What Are the Best Strategies for Mice?

If you have one mouse, you probably have more. Honestly the best solution is to get a cat. Or borrow a friend's cat. I'm serious. A cat will eliminate all the mice and quickly. Good luck.

You heard it but didn't see it? I wouldn't assume its a mouse. I've had a squirrel bite a hole in the soffit and end up in the wall on the other side of the house (we just waited until morning when they leave for the day and patched the hole). This time of year there are a lot of animals looking for a nice warm place to spend the winter.

Personally I'd clean out the stairwell and store the things better. Then I'd put out some snap traps and see what happens. I wouldn't worry about the wiring at this point. Make sure you check the back of your cabinets and drawers for mouse droppings. If you see mouse droppings then you might want to bring in a professional.

My mouse prevention living right on the side of 3 wooded areas? Cats. Haven't had a single mouse in the house. Seen a lot of dead ones outside but never a live one in the house. A good mouser cat is the best thing.

It's funny how some houses that are over 100 yrs old won't get a single mouse and brand new construction will have them - it really is about access, warmth, food, etc. vs. age of home. My current home is well over 100 years old and I've not had a single mouse in nearly 10 years, whereas our two previous homes (one brand new and one built in the 60s both got the occasional mouse).

Yep, they are gross in a furry, beady eyes sort of way, but largely they are harmless, and while you don't want to make pets out of them and definitely want to get rid of them, you can save yourself the energy of freaking out. It is unlikely that they are going to do much (if any) damage and they are pretty easy to get rid of.

Couple of options: traps, either humane or plain old traps. Cheese whiz works if you can't tolerate peanut butter in your home. I used to set my traps out at night in the areas I saw droppings or heard them and then picked them up in the morning so the kiddos wouldn't be tempted to touch. I don't like to use poison with kids and pets around, but that is another option. Don't poison bait outside - other animals can get into it. Call a pest control service. Usually they will come in the fall, winter and spring to set up traps and they may also find your entrance point (although, sometimes it is just a door that was left open while carrying in groceries or the garage door or something simple like that). We did use a service while in our one home but only because it was a package deal with spraying for spiders and mosquitoes - I personally wouldn't call just for a couple of mice, but that is me.

Good luck and remember, you big, tall scary person in the eyes of a bitty little mouse - nothing to freak out over :)

Around here, everyone gets mice in the fall. It's a common occurrence. We have allergies (my husband and some of our kids) and no one has ever gotten sick. We simply lay traps (we've done the humane ones, where you trap them and then release ... but quite frankly, that can be a pain.. but my preference), the ones that work best for us though are the old fashioned kind that do it quickly with peanut butter. If you have nut allergies not sure what else you could use ... a soy based spread? Not sure if mice would go for that (you could google).

It typically takes a few nights, then the problem is solved. You want to get them before they have babies, but even if they do, it doesn't take long. The key is finding entry point, but you would just go along outside and fill in any holes (check siding, etc.) and fill with some steel wool (they don't like) for now.

If it's more of a problem than that, you can call an exterminator. Seriously - here everyone gets them (we're in a neighborhood, but with woods) - so it's a common thing. We just clean up any droppings we come across.

Should add - no problems here with wires. I think you'd notice (flickering lights, etc.) if that were the case. I haven't heard any of our neighbors having issues with wiring either.

with mice if you can slide a pencil in they can get in.
i used to put a couple cheerios on a glue trap and leave it along the wall. worked like a charm too.
in our old house we just had to accept that we lived with mice. we could hear them running in the ceilings and walls, they left their droppings on the counter and i just made sure to clean daily with disinfecting cleaner. i kept traps out and baited and would catch 2 sometimes 3 a day. but every night we could hear there were more. the yard was backed by a golf course and every house on our strip had many mice.
in my current house they have discovered the garage. they like the leftover bits of chicken