Rodent Deterrents that Really Work: The Evictor Rodent Strobe Light

They don't call this rodent deterrent The Evictor for nothing. In 2008, I helped my friend Amelia move into one of those undergound tornado safe homes; it had been vacant for 6 months. Her attic was at ground level and let me tell you, little did she know then, she had critters of all kinds. There was a stench coming from inside the walls I recognized, but we weren't sure at this point which rodent smell that was. Amelia knew the struggle I endured finding the best way to get rid of mice in my home years earlier.

We put our heads together and devised a plan, one that was 100 times better than my original aimless course of action. In fact, the reason why I write this blog is becuase I have tried almost every mouse and rat trap. If one didn't do the job, it didn't get a second chance.  Had the Evictor Rodent Strobe been available 14 years ago, I would have used it and saved myself a lot of money, headaches, repairs and wasted time. The only doubt I had when we researched the rodent deterrent, was that it didn't specifically mention mice.  But after using it, I can vouch that it works for mice too.  You know, this is purely speculation, but maybe the reason The Evictor manufacturer doesn't specifically list mice on the long list of criiters it deters, is that mice tend to also live in walls, and there is no way for the strobe light to reach in those corridors. But, let me share with you the results we got from a combination of methods used with The Evictor Rodent Strobe.

What tipped us off to the rodent probem at first was the odor of the house. A few weeks before she moved in the property managment folks had placed mouse poison throughout the house causing mice to die inside the walls. Amelia's mom ordered a product called Fresh Wave, which is the best odor remover I have ever used. Her mom braggs about it all the time, but I just didn't like the idea of having an ugly plastic jar of goo opened in my living space. Reluctantly, I tried it; lets just say, your nose will love you, especially if your suffering dead mouse smell. Now, in 2012, Fresh Wave has a whole product line, including sprays, sachets, candles, crystals, gel and carpet powder. Stacked up next to the expensive store brands that rarely work, this stuff is awsome against rodent reek or stinky wet pet. Fresh Wave's odor remover is economical and absolutely works at nuetralizing odors, even smoke, and refills are available too.  Sorry didn't mean to sound like a commercial, but I love this stuff, everyone should know about it.

Flickr via Les Stockton

How we used The Evictor Rodent Strobe Light

We knew for sure that we had to ge rid of mice, a few rats, lots of squirrels and chipmunks or two (at least we think it was a chipmunk). Over the course of 3 weeks, this is what Amelia did:
First, she set up her Evictor strobe lights, one in the garage and one in the attic. Being an underground home, there was no crawlspace.

Then, after 24 hours she shut off the Evictor Rodent Strobe Light; I wasn't there, but she screamed into the phone that squirrels were running amuck on the top of her house right past her feet. To explain this weird phenemon, all undergound homes are different, hers happened to have a carpet of grass running over the roof. Driving up to her house is always a sight, seeing the horses and dogs standing on the roof grazing with windows below.

Evictor Strobe Light 10K - Buy Now at Amazon

Next, about three hours later, she turned the rodent strobe light back on.  She did an on and off schedule 3 or 4 days. However, we still had to combat the mice in the walls.

How to estimate how many mice you have

The next day, Amelia and I had got together for a girlie gabbie catch up all night sleep over - with a plan in mind. We sprinkled some baby powder on the laundry room floor; when we ran out of that, we dusted the kitchen floor with flour along the floor boards. The next morning, we barely stopped ouselves from destroying the evidence as we walked to the coffee pot. Looking accross the room, we could see at least a dozen mouse tracks. Tracks ran from the kitchen to the laundry room and back; and some ended at the carpet. Mice live within 30 feet of thier food source; we were close. Amelia half suspected anyhow when she found droppings in her food drawers. We didn't eat the donuts I brought over for breakfast because there were little flour prints on top of the cellophane; the donuts were on the kitchen counter. Mice are very good climbers, jumpers and swimmers; I saw one leap about 3 1/2 feet in my barn a few years back.

Repulsed yet starving, we headed out to breakfast. Like my three boys, Amelia yearns to gross me out; as if the morning donuts we not enough, she talked about youtube videos of rats and mice in restaurants. Wanting to eat my pancakes, I warned her she'd be on her own if she didn't stop. On the way back to her house we checked in at Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart for the Victor Electronic Mouse Traps,but all they had in stock were snap traps and sticky glue mouse traps. Back at the ranch, we bought the mouse traps she needed online at a few different places. We were pretty sure we were dealing with mice only, but Amelia wanted to get a Rat Zapper too. Rat Traps will work on capturing mice, pretty much anything that gets lured inside; the larger rat traps can usually hold and kill more than one mouse at a time.

