Speaking from recent experience with a
minor mouse issue in my basement at home, I am not a fan of the Decon poison pellets
and similar producnts. I set out some of this stuff in my basement, and what I
found was just more droppings, but this time the droppings were the exact green
same color as the poison! Which means the mice were digesting the stuff, living
to tell the tale, then coming back for more. So much for that. A few years ago
we used the poison with more success but did indeed find mouse carcasses in
very conspicuous places in our basement.
Now, maybe it depends on the brand you
buy, but I now stick to the old fashioned snap traps and have had much better
luck. Plus, it’s a very quick death for the little critters, which
consoles me some.
In a museum setting, historic house or
otherwise, I would not want to take a chance that a poisoned mouse might expire
in an inconvenient public space. At least when you set traps you know to
always check the same place for the dead ones; it’s more predictable
where you’ll find the bodies.
Just my 2c, and hope I didn’t gross
anyone out!
Cristin J. Waterbury
Registrar/Collections Manager
From:
Sent: Friday, June 27, 2008 12:28
PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] help with
keeping mice at bay
Dear Lori,
Having recently had a mouse problem in my own home, I can pass on the
advice given by many people to me. I cannot advise whether the
remedy is museum appropriate -- perhaps someone else can comment.
The only thing that really gets rid of mice is the Decon Baitbit
pellets. They are green, and come packaged in trays, available at
hardware stores and some drugstores. They are toxic and should not be
used where children or pets might get at them. If they can be placed in
out-of-the-way dark corners, under cabinets, etc. perhaps they could work for
you. They can be put in crawl spaces. They contain a dessicant,
which in effect mummifies the mouse so it won't smell if it dies inside your
walls (or so I'm told). They seem to have done the job in my home.
The mice crawl away to die so they shouldn't leave you with dead mice visible
in your exhibition areas.
I was given a ton of advice, re spring traps, sticky traps, using
peanut butter as bait, and putting the trap inside an empty potato chip bag
which attracts the mice. You surely don't want any of that in your
museum. The consensus among building supers and people who have
gotten rid of mice is that Decon is the answer. The pellets are said to
be not dangerous if handled properly (i.e. wash hands thorougly after use, and
put in no-traffic areas such as under a radiator or behind the stove).
Again, I leave it to the scientists to advise on safety.
The other advice I was given regularly is try to find their entry holes
& plug them up with steel wool. If the mice are getting in
non-historic sections of your place, you can caulk baseboards with silicone
sealer in addition to stuffing the major holes with the steel wool. A
laughable suggestion for the average historic house, but I offer it for
academic interest or personal home use. All this has been helpful
for me, but of course you are not going to riddle a historic structure with
steel wool & silicone.
Good luck & best wishes,
Joanna Pessa
Art historian & apartment dweller
Lori Tolliver-Jones
<[log in to unmask]> wrote: