For those who know me and either read this blog or have me as a Facebook friend, you know that I am into nature. I love watching the birds and keeping track of other animals that come onto my property. The balance of nature is amazing which contradicts what I am going to say. There is a member of the animal species that is at the very bottom of my list. They are rodents like mice and rats. In my opinion these rodents have no redeeming qualities except to provide food for snakes and other animals. For this reason I have no qualms about eliminating as many as possible. I have been known to put a bee, a cricket or even a spider back outside if I find one indoors, but not a mouse. I am sure there are purists who like all living breathing things but mice give me the heebie-jeebies. Mice are part of life when you live in the country. I have sealed up this house like a drum, but occasionally one gets into my laundry room. I have a couple traps set at all times and check every morning. This is the time of year they want to get in, and I rejoice at every one caught in the trap.
Fortunately my house isn't a problem but that is not the case with my garage, shed and the old original building that served as a garage when this house was built. I have kept it in its natural state but it's starting to look pretty bad and is really easy access for mice.
This past summer I cleaned out this garage and organized what was in there. I found many signs of mice. There were gross nests and chewed up items. It was disgusting. I can't set that many traps and keep up with it, so I found another way. I didn't want to set out poison and risk other animals getting into it. I did a search and came up with this recipe. It is safe for larger animals, but I would recommend putting these blocks near foundations or areas that are difficult for pets to get at. There is no sense taking a chance with getting your pet sick. This much salt can't be good. This website has tons of good information about a lot of DIY help. http://diynatural.com
The recipe for the mouse poison is here. https://diynatural.com/natural-rat-mouse-killer-pet-safe/
It is basically four ingredients.
Just mix together 2 cups of birdseed, 1/3 cup of table salt, 1/2 cup peanut butter and 1 egg and pat it out about 1/2 inch thick on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. I used a small 8 inch cake pan. Bake it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes to set up the dough. I cut the bars before I baked them so they broke apart easily. Mice and rats have a unique digestive system. The huge amount of salt sits in the mouse intestines and dehydrates them. You won't see dead mice and they won't smell because they dry up before they smell.