How to use Mouse and Rat Traps with the The Evictor Rodent Strobe Light

Amelia got the traps within two days. As per the instructions, she baited the Victor M260 Multi-Kill Electronic Mouse Trap with peanut butter, shoving in a piece of bacon for good measure. Amelia's thinking was two fold, the smell of bacon was sure to lure mice from beyond 35 feet of the kitchen and laundry room. And Amelia has a kind heart (except when I am eating); the spoiled mice deserve "a last dinner." The Ratzapper rat trap was set the same way and placed in the garage. She baited and set a few smaller electronic mouse traps in each room just in case. A little over kill? Maybe, but her thoughts were more about ending the whole rodent recurring nightmare all at one time.

Look at the size of that thing!

Keeping the strobe on 24 hours a day, she also repaired and plugged all the holes and entry ways where the rodents were getting in. That was when I was introduced to copper mesh as a stoppage blockage material for holes; it works much better than steel wool and it doesn't rust. The real bonus is that bonding agents stick to it better too.

Rodent Control Solution that Worked

Over the course of the next week, Amelia caught a lot of mice in the Victor Multi Kill Mouse Trap, a rat and several more mice in the garage Rat Zapper, and one mouse in the hallway. It had been a very successful mouse catching week, the rodent dropping discoveries ceased as well as the need to empty the electronic mouse and rat traps. The Evictor Rodent Strobe Light is fired up and bright, it keeps all those cute but destructive critters away day and night.

Resources

Rodent Strobe Light Review

Big Ole Bully Mice Broadcast Hantavirus

Armed with microchips and infrared cameras, tortilla tupperware bins and 148 the best live humane mouse traps, University of Utah researchers studied the connection between Hantavirus and wild deer mice on 7.7 acres in the Western Tintic Mountains. The transmission of Sin Nombre virus, a specific Hantavirus, transmitted rodent to rodent, is also transmitted by rodent droppings to humans. A combined average of the 12 sites were used on the acreage, eleven percent of this group of mice observed were the older and larger. Any contact with the aged larger rodents led to fighting or mating with others of their species, and resulted in the spread of the deadly Hantavirus to uninfected members.

Reported in the Bristish Journal Proceedings of the Royal Society, this study proved to be contradictory to what the scientists previously thought to be true. Researchers believe that the 20-80 rule applies in transmission of Hantavirus. The 20-80 rule, a concept really, means that only 20% are responsible for transmission for that species population, this rule also applies to humans in the transmission of diseases such as AIDS, SARS, Measles, Small Pox and other diseases. The scientists presupposed that the sex of rodents, breeding age, enrivonmental surroundings and vegetation played a larger factor in transmission. And while those may also be factors, they can now add this new study to the mix of how Hantavirus is transmitted.

In the end. the study revealed that mice blood samples proved an average of 25% to 30% Hantavirus infection of that specific population. While the study pointed out that this 20-80 rule applies to the West Nile Virus transmitted by mosquitos, as well as tick borne diseases; it stands to reason that larger and older mice would contain the most ticks due to body surface, who then feed on the rodents blood and eventually transmit  to other mice, and indirectly to wildlife, pets and humans.

The study's suggestion of a risk map to identify rural areas where precautions might be taken sounds like a good idea to me (I'm rural).  Whether you could be breathing recircualted dust of rodent debris from sweeping up or cleaning up mouse droppings, it might make you think twice about wearing a filtered face mask while doing your chores; Hantavirus is transmitted to humans by mice droppings as far as researchers know now.  Thirty seven  of our states have reported cases of Hantavirus at one time or another, and most of the states are in the midwest, centering in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

Some think global warming may be tied to Hantavirus and other rodent diseases, in that rodents are affected by our weather and ecosystems; the denser the vegetation, the more food available, the bigger the rodents resulting in increased Hantavirus risk versus times of drought, when vegetation and water is scarce, causing a dip in the population, smaller rodents and less Hantavirus episodes.

Recent Hantavirus outbreaks in Chula Vista, California, Canada, South Korea and Mexico are emerging to the spotlight once again. The last outbreak in 1993 was responsible for 465 cases of  the virus in the United States; of those cases and over time, 35 percents of the patients died, as recorded in 2007. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) website claims there are 60 diseases transmitted directly and indirectly by rodents, as well as rodent parasites which carry disease too. In order to get rid of mice whether they are in your walls, (ever wonder where that sudden odor came from?), you heard some noise in the attic, manybe carcasses in your hvac and then there are those awful pantry pests (sometimes those are caused by rodent infestations), its all a very nasty topic.

Resources

University Utah Study
University of New Mexico
Center for Disease Control