>Does anyone know of a natural scent that repels mice?  (Preferably one I
>can just get from a store rather than order from an online pest control
>company.)
 
We haven't had any long term problems with mice or rats but my Mum did
when she first married my dad and lived on their wheat farm and had to
stop mice entering the home during plagues.
 
OK Shron, first off you need to stuff any gaps especially those around
pipes with steel wool and Rocky, even though you really want to help,
don't move the steel wool to a 'better' spot.  Then you need to put down
repellants.and if you have access to ceiling spaces or air vents then
these are a perfect place to throw them around.
 
* Blocks of camphor.
* Fresh mint placed on the internal section of vents so you can replace
  it regularly.
* A mixture of mint leaves, cayenne pepper and cottonwool soaked in
  peppermint oil.
* Dried mint and tansy in cupboards.
 
One other repellant that mum used to swear by which I wouldn't recommend
for apartments is to saturate rags with turpentine and place in the
ceiling and other haunts.  (Remember my mum lived in the middle of
nowhere and didn't just have 1 or 2 mice to deal with but more like 1
or 2 thousand.
 
Now, a rodent bait that mum swears by involves 1/2 cup of cornflour and
1/2 cup of cement.  Mix thoroughly and place in small amounts in
containers in areas where they might be.  The rodents will eat the
mixture and go away to find water.  The water reacts with the cement and
kills them.  If you don't like the idea of using cement, replace it with
plaster of paris and mix to a dough with milk.
 
There is also a trap but ideally you would need a outside position for
this one as it gets a bit messy and smelly.  You need a big bucket that
is fairly deep.  Fill it up with water to about 2 inches from the top and
then cover the top with bird seed so that it gives the illusion that the
bucket is full of the seed.  Then you need to give the rodents a ramp up
to the top of the bucket and when they try to get the seed they fall in
and drown.  The next morning you need to clean the bucket out if there is
a dead mouse in it and then reset it.  I know it's not nice but no pest
control methods are.
 
My last comment would be......are you sure it is a mouse or rat........A
friend of mine though there were mice in the walls of her new apartment
but latter found out that the previous tenant had a snake and it
disappeared one day never to be found again.  The upshot is that the
mouse was actually a snake that was quite happily keeping the apartment
complex rodent free.
 
Cheers
Melissa & Darrin
[Posted in FML issue 4684]