Mice in the House

Peppermint oil works. You can get it at Fantes (9th & Carpenter) at the Italian Market. Put it down and they will leave. People go there to buy it all the time just for that

Depending on where you live, you might be able to use a live-catch trap like Hav-a-heart. They sell them at hardware stores. We have caught them and released them in a park. This may work for you if you have somewhere nearby to release them. Don't just put them outside in the yard though or they will come right back! Good luck - I know this is awful :-(

To keep the mice out try the things that plug into your outlet. They make a high pitched sound that only mice and insects can hear and it chases them out of the walls. I don't believe it will affect your cats as they are for rodents and insects. If you have a guinea pig, hamster, or gerbil dont' get it because it will affect them. How many of the devices you need depends on the square footage of your house. They make kind of a low clicking noise that you will notice at first but then you get so used to it that you don't hear it anymore. There is one called Riddex but there are many others that aren't as bulky. We got ours at BJ's Wholesale where you can get 4 or 5 in a pack.

Ah! We had the same problem when we first moved into our house! I have a really good one that seemed to work for us, we haven't seen a mouse since!

Go to a heath foods store and buy Peppermint Oil....the real stuff. Place about 10 drops on the cotton ball and place as many as you want in the areas you think they are getting in....mice hate it....they must cause like I said, haven't had one in our house in over a year! Every now and then I just add a couple of drops to refresh. I also plan on planting some peppermint outside around the house. I hope you like the smell of peppermint cause your house will smell of it for a couple of weeks....better than the smell of a dead mouse!

Good luck!

-L.

If you have mice now, it is only going to get worse. When the weather starts to get cold, they are really going to come into your house. It sounds like you did not get an exterminator that knew what they were doing. Exterminators have traps that are safe for cats, dogs, children, etc...but that use deet to bate the mice. Deet causes the animal to go outside of the house in seach of water...so that they die outside. Even if they die in your house...they are dehydrated...so they don't smell. Not sure where you live, but we use Thur-O-Pest. They are great.

Don't feel bad about killing them with the good old fashioned traps...mice and other rodents carry diseases (especially rotovirus) that can harm you and your family. Chemicals are not always the best because if they die in the walls, you know what that smells like. You might want to consult an exterminator....at least they can tell you where they are getting in. My husband has used the old fashioned traps (wood with metal spring) with peanut butter....we caught a whole bunch, and now they seem to be gone. If you are really worried about being inhumane, I think they still sell the glue traps, but then you'd have to be brave enough to pull them off once they get stuck on the glue...yuck.
Good luck,
J. W

We to have had the fight with the mice. More then once no matter how hard we keep the house clean. We have used the sticky traps and they have left parts of their tails behind. As for the mouse traps we have used tostie rolls. It is like mouse crack for ours. As for them dieing in the walls. I never had dealt with that. That is one of the reasons we would never let pest control come in. Is your basment a finsihed basment?

Hi S.! I am also an MK Consultant! My father-in-law is an exterminator and he uses glue traps for the mice. I believe you can get them yourself, but if you are interested in using them, let me know and I will find out how to get them. We had that problem in our previous home and I have a three and four year old, so I know the urgency to get rid of them!

Hi S., I once lived in a condo with mice...and it was new construction. We used plain old fashioned mouse traps loaded with peanutbutter. It worked every "snaping" time...use the cheap smooth kind! The pest control people should have "kid/pet" friendly methods as well. You might try calling another company and asking them if they have them before they come out. I used to run a restaurant and we had the "bug" guys come every month to prevent bugs and furry pests...my point? If it can be used around food & people the same should be avialble for use in the home. Good luck & best wishes.

I have had mice in the past. Knock on wood, nothing lately. I know you don't want to be inhumane, but you must think of your child first. Think about what the mice can get into that he can also get into. It can be very unhealthy for there to be mice and there remnants (poo) in the house.
I used the glue traps. Eventually they can smell it. You need to lure them with something they like. Mine liked mint Hershey Kisses.
I used to just discard the mouse and trap, but they would get themselves off the trap and out of the trash can. My husband said that was more inhumane to leave them on the trap. After continuous returns, I decided I needed to get rid of them permanently. As horrible as it sounds, I kept a bucket in my utility sink to take care of them. I did also get poison that is completely out of reach of my youngest (at the time). After a few nibbles of the poison and some successful catches, the problem seemed to cease. Be extra careful if you do get any mouse poison products. It may be too difficult to find a good place to keep them with a five year old around. They make some kinds that make the mice need to go outside for air or need water. Lucky for me I have never smelled any in the walls. Just the candy they took.

S.,
From time to time we get field mice, too. I am a real animal lover, don't get me wrong, but I believe that the only good mouse is a DEAD mouse! Just use the no-see traps and use peanut butter to lure them. Just the thought of those little mousy feet all over my stuff drove me insane! If you use poison, they will just crawl somewhere, die and STINK. Personally, I do not want to be a mouse-taxi service either so we opt for placing traditional traps where our dog and child cannot get to them but mice can. O. whack to the neck and they are out of the house -- permanently.

