Rats/mice in the neighborhood...
Is anyone else experiencing a flux of rats/mice in the valley view woods section of town? My neighbor brought to my attention some decent sized rodents in the backyard between valley view and east baldwin.
Lulu 
Oiledup
AJMS 
I live in valley view woods and found this by my air conditioning unit not too long ago. I was pretty surprised. This was the first one I've seen since moving here 6 years ago.
Melissa We live in Allamuchy and have been inundated with mice since last fall. Constantly in our vehicle left outside, wood piles, in the garden shed, etc. I keep trapping them, but they keep coming! Fortunately none in the house…haven’t had one in here for about 5 years since I “mouse-proofed” it!
FarmerJake We have been in the neighborhood since 2004 and have never had any issue like this. There are A LOT OF RATS scattering all over the area. I don't think the timing with construction by CVS is a coincidence. Anyone know of a safe way to deal with the issue without harming the neighboring cats and pups? I have a dog and don't feel comfortable using poison.
Search YouTube for “5 gallon bucket mouse trap”. I use these in my barn. It kills for about 4 to 6 months at a time before I need to clean it out. It’s easy to make and automatically resets.
In the summer I use water at the bottom. In the winter I use RV antifreeze + water.
We live on Hurley and over the past month have discovered mice both in the shed and in one of AC units where they chewed through the wiring and rendered it inoperable. Prior to this, we had NEVER had them like this in 20+ years at this house. There's an abandoned house a few doors down which makes me wonder....I'm thinking the warm winter may not have helped either.
The R I’ve gotten them in the ac unit once. I now put moth balls in the area with the wiring. A few last a long time. Also never cover you ac unit in winter. That just creates a nice hotel for them.
A poison like Tomcat or Decon placed where pets can't get into it works well. Rodents can't vomit so the poison they ingest can't be expelled. I have used it for years and have never had an issue with my dogs. It's likely that an occasional mouse dies outside and the dog finds the carcass but the poison in the carcass is not concentrated enough to harm the dog. Another way of looking at it is a mouse weighs .68 ounces according to Google - many dogs weigh 50 pounds or more. The small amount needed to kill a mouse isn't going to have much of an effect on a dog - even if the dog or cat did eat a mouse or rat killed by poison the cat or dog has the ability to vomit the poison out.
Place the bait where house pets can't get into it.
Bill I live in Indepemdence and have caught 5 mice on glue boards in the past 2 weeks outside of our home. We haven’t yet found any inside but I’ve never caught so many outside in such a short period of time. I too think the warm winter is at least partially responsible.
ianimal Over on Mitchell road I’ve killed several rats and hired an exterminator because my neighbors livestock is attracting rats.
Njchia Decrease in predators might explain it, although we see fox and cats on our camera all the time. Where we live there was a bumper crop of hickory nuts last fall. We were raking them up and filling 5 gallon pails. Now, I see those nuts all over with the shells chewed through (and I always find them where I find the mice). So perhaps an abundance of food is also responsible.
All the dead cats in the road could be partially to blame. I understand that people just can't always stop on time but judging from the amount of drivers I pass with their eyes glued to their phones, that's not always the case.Too bad the rats aren't accidentally being hit.
Animallove Njchia, isn’t Mitchell RD in a development/neighborhood? What type of livestock do your neighbors keep?
Consigliere they have chickens, goats, a pig, dogs etc
And yes. Mitchell is in a development and we shouldn’t have to deal with this.
Consigliere.
Njchia needs to get her facts straight. The pig in question is a Pot Belly pig and the United States Department of Agriculture does not classify them as "livestock ".
Also there are other families in this town that have chickens as well. Regarding the goats that some people in this town have they chose the particular breed based on the size of the property they have so these families went with the "dwarf /miniture size goat. Not the "farm/livestock" size goat . Njchia please get your facts/information straight before you make comments against these families.
PPBN Hackettstown has always allowed small livestock even in “developments”. We’re in warren county after all. I believe there was a recent attempt at an ordinance limiting backyard livestock, but if I recall correctly it ended up falling through.
Kat My neighbor has pygmy goats, 6 chickens, and also has a potbelly pig. Never any problems so far. If you are having issues maybe contact the Warren County Health Dept.
RichIe If the health department has been called regarding this residence and the health department has found no issues then this person should leave the family alone that has those animals .
As you poison the critters, just remember that you may also be poisoning the birds of prey, foxes and others that eat rodents -
4catmom When I was getting some mice in my house, the pest guy recommended using a pet safe outdoor trap. I put one in the basement also. It worked.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tomcat-rodent-station
maja2 If your worried about poisoning pets, use baking soda in peanut butter. Rodents can't expell the gas. Won't hurt dogs and cats generally don't eat eat.
Just mix it in thoroughly
If you're searching for a humane mouse trap that won't damage the mice, go no further than the five finest humane mouse traps https://menacetopests.com/best-humane-mouse-traps/ . All of these traps are efficient at collecting mice and are far more humane than traditional approaches such as poisoning or employing snap traps.
Joan Highly recommend the trap that shocks the mice. Easy cleanup, quick and painless death and keeps the carcass in the trap until disposal.
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