Mice...help!

hi, my brother sent me an e-mail that said to buy X-lax, the laxative that is as old as the hills & put it out, I only put it under my microwave cabinet & have not seen a mouse in months. I will keep it out forever, just put it where no child or pet can get to it. It is a cheap fix, hope it will work for you. W.

Remember that D-con is extremely poisonous to pets and people. It is also sweet to the taste, so be VERY careful of the kids. Mice have been known to carry a piece across the room and drop it and run, leaving it there for a little one to find. It causes internal bleeding.

I used to have a major mouse problem in my apartment. The most helpful thing was getting some essential peppermint oil from an herbal store and dousing a small piece of cardboard with it. I put the cardboard where the problem seemed to be. Mice hate the smell of peppermint! It got rid of them pretty effectively. It smelled like a candy cane factory for weeks, but it did get rid of them. I would suggest putting it out of the reach of the kids (maybe on top of the refrigerator?); the smell will spread wherever it is. Good luck!
T.

I just saw your request and I haven't read any of the other replies...... but I do know that mice are repelled by Peppermint Oil. I had a mouse living under my sink and I put a few drops of peppermint oil near the corners and it did the trick. Peppermint oil can be bought from Whole Foods or any herbal, organic type shop that carries homeopathic products..... and a little bit goes a very long way.... it also makes the whole kitchen smell nice

We moved from the city to the "outerskirts" of the city and although in a subdivision, we are like "out" of the city??? So anyways, yes@! Totally had same issues. MICE? and they liked showing up , upstairs? Go figure. Anyways, yes, on the outer perimeters of the kitchen counters, drawers, and then the hallway upstairs/ closets, etc. Okay, first...we did those sticky / gummy traps and put them under the kids beds and wherever I saw the droppings. Put a small glob of peanut butter in the middle of the gooey mess. THEY LOVE peanut butter! FYI, we even used that on the regular ole mouse setting traps that snap the little creatures. Anyways, we caught several that way, but it just never really "removed" the problem you know? ..... My husband is allergic to cats ....but ....We now have a cat. She is indoor / outdoor. We call her "killerkitty" , or well, HE does. She "stays" outside, comes and goes in and out, and we have never seen another varmit again,...alive that is. She likes to bring all of her "gifts" to us for praise, daily...but ....a dead critter is much better than any trap to set or sticky icky glue traps you reach under beds to gather "kidstuff" and find stuck to that, and just better. Plus Dolly ~ meaning "gift from God" is such a sweet heart and the girls LOVE her. She just showed up one day. My little girl wanted a kitty and prayed EVERY NIGHT I kid you not , for a kitty. Couldn't have asked for a better animal really. I don't have a litter box to clean! So MY suggestion is age old.....but buy a CAT! Or find one that grew up on a farm or pray that one shows up on your doorstep. She was definitely an answer to our prayers then and now!
ICK@ Best of Luck!

Good Morning Alejanda, Home Schooling Rocks!! Good for you.

Mice are Yucky creatures, they can squeeze through the smallest places. Few years ago we were over run with the varmits. In one day we caught 16 of those critters. We used the sticky stuff, the mouse hotels, reg traps.. lol One was caught in the closet with his hind parts in the trap and his front parts on the sticky stuff. LOL
Our son and daughter in law still lived in TX at that time and came to visit. They got settled in and went to bed in the guest room downstairs, it had been maybe 30 minutes and we heard MOM @&%^@#(&#@^%(&^% we went running downstairs thinking someone was sick or hurt. He was standing there Yelling cause a Mouse climbed up the bed and ran across his back.. :))

Hubby bought some of those sensors you plug in and we haven't had mouse problem since. I used the expanding foam and put it around all the pipes coming into the house through utility room, washer, dryer, under kitchen sink etc. We have a hedge row and field behind our home. Excess rain or cold will bring them in, but not H. anymore.
Packing steel wool around openings will help also, it cuts their mouths up, and insides.
All things were created by the Father, except I haven't come across a really good reason for fleas, mosquito's, roaches, mice, skunks and SNAKES.. ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwey or pesky fly's..lol

Hope you find something that helps you Alejandra. Keeping a clean house doesn't make them one bit of difference, they seem to be very social creatures will move into any place. They especially love the stuffing in the furniture..

