Mice Problems!! Help!

Updated on September 20, 2014
H.L. asks from Washington, DC
17 answers

So, we live in a condo we own in the city. We've seen a couple of droppings here and there, but making sure to be super clean helped immensely. However, a couple months ago we started seeing more droppings. Yesterday we had a pest control company come over. All the guy did was set out some bait and a bunch of snap and glue traps! I thought he was going to seal up any potential entry holes. To top it off, he left a note indicating that we should expect increased activity for the next few days. Today I actually saw one and it's almost 1am and I can't fall asleep because I can hear one skittering around in our bedroom! We've never had any activity that I'm aware of in our room.

I can kind of deal with all this, but I have a sitter coming to watch my son tomorrow during nap and again on Saturday for 6 hours. I'm afraid that she will see a mouse tomorrow and be too freaked our to come back Saturday or too worried to focus on caring for my son. Is there a way to help decrease the increased activity as a result of the pest control service? I need ideas that I can implement immediately.

Thank you!!!'

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E.M.

answers from Phoenix on

You need a good mouser of a cat or a terrier of some flavor. Seriously- my mom lives in an over 100 year old house. She used to have horrible mouse problems. She got two barn cats and boom, no mice!

4 moms found this helpful

R.X.

answers from Houston on

I hear that if you put a saucer of coke in a corner, mice will try to drink it and the acid with explode in their tummy.

Also, get some old fashioned traps and lace them with peanut butter.

You can also try the glue traps. Seriously B. Now we need to be PC with mice, too? Lord....

2 moms found this helpful

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L.L.

answers from Lincoln on

We lived out in the country, so our solution wouldn't work for you. Not only did we have cats, that I am not sure were that great of mousers really, but we had snakes. We actually set loose bull snakes underneath our house and for a long time we seen nor heard, hide nor hair of these pesky beast.

5 moms found this helpful

S.G.

answers from Grand Forks on

Borrow a cat for the weekend.

4 moms found this helpful
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P.K.

answers from New York on

Look for the holes and seal with steel wool as a quick fix.

3 moms found this helpful

R.A.

answers from Boston on

Lay out traps continuously. Clean out everywhere you see droppings. Use bleach to clean any areas, and counter tops. Put food in ziplock bags or tipper wear containers. Do not leave any food out, and keep kitchen clean. Vacuum all rooms and clean thoroughly. Do this daily. Once you believe you have caught all nice, start to seal up any whole, crevice or crack in and outside your home. Steel wool, copper wool, aluminum foil, basically anything you can find. You will notice a huge improvement if you do all of these things.

3 moms found this helpful
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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

I don't think it's a pest guys job to go around your house looking for mouse holes. They don't really exist along the baseboards like we see in cartoons. They are tiny openings that we can't always see.

We lived near an open field and the owners only mowed every now and then. When they did the mice would run for cover. We had some feral cats in the area and as they had more cats we'd have less mice. One of my neighbors started catching the cats and taking them away then releasing them elsewhere we got mice really bad. He did too then complained about getting a bunch of mice all of a sudden.

He left that cats alone after that.

There are mice in your building. If you have a community group/co-op you need to bring it up. You just bought this place and it's infested with mice. They are in the walls, the floors, and when YOU put out bait they come there. If you were able to spray for mice like they do with bugs they'd just run off and hide where the poison doesn't get. They have a whole building as their breeding ground and playground.

This is a community issue. Perhaps the people who you bought from found they couldn't live like this and that's why they sold out. The whole building has to address this infestation. Not just you.

The co-op funds should cover this and the owners too. No one wants to live in a building that can't keep people due to mice.

3 moms found this helpful
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C.B.

answers from San Francisco on

Put steel wool in any and all holes - they can't chew through it.

3 moms found this helpful

F.W.

answers from Danville on

Mice are surely a pain!

When I first moved here, our then cat I think thought they were pets. I did the steel wool thing, and set traps (laden with PB)...and still mice.

We finally got another cat (or original cat was getting older, and I thought a playmate might perk her up). It must have brought back her youth AND her competitive spirit, because there are no more droppings!

Another benefit is that the new cat has a taste for flies and spiders as well!

Best!

2 moms found this helpful
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K.F.

answers from New York on

Borrow a cat for a few days and stuff holes with steel wool.

2 moms found this helpful

C.M.

answers from Washington DC on

we had them in our old house for a little bit. We used the sticky traps and caught all of them with in a week or so. I did a huge clean out and put all of our pantry food into sealed containers. Ours were mostly in the basement though (we had 4 levels at that house) so never in the bedrooms. I'm very strict about food being on the bedroom levels though.

2 moms found this helpful

C.B.

answers from Reno on

we get field mice in our neck of the woods. We put steel wool in ALL holes. they can not chew through that. We also have poison we put under the house.
It helps for sure.
Good luck

2 moms found this helpful
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W.H.

answers from Sacramento on

You could buy some copper wool and look for entry holes to seal up. You can also use steel wool, but you have to mix it with caulking and that can get messy. Seal up any hole larger than one-quarter inch. take a nice bright flashlight and look in all the cupboards and closets. I had mice get in a hall closet (they came thru from outside. my house is 102 years old) they ate all my easter and christmas stuff. good luck!

2 moms found this helpful

L.A.

answers from Austin on

We have pest companies that specialize in sealing up homes so the mice cannot get in.

Yes, they set up traps and the fill in the gaps on the inside of the home including the attics and ceiling spaces and also on the outside. A mouse can squeeze through a hole slightly smaller than a quarter! They do use the steel wool, they have the big sticky traps and they come back every month or few months to replace them until there are no more. Then they do an annual check.

There is never just 1. And they have babies over and over.

They also climb trees and if the branches are close enough to the roof, that can also be way they are getting in.

Call the company back and find out how much it will cost to do the whole unit, then propose this to the building and see if you all can get the whole place done with a warranty. If you all pitch in, it would work the best.

2 moms found this helpful
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C.W.

answers from Washington DC on

I had nice several years ago and it was ongoing every time the weather got cooler. They hate mint and lavender, so stick up on peppermint oil all over the place and we planted mint outside. The pest guy did seal up holes for us with metal chicken wire stuff that they can't chew through and some other stuff. Part of the job is finding the openings. Then they put some powder down that the mice walk through and when they lick it off they die. Also so bait traps. I would find a different pest company. Good luck!

Oh and let me add, mice can squeeze into a hole the size of a dime and they can climb very high. Keep that in mind when looking for holes.

1 mom found this helpful
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B.L.

answers from Washington DC on

If you can, ask a friend if you can borrow their cat or you adopt a cat for your house.
Sent

1 mom found this helpful
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M.G.

answers from Atlanta on

We used D-con and that got rid of them

1 mom found this helpful
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