One of the questionable joys of living in the country is our constant stream of unwanted guests. Key word here is “unwanted,” which I rush to define as uninvited guests who have more than two legs.
We’re pretty much tired at this point of collecting our daily 10 to 15 visiting brown marmorated stink bugs in our sudsy collecting jar. And Sunday morning I found a bit of evidence on the kitchen floor that a mouse has made its way into our house, even though we make determined efforts to seal every possible entry point. I will not bore you with a detailed description of the evidence other than to say it was about a quarter-inch long, dark brown-black, less than an eighth of an inch thick, and slighted pointed or rounded at both ends.
The mouse population here at Meadow Glenn seems to fluctuate greatly from winter to winter. Two winters ago we caught eight or 10, last year zero. One year I caught one live and released it outside—at a respectable distance from our house. I hope I made it back inside before it did.
But most mice don’t cooperate with my “take-em’-outside-alive” strategy, so I trap them. Mouse traps these days come in a variety of designs. I prefer old-fashioned, effective snap traps. I prefer snaps because I think they are humane—snap = death.
I’ve looked at a common alternative, glue traps. If I were a mouse, hey, Bob, set out a snap trap for me. Don’t use a new-fangled glue trap. Can you imagine a giant mouse setting a glue trap for humans? You walk on it and stick fast. You can barely move a muscle. You scream for help, but there is no help. You die of fright or you starve to death. No, Bob, be humane. Kill me with a snap trap.
I got out a packet of four new Victor snap traps in a plastic bag featuring a huge red V cleverly converted into a modernistic mouse face plus “Kills!” and “Easy Set,” “non-poisonous,” “disposable,” and “Made in USA” under a drawing of Old Glory. Wow, a genuine, patriotic, killing machine.
And to the left of the V, a drawing of a chunk of Swiss cheese in a red circle with a red slash across and the convenient reminder, “Never Needs Baiting.” At this point I was just a little skeptical because, really, we’re dealing with very intelligent American, not imported Swiss, mice. Wouldn’t it be better to show a slice of plastic-wrapped Velveeta? European readers, please don’t laugh. We Americans consider Velveeta to be cheese.
I have to compliment the Victor makers on the improvements they’ve made in their traps since I was a kid.
Gone is the little trigger to be spread with peanut butter. Replaced is a large, square, yellow plastic trigger, now called a pedal, designed to look like, yes, you guessed it, Swiss cheese. I suppose a mouse is supposed to see the pedal, think “exercise machine,” and hop aboard for a workout.
And Victor has added another improvement. When I engage the locking bar, I can put its end to either the left or right side of the slot where it engages with the pedal, depending on how much pressure the pedal requires before it releases the bow. Left is “Firm” and right is “Sensitive.” Since I consider myself sensitive when dealing with critters, “Sensitive” it will be.
Now it’s time to set the snap trap, but first I’ll bait it. Yes, the package says “Never Needs Baiting,” but there’s a small groove built into the pedal obviously designed for traditionalists like me to add just a dab of peanut butter.
I’ve applied the peanut butter. I’ve set the trap. I’ve just put it by the tiny space between the kitchen cabinet and the dish washer, likely the mouse’s Interstate getaway.
Good night.
P.S. If you want to see the ultimate in mouse traps, go online and check out Victor’s Multi-Kill Electronic Mouse Trap and the 1:18 minute video showing how it works. Mouse enters via “staircase” into Shock N’ Drop Chamber andd then walks onto three electrically charged plates that electrocute mouse “in less than 3 seconds.” Shock N’ Drop Chamber rotates and deposits mouse in collection drawer, which holds up to 10 mice. Only $99.99, batteries included. CLICK HERE.
Do deer repellents 
really work? Do they keep bambits from eating your greenery?
If you discuss deer browsing with your neighbor, one of her first questions probably will be how you keep deer away. Here are some of the repellents people have mentioned to me: human hair clippings scattered about; strong-smelling bath soap hung strategically in bars or scattered as shavings; smell stations incorporating coyote or other predator urine; and sprays based on foul-smelling or offensive-tasting ingredients.
One gardener told me she spreads shavings of Irish Spring soap around her flowers—and deer stay away. Another gardener said that doesn’t work for her. Another gardener told me he sprinkles urine where deer usually enter his garden—though I suppose it’s difficult for most gardeners to catch a coyote or bobcat and even more difficult to get it to urinate in a bottle so you can dribble it around your hostas.
A shrub grower gave me his personal formula for a spray: Add white and yolk of one egg to one quart of water in a blender, whiz it thoroughly and then some, strain it, and then spray it on plants you want to protect. Theory: the egg putrefies in place on the leaves and repels the browsers. A homeowner gave me a similar formula that used only the yolk but adds one teaspoon of baking powder. She suggested that the mix is more effective if allowed to “ripen” in the sprayer a few days and said it is more pleasant to apply when her husband does it. She warned against using it on edibles.
That warning is well taken. Never apply anything to edibles unless the product is certified for such use. Common sense says anything tainted by raw, rotten egg, for instance, could mean a trip to the hospital, or worse.
Researchers testing such suggestions generally conclude that any repellent may work for a while, until deer get used to it, rain washes it away, or food is so scarce deer ignore the repellent and eat the plant.
Home remedies aside, commercial repellents abound. Most are based on ingredients that the deer don’t like to smell or taste, such as garlic, hot peppers, or rotten eggs. They’re available at your local nursery or big-box store. Researchers have tested some in controlled conditions. Do they work?
The general answer is that repellents do work. But that answer comes with a lot of asterisks. For example, they work best where deer pressure is low and feeding damage light. Because of their cost, they are more practical for small areas and where alternative food is available. Some need to be reapplied periodically or after heavy rains—something homeowners may not do, especially in winter, when browsing is heaviest. And what repels deer in one area may not in another.
If you want to learn about repellents in more detail, I recommend that you read the 12-page University of Maryland Extension Fact Sheet 810, “Using Commercial Deer Repellents to Manage Deer Browsing in the Landscape.” The Fact Sheet compares popular repellents and describes tests of eight during the winters of 2000 to 2002. During those tests, deer browsed 49% of unprotected plants and 18% of plants protected by repellents.” To read it, print it, or download it free, CLICK HERE.
I admit that I’ve had poor results with repellents, including a stinky spray and one that looked like petroleum grease. But maybe I was the problem. I didn’t go out in the winter months to reapply the repellents when needed.
The next two Deer Country postings will discuss deer and vegetable gardens.
Note: Repellents in photos courtesy of River Hill Garden Center, Clarksville, Maryland 21029.