God Bless
K. Nana of 5

We just went throught this and I'm sure we will be dealing with it for awhile do to construction behind our house. My FIL was also a pest person so he helped us but try this get the old fashion traps and bait them where you might think they are coming like for us it was under the sink cabinet in the kitchen where the dishwasher hooks up under the sink there is a hole put one there bait it for two days with out setting the trap to see if he comes for the food then on the third day set the trap like normal put a small amount of peanut butter on there or a piece of cheese puch it throught the holes so they have to work at getting the food out. Yes we had one mouse and he got into our hall closets and front room my FIl says you would be surprised what one mouse can do. Good Luck

I'm a little late to this, but I had a mouse problem sometime back and we even had a rat once! We live near woods and field mice seem to get in. The rat was a mystery and we think someone let a domestic one loose in the woods across the street. The best solution to the mice truly was the cat so far. He's a pill but seems to be a good mouser. I know how frustrating it is and it makes you feel so guilty especially when you know you clean.

PLEASE reconsider the poisonous traps or glue traps! I have seen mice die in both, and it's a terrible, excruciatingly painful death. There are humane traps that are just as effective, and the mice can be relocated to a riverbed or something like that. Mice will chew their legs off to free themselves from glue traps, and you don't want to have any kind of poison around children or household pets. A friend of mine has two dogs who got into rat poison while she was away. Thankfully, they survived, but to the tune of a couple thousand dollars, and there's no telling (yet) what their long term prognosis is.

I know a lot of people will say, "They'e just rodents, and we don't want them around," but does any animal deserve to die such a miserable death just for doing its best to survive?

Hello Alejandra,

We've had mice and rats too.

I wanted to suggest NOT to use the glue traps. They are extremely inhumane to the rats and mice AND humans usually end up seeing a live mouse stuck to the trap - not a pretty sight. The SnapBack traps are excellent - quick and fairly pain free.

The most important thing we did was finding the holes where they were coming in. We found them behind the stove (where the gas line came in), under the gas fireplace - open the grill and there was a hole where the gas line come in. and Under our sink to our dishwasher. We filled up all those holes and haven't had a problem in our house in 3 years.

P.S. We had a cat living in the house H. too - never once tried to catch a mouse - but was a lovely pet.

Positively,
M.

Good Morning. This is the way I got rid of my mice problem overnight. Not with cheese.....but with PEANUT BUTTER!!!!! I consulted and expert who told me to go to the hardware store and purchase those traps where the mice go in for food and a trap door closes behind them. We caught 2 overnight and released them in a field miles away.Never had a problem since. Best of luck!!!

P.S. No poison required!

well since you didn't mention if you lived in a city or small town. We have a huge mice and rat problem around our house but that is because we have a corn field behind our house and several blocks up the road is a grain weight station. traps with peanut butter work great. or if its possible get a cat. the smell of a cat will keep them out of the house. I don't do poisons of any kind because my neighbors have free range chickens plus I have three dogs along with a very active 15 month old. But if you want them dead without a cat or mess. try putting a bowl of coke in the garage or under the sink. Since mice and rats can't burp they die when the carbonation builds up. otherwise its one of those things that no matter how clean a house is they still come in for shelter and to escape predators.

I had this problem and then it was gone. I bought sticky traps and poison. You have to put the poison and traps where your children cannot get to either one at all. Place the poison in locked cabinets where you have seen "mice pellets) and behind big furniture where your kids can't get to. Place the sticky traps in paths that you know the mice have taken. I put those traps all over. In my house we caught 7. In the garage 15. Those critters "hatch" fast so jump on it now. (not born in eggs... I know)

I just leave the poison incase they come back.