Quick solution!!! GO to HOME DEPOT!!! They sell this electric plug in that controls these nasty pests!!! There are various kinds-you can have a sales person help you if you want. They (MICE)will leave your walls, floors, you name it. There is no harm done to either your kids, or them. I would double check on the cats situation since this is a silent high frequency treatment but I am almost postitive that it will not harm them either. I have a dog and she was totally fine with it. This did the trick for me.

TO make sure that they have left your house for good- To ensure that they have left the house, I would also buy glue traps and place a small (1/2 tsp.) of peanut butter on a piece of foil and place in the middle of the glue traps ***Make sure that you wear gloves or have little contact with the glue traps...Mice will sense your smell and may avoid it but they are attracted to PB due to smell and flavor, and foil to the shininess. Line these traps on the primeter of the walls in or near corners since they that is where they travel most. Thier eyesight is poor so they use the primeter of the walls as guidance and somehow the foil is some kind of light trick for them. Places to place them...behind the refridge, under the sink, behind the stove, dark cool cabinets, garage, anywhere where fiberglass is exposed. Keep cat litter off the floor and sealed in tight containers. I would do your best to keep the litter box off the floor and place high.-not that this will keep them away but will definately make them work to get there. Seal up any openings with a heavy duty foam. Mice can crawl through anything that is the size of a dime!!! And love wet/warm/ cool areas to find/build a nest.**To ensure the effectiveness of the problem during cold months, you can make a mixture of clay, oats in stockings. Place these about 100-200 feet away from your home. Be sure that your cat does not get this for I do not know whether this will attract them, but I know they will with mice. The idea is that they eat it clay and oats...they will need to drink water, then nature takes it's course. I will trust that you have a good imagination on what happens here-Not my preference but it comes b/w my home, children, and them, I would choose the latter. Again confer with an expert at Home Depot.
Best of luck!
M.

This is easy. Put peanut butter on your traps. It is the best. Just keep setting traps until you no longer catch mice.

When we first bought our home, it had been vacant a few years, so needless to say some mice took up residence here. We had an exterminating company come out and place poison traps in areas of the house that were not accessible to our cats, the attic, crawl space, etc. The mice all found their way outside which is the normal course of action before they unfortunately pass away. However, before we did all this, some died in our walls, too, and it was a horrible smell. Place some vinegar in a cup in the room where the walls are where the smell is the strongest. This helps draw out the odor. Good luck whatever you decide!

there is an electronic device that is supposed to get rid of all kinds of pests including rodents and bugs. it is safe because there are no chemicals. i forgot the name of it. i am sure you can go online and find out the name of it.

My first thought - Fire the cats!!!

The only thing I can say is that if you are in a twin or rowhome, whatever you do, you have to get your neighbors to do also. If they don't do anything you will be the only person fighting the battle and you will lose. I don't know if humane traps will work for mice, the mice are so small and quick that they get away from them.

Call around to a few different exterminators for estimates and maybe you'll be able to get free suggestions or ideas from them.

Good Luck.

We had/have a similar problem. A few years ago we got quite a few mice (we live next to the woods) and had some die in the walls and dropped ceiling in the basement. I called Terminix and they took care of it, placed traps, and now I have them come every 3 months to spray. It helps keep them away, along with some of the other critters that were coming in. We still occasionally find one in a trap in the basement or under the sink (they squeeze in through the pipe from the garage!), but no major problems like before. I checked with Terminix because I have 3 kids and 2 dogs and they said that their chemicals are safe for them. I haven't had any problems with them in the last couple of years. Hope this helps with your decision.

Hello-I had a similar situation in my old house. I read a lot of home remedies and the one I tried that worked fairly well was planting peppermint around the house. I also tried to put peppermint oil on cotton balls and put them in closets etc. It was a solution that didn't hurt my kids and didn't smell up the house either. :) Hope this helps!!

We had mice and were literally trapping one or two a day. It was getting gross. Then we found this device that you plug into a wall socket, which is supposed to emit a noise that keeps mice away. We put one in our garage and the other in our basement. We haven't had a mouse since. I don't know if your cats will be able to hear this noise or not, but we got this at Wal-Mart. Good luck!

Hi S.,

Look at this web site:

http://www.orking.com

Hope this helps. D.

I have tried the "MICE CUBE" at walmart - it's a see through mouse trap, they can get in, but not out, I have caught them, and just taken them a few miles away, and let them go. Peanut butter or bird seed works. I have just tried the sound emitting thing - so we'll see if it works, I think it has so far.
Good luck and hugs
K.

hi . i believe you can find plug in items at a hardware store that emit a sound and keep bugs and mice away i have not personally used them but we use them in our rentals and have not had any more complaints about mice

You need to check around the house and seal around any pipe/tubing entering the house. Sometimes feild mice will come into a house when there is construction nearby or in the fall to get warm.
The best thing I used was a mouse trap placed in a brown lunch bag ( so you don't have to touch it) with peanutbutter. But you need to find where they are coming in- they can slip through the narrowest crack.