How to get rid of mice?

[Eric in McLean]

We have a mice problem. We live in a townhouse (built in 2001). I've never even seen a roach in the house before but since yesterday, we've caught 3 mice (using those sticky rat traps). We do the catch and release (I don't want to kill them but wouldn't mind if neighbors' cats pounce on them). We don't have a clue how they got in the house and we're not sure how to prevent it from happening. Any suggestions?

 

[Kay H]

The last time I had a problem with mice I bought peppermint oil at the Natural food store. put it on cotton balls and put one cotton ball on each shelf of my pantry cabinet. Haven't seen a trace of a mouse since. Good luck. I hate mice.

 

[lll1929]

Its very hard to find out where a mouse is entering your house. For me, I had a little hole under my front door stoop and that was there entry pt. They also came in throught the garage. If you find lots of droppings, or signs of a nest, you have probably found their home. Good luck. I like the sticky traps. I keep a few in my house in various corners, but several in the garage since they love to sneak in when I am working in the yard.

 

[rsnash]

If you use the sticky traps and they are alive when you find them, how do you release them? Do you have to touch them to remove them from the paper? I'm more afraid of being bitten then I feel guilty for killing them, so the few times I've had to deal with it, I put out regular old mouse traps. It kills them very quickly and they are cheap and easy to dispose of. Also, where do you release them? If you release them back into your back yard, I'm sure they'll find their way back into your house. (pretend computer is a mouse --> )

 

[Eric in McLean]

The rat trap says to pour oil on the trap and that'll release the mice. I released one last night in front of the house. Next time I might drive them around the block before releasing them.

 

[normab]

I am no expert, but if you are not going to remove them ALL from the neighborhood (i.e kill them), you really need to find how they are getting in and block them. They can fit under doors, and in through amazingly small areas. You need to prevent their entry.

Have you thought about getting a cat?

 

[ace2000]

The best advice I can give is to find their entrance! Search until you find that spot they're coming in, and plug those holes. They make a foam spray that can fill gaps (it doesn't look pretty though). Haven't had to deal with that problem for 15 years... whew!

 

[Kozman]

Mice Are Just Just Small Squirrels Without Fur

We had mice galore. Catching one at a time might be a losing proposition. Especially when one female can have multitudes of offspring (8-12 and as many as 20 seems to ring a bell) in a very short period of time. And, each female offspring can then have multitudes in no time. Takes very few males.... ! Your problem may grow exponentially. We kept catching them in one'sy two'sy for the longest time until we decided to perform a mouse trap surge. Placed 20 traps throughout the house...mostly along the wall where they tend to follow. Got rid of the little vermin in no time!

Someone in the past said they tend to squeal when trapped on sticky stuff and kept them awake at night.

 

[rhonda]

Related threads with tips: Mouse-proofing a travel trailer

 

[Eric in McLean]

Have you thought about getting a cat?

My wife already suggested that. I'm happy with 2 dopey worthless dogs but I'm not okay with cats that scratch up furniture. I'm not sure if they're any good declawed anyway.

 

[LUVourMarriotts]

We had a problem when we first moved into our house. Problem meaning a few locations in the house where we saw droppings. We hired a pest control company to come in and help us out. Their main "attack" mechanism is the bates. They are plastic corner units that have "poison" in them. The mice eat the poison and then end up dying later. They say the poison dries them out, which causes them to go outside for water and then die. I've heard that's a myth though. Just hope they don't die behind your walls because they stink. Our friends had that happen. Luckily we haven't.

As far as access, garage was our pain point. We've since fixed that. Any opening the size of a dime round is an access point for them. Another common entry, according to the pest guys is under siding, and then they get up to the attic vents and get in. Also around chimney's.

 

[wandering gnome]

I had a lot of mice until I bought several of the plug sonic sensors. (I don't know the official name, but they are available at Walmart and Lowes and made by black and decker) They got rid of them over night. Good Luck!

 

[lll1929]

I had a lot of mice until I bought several of the plug sonic sensors. (I don't know the official name, but they are available at Walmart and Lowes and made by black and decker) They got rid of them over night. Good Luck!

Wow, the sonic sensors didn't do anything for me. Glad they work for you.

 

[lll1929]

I forgot to mention that sticky traps are also good at trapping spiders. This fall each sticky trap in the garage had spiders and crickets.

The orkin man keeps me well stocked with sticky's.

 

[Charlie D.]

Our exterminating company has worked wonders!! We live in the country and a couple of years ago Pat saw one roach in the kitchen and went ballistic!! We called an exterminating company who determined the roach must have come in with the groceries. Anyway we contracted with the young man because we had fought spiders, ants, mice, wasp, etc. for years. We had mice galore in the detached garage, horse barn and in the pigeon lofts (used to race homing pigeons). I asked him more in joking than anything else if he thought he could control the mice in those outdoor facilities. He put out the bait stations and I kid you not after two weeks I have not seen a live mouse in any of them. Needless to say, zip-zero spiders, ants, mice, etc. in the house. This last summer there were a few wasp nests that I couldn’t get to and treat with my normal splash of gasoline. He sprayed them with some sort of magic spray that does not kill them immediately but they take it back to the nest and it kills all of them in a couple of days. He installed the termite bait stations this summer around the house. It costs $100 quarterly to basically have a vermin free place. :whoopie:

Charlie D.

 

[dougp26364]

I would NOT do catch and release with mice unless you want to see them again. The reproduce at an unbelievable rate and, given the right circumstance, can become an insurmountable problem. Want to find out how much of a problem? get a 10 gallon aquarium and put the captured mice into that aquarium. I a matter of days you'll have trouble counting how many mice are in there. When it gets to crowded, they just start eating the babies.

We had a neighbor that had a bag of grass seed stored in his garage. The next summer when he went to get the bag he found it literally full of mice. Decon mouse bait took care of the problem. In a few weeks we no longer found mouse dropping in our house.

Poison works best IMO. traps essentially work as 1 trap, 1 mouse. Not a very effective way to take a mice problem down if you ask me. As the weather gets colder, they'll start looking for warmer living quarters and easier pickings for food. That means your house looks awfully good to a mouse. Forget trying to keep them from coming in. There's no way anyone can cover all the entry points for mice and, even if you could, they'll just chew or dig their way in. For a rodent with a tiny brain they're pretty smart about how to get where they want to go.

 

[dougp26364]

I had a lot of mice until I bought several of the plug sonic sensors. (I don't know the official name, but they are available at Walmart and Lowes and made by black and decker) They got rid of them over night. Good Luck!

Wow, the sonic sensors didn't do anything for me. Glad they work for you.

Just to check out these sonic sensors, I plugged one in next to the mice my wife had trapped and put into an old aquarium (bad choice, learned to kill them after that). It didn't faze the little buggers one bit.