(the traps work well but you need to get like a walmart bag and pick the trap up with it and dispose of in the outside garbage bin)
Good Luck,

L.

We had a mouse in our kitchen once and I stuffed steel wool around the openings around the pipes in the cabinet, which seemed to stop it (from coming from the basement). You might also look into a trap called "the rat Zapper" it uses batteries and zaps the thing, but you don't have to touch it and you bait it with cat food, so non-toxic. Good luck.

Check the garage, if you have dog or cat food there, maybe they are coming in that way. That happened to us before. Good luck

I had a bad mice problem last fall and into the winter. Tried regular spring traps, sticky traps and plastic live traps. Nothing worked until we went with the decon pouches. They were gone within a week once they dug into those.

OK..Im going to respond to this post NOT because Im trying solicit business, but because I am married to an exterminator and have to listen to stories like this often... If you have a mouse problem, you really need some professional help.. While store bought stuff (like the d-con and the mouse traps) seem like they help, they really dont.. What you're doing with those is basically baiting the mice.. in other words, drawing them to you. This isn't a gaurantee that theyre going to die. It IS, however, a gaurantee that at least one or two of them are going to get fat and breed. You may catch one or two, but two or three are going to be smart enough to stay away from the traps and poison.

As for the steel wool and foam insulation, BAD idea.. For many reasons, just a few of which Ill name. First of all, the mice will just chew through this stuff.. Might take a day, might take a week, might take a month, but I promise they'll be back. And then you'll have more than a mess, youll have an ugly mess. On top of that, if youre sealing these things in your walls, well, you can guess what will happen when one or two of them die.. Then its a smell youre stuck with for quite a while, while still having the live ones to deal with as well.. Two words: bigger problem.

There really are some cheap AND humane ways to deal with your mouse problem through an exterminator. Not only that, but if you call an exterminator, youre going to save money on continually buying products from the store that essentially dont work anyway. Poison isnt the only route you have to take (although it is the best, AND perfectly safe for kids and household pets, as it drys within an hour and is D. very discreetly.

If you Do decide to call an exterminator, DO NOT HIRE them unless they gaurantee their work. There are a lot of companies out there who buy cheap/outdated product and then water it down, thus making customers keep paying every ti me they have to come back to deal with a problem. Over the years, there have been a lot of people who have left my husbands company to pay cheaper prices (which add up to be more expensive than him anyway) who have had their problems just compound and get worse, then theyve come back to my husbands company and cant believe how fast their problems are taken care of. Definantly shop around before you hire anyone!

-Hoping your mice are long gone...

Oh yeah, and your exterminator doesnt have to spray inside the house at all, he/she can just treat the exterior to prevent them from coming in at all.. Only problem with this is if theyre already in.. You might want to have both the inside and outside D. the first time around, that way it takes care of the problem at hand AND prevents the problem in the future.

After you fill all the holes our exterminator recommends keeping bait (we use those bags of bait that you punch holes in) in all the "hot spots" in your house. These are behind the fridge, under the dishwasher, under the kitchen sink, behind the stove and behind the washer & dryer. This way if a mouse happens to make it in, you take care of it before it becomes a problem. And remember, if you can stick a pencil through the hole, a mouse can fit through it! Good luck!

Alejandra,
You have received all kinds of great advice. I would like to add a couple more thoughts. If you get a cat do not use the decon or other poisons. We almost lost a cat once when he was doing his job- catching mice (but the mice had eaten the decon, and the cat got very sick (from the mice who had ingested the decon). We used to live surrounded by a commercial apple orchard- so there were plenty of mice.

