A mouse in the house!

LauraMax

LauraMax

Cathlete
UGH this is driving me nuts! I live next door to our fire dept. & the town doesn't maintain the land. So basically I live next to a jungle which is a major breeding habitat for mice.

So when I say mouse I mean mice. They're everywhere! I cancelled my cleaning service & when I went to vaccuum under my sofa cushions there was a ton of droppings. EWWWWW!!!!! Those little suckers are playing right under me while I lay there & watch TV! They're getting so bold that sometimes they'll zip across my living room when I'm sitting right there.

I've had an exterminator out twice, he's putting poison bait out & he told me that according to the consumption of the bait I have at least 15 mice running around. I mean, I try to keep my house really clean & it's really bugging me that I have to deal w/this.

So are there any other solutions besides a cat?
 
Not that this would help, but it's an idea. Send the bill for the exterminator to the town and tell them that because of their lack of maintanence you are having problems with mice infestations.

That's a lot of mice, too, and they like to multiply. I would take stock out in D-con mouse poison. They come in boxes that you can leave where you see the droppings. We used a lot of this when we moved into an abandoned farm house (during dad's "I want to be a farmer" phase) and eventually it did the trick.

Sorry I am not much help!
 
"EWWWWWW" is right. I had a problem with mice several years ago when I lived on lakefront property. I never saw one of them but saw the droppings and found they had been carrying and storing dogfood (which I kept in the pantry) all over the house. Horrible! I was so grossed out that I threw out everything in my pantry and invested $$$$ in Rubbermaid products and bought those large sealed containers for the dogfood. From then on I sealed up every morsel of food and kept any and all trash in those big sealed trash containers. I gave them NOTHING!! After a while, I noticed there were no more droppings anywhere. I continued to check for droppings periodically and found none, but I still kept everything sealed up b/c I was convinced that they sent back a scout periodically just to see if I was slipping. I even used the microwave and the oven sometimes to "store" food items overnight so they couldn't get to them. My DH thought I was nuts.

I did not use D-Con or any kind of poison b/c I have dogs and wouldn't take that chance. But if I had not had pets I would have done that, too. I agree with Amy that you should send the exterminator's bill to the city and tell them that they need to clean up the area. Good luck!!

MissL
 
It is that time of the year. I use those sticky traps. DH likes the regular ones. I don't want to touch them. We get them in the garage this time of the year. Trying to get in for winter.Use peanut butter. It is sticky and smelly. It gets them licking longer.
Or you couls catch them and put them in a cage and have them in a trap.
Anne

http://www.picturetrail.com/acatalina
 
Well, the problem w/sending the bill to the town is I work for the town which basically means I have no rights as a resident. :-( I cannot begin to tell you how frustrating it is. I've asked our DPW to clean out that jungle at least 5 times over the summer & they have done absolutely nothing. I think if I sent the bill to the town they'd laugh in my face.

Marie, how do you think borrowed cats would like Max & Cosmo? ;-)
 
Laura, you know, my pug Leo actually catches mice. We periodically get one or two (no infestations, thanks to my lovely feline friends) and one night, one scampered across the kitchen and Leo scooped it right up in his mouth!! I had to dislodge the thing from his clamped jaws with my fingers, all the while SCREAMING for assistance, hehe. We finally got it out of his mouth and out of the house, but man, that was nasty.

Anyway, so perhaps Max also has this special talent???

Good luck. Infestations of any creature rots. We are currently fighting fleas. I am vacuuming up diamectus earth as we speak. Ugh.

Marie
 
We had a lot of mice in our house last year and borrowed a cat until they were all gone. It sounds like you will have a continual problem unless the area next to you is cleaned up or you get a cat permanetly. I really don't like cats, but I like mice less.
 
In our last house we had some in our basement. I used traps with peanut butter and they LOVED peanut butter. I caught a lot of mice. I wouldn't use the sticky traps b/c I think those are really cruel.

Good luck!

Suz

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France

http://www.picturetrail.com/dogs2birds
 
I did try the D-Con traps w/peanut butter, they didn't work. These darned mice are just too smart for me.

I can't even imagine using the sticky paper--one thing I do not want to wake up to in the morning is a poor mouse squirming on a trap.
 
Luckily we have never had mice problems but then again we have always had a cat. One day the good old cat decides to bring in a live mouse - oh god I had a heart attack and hubby wasn't home. He laughed when he got home because I was standing in living room with a broom - the mouse was under the couch if it came out I was going to try to get it. We closed off the entrance the cat was using to get into the house and no problems. Now they just bring dead things to the door for us to see and say what a good putty cat they are :)

Rhonda
 
I woke up to a present this am. My cats were so PROUD of themselves... and not happy when I took it outside :(

YUCKKKKKKKK
 
Ok, here's an idea. What about getting a farm cat, one that is used to living outside to fend for itself. Set it loose in the problem yard. Maybe put some milk out for it every now and then to keep it around. This will get rid of the mice outside, then you can get rid of the ones inside and you will not ahve anymore of them coming in. BTW, make sure the cat is spayed or neutered or you'll have a cat infestation soon.
Heck, you could put a little bed in your garage for the cat to sleep on cold winter nights.
Now, don't go adopt a kitten at the humane society. I'm talking a true farm cat, born and raised in a barn. You might be able to find one in the country. Maybe put out an add? That sounds silly, I know. But, it's just a thought.
I feel for you. This can't be much fun.

Kathy
 
I've thought about that actually. Kathy, I don't even have a garage, much less a driveway! That's my concern--I could get an outdoor cat, but where would the poor thing stay when it's 10 degrees outside?
 
> I use those sticky traps.

Those are so cruel! NO need to torture the critters.

If you borrow cats, make sure that it's after the poison has been cleared out, so the cats don't end up eating poisoned mice.
 
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