So We Have a Mouse Problem and I Don't Mean "Mickey" Lol

I've periodically experienced this problem over the years. The first thing is to find out where they are coming in, since they rarely walk in through the door (lol). Steel wool by itself or with moth balls in the places where they come in is often very effective.

Good luck!

M. M

The past 2 years we have not had any mice issues, but I am told before we moved in, they were all over the house. I am convinced it is because my aunt brought over a stack of fabric softener sheets (bounce works well) and tuck them in the bottom of closets, under the bed, behind the dressers, ect, anywhere they might hide. I seemed to work for us!! I highly recommend trying it.

Get a cat. Hopefully no one in the family has allergies to cats because I think they're the most efficient mouse killers. With a cat around, the mice will stay away.

Good luck!

M. ~
I agree, you have to find where they are coming in. We had them last winter and they were coming in alongside the piping from the ac. Also, a friend suggested for me....peppermint oil on cotton balls, scattered around where they like to be (basement, garage, etc.). I think it helped, along with the traps (and 1 of our cats!).
good luck!
D.

M.,

You've received alot of great responses already but I wanted to mention the garage door as it's where alot of mice make their way inside. In the past we have placed the mouse traps that have bait that looks like cheese along the wall on either side of the garage entrance. This seems to work as they will usually follow the wall as they make their way inside. It isn't fun having to deal with the traps once they've been sprung but it is very effective.

Sometimes we put a little peanut butter on the "cheese" to make it extra attractive.

Good luck!

C.

Hi M.. Traps work very well - and they can be placed behind furniture where they are not accessible to your children (we had to do it all summer at our cottage - and we have a 2 1/2 y/o & 4 y/o!). Also, peanut butter around the rim of a plastic container filled with water works very well & is safe. The PB attracts them but they drown in the water. Finally, to help prevent them from coming in in the first place, make sure your grass is cut very low surrounding your house. They burrow in the tall grass then eventually make their way into the house. Good luck! They're harmful creatures, but I don't like sharing my residence with them, either!

Try the Riddex and see if that works. Just plug it in and they're supposed to electronically repel bugs and vermin.

Ahhh Mice. My neighbor growing up had them in her basement...we had woods behind us as well. My mom was always being asked to get one out! LOL. She was always saying "they need a warm place too."

Turned out...my neighbor had a hole near a basement window where they were getting in.

Next time you see one, try to follow it to see where it may be coming in. Seal up any holes you find...inside and out. You'll be suprised to find that they can squeeze through the tiniest of holes. When we were renting our apt last year I was there not even a week and I sat down to watch the news only to see an adorable (yet disturbing) little mouse pop up out of the floor! It was near my doorwall so I figured maybe the door needed to be sealed.

When I pulled back the carpet to see where the hole was I didn't find it in the corner. It was about four inches away from it! The hole was maybe an inch or so around. Somehow he made a hole right up through a CONCRETE floor then chewed through the wooden sub-floor! I suspect the foundation is crumbling. Anyway...neither maintenence nor myself could find a hole outside thus leaving me with the theory that he was burrowing under the building.

Maintenence sealed up the hole in the apartment, and my hubby caught the mouse in a coffee can and moved him away. Never saw a mouse after that.

Sorry for the long story...I just felt the need to share!

If sealing up holes doesn't work...you'll deffinately need to find a pest control company. They should be able to find any points of entry for you to seal up.

Hope this helps!

You can call critter control, they can helpyou find where they are coming in, or, you can call a carpenter, and have them help you find where they are coming in and repair it from there. This is something you will have to be on top of becasue they multiply like mad. I suggest you get on it before it starts to get cold, because once it does they will find a way to come.

You need to find out where they are getting in and patch up the hole with steel wool and caulk around it also. The steel wool cuts the gums, no matter what you do you won't be able to stop them until you find the spot(s) they are getting in. They only need a space the size of dime to get in so plug up any holes you can find. There are traps the snap kind that come in a little box I forget what they are called and also the T REX as we call them they are plastic and easy to set and clean out too for the ones that get in before you find how they are getting in. Good Luck I hate any kind of critters too. I hope this helps.
K.

Hi M.,

I also agree that you need to find where they are coming in. We have a lot of field mice where I live. Thankfully none of them have made their way into our house...knock on wood but I went to Aco and bought this device that you plug in and it puts out a sound that the rodants don't like. I guess it hurts their ears. We don't hear it and neither do dogs and cats but the mice do. It was only like $13 and I put it by my walk out basement door. I figure if one of my darlings leave the door open it will hopefully keep the mice from coming in.

Good luck!!

Try getting an outdoor cat. We never had problems with mice until she died.

Ahh...country living! You are not alone. We live in what one might think is NOT country living, but we have all the critters racoons, deer, skunks, possums, oh my! I had the same mouse thing going on and found that under my kitchen sink was quite an entry. I had spaces around my pipes and spaces in the back of my cabinets. Mice can get through the tiniest of places. I put steel wool scrubbing pads in the holes. They can't chew through it. That helped for the most part. The trick is to find all the holes. In the past I tried the D-Con route. They just end up dying in the wall somewhere and smelling up the house. Good luck!

place peppermint oil (available at health food stores)on cotton balls around the outside of the house.

Putting out the poison is far less dangerous than having those disease ridden little rodents running all over everything your children touch!! Put the poison in the attic so the kids won't get to it - also put some in the garage and WATCH your children. Rodents are nothing to mess around with! They chew up the wires in your house and that can start a fire... BTW - if you use D-con, when they die, they do NOT smell up the house...there is something in it that prevents that.

NEXT year in anticipation of your problem - plant marigolds all around your house... you won't see a single one.!!!

We also had a problem a few years back and the exterminator told us to take the foam in a can, you can get it at any store, and go around the outside of the house and fill in any crack or crevice with the foam, we haven't had any since. We had a very sneaky one that got himself unstuck from a glue trap and lived..I called him the bald mouse LOL. We finally got him in one of the snap traps, they seem to work the best, use peanut butter as bait for them and set them to snap with very very little pressure good luck!

I have used a "poison" that remains in the plastic wrapper. I throw them in the basement and the mice tear through the package to get to them. One is called Blue Death and the other is Ramik.

Other wise put Peanut butter on a spool over a bucket of water. The mice get on the dowel for the peanut butter and drop and drown in the bucket. We use this in our farm shop, but not sure if that would work with your small children. We use it so the cats don't get the poison outside.