After that we started to use Riddex- those electronic devices that plug into the outlets. As a previous writer said, you may need several in the house depending on the size of the house, and wiring systems. We also use them in the garage. We have found they work, and we have not had mice since.
We have also used peanut butter on the mouse traps.
Good luck

I know you've had a ton of advice already, but I'll just add this... from the "no poison, no sticky trap" camp (I do agree that a mouse in a house needs to go, and death is the quickest way to accomplish this, but I don't like to see them die a slow and painful death). We bought those very cheap snap traps. We applied peanut butter and checked the next day. Sometimes it took a few days before the peanut butter was gone. Once it was gone, we knew we'd earned their trust and set the trap. Next mornng... dead mouse! It thought it was having a treat, one nibble, and next moment--mousie heaven.

This also incidently provided a great lesson for the kids. The mouse tried something that might be dangerous and nothing happened, so the mouse thought it was safe, and met a quick end. Not everything dangerous kills, harms or even hurts the first time you try it... don't be fooled!

blessings!

Honestly, the best suggestion is to get a cat. No chemicals and the kids get a pet. I did and it is sheer bliss. Within a week we cleared out all the mice and found out they went to the neighbors, LOL. One day my neighbor came over and asked if I would brush the cat? I asked why. And she said maybe if I put the cats hair around my house the mice will think there is a cat H. too. Which in fact worked, I couldn't believe it but it did.
And don't stress about how clean you keep your house, when it comes to mice they don't care how clean you are. They are just looking for food, and a nice cozy place to sleep.
Hope this helps! Good luck.

We have had mice 2 x. It has nothing to do with cleanliness! But we did get a company to come. I had them set out bait stations and within about 24 hours they were gone. I hate using any chemicals in my home, but knew that it was more important to get rid of them.

Hi - I just saw this and wanted to add my 2 cents. I manage 75 rental units in the city, and can tell you the city of Chicago has a TERRIBLE rodent problem and should be doing more!! That being said, some persistent mice and other rodents can get through steel wool eventually, and I would suggest using wire mesh instead. You can get it at Home Depot or Menards. They can also chew through the insulated spray foam - that is a very temporary solution and it looks UGLY when it dries.

I would enlist the help of a pest control company, if nothing else, but to come inspect your place and offer suggestions. Then go with the wire mesh. Good luck!

I used to work for a pest control company, check around the outside of your house to see how they may be getting in. They don't have a vertebrae like most animals, they can contract their bodies to fit through an opening that is just an inch big. Check for vent covers, etc. and seal those up first or replace them. Then the ideas that the others had are good (peanut butter is good in traps). Good luck!

I,too, do not like chemicals. I have used the ultra-sonic plug-ins. Knock on wood--have never had a mouse since then in any of our homes. It also is supposed to help keep out bugs, too, but we do still get some spiders..but no other bugs.

I put one on each level of the house, sometimes 2 or 3 will be needed depending upon the size of your house, and one in the garage. I would rather have too much protection than not enough. :)

great responses - i have to tell you my story:

DO NOT USE POISON, please. in the last 5 months, we've had 4 dead mice in my garage/house. the reason i say this is because they'll eat the poison, they crawl away and die. where they crawl to is a mystery until you start smelling it and no matter what you do, you can't find it. in my case, it's stuck somewhere between the garage ceiling and my one and only full bathroom floor upstairs. we don't use poison but my pest control guy says one of my neighbor does and it crawled into my space (he called it rooftop rat) and died! i'm not about to spend thousands to rip my floors and walls to get the damn thing (unless there's proof of more) but it takes a week plus for the smell to go away. we're almost a week in and the smell is still bad (thank god it's not hot where i live).

i am 20 weeks preggers and i cannot stand the small and it's so gross that i won't go into the garage/laundry room by myself. i make my husband or my 4 yo boy go with me - mommy's scared of mice :) we've lit incense to candles and fabreeze and nothing helps. only time and nature. i don't know where you live but if you live in the san francisco bay area, i can totally recommend my pest control guy (very affordable) who is awesome and is a father to young kids so he totally understands parents' paranoia about pests. good luck with your problems!

