forget poison.. because they REALLY STINK.. when they go hide and die ...

i am sorry.. but the standard old fashioned snap trap .. baited with peanut butter gets them all.. given enough time ...

BTW.. you are positive its not shrews???? .. ID might be significant ... especially if both ...

Disney has ruined a generation of us.. into thinking that all VERMIN are our fuzzy little friends.. they are NOT ... they destroy our things.. create havoc and spread pestilence ... be done with them ASAP ..

there i feel better ..

now you go do what makes you happy.. which includes ignoring the above, if you wish ... but do avoid the poison ... and not because of the neighbors animals ...

ken

ps: at less than a buck a piece.. just use some pliers to pick up the trap and all.. place into a baggie.. insert in garbage can ... bait new trap ...

Here is a link that might be useful: and dont use the one with the fake piece of cheese as a trigger.. useless in my experience ... and trust me.. i have tried every 'new and improved' variation on a theme.. and all i found out.. was that they sucked money out of my wallet that i should have used to buy the old tried and true ...

Ken, couldn't have said it better, agreed.

Thanks for the feedback, all.

Ken: *sigh* Sadly, I was expecting someone to suggest traps. I'm an animal lover, so killing any little creature, even a rodent, hurts my heart :(. And I don't think I could manage the carnage that I'd have to clean up after the fact...(I guess that's what husbands are for?)

But then when I consider how much work I put into my garden, particularly my newly-sown EDIBLES that I'm afraid to plant out on the patio/3rd floor balcony, traps seem more like an option. In a few weeks, those mice will have a free salad bar every night at my expense, and that really does irk me. There won't be any salad left for ME!

Btw, I know it's not shrews because we don't have those in Houston.

Lots of thinking to do.

tell him he gets a 6 pack for each corpse ... or whatever his favorite vice is ... lol ...

listen to me.. the next step .. is that they will somehow figure out how to get in the house ... will they still be lovable at that point ... ??

you are NEAR getting mad .. about your losses.. sooner or later.. they will really P you off.. and at that point i see you putting on a sleeveless tee shirt.. wrapping a bandana around your head .. and getting down to work.. see link for concept ..

i used to love deer.. until i moved to the country.. a horrible menace ...

i used to love thumper.. until i moved to the country ... another horrible menace ...

and i loved mice in a cage as a kid .. until they got in the attic ...and i could hear them partying every night up there ... they all had to die [and that is where i learned not to poison them indoors.. lol..]

when the cuteness ends .. they are vermin ... pure and simple ... they HAVE TO GO....

ken

BTW: while shoveling ice off my driveway [did i mention i hate you for starting seed outdoors.. lol] ... i had other thoughts .... it is not too late to start more seed.. never plant all your seed at once.. how do you know the damage isnt some other vermin ... how do you know it wasnt that one single mouse .. etc ..

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Instant death has got to be better than drowning in a bucket or the slow death of poisons. You don't want these things making you sick, chewing holes in your house, ruining your stuff besides just plants. You probably have snakes in TX, who really really like to eat rodents. I don't like killing critters either but one that can make me sick and attract snakes can NOT stay. Since they won't leave, you have to kill them. A neighborhood has outside, but it's not really "nature," the balance is way off on some things, because of the original intervention of making a neighborhood. If yours is the only house that isn't fighting back, guess where they will all go.