Thanks Yvonne. Then I won't give up on the blocks. May try a trap also. Might try to move the bookcase this afternoon. Hate to find out what's under there. I've been hesitant to move it because at least I know where he's (they're) hiding, and he's easy to spot there.
When I arrived today there was a pile of 4" pvc pipes laying on the dam. I feel an urge to try and write down what happened, just to see if I can. Apparently the main goal for the day was to pump the lake water level down at least to the base of the old riser (drain) pipe. The cement truck must be coming soon, because I could detect a tone of desperation and panic, but forgot to ask. Fence man said his helpers called in sick today. Besides 4 more men, they were expecting 3 gasoline pumps with three 3" hoses, each long enough to reach from the water, over the dam and down the back side. Instead all they had was one pump with a short 3" rubber (red) hose. Even if the red hose were long enough, they would have to spend the whole night there to keep filling the pump with gasoline. So they decided, on the spur of the moment, to rig up a temporary siphon, using the pvc pipes, which could drain all night long unattended. I had a bad feeling about this from the get go. lol They glued all the pvc pipes together to make the siphon system, with an opening on top to fill it with water. Once you get it filled with water, you open the end on the back side of the dam and pray. First they realized the red hose was even too short to reach the fill hole on the siphon contraption, but carrying buckets of water to fill the pipe was too technologically unadvanced, too labor intensive, and they would get wet. So they called a 3rd man on the phone who brought out a long 3" hose, but it would not connect properly with the red hose. They decided to cut the end off the 3" red hose and stuff it in the end of a leftover 4" pvc pipe, and use that to put water in the siphon, but the water just spewed out. Surprise. First try they decided the slope was incorrect and adjusted it. Meanwhile the man trying to hold the red hose inside the pipe, while the pump was going, got soaking wet. Someone came up with the idea of duct tape to attach the red hose to the pipe. It actually worked! This is the scene trying to fill the siphon system. After 4 tries to get the siphon going, with no luck, both the end caps broke. Meanwhile they all 3 got wet. After it was over, we were all sitting quietly on that black roll of cloth, and the man with the long beard says to me, "We're professionals," and we all broke out laughing. They are bringing more pumps and long hoses in the morning, and guarantee the water will be pumped down by the time I get there. By the way, fence man said he saw a catfish in the lake today that he estimated was 2.5 feet long.
I agree with @Yvonne Smith @Nancy Hart, you probably have several mice. We used to have terrible problems with mice coming into the house with the onset of winter, and the little green blocks worked okay. They were always the last resort, though, when the mouse population got ahead of us. When we had livestock, it was nearly impossible to keep them out of the grain and stuff Now we just have chickens but the population has recently bloomed. I have suspected we had ermine around for several years, but have been unable to catch one no matter what I do. I think they eat eggs as well as mice and other rodents around. I started seeing mice in the open every time I went into the chicken house, so I started setting traps. I have caught 5 in the last two days, even if I didn't bait the traps, but once in a while, the traps are set off and the bait is gone but nothing is caught. THAT I suspect in the ermine or whatever. I have set bigger traps and they get cleaned out without setting off, so I guess the critter is still smarter than I am. I will soon resort to something else trying to outsmart our mystery creature. Maybe your goat grain attracts the mice to your place and feeds them so they can reproduce prolifically. Good luck with your "Mouseageddon"!
I had been putting out those d-CON blocks occasionally since fall, mostly refills outside the plastic containers, but forgot about it recently. Dollar store manager said there has been a run on manual traps, and all they had left were traps inside a plastic cover, for safety, so I tried one of those, and a different brand of blocks (TomCat). Yesterday I had one mouse dead in the manual trap with peanut butter, and only a tiny corner chewed off the new block. Then I read it may take up to 4 days for the new type blocks to kill them, so I think there might have been just two mice. We'll see today. What I've learned is you have to be consistent and proactive in cold weather, keep blocks out all the time, even if you don't see any signs of mice. I think they are getting in around the dryer vent hose which enters through the floor. I need to secure that. There are too many "I need to's...." {sigh} I bet mice are a nuisance if you keep grain around. Many small farm and pet goat people keep their grain secured in plastic garbage cans. We have never fed our goats grain, only alfalfa pellets, and the mice don't care for them. I guess that's another good reason to use them, besides the fact that they are more nutritious.
Joe, I should get this no kill trap, and release them at someone else's house that I don't like, far away.
We used to have these too, but we would have to somehow empty them on a daily basis, as if they were left too long, the trapped mice would attack and eat each other. Also, they were always getting stepped on, either by humans or livestock. The TomCat blocks are what we used here. Also, pet goats don't need grain as they don't generally produce milk. Milking does can't keep their weight up and milk production going without the addition of grain to their diets. Wild ones don't produce the quantity of milk that domestics do, so they can manage, often just on bark and grass.
Yep. I understand the need for grain if you are milking. Our goats were only for brush control. They did a fantastic job with that.
I have a "tin cat" ....You crank the knob to increase tension on the spring....they enter a hole at one end, trip a spring that flips them into a second, bigger compartment and there they wait, nibble on a piece of cheese and wait for company. Mice attract mice, I guess. It can catch 6 mice or so and can be released by sliding the top open. or ...the whole trap can be submerged in a five gallon bucket of water, til the bubbles stop.
Good news so far! Not a sign of a mouse today. Not even a tiny nibble from any of the blocks. Fingers crossed. Fly them to the moon... with a Rube Goldberg trap.
Would you believe, I've always had an irrational fear of those mechanical mouse traps. Finally found one at the grocery store, put the little thingy alongside the little slot, but was afraid to let go. I just can't do it! The fancy one I bought, you just push a lever.