MICE

[afternoonrain]

I'm renting. this is an old house.

I've been trapping, some. They are INVADING ME EVERYWHERE!!!!!

I tried poisoning and then one DIED in my bedroom wall behind the built in bookshelf and it smelled terrible, and i had to go cutting out a chunk of the wall. They are in my oven, and I constantly have to clean under the burner pans.

I've tried sealing and caulking. My LAST old house was a problem, because the mice ate through everything. Great stuff, steel wool, caulk, WOOD. Pest control is pricey and after working in property management, I know that they will just use poison and glue traps anyway. My dog at two (then I got skeeved out about the poison big time.)

Help! I just want them to go away. Forever. Forever away.
Would a cat help? Cat urine around the exterior of my basement?

[3boysforme]

My experience has been that the poison acts as a bait. It attracts mice. So I started putting the posion away from the house in hope that it would drive the mice to that area instead of my house.

I was dealing with mice a lot last year. I finally killed the mother and have not seen a single mouse or any evidence of the mice since then.

[Johns_Gal]

Oh ack. :shiver I have so been there.

Poison is awful, don't do that. The only thing that turned the tide for me was my cat. Not all cats will mouse, but if you get one that will... you'd be amazed. Mine never would eat them, she left that to the lazy male cat, but she was absolute death on them.

They are so hard to get rid of. We lived in an old house surrounded by hayfiels, so when the owners of the fields cut it each year... invasion. Did you know mice will keep babies of different ages in the same nest? Super fun thing to discover.

I had a sea of snap traps baited with pb, those were the next best thing to the cat. IDK, maybe see if you can foster a formerly stray female cat for a rescue or something?

[afternoonrain]

For what it's worth, the two that my dog DID kill WALKED INTO HER CRATE. :giggle I found them dead in the morning. And although she will go nuts if she smells one somewhere, they don't seem to go away or be afraid of her.

I'd like to know how a cat might be different...like, if mice are instinctually super afraid of them or something.

[Apple-Saucy]

Borrow a couple of cats and set our glue traps, and no see traps.

Also cat pee works outside...just get some used litter

Peppermint Oil added to your cleaning routine will keep them out of your kitchen and oven at the very least.

[BlissfullyEsther]

A cat might work. I wonder what responsibilty the landlord has to attempt to mouse-proof the house?

We tried poison once, until one came out from under the couch and died in the middle of the living room while we were sitting there. :shiver Now we have a battery-operated trap which electrocutes them. We caught up to four a day with that, and it's easy to just tip the dead mouse out without looking at it when you see the light flashing on top. It's called a Rat Zapper. Now DH has managed to mouse-proof the house and we haven't had a mouse inside in almost 12 months. Our problem was lack of skirting while we were renovating. Now that the skirting is all up the mice can't get in. If you can establish where they're getting in, hopefully you can get the problem fixed.

[purstrength]

Put any chocolate in the fridge/freezer. My mouse left after I did that. :giggle It really did!

[Apple-Saucy]

My experience has been that the poison acts as a bait. It attracts mice. So I started putting the posion away from the house in hope that it would drive the mice to that area instead of my house.

I was dealing with mice a lot last year. I finally killed the mother and have not seen a single mouse or any evidence of the mice since then.

Not the poison itself but the "circle of death" it sets up. Mouse eats poison, mouse dies leaving dead body and pile of food. Rodent instinct is to get rid of (eat) the dead body and hey! Look at all that food lets invite the family. etc etc.

[afternoonrain]

but they sqeak so terribly with the glue traps. :(

[Johns_Gal]

For what it's worth, the two that my dog DID kill WALKED INTO HER CRATE. :giggle I found them dead in the morning. And although she will go nuts if she smells one somewhere, they don't seem to go away or be afraid of her.

I'd like to know how a cat might be different...like, if mice are instinctually super afraid of them or something.

Cats hunt them. My girl would walk into the kitchen, detect a mouse in a cupboard (I had no idea it was there, dunno if she smelled it or what) and would beeline to it. She'd stare at me until I opened the cabinet door, then she pounced in there like.... well, like a cat on a mouse. :giggle I had to leave because I hated seeing her kill/play with them :shiver but she was really good.

