Mice in the house

[specialk]

So last week we found evidence of mice in the house. Bread bag chewed through, toilet paper roll chewed, droppings on top of the fridge (where the bread was kept.

I bought some mouse traps, baited with peanut butter and a bit of chocolate. Nothing. These mice are trap-shy. So now it's poison. It looks like most of the poisons work using a blood anticoagulant. Seems like it should work if the little bastids will actually eat the stuff. Anyone know of a good brand of poison?

I hear that mouse flypaper stuff doesn't work too well and no cats, as the wife has allergies.

Any other ideas outside of TNT?

[Hamer Bass Head]

So last week we found evidence of mice in the house. Bread bag chewed through, toilet paper roll chewed, droppings on top of the fridge (where the bread was kept.

I bought some mouse traps, baited with peanut butter and a bit of chocolate. Nothing. These mice are trap-shy. So now it's poison. It looks like most of the poisons work using a blood anticoagulant. Seems like it should work if the little bastids will actually eat the stuff. Anyone know of a good brand of poison?

I hear that mouse flypaper stuff doesn't work too well and no cats, as the wife has allergies.

Any other ideas outside of TNT?

when I lived in the bronx mice were a constant reality. You have to find where they came from, (dryer exhaust is a good one, put some metal mesh over it) and keep more from coming to join the party. The secret to any mouse traps is twofold: minimal handling and location. You want to place them along the wall maybe an inch or two out. Have you tried bacon? and btw glue traps do work if you bait them and place them like I mentioned.

[Turdus]

you need to find where they are entering, and seal the source. My house had 2 entry points attributable to the builder. One was under a bay window.. 1" gap left between house and where plywood attached to bottom of bay. Second entry point was 1" gap between where family room, and main house attached. I sealed these up, and no more mice. They can get in where pipes enter house, so dope those up real good.

I still have mice in my crawl space. I know where they are getting in from... I've just been too lazy to seal the area up.

[cynic]

The best bait I've ever used on a trap is peanut butter. The trick is to put a flame under it and let cook it just a little.......The heat really brings the smell out and the little guys just can't resist it.

[veatch]

+1 on the peanut butter.

Did you put the trap on top of the fridge? If not, that's the best thing to do as they look at that place as a feeding point, and you already know they were regularly going there. If so, sorry to state the obvious. :angry:

[specialk]

Thanks for all the ideas!

veatch... No I hadn't put a mouse trap on top of the fridge. There's one there now though!

I got some of this:

http://www.farnamhorse.com/product.php?mai...&key=300002

and some of this:

http://www.orthohomedefense.com/smg/catalo...mp;tabs=general

If they don't do the trick, maybe some TNT will wind up being next, :angry:

I am gonna go around the house today and look for tiny ass places they might be coming in from. I've heard steel wool is good for plugging up places as they won't chew through it.

I'll let you know what happens!

[JohnnyB]

Are you sure you have mice or could it be rats? I'm dealing with roof rats right now, which are small as rats go, about midway in size between a mouse and a Norwegian rat. They seem to be small enough to avoid getting caught in the rat-sized spring traps, but the mouse-sized ones wouldn't be big enough. Sometimes glue traps work, but you may need to put a string on it and tie it to something or they might drag it along and get away.

There are several DIY online websites. This one seems to be particularly informative.

[hamerhead]

A shotgun and brown liquor.

[Armitage]

We had mice getting in through our dryer exhaust too. I put up some screen, and put out some "Mouse Treat". It looks like bird seed. They eat it and dry out, no smell. I found one a month later and couldn't figure out what it was at first.

I'm surprised it's called Mouse Treat... you think some kid would buy it for their pet mouse and kill it by accident...

[crunchee]

We had mice getting in through our dryer exhaust too. I put up some screen, and put out some "Mouse Treat". It looks like bird seed. They eat it and dry out, no smell. I found one a month later and couldn't figure out what it was at first.

I'm surprised it's called Mouse Treat... you think some kid would buy it for their pet mouse and kill it by accident...

