The Killing Fields...

Code Monkey · Jan 8, 2008

... or how to set back a thriving B. dubia colony 3+ years:

I've had some mouse problems this winter. Thought I might have gotten rid of them when I discovered a mouse nest in some excess insulation in the basement that they were also using for easy access to the kitchen for night raids.

Nope, I simply drove them to concentrate on a different food source. Threw some orange scraps in the roach bin this morning and noticed that the stuff I put in last week was still there, hmm... Then I noticed there were very few adults visible. I thought maybe I'd done something stupid like a few years ago when I left something dangling within roach reach and had quite a few escape before I noticed, so I started looking around for escaped roaches. Didn't find any roaches, but I found a large pile of legs near the radiator the mice were using to travel within 8 inches of the roach bin. Since I'd left the bin open because I'd had some phorid problems in the fall and just never bothered to close it again, they've been having an all you can eat smorgasborg in my bin.

Now I'm worried how many mice I've got because, at the least, they consumed a couple of hundred adult B. dubia (also seemed to prefer the large females

). I'd estimate they reduced the colony by at least 80%. DOH!

I've been sticking to no kill traps in an attempt to be more kind to my fellow mammals; I'm breaking out the snap traps as soon as I get to the store.

Anastasia · Jan 8, 2008

Glue traps work great too

arachnocat · Jan 8, 2008

Wow! That's amazing. I didn't know mice would do that!

Cirith Ungol · Jan 8, 2008

Tape a couple of corns within reach of this roach pile.

Whatever you do, best of luck! This seriously sucks! I've been struggling for years to get my dubia colony going and now finally it seems to be going a bit better. It would kill me to have something like that happen.

Cirith Ungol · Jan 8, 2008

arachnocat said:
Wow! That's amazing. I didn't know mice would do that!

Mice eat anything. A box of dubias would be for the mice like a breakfast for us at Bill Gates's when he's in a really good mood.

Stylopidae · Jan 8, 2008

Have you tried warfarin based traps?

I don't know if warfarin works on inverts as well as vertebrates, but I'm almost 100% sure you'd know the answer to that.

I'd imagine not, though...since the clotting factors they work on probably aren't present in invertebrates.

Code Monkey · Jan 8, 2008

Cheshire said:
Have you tried warfarin based traps?

With ferrets, three (nosy) dogs, and small children, I'm not comfortable with any toxin based control.

I did find some blood on the base board cover where the mouse or mice have been sitting de-legging the innocent roaches, so the leg spines at least poked for minor justice. I have that very small comfort

dirtydirt · Jan 8, 2008

Amazing

Who woulda thought...I say catch the mice feed em to T's

arachnocat · Jan 8, 2008

lol. yeah the mice should be nice and fat by now.

Scythemantis · Jan 8, 2008

Anastasia said:
Glue traps work great too

And are quite possibly the most horrendously sick, cruel, inhumane forms of pest control on the market. If you're going to kill mice, kill with a snap trap. You have to kill them yourself anyway with a glue trap, unless you want them to starve to death or rip out their own skin and eyeballs as they struggle. It binds deep into their flesh. Ever accidentally touch one yourself? They have much thinner, more delicate skin. Glue traps should just be completely outlawed.

TNeal · Jan 8, 2008

I have to agree with the previouse poster. Glue traps are horrible and a very heatless way to catch mice. We have a mouse problem too. Luckily they have not found my Dubia. I just catch them and release them outside.

Tom

ShadowBlade · Jan 8, 2008

dirtydirt said:
Who woulda thought...I say catch the mice feed em to T's

Poetic Justice.

-Sean

Code Monkey · Jan 8, 2008

TNeal said:
I just catch them and release them outside.

I won't use glue traps for the reasons outlined but didn't comment because I've no interest in debating the merits of meece removal. I've been avoiding killing traps because I'd rather not kill anything I don't have to.

