There's mice in the hice!!!

endorphin_junkie

endorphin_junkie

Cathlete
Last Thursday we had a mouse in the house that looked like it was pulled straight from a Disney cartoon. My exceedingly brave 11 year old daughter was very Zen about it and trapped it in a big bowl. We freed it at the park. End of story......I wish!

Last night as DD was reading before bed another mouse appeared and ran under her bed, she was understandably creeped out and slept on the couch and I put down a couple of traps. An hour into my sleep I was awakened by a noise, another freaking mouse! It was winding it's way through a decorative arrangement on my bedside tablex( x( x( It's not cute and I want them OUT!

I've set up a couple of regular traps face in against the walls. I'm heading out to acquire an arsenal of de-mousing apparati. Any suggestions or tricks or hints or mousing experiences would be much appreciated. I've thought about borrowing a cat but my DD is allergic and all the cats I know are 15 years old or more, not particulary spry. My toes have been curled in recoil since last night and I want no more mice in the hice!!! Any help is appreciated beyond words!!!

Take Care
Laurie:)
 
I know how you feel, Laurie. We went through this last summer. I discovered the mice were coming in from the cabinet under the kitchen sink. We tried setting traps but never caught a mouse in themx( ...I think they have evolved and have figured out how to get the cheese and get out before the trap springs--lol!

I would have to agree with Judy about the cat. My little indoor kitty did a great job of getting rid of the mice. Once we determined how the mice were getting in, we had a handyman come and caulk every crack and crevice on the outside walls. We think the mice were getting in around the outdoor water faucet. Good luck!

Michele
 
That's tricky because of the allergies, but a cat is the singular best weapon against mice, even if s/he lives in the basement, away from DD. Although the last time we had a mouse (which I think might actually have been a shrew, eeewwww), our pug is actually the one who caught it. The cats were like, huh?

:)

I would look for humane traps, at least. And check your basement for the hole where the buggers are getting in. You can also call a pest-control service who can help.

Good luck!
Marie
 
You definitely need to block up the holes they use to get in your house. Stuff the holes with steel wool. Other than that, I have a friend who swears by the ultrasonic mouse deterrent things. We have one of them, with mixed success. We've had a few mice brazenly walk right past them, but haven't had mice in a while now. I'm not sure if it's because my BF whapped the two mice that came through with a broom end, or if it's from the ultrasonic deterrents, or just the lingering result of having had a cat here for 5 years.

Also, I would be careful about bringing a cat into the house if your daughter is allergic (unfortunately--cats are the best mouse trap. Mine used to leave dead "presents" in my gym bag daily when I lived in the country.) Anyhow, I used to be really allergic as a child, and would start sneezing and itching the minute I walked into a house where there was a cat, even if the house was spotless and I was in a room without carpet.
 
Thanks Ladies! I'm off to shop for traps and get educated on the latest in mousing technology. I'll get some steel wool and go hunting for holes, I'm surprised that I haven't seen mouse droppings around. If I have no success in the next few days I guess I'll have to try to borrow a cat. I really would like that to be the last resort (although I understand the efficiency of it) as Marley's reaction to allergens has been fairly severe since she was a babe. Okay, I feel braver now knowing that all of you survived mice in the hice!

Bunbun, that's kind of funny in a yucky way that your cat would deposit presents in your gym bag. I can just picture my reaction finding that!!!! Not pretty!!

Thanks again!

Take Care
Laurie:)
 
Put peanut butter in the traps. Sometimes the little suckers can lick it off and not get caught but for the most part this will get them as they have to work at it - it's not a grab and run scenario. Steel wool and duct tape for the entry points. And catching them and letting them go doesn't work because the same darn mice will come right back in!

Cats are not foolproof because believe it or not some cats just aren't interested in catching mice. My neighbor has 5 cats and she had a mouse problem!! We discovered that the entry point for the mice was under our stove - where the gas line comes up there was a huge hole and they were inside the walls and climbing right in. As soon as we sealed it with duct tape and steel wool - no more mice. We did catch about 8 of them with regular traps (2 for a $1) and peanut butter.
 
I have to agree with Rogue. There is no humane way to rid yourself of mice. You're going to have to go in for the kill or you'll just be trapping the same mice over and over again. The steel wool idea is great. I hadn't heard about that. We used caulk last year and haven't had anymore problems, but if the mice come back I'll gie it a try.

Michele
 
We live in the country, have a housecat, an usually have one or two mice find their way into the house in the fall. The cat is useless. My previous cat was a true mouser and he always got his duty done, God rest his soul. Our cat now is a big city cat. His purpose in life is to lay around and try to get you to scratch his belly at every opportunity.

Mouse traps these days leave alot to be desired. The are made too thick and heavy so often times the mice are able to get the cheese/peanut butter off and not set the trap off. What you need to do is b-a-r-e-l-y catch the wire on the plate thingy, not seat it all the way under the groove but be careful, setting the traps so delicately can result in it going off and snapping at you, I hate that!

So, when shopping for a better mouse trap, try to buy as lightweight as possible. Get the ones with the thinnest wire as they will be more sensitive.

Been there. Done that. Hope you can benefit from my failure's. Oh, and last fall I had a mouse living in my kitchen range. He would stick his hear up near the burner's and stare at me. I have three traps set around the burner's, one in each oven and one on the floor under the range and it still took me a week to get him because he kept getting the treat off without setting the traps.
 