Mice can get in so many TINY little places, so you need to examine all areas around, in and under your house. Check the foundation or basement where any cracks could be or doors that do not fit properly. Due to the ground settling and movement crevices can develop that are hardly seen unless really looked at.
I had a closet clothes bag hanging from the I beam in basement a few years ago and had a "drop" ceiling above with those styrofoam ceiling panels. One day I opened the bag and found a pile of ceiling insulation in bottom with one of my garments literally chewed up. ALAS the nest of a mouse! The top of the bag had a hole the size of a quarter, which meant he had to make many trips up and down the clothes to get that amount of insulation into the bottom of the bag. NEVER found the mouse or any other signs, but went around the foundation inside and out and found a gap between the foundation and the house because of settling. In many older homes, mice can get in the walls, chimneys, don't ever think they can't climb. Nasty little boogers!

My solution was to fill the crevices with a spray foam product that you can get at any hardware store. It comes in a can and comes out like foam but seals and fills the cracks. NOT expensive either, I don't recall the name of the product, but no more mice. AND kept out the cold air!

Good luck!
M.

Well dear I have had the same situation with them under my sink and getting into my utensils drawer and like you I am very cleanly. I believe they are getting in from where the plumbing comes throught the walls and floor and any other small hole they can squeeze through or make themselves. Its just one of those things. I've noticed they get worse in the winter. Anyway I've had a regular exterminater service before and all they do is leave out bait boxes and glue traps. You don't have to sign a contract to do that, all you have to do is hit wal-mart and get them yourself. As for the utensils, I ended up taking them out of the drawers and placed them in plastic containers with lids until I was satisfied my rodent issue was dealt with. I had a couple that worked nicely for the job but ended up leaving them on the counter for that period of time.

put decon2 in the garage and hidden places away from your little one. By putting it in the garage you will hopefully eliminate them before they get in your house. They can fit through the tiniest cracks so can get through any door and is probably how they are getting inside the house. You can set mousetraps and mice love chocolate so that works well on the traps, peanut butter also works. I do know that once you get several of them it takes some time to get rid of them. They have babies often, I can't remember the gestation period but know I read it once and was surprised at how fast they can have babies. I think it was like baby mice can get preggo in 3 weeks and have them in a few weeks so can get a lot of them quick. My friends built a new house and got them pretty bad that first year. They had decon2 in the garage and set traps every night before they went to bed in several areas of the house and by morning all the traps had a mouse in them. It took a few months to get rid of them all. The other suggestion is to get a cat. Mice don't like the smell of cats and most will stay away. If one does get in the cat will most likely get it.

We use these
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/pro...
These work so good!
Just make sure you use a plastic knife to put on the peanut butter or turn off the thing otherwise you get shocked.

Oh my, mice, not fun. Where there is one there are two, is what my dad always said. You mentioned finding droppings by the couch...please check your couch thoroughly. My BIL and his wife kept finding droppings and when they brought their new baby home over a year ago, she was feeing the baby on the couch and notice droppings on the couch. She had her husband start to clean and guess what...they had nested in the cushions from underneath. So check your furniture. Then get an exterminator. It is better to get rid of the mice than any chemical elements that might be in your house. Remember where there is one, there are at least two and they multiply fast. Good luck and God Bless.

We have the same problem. Not so much this time of year but in the fall. With a baby I didn't want to use anything harmful. We bought one of those mouse sensor things that plugs in but even that is not 100%. We tried traps with peanut butter in places our son could not get to. The combination seems to work. I think I may try the cola and peppermint that some of the others suggested next fall. I wish you all the luck because no matter how clean you keep your house they still seem to come in and make you feel like you are not doing a good enough job.

Exterminator. Had it D. in a large old rental house we have--mice gone. It cost me $150. They use sealed bait containers with small holes for the mouse to run into and nibble at the bait, then run out of. Then you need to work at sealing up their points of entry as suggested by the others.

