Yes – I think that’s going to be the best move. It’s less stressful for him and most affordable for me! LOL!
I just can’t imagine being OK with a mice infestation or blowing my money on arena footing because it’s not taken care of. But, not everyone is like me I guess!
I bought an arena drag and drug the arenas with my little Jeep as the tow vehicle when I was unhappy with the arena maintenance at the (affordable, great location) place I boarded at. I also watered the arena, raked the track down by hand, etc etc etc. I also took on many mouse and rat wars, when the population surged.
I think the place you’re at might be ok, if the BO is down for some help and you aren’t above doing it… If they don’t have barn cats and the BO is cool with it, I would get a couple bait stations and a tub of the bait chunx and start there for the mice. Also, ask the BO if you can post signs that the “Mouse War” has begun and people need to get their food stuffs in appropriate containers in 2 weeks or it’s getting chucked.
The last place I was at had a hideous mouse infestation. The barn cat was about 100 years old and couldn’t keep up, but other cats weren’t an option because the barn cat was 100 years old… It was a shared building, and the other tenants were slobs and didn’t take care of their trash. We never did get on top of it. I kept all my stuff in my locker in mouseproof containers and had traps scattered about in there, but it was a losing battle. I was so happy to move to somewhere clean and mouse free with a couple of ferocious cats.
It is just my opinion but this is not the time for humane traps to release later, that is exaberating the problem.
Fill a tallish bucket with water not deep enough to drown a cat. An inch down from the rim smear a lot of peanut butter around the rim. You can catch hundreds a night.
The plug in ultrasonic mouse repellents work pretty well. I put one in a duplex my brother was in and Mr mouse moved out.
Yes, and the retail version wasn’t a poor knockoff – it worked.
I would prefer a snaptrap to drowning. Catch and release works well enough for the ecosystem for mice – if they don’t make it in their new environment, they are likely food for some other animal.
Which ones did you buy cause the ones on Amazon that had great reviews did nothing?
The electric traps work great for catching them. Probably the most humane considering. I ordered the birth control stuff, Contrapest, and have been using that for a few months. Im hoping that helps as they move back in due to the cold.
I actually have a battery powered light and ultrasonic one. It kept them away for a week. It was to a point where that, repellent spray and traps weren’t working.
I now have that, a new repellent spray, a satchel deterrent and everything in totes.
@atr I do think I’d get serious relief to move. But I just can’t find a place that fits the bill :’( And who’s bill I can foot!
I assume you have brought these issues up to management? You are paying for arenas that are maintained and food for your horse that is worm free as part of your board.
Mice are a struggle no matter where you are , especially this time of year but I agree they should be doing something to get a handle on it.
If they blow you off I would find another boarding barn that hopefully has wide doorways??
none of what we put out has ever been eaten, it is still in the bait tray from TWO Years ago
I am just wondering if you have seen video of a mouse plague.
It looks like a stream of water. No holes in between. With cats on drums just watching them.
Mouse bait sells out and there is reports on the News about them coming to your area from another State, while eating crops in their way.
All you can do is keep your eyes and ears open for another place
Talk to vet and farrier and any other pro you use. I understand, the struggle is real!
A couple barns ago I was in a situation where y horse was thriving but thats because he was such an easy keeper. Ample turnout which is hard to come by, but they also had not great hay and even less great roundbales in the fields. There were a whole host of other issues, but everything quickly turned into a co-op type situation a couple months after I moved in. That was ok because we had voices and the BO was happy to have the extra help, but it wasn’t much longer than that the bad started to outweigh the good.
I second @atr, keep an active eye open for comparable alternatives.
I have a barn cat, and I have not seen a mouse or rat in the barn in YEARS.
Thanks @FjordBCRFand @atr – I think that is my best option for now. Hopefully I can find some smaller, more private facilities that may offer better. For now the hay is great and the turnout is good – but in the summer I don’t love the unreplenished round bales and the storms without shelter. But it’s winter and it’s tolerable for now. I do worry it’ll get worse, but allegedly it used “to be better”. We’ll see.
@candyappy I did talk to her about the mice. She laughed. But then she gave me some poison and had her dog root 'em out of my locker. I also spoke to a couple staff. When I talk about the storms they say, “they are used to it” and I haven’t touched the footing topic, honestly. I have friends there that have been there for years and say it didn’t used to be this way. I mean – I’ll drag the darn ring once a week if she needs help.
they dont care. Move.
I have allergies to rodents (not fear, true protein allergy) and for some people this type allergy can = emergency room. It can actually develop and progress and 30% of people who have any level allergy will have accentuated reaction to rodent . I wound up in ER once due to a most extraordinary allergy reaction ( I didnt know eyeballs could do that)
I worked with rodents in research for 16 years and my ability to do so was aided by very advanced environment control.
You cannot poison your way out of this situation.
“Didn’t used to be this way” is a red flag. Barn owner is losing focus, stamina, bandwidth, capacity in some way. Could be health, could be mental health, could be financial, could be she took on a part time job elsewhere, could be she is in love, could be substance use. Depending on her age and situation. Or maybe there used to be a barn manager or business partner who kept things going.
If things have declined over time with the same owner (I assume) then there is no reason they will improve without something really changing, like a new barn manager or a lottery win.
I agree on the mice. There’s less, but I know they are still there. Plus most boarders appear to be serious hoarders. I just don’t have a good option - they are either expensive or just don’t have amenities.
@Scribbler her father was sick – and that’s “when things went to shit” … but I’ve seen him out and about and that was months ago. I think what happened is the trainer that used to be there bought her own place. So things she used to do (like drag the ring) have fallen by the wayside. She’s moving ONTO the property and said she’s going to invest into the barn. I don’t know if I believe it, but they are building an apartment on site for her father. She will at least be on site if the weather turns sour, I guess… but I won’t tolerate this forever, that’s for sure.
The crummy barn I mentioned rings a similar tune. The only reason I moved there was because I had heard good things about the BO from people who had boarded with her in the past. Well. In the past she was leasing blocks of stalls at existing barns with infrastructure in place for things that were a pain. Like manure maintenance, pasture maintenance, winter driveway maintenance, general maintenance, ordering hay, staffing etc.
When I went to board with her, she was at a place she had a lease to own land contract on. She also had a full time job. Needless to say, she grossly underestimated the amount of time and money needed to keep the place staffed and in halfway decent condition. If she didn’t let us boarders basically run the circus, getting the horses fed twice a day would have been questionable.
unfortunately you may need to pay more/ drive further to get better qualities. I would not trade off on the footing , crowding, and rodent/ infestation issues issues, they are all deal breakers
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