Peanut butter/POP....how long does it take to kill? Responses please!

[arockkid]

Our chicks have only been outside for a week, and about a week before that we discovered we have some mice in the basement, and a rat in the garden.

Needless to say, over the course of two weeks, we've discovered we actually have mice throughout the house, and rats have even made their way in. We're in the city, in an old house, with partial basement/partial crawlspace, so blocking them from getting in has turned out to be nearly impossible.

For the last week or so, I've been making 1:1 peanut butter/plaster of paris balls, and my husband has been trying to block whatever entry/exit point he can.
Well, the peanut butter balls go like hotcakes, and I have yet to smell the 'sweet smell of success' (AKA-dead rotting rodent carcasses), and the target of my hard work are just digging lower and holes around the house keep reappearing.

We've busted out the poison now, and snap traps (no luck on the traps)....but I guess my question is just as in the title....is there a chance it could take that long for the POP to work? I am certain they are being eaten by the truckloads, and would love to hear that it could actually take days or a week to kill, because I feel better about using this method than the poison, which I can only put in the crawlspace, to keep away from my 2yearold and 3 dogs. But I also hate the thought that I'm actually just creating protein packed super rats with bowels of steel.

My next step will the be the bucket trap approach, but would love to avoid the sight of a drowned rat.

All responses and experience are totally appreciated!

 

[storeman]

I have never tried the p/be-plaster before, but I have killed my share with the snap traps. Make sure there is no other food source around and then bait your snap traps with a small amount of p/b. After about 2 weeks and 10 mice my problem was solved for awhile. That's just my experience. Good luck.

 

[chicmom]

We had mice once. We lived in the city, but there was a field at the back of the house, so we had field mice. Anyhow, you could see those mice run up the side of our brick house, and get into the attic where the roof meets the top of the walls.

We had an exterminator come by, and he threw these poisonous treats into the crawl spaces in the attic, and he also set some mouse traps. That took care of the mice quickly. The treats looked like something you would buy a pet gerbil or mouse....They were little blocks of seed that seemed glued together.....

Good luck to you,
Sharon

 

[arockkid]

So, just caught a mouse on a sticky trap overnight, and had my husband 'take care of it' (then he cried)....he said pooped out white poop before it died. So, that means I am indeed feeding an entire mouse/rat population my supposedly deadly treats.
Also found an actual study that pretty much puts the pb/pop myth to rest (for me at least) saying it did, in fact, only give the rats sore butts.

At least there is some satisfaction in knowing that I've given these stupid things hemerrhoids to annoy them on their final days before the REAL poison kicks in.

I can just picture them scratching their stupid rat butts right before they keel over.

 

[Katy]

I tried the Plaster of Paris mixed with both peanut butter and also with cake mix and powdered suger. All the rats did was poop white rat turds. I finally resorted to poison and that worked like a charm.

 

[fishin-nole]

You can use steel wool or tin foil in the cracks to block access.

 

[M@M@2four]

Hello! We have had this issue in our barn and tried all sorts of methods. The ONLY thing that worked for us was, "Just One Bite." You should be able to buy this almost anywhere, but I know for sure Home Depot carries it. It is in block form and works within three days!

 

[bryan99705]

I've never heard of POP with p/butter but have used cement mixed with sugar for sneaky killers with a sweet tooth-

 

[drumstick diva]

I was just about to post the same question re: plaster of paris + peanut butter. Oh well!! I just bagged a mouse with a sticky trap a few days ago. It was a hideous experience. When I first noticed a clump of fur on top of the trap I thought it was a big lint ball from the dryer, until the long tail moved, and scared the crapola out of me.
For three days and nights I would approach cautiously with a flashlight. When he heard me ,the tail would flop around and he made more efforts to escape. He was on his side and the trap had alot of blood on it. I guess he had been caught on the stomach and wrenched himself over on his side, probably ripping the skin off his belly and bleeding.

I was just sick about it- I don't know why but, I had expected him to die just from being caught on the trap. On the fourth day(morning) I was positive he had expired, he was so flat(Dehydrated??) he looked one dimensional but, the tail was moving again. Finally I got the nerve to pick him up with a shovel and gingerly carried him outside and threw trap and all into the bushes. That ended my suffering but did nothing for his.

I know readers are going to blast me for not finishing him off in some humane fashion but I couldn't handle it. Neighbor told me I should have used snap traps because you get an instant kill. My father always used those and NO it wasn't always fast. Some times the trap would come down on a leg etc, and the victim would crawl around dragging the trap until he bashed them with a shovel.

My father died a few years ago, I am afraid of the snap traps and no one is willing to set them for me. I am an oldie but certainly not feeling like a goodie. Don't have chickens or food laying around to tempt unwanted guests. Don't feed the birds. It's impossible to fill every last tiny hole and even if you could, they can sneak in when you open a door carrying groceries etc. Just needed to vent - have done alot of crying over this but, wanted to let others know what sticky traps are like - I was too stupid - it just seemed like such an an easy solution.

 

[arockkid]

I know they're awful....but here's my thing....we check them a few times a day, kill what get caught.....plus I put them RIGHT next to the humane trap. They can choose life or death

My first experience with the sticky trap was kinda like yours....caught it, alive....just the feet were stuck....so I 'carefully' pried it off the trap with a fork, and put it outside. Where it walked around slowly, probably with 4 broken legs....and picking up dirt and rocks with each step. I went out every few hours and it didn't get very far. I even started calling it Mr. Stickyfoot.
"Eric, if Mr. Stickyfoot is out there THIS time, I'm bringing him in, putting him in a cage, and waiting for the glue to come off and then let him go".
I lucked out and didn't find him. He most likely did not luck out and got picked up by a cat or something.
Now...they will all get snipped with the hedgetrimmers. And my husband will cry each time.