If you're like us, and your home backs on any sort of open or prairie space, you'll have to deal with mice. Unfortunately, just comes with the territory.

The d-con was a good start. If they're little tiny mice we found that the spring traps didn't work. We used sticky traps with a little peanut butter in the middle and a piece of doggie chow. Better yet, smushed up Snickers bar! Just try not to touch it, or the trap with your bare hands - they'll smell you on it and avoid it!

Then, you'll want to buy some steel wool and start shoving it into all the little holes in the backs of your cabinets, baseboards, crawlspace, etc. If the holes are big, use steel wool and that expanding insulating spray foam. That will help to keep them out in the future!

Good luck! (Borrowing a neighbor's cat isn't a bad idea either!)

Just having a cat around, we have outside cats, helps so much. Also you could try the old traps or the ones that they stick to. We've used both and they work well. The best for us has been the cats. Keep everything sealed in the cabinets, nothing they can get into if possible. They can find a way unless you are very careful to seal things tightly. Don't leave your garage door open for long periods of times or they can sneak in.
They are horrible creatures I agree.

In our case the mice were coming in to eat the dog food. Before I moved in to my husbands house (shortly after the wedding) he had been leaving a big bag of dog food in the pantry - open. If you leave any kind of food like this out on a regular basis - the mice will figure it out and come for it. Our garage which was the entire lower level of the house was an unfinished garage with tons of holes to the outside - so blocking holes was a huge job. In the mean time sealing up all pet food, and all other food for that matter actually worked. Now we are building out the lower level of the house so that it will all be sealed. But in general - keep all food sealed at all times. Keep cereal in sealed cabinets or in those plastic dispensers, etc. This is a good preventative measure even after the mice are gone. And if you are pregnant be extra vigilant because 10% of mice carry LCMV and you don't want to contract that while you are pregnant. I obsessed about that for a long time because we were trying to get pregnant. I finally asked the CDC about and they said you can only get it from fresh poop - has to be less than 3 or 4 days old. If a non-pregnant person gets LCMV - it's no big deal. It's like getting a small cold. But it's just not good if you are pregnant. Since I am now pregnant, we are building out the house! I couldn't stand that old filthy garage anyway.

My husband I had this problem and the only thing that got rid of them was the good, old fashioned mouse traps w/the springs loaded with chedder cheese. You have to find where they are coming in (and it could be REALLY small) and stop that also. But I found mouse droppings everywhere in my house for months afterwards--in the backs of closets, under furniture and we only saw them for a couple of weeks before killing them all. I kept thinking 3 mice did all this? You will have to do a big cleaning in all the corners and clean out everything before you will feel clean again. Good luck!!

Good luck! Had a problem too 2 winters ago - not fun! The advice you got was great.

I use an exterminator. They come 3x/year - they just do the outside but guarantee their work and come in if needed for certain areas. Turns out mice were covered under the guarantee - it is less than $80 each time they come, so if you don't feel like you can get a handle on it, you might want to consider an exterminator.

My pest control guy put black locked bait boxes under bushes in both front and back yard and no more rats, the best part is they went somewhere else 2 die...tee hee.....sorry neighbors

Do not seal holes with spray foam (that they can chew through whenever they want.) Do not start plugging holes with steel wool. This is rodent proof screen I use on homes from Seattle to San Diego. http://shop.stopthatrat.com/Rodent-Screen-501.htm

As a rodent control expert I don't have time for stuff that doesn't work or can make the problem worse. I can't stress enough how many bad things can happen when you use poison to control rodents.

Just to get you going in the right direction from your story I believe your problem is coming from the crawlspace. Rodents travel on plumbing lines and that's how they come out from under the kitchen cabinets. Something is open. Could be a broken vent screen, a crawlspace door left open, or even an unsealed drain. The key to your problem is finding how they are accessing the crawlspace.