# Bunnies and mice repellents?



## ChandieLee (Dec 18, 2011)

Long time no see everyone... wish I could say I was here for a long over-due update as to how the rabbits are doing- hopefully soon, but at the moment, I've got kind of serious matter on my hands.

It's come to my attention that we have mice, and I don't want to kill them, so I've done some research and it looks like these sonic mouse repellents can work. They emit a high pitched noise. I was wondering though- would that have a negative effect on the rabbits?


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## I_heart_Fraggles (Dec 18, 2011)

Good question. I would imagine that its not very good for the buns though.


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## ChandieLee (Dec 18, 2011)

That's what I'm thinking. I don't want the high-pitched frequency to hurt their ears. Hmm... so how do we get rid of the mice without killing them? They're too smart for humane traps...


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## I_heart_Fraggles (Dec 18, 2011)

Gee that's another good question. I have no clue how you would go about not killing them if you really want them gone. Personally I will put out rat poison around the outside of my chicken coop. But that is because rats steal eggs and baby chicks.


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## ChandieLee (Dec 18, 2011)

Well, I think that's a legitimate reason to put it by your chicken coop. I just don't have the heart to kill the mice though. I know there are some "home remedies" that are supposed to ward them off, but I'm not sure if any of those methods are effective. 

I've also wondered if the mice could some how make the rabbits ill too.


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## LakeCondo (Dec 18, 2011)

i think killing actually is more humane than capture & release, which probably means the mice die of starvation in an unfamiliar territory.
Are the mice near the rabbits? Mice are so much smaller than rabbits that they're probably afraid of your pets. So maybe there's not that much chance of disease spread. Just be sure to keep your unused hay & pellets where mice can't get at them.
By a strange coincidence, I just got an email from a friend with a tall tale about some squirrels in churches in a small town. The fundamentalists tried to drown them; they escaped & came back with twice the numbers. The main-line church baptized them; they went away & came back only at Christmas & Easter. At the synagogue, one was accepted into the faith through circumcision; they all went away & never came back.


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## JjGoesBounce (Dec 18, 2011)

Have you heard of bucket and a ladder?
You take a bucket and place cheese inside it, and a little ramp leading up to the bucket. 
I've heard it works, the SPCA also reccomends it.
Hopefully you like it?!
Jj


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## ChandieLee (Dec 19, 2011)

LakeCondo wrote:


> i think killing actually is more humane than capture & release, which probably means the mice die of starvation in an unfamiliar territory.
> Are the mice near the rabbits? Mice are so much smaller than rabbits that they're probably afraid of your pets. So maybe there's not that much chance of disease spread. Just be sure to keep your unused hay & pellets where mice can't get at them.
> By a strange coincidence, I just got an email from a friend with a tall tale about some squirrels in churches in a small town. The fundamentalists tried to drown them; they escaped & came back with twice the numbers. The main-line church baptized them; they went away & came back only at Christmas & Easter. At the synagogue, one was accepted into the faith through circumcision; they all went away & never came back.




:biggrin2: That's pretty funny! It reminds me of the time I had squirrels living in my closet when I was a kid.....


I told my boyfriend about the bucket idea, but he's convinced that they'll get out somehow... and he's upset because it seems we have more mice than we thought we did- they're everywhere- eating our clothes, food. They don't even seem to be afraid of us anymore. I was sitting on the couch, watching a movie. I looked down to my left and a baby mouse was sitting next me :shock:. 
So against my judgement, the boyfriend bought mousetraps...


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## Nancy McClelland (Dec 19, 2011)

Sorry but I agree with your BF. Remember the Black Plague. It was spread by fleas riding rats from area to area. If mice are carriers of something it can be spread by an intermediary. I use bait and place it inside of a weighed down milk crate so our dogs, cats, rabbits, etc. can't get at it. Have used snares with even bigger vermin--opposums, as they killed a lot of my Koi.


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## pamnock (Dec 20, 2011)

I've read that the sonic repellants don't work.


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## MiniLopHop (Dec 20, 2011)

Having mice in the house can be very dangerous for your health. The droppings cary a fungal disease that can get into your lungs when you clean up. I used to raise pet mice (clean so they were safe) so I understand not wanting to kill them. However, it is the safest thing to do. They can get very out of control very fast because they breed so rapidly.

Luckily my cats dispatch any mice very quickly. Somehow they know killing mice is good yet they just play and cuddle with the rabbits.


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## wendymac (Dec 20, 2011)

If you really don't want to kill them, you can try the bucket method. Get a tall bucket, put a dowel rod through the top (so it goes across the middle...just drill a small hole on two sides of your bucket). Put the dowel through a paper towel roll, stick some cheese on the middle, build a small ladder so they can get to it, and you're done. The mice try to get the cheese, the roll spins, and they drop into the bucket. If you want to kill them, add half a bucket of water. They can't get out and will drown.

We live on a farm, in an old farmhouse. We always get mice, but the cats do a fairly good job of keeping the numbers down. Anyway, one year there was a little mouse. When you'd come into the kitchen, she'd run across the counter, down behind the stove, and to the basement. Then she got where she'd sit there a while, then run. Then, finally, she'd just sit there, looking at us. One day one of my kids (they were around 6 or so at the time) looked at her, looked at me, and said, "Can we get her a wheel?" LOL It was all fine and dandy, until I opened a cupboard and saw her babies. Then they had to die. haha


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## ChandieLee (Dec 20, 2011)

He's still not sold on the bucket idea :rollseyes. I think he thinks it's too much work. We came to an agreement though- he sets up the traps, he checks them, and if they catch anything, he gets rid of them. So that's what he did- he set up four traps, and he caught 3 mice last night. Even after that, I saw two more mice, so it looks like we do have a problem- but I'm going to let him take care of it.


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## wendymac (Dec 20, 2011)

I used to have pet rats. I found this site, and it had stories on it. They were all written from the pets' perspective. Anyway, the one was called House Mouse. It had me feeling sorry for the little buggers. LOL I've gotten over it, and we use this stuff called One Byte. It's amazing! As much as we hate it, they are a nuisance. :-( I won't do the traps because I don't want to see them...or hear the "snap", knowing what happened. They just want to feed their family and stay warm...


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