[ale] Critters in the Attic

[Greg]

For mice use steel wool.  Put it between the boards of your house and in
*any* and *all* holes.  It apparently sticks the little critters in the nose
or something but it works.  For your traps I would suggest peanut butter as
bait.  I am assuming you are using the big steel teeth mouse traps that
kill.  You really don't want to capture and release rodents and such - they
just come back.

Greg
  -----Original Message-----
  From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org]On Behalf Of Matthew
Brown
  Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2005 11:03 AM
  To: Pete Hardie; Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
  Subject: Re: [ale] Critters in the Attic


  Moth balls.  Put a few in the attic here and there.  Be careful though.  I
nearly gassed my family by putting a whole box of them up there.  ALSO, put
them where you can easily remove them when they've done their job.

  DISCLAIMER:  I have no idea how toxic this might be, I only know it worked
well for me.

Matthew Brown, CorData
Linux Solutions for Small Business
o: 770-795-0089
e: matthew.brown at cordata.com

  Pete Hardie wrote:
On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 08:59:02 -0500, David Corbin <dcorbin at enttek.com> wrote:
  We have critters in the attic.  Unfortunately, they don't seem to want to
be
caught by our rat traps (cages sized for Noregian Roof Rats, which we've had
before).  So, I assume it's something larger.  What I really need is to know
where they're entering the attic, so I can seal it.

But wait you say, this is a Linux list.  I have an old P133 system that I
just
shut down.  I had this thought - what inexpensive peripherals could I add
to this box to help me solve it?

I was thinking I could put the box in the attic (winter fortunately), and
put
a cheap camera on it.  I'd need some type of flash/strobe, or it would have
to be an IR-capabel camera (they only seem active at night, so even
low-light
won't help).  If it's a still-camera, I'd need a motion sensor, though that
might be good either way.


Two suggestions

1) light - try leaving your attic light on.  If you don't have one, a
worklight could be run from an outlet.  This will either drive them
out, or let you see them better

2) ingress - probably via eaves, or vents.  Hardware cloth over any
hole larger than your pinky-nail.  I found a gutter screen mesh that's
pretty cheap, easy to trim, and comes in convenient lengths for attic
work at Home Depot.


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...