-8- 



2. Clean Up . About a week before harvest, clean up all debris near the 

 loading doors. Bags, lumber, and stacked boxes provide shelter from which 

 rodents may dash through open storage doors. 



3. Rodent-proof the Storage . Before storage begins, the storage room 

 should be inspected to discover ways in which rodents might enter. If you go 

 inside and shut off the lights, light leaks from the outside may make it easier 

 to spot small holes. Remember that a hole the size of a dime will admit mice. 

 Check carefully around pipes, floor drains, ventilating ducts and breaks in the 

 insulation. Plug all such holes with metal flashing or 1/2-inch wire mesh 

 (hardware cloth). Pack insulating materials against these, if necessary, but 

 do not count on a wad of insulation to stop rodents. 



DURING HARVEST 



1. Move Filled Boxes Quickly . Mice are frequently brought in from the 

 orchard in boxes of apples. Meadow mice and white-footed mice may scramble 

 into boxes within a few minutes after they a re set on the ground. If filled 

 boxes are left in the orchard overnight, mice will almost always be carried into 

 the storage room. It may not be practical to rush each box into the storage, 

 but an effort to avoid leaving filled boxes on the ground overnight may pay off 

 in terms of reduced mouse damage. 



2. Bait the Storage as It is Being Filled , At least a few mice usually 

 get inside the storage room despite all reasonable precautions. It is, there- 

 fore, necessary to dispose of them in one of two ways: 



(A) Fumigation with poisonous gas. Since this must be done carefully 

 to prevent damage to fruit or injury to the operator, the services 

 of a ccmmercial exterminator should be considered, (Details of 

 effective fumigation methods are available upon request,) 



OR 



(B) Baiting the storage as it is being filled, STRYCHNINE-TREATED 

 STEAM CRUSHED OATS are' the recommended bait for mouse control 

 in storages. They maintain their poisonous quality under the 

 humid conditions inside. Teaspoonful quantities of this bait 

 should be placed in stations such as cigar boxes, short lengths 

 of pipe, or sections of rolled roofing paper. These stations 

 should be placed under the pallets, as well as along the walls. 

 Since mice may not travel more than a very few feet during the 

 entire winter, numerous bait stations should be used, A room 

 20' X 20' should have at least 15 bait stations. One applica- 

 tion of this bait ordinarily provides adequate protection for 

 the winter. 



