My wife informed me a few days ago she thought she heard a mouse or rat in our living room when she got up in the night. I checked for droppings near any food source in the house and didn't find any. The next day she said she heard a noise again, this time around the train layout we have in the living room for the holidays. Again I checked and no tell-tale droppings.
Well, today when I was about to clean some track, I noticed holes in the mountain portion of our layout. I didn't make the connection for a minute until I realized the entire mountain is made of paper mache using FLOUR and water. Given we live close to the water and rats are a common problem, we're careful about storing food yet here I have pounds of flour just for the taking. Talk about a "duh" moment.
More ironic is we haven't had critter problems ever since we got a Terrier a few years ago. But, I also put the train board up off the floor so the dog can't get to it. Well, duh, the dog can't get to the critters either.
Next time I'll use foam instead of paper mache.
Also get a cat, a mean cat
The rodents in my area just love to chew foam and build nests in it.
Foam scenery might be more trouble than it's worth, but you might notice an infestation earlier as all the chewed bits blow all over the place,
Terry2foot
Hi Guys,
Several years ago I discovered that several of my HO scale trees had "fallen" - couldn't figure how. One night I entered the basement trainroom and spotted a field mouse (my house backed on a wooded area) gnawing away on a tree. Close inspection showed ther the trees - similar to Scenic Express Super trees, but from an private supplyer) had seeds. By that time there were lots of lumbering operations evident. Traps were only partially successful. I think that the mice liked peanut butter and knew how to outsmart the traps.
My neighbor offered her cat. While the mice had caused damage, imagine what a 12 pound cat running around the layout would have done. Well, finally I baited the traps with country ham. That did it - caught them all - must have been country mice. Had no trouble after that. My present layout is in my attic. and no bats in evidence after ten years.
Bill McMillan, MMR
If the cat is in the house, the mice will sense it and leave.
You would think that having a cat in the house would send the mice packing...that isn't necessarily so. Some years ago we used to live in upstate NY and played host to every field mouse (or deer mouse) in the county - when the weather turned cold. Our uninvited guests would invade the cellar; but rarely got into our living space. At the time we had 4 cats - all good mousers. Either the cats couldn't catch a significant number of mice OR they were simply overwhelmed by the onslaught. We covered the usual bases by putting mouse/rat poison in inaccessable (for the cats) places which helped - but did not end our troubles. Finally I resorted to spreading moth balls around the cellar and, voila, the mice found other winter quarters. Unfortunately you do not want your house/train room stinking of moth balls...but they do work. Fortunately we have not had a mouse problem in Alabama.
Cats rule while dogs drool.
The safest material to use is an anticoagulent bait like DeCon. It requires that the critters feed on it for several days. If they clean out one bait station, get another out ASAP. When there is no more feeding on it, it has done its job. This is the same stuff the Doc gives to thin blood in heart patients, but the unlimited feeding on it does the job. Glenn Joesten, Registered Environmental Health Specialist, retirerd. I was certified in Public Health Pest control by the State of Calif., so have some background in this.