort in the trees to sit the traps on. Mice are not smart and are easily trapped. Word of warning though, don't leave traps set during the day because small birds can be trapped and killed.
 
I've never heard of or seen mice in trees so you have some sort of unique problem. You could consult the county agent to ask for solutions. Lots of good ideas here. I've had good success with simple spring traps placed in all sorts situations. Shouldn't be that difficult to place a platform(s) of some sort in the trees to sit the traps on. Mice are not smart and are easily trapped. Word of warning though, don't leave traps set during the day because small birds can be trapped and killed.


Field mice will venture up onto the trunks of trees and lower limbs at night, but a more likely culprit is Flying Squirrels IF the OP has them in his area.
 
Field mice will venture up onto the trunks of trees and lower limbs at night, but a more likely culprit is Flying Squirrels IF the OP has them in his area.

I have a hard time believing a flying squirrel could be mistaken for a field mouse. Rat.....maybe, but even then, the relative size of the eyes and the hair on the tail would be a easy identifier if one gets a good look at them. Having the time to shoot at them with an air rifle should be plenty of time to identify them.
 
How about putting one of those owl decoys in the tree? Seems like it might scare them away, whether mice or squirrels?
 
I have a hard time believing a flying squirrel could be mistaken for a field mouse. Rat.....maybe, but even then, the relative size of the eyes and the hair on the tail would be a easy identifier if one gets a good look at them. Having the time to shoot at them with an air rifle should be plenty of time to identify them.

I agree a flying squirrel 'should' not be mistaken for a field mouse PROVIDED the OP got a good look at one and knows the difference. From the OP's post we are only told the rodents are too high for the OP to get to and that they are 'small'.

OP doesn't say he/she has actually killed or examined one.

We also don't know if the OP can distinguish a F/S from a F/mouse. I've personally seen folks refer to Elk as 'Moose'....fully believing that is what they were.

I frequently hunt Feral Hogs at night over a baited and lighted area. I commonly see both field mice and F/Squirrels feeding on the corn I've put out. Both will go up trees. The F/S (on average) are a bit larger than the mice but not all of them, so size alone can't be relied upon. Neither would be the hair on the tail of the F/S as you simply can't see it very well when they are in a tree.

The most distinguishing feature between the two is their movement, completely different. The Squirrels are MUCH faster in the trees and you can tell they are adept in that surrounding. The mice move more deliberately are most often in the tree searching for insects, so basically they are hunting.

Another clue might be the number of rodents present. I have seen 4-5 F/S in the same tree at a time, but have never seen more than a single mouse in one.

I'm not saying the OP doesn't know what he/she is witnessing...just suggesting it 'might' be something else based on what was posted.


 
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