However, I have at least one mouse (dubbed "Ninja Mouse") who can somehow navigate the live traps and eat all the bait. I've caught young mice with them, but the very fat, very healthy adult(s) have earned an escalation in the warfare with this perfidy

Anastasia · Jan 8, 2008

Scythemantis said:
And are quite possibly the most horrendously sick, cruel, inhumane forms of pest control on the market. If you're going to kill mice, kill with a snap trap. You have to kill them yourself anyway with a glue trap, unless you want them to starve to death or rip out their own skin and eyeballs as they struggle. It binds deep into their flesh. Ever accidentally touch one yourself? They have much thinner, more delicate skin. Glue traps should just be completely outlawed.

well, Am sorry didnt think of that
pests and parasites thing you know
for example, I wouldnt think of kill tapeworm humane way
just kill it before it kills you
so is the rodents, mice, rats and roaches which carry all kinds disease

KyuZo · Jan 8, 2008

TNeal said:
I just catch them and release them outside.
Tom

This sounds to me like a game. you catch them and release them outside, then the cycle continues, but the next time around their number will increase.
when you release them, they are just going to be someone else's problem.
so why don't you just killed them?
just my opinion

Code Monkey · Jan 8, 2008

Anastasia said:
so is the rodents, mice, rats and roaches which carry all kinds disease

FYI, there is exactly zero evidence that roaches can transmit disease. They *can* cause childhood asthma and aggravate existing asthma, but they are unknown to actually transmit a single disease.

Anastasia · Jan 8, 2008

Code Monkey said:
FYI, there is exactly zero evidence that roaches can transmit disease. They *can* cause childhood asthma and aggravate existing asthma, but they are unknown to actually transmit a single disease.

uh um
http://cals.arizona.edu/urbanipm/schoolipm/newsletters/2004/feb.pdf

Cockroaches
There are thousands of species of cockroaches in the world. However,
only a very few are problems in schools. These include the German,
American, Oriental, Brownbanded, Smokybrown, and Turkestan.
Cockroaches or “water bugs” as some people call them can cause many
problems. Certain cockroaches carry germs that cause human diseases
such as diarrhea, dysentery, food poisoning, and salmonella. The
transmission of these diseases can be caused by the roaches’
habit of wandering through organic wastes and then traveling over
countertops, cooking utensils, food, plates, and silverware.

dont want to get in debating war here, but
I absolutely refuse live wit roaches and mice in generaly

Code Monkey · Jan 8, 2008

Anastasia said:
uh um
http://cals.arizona.edu/urbanipm/schoolipm/newsletters/2004/feb.pdf

dont want to get in debating war here

It's not a debating war, there is NO evidence they can transmit disease, full stop. All people have done is demonstrated they can *carry* some disease causing germs, but so don't all people as well. You can take my newborn son, dip him in Lysol, and you'll still be able to culture a bazillion potential pathogens from his body. The only important question is: can he transmit those pathogens in a manner that causes disease, and for cockroaches, the answer is we don't know but in all the trials they actually looked to demonstrate disease causing, they failed to show it.

Unfortunately, most people don't care about the difference, but it's a very real one. I worked extensively with cockroaches at VT. My first thesis project involved studying IPM control of cockroaches in public housing and one of the problems we ran into was that we had to write a justification portion for the state legislature. Well, you can't actually claim cockroaches cause disease other than asthma because there is no evidence of that. Anyone who claims differently is either confused or being deliberately deceptive.

moose35 · Jan 9, 2008

don't dip your son in lysol

moose

dtknow · Jan 9, 2008

man mice really do eat everything. I've heard of people raising, of all things, whiteworms...and having mouse problems!!! I think vengeance is in order.

What bait have you been using? Stickier stuff like peanut butter may help. Maybe borrow someone's cat.

The Killing Fields...

Arachnoemperor

Arachnoprince

Arachnoangel

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies

Arachnoking

Arachnoemperor

Arachnosquire

Arachnoangel

Arachnobaron

Arachnoknight

Planeswalker

Arachnoemperor

Arachnoprince

Arachnoprince

Arachnoemperor

Arachnoprince

Arachnoemperor

Arachnoprince

Arachnoking