Oh, and last fall I had a mouse living in my
>kitchen range. He would stick his hear up near the burner's
>and stare at me. I have three traps set around the burner's,
>one in each oven and one on the floor under the range and it
>still took me a week to get him because he kept getting the
>treat off without setting the traps.


ACK! Oh my, that IS a problem! Pesky little buggers, aren't they? I never thought I'd be so happy about my solid ceramic cook top--lol!

Michele
 
Orkin or Terminex. End of story. Of course I have them anyway because I discovered carpenter ants about 2 months after moving into my home. But last year when I discovered a mouse living in our RR ties - OUTSIDE - I still wanted him gone before he sought shelter inside. My bug man took care of him.

Lorrie
 
Lorrie, I wish I'd had your bug man. I'm a long time Terminex customer and they didn't do a thing for my problem except set a couple of traps. My handyman did more to fix the problem than anyone from Terminex. Just out of curiosity, what did they do about your mice?

Michele
 
Michele that doesn't speak too well for Terminex huh? I have Orkin - ok I HAD Orkin. Orkin is having some organizational difficulties now and my bug man left to start his own extermination company - so I went with him - he's great.

I showed him exactly where I saw Hubert coming and going. Orkin had a metal box with some kind of sweet smelling / tasting poison. (Sorry but I agree - with mice the humanity factor won't get rid of the problem). The box provided warmth and shelter from the elements, so Hubert got all cozy in there. When the poison kicked in and Hubert kicked out, the metal box had a little sliding panel that we just closed up and disposed of the whole package. No extra cost either.

Lorrie
 
Lorrie!!! I'm ROTFLMAO! You named your little mouse! That is sooo funny:7

The only trap my Terminex guy put out was one of those glue strips and we never did catch a mouse with it. We have our dear kitty, Johnny, to thank for that.

Okay Laurie, I'll butt out of your thread now. I didn't mean to hijack it:D

Michele
 
We are also a part of the "useless cat" group. We have a cat, and a mouse problem. We know when we have a mouse in the house because our cat tracks it and sits for hours "waiting for it" but he has never caught anything. We've had to rely on the standard traps and then this thing that our termite control people put in our garage...some sort of box thing that I'm not quite sure what it does??? I've been told that they hang out/come in near the water points of your house (ie water heater, water lines, sinks, etc) so make sure all of those are sealded up tight!!

Good luck with your mouse napping endeavor. Oh and we too had the most success with peanut butter!!

Deni
 
Thanks so much everyone! I guess it's unanimous (unanimouse?!:+ ) on what bait is best; I put peanut butter on the traps last night thinking, 'besides our current address that's something else we have in common, we both love peanut butter:9 :p .'

I've got 3 different types of traps and 2 ultrasonic thingies. I'm over the humane disposal option and am okay with that. However, I cringed at the very idea of using a 'glue trap', what a horrible way to suffer and die. I don't want to torture them I just want them GONE!

Thanks again for all of your information and stories, it's helped a lot.

Michele, feel free to butt back into the thread whenever you like!:)

Take Care
Laurie:)
 
Laurie, I couldn't agree more. Glue strips are a horrid way to remedy a mouse problem. We quickly removed them, too. They were recommended, believe it or not, because of our indoor cat. We were told that the mouse could live for a short while after ingesting poisonous bait, and if our cat managed to catch and eat it he could die, so we agreed rather hesitantly. After careful deliberation we had a change of heart and removed the strips.

Thanks for letting me in!:D :p

Michele
 
Glue traps are one of the sickest inventions of mankind. What kind of demented mind thought those up and thought they were a good idea. A deviant for sure. A snap traps are not much better. The mice were there before the house was built, so if anyone's intruding it humans. Find the holes where the mice are coming in and plug the holes. All the sick traps in the world won't stop them from coming in if you don't block their entry. Also, keep things tidy - don't leave food out, etc. They won't come to where there is no food source.
 
I have to tell a story here!!! Back in my consulting days...I had a customer who's house cleaning method's left ALOT to be desired. The kitchen counter's were always 2 feet deep (I kid not here) with dirty dishes. The sink ALWAYS full of skanky water and dirty dishes sitting...probably been there for days/weeks. You walked in the house and it just stunk.

Okay, during one of my visits and we're sitting at the filthy kitchen table I can hear mice squeeking continuously. After several minutes I finally say to the guy...I think you have a mouse in your kitchen cupboard. He says to me, yeah, there's three of them caught on the sticky tape and I haven't taken them outside yet.

This house had to be over run with vermin just due to the living condition's and this guy and his gf were more concerned about the livelyhood of the mice than the deplorable living condition's of their own children. He used the sticky tape to catch the mice because they didn't want to kill them. So, what does he do...leans over and opens a crusty cabinet door and pulls out a live mouse, gets up and opens the door and tosses the mouse outside.

And...just where did he think the mice were coming from??? What an idiot. After that visit I gave that account over to another person. I had had enough.

Oh, and just guess what the gf did for a living??? She worked for a house cleaning agency. Oy!
 
>Glue traps are one of the sickest inventions of mankind.
>What kind of demented mind thought those up and thought they
>were a good idea. A deviant for sure. A snap traps are not
>much better. The mice were there before the house was built,
>so if anyone's intruding it humans. Find the holes where the
>mice are coming in and plug the holes. All the sick traps in
>the world won't stop them from coming in if you don't block
>their entry. Also, keep things tidy - don't leave food out,
>etc. They won't come to where there is no food source.

Apparently you didn't read my entire post. I didn't leave the glue strip down. As for the condition of my kitchen...well, I'll invite you over ANYTIME to eat off my floors!!!

Michele
 
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