Her mate just sat there and watched, and ate them when she'd done the work.

[Apple-Saucy]

but they sqeak so terribly with the glue traps. :(

There is a variety that basically suffocates them with fumes within 2 minutes. That is the kind we used at our old place. Can't remember the name off hand.

[afternoonrain]

Not the poison itself but the "circle of death" it sets up. Mouse eats poison, mouse dies leaving dead body and pile of food. Rodent instinct is to get rid of (eat) the dead body and hey! Look at all that food lets invite the family. etc etc.

they eat the dead body and then set up camp?

this makes more sense now...since...um, pretty sure there is a new "nest' in the wall that i previously cut apart.

[Johns_Gal]

but they sqeak so terribly with the glue traps. :(

:yes I cannot stomach glue traps. Some people use them and extinguish the squeaking mouse as soon as it's caught. I can't handle that, and am not going to let an animal suffocate.

[Apple-Saucy]

Yes...

[afternoonrain]

A cat wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. I don't like litterboxes. But maybe I could use the litter on the outside of the house.

Cats are available all the time :shrug3 The girl has been wanting one...
But I just don't like litter boxes. :lol

[Punkie]

The poison is also really bad for the other animals in the area, especially owls (http://www.wildlifehotline.com/a-sad-end-for-the-barred-owl/) (animals which you ultimately WANT around, to kill mice.) Our last house backed to an open space and we had mice get in one winter. We used the snap traps and did everything we could to make the space less appealing for mice. We also tried the plug-ins that are supposed to annoy them with sound, and sealed up everything that we could find. My parents and brother use one of the reusable traps that electrocutes them. They found them to be very effective. The whole issue is so icky. There aren't many 'good' choices.

[afternoonrain]

The poison is also really bad for the other animals in the area, especially owls (http://www.wildlifehotline.com/a-sad-end-for-the-barred-owl/) (animals which you ultimately WANT around, to kill mice.) Our last house backed to an open space and we had mice get in one winter. We used the snap traps and did everything we could to make the space less appealing for mice. We also tried the plug-ins that are supposed to annoy them with sound, and sealed up everything that we could find. My parents and brother use one of the reusable traps that electrocutes them. They found them to be very effective. The whole issue is so icky. There aren't many 'good' choices.

yeah i'm over poison. And I didn't even think about owls! :( I've tried those plug ins and found them to be ineffective. I wonder if there are better brands, though. :think

[Mother of Sons]

We resorted to a cat. He's pretty good. He lis always in the cupboards. I stopped seeing mice and their evidence right away but I did see one in the oven again so I set it on self clean mode :shifty

[afternoonrain]

We resorted to a cat. He's pretty good. He lis always in the cupboards. I stopped seeing mice and their evidence right away but I did see one in the oven again so I set it on self clean mode :shifty

HAHAHHAHAHA. I wish my oven had self cleaning mode.
If the cat is always in the cupboard...i mean, I'm trying to clean less. Because right now I just wash things before I use them (very time consuming!)

Are there certain kinds of cats that are better than others?

[Apple-Saucy]

HAHAHHAHAHA. I wish my oven had self cleaning mode.
If the cat is always in the cupboard...i mean, I'm trying to clean less. Because right now I just wash things before I use them (very time consuming!)

Are there certain kinds of cats that are better than others?

young adult strays....

---------- Post added at 04:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:47 PM ----------

barn cats

[StoryOfGrace]

young adult strays....

---------- Post added at 04:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:47 PM ----------

barn cats

:yes Yeah, a good ol' ally cat. Its a pretty good bet that they'll be from a long line of good hunters. :tu My ally cat (whom I took in as a tiny kitten) is a force to be reckoned with! She has killed things nearly as big as she is!

Ferrets are also great mousers...just throwin' that one out there. :shifty

If you don't want to see the results of different traps, one thing you can do is set them inside of paper bags. Then, when you know one has met with his demise, you can just pick up the bag and dispose of it.

[Auroras mom]

We have a herd of field mice outside, and my cat will bring me 3 a day until they are all gone, until the next brood comes along. Nothing like almost stepping on a giant, wet, dead mouse at your doorstep.