+1. I used the D-Con green pellets when I lived in the Mohave/Colorado Desert (Twentynine Palms, CA), it works great--they ate that stuff up FAST then went away to die. Rats and Mice would look for above ground protection and come into houses and garages during the rainy season in Jan/Feb (hell, anytime it rained out there, which wasn't often of course), because the ground is almost like concrete, rain doesn't soak in well and would flood their nests/burrows.

[LostArt]

glue traps are good with peanut butter or the snap traps.

have a heart traps don't work

be prepared to have some traps disappear never to be seen again

[specialk]

Are you sure you have mice or could it be rats?

Good question. I'm guessing mice due to the small size of the droppings. But I now have enough poison around the house to take out a flock of winged monkeys if need be! :angry:

[backinit]

Good topic for me as I have had some recent issues here in my basement.

Eliminate the food source, then old school traps with peanut butter.

I think our situation is under control as the bait hasn't been touched for a week, but we found a carcass in a place today that I'm not sure my wife will recover from.

[BubbaVO]

glue traps are good with peanut butter

we got a whole bunch when we switched to these...problem over. of course, I had to flip the glue trap on itself to envelope the rodent and step on the lil guy to put him out of his misery. Had to be done quick. Don't want to prolong any more suffering.

[Bass Guy Dave]

We had the best luck with glue traps with a bit of a Snickers bar.

God help you if you didn't check on it regularly until you 'found out' you got one... learned that the hard way.

[gorch]

German mice eat cheese.

[tbonesullivan]

We don't have any rodent problems in my house. The one time a tiny mouse got in it lasted about 10 seconds before one of our cats had it dead. Hopefully no other rodents are dumb enough to come in and face a 15 lb cat. (who is NOT fat)

[The Shark]

Go to your local shelter and "rescue" a cat. Problem solved. I live in Florida and I don't even have adult lizards on my half acre. Tommy Big-Head lurks.

[silentman]

Mice can get into your house through an opening the size of a dime. They are also like lions in that you have one male and several females. Before you know it they multiply like rabbits. This is the time of year they look to come in your house. As has been said you MUST locate any entry points and seal them. I just had one run by me in the garage last week. I think it came in from the outside as It ran past me while I was near the door. I have no evidence of them inside - exterminator confirmed this.

Any traps you set should be placed in areas of where you see activity and your best bet is to place them up against the wall as they tend to travel along that way. Peanut butter worked for me in the past.

[fruhike]

I had a bad mice problem when I lived in Philly. I actually was successful just placing the spring traps where they entered my kitchen, no bait at all. They walked right into those tings. I also remember slipping on a pile of papers once while playing guitar at night. I attributed it to alcohol, but later discovered it was a mouse crawling under said papers that made me slip.......when I stepped on its little head. Sad story, but true.

[gorch]

We don't have any rodent problems in my house. The one time a tiny mouse got in it lasted about 10 seconds before one of our cats had it dead. Hopefully no other rodents are dumb enough to come in and face a 15 lb cat. (who is NOT fat)

It looks like your cat is sniffing mice like a drug. :angry:

[Armitage]

Mice in the house can be a pain... they can drink your beer, eat your chicken wings and run up your phone bill!

[HAMERMAN]

For you guys that had them come in through the dryer vent. I don't see how that lets them in the house, it seems like it would let them into the dryer hose and the dryer? Can they get from inside the dryer to outside? Just curious since that's an entry path I have never worried about before.

[crunchee]

For you guys that had them come in through the dryer vent. I don't see how that lets them in the house, it seems like it would let them into the dryer hose and the dryer? Can they get from inside the dryer to outside? Just curious since that's an entry path I have never worried about before.

If it's thin, flexible, and (especially) plastic, they can chew through it or work themselves around it...particularly if it's thin enough to show any light through it or around it.

[Ranger]

All above is nonsense. Get a Ruger Mini-14 in .233 with a few 30-clips, a borrowed dog and a good lawyer.

[hamerhead]

All above is nonsense. Get a Ruger Mini-14 in .233 with a few 30-clips, a borrowed dog and a good lawyer.

This sounds like a man with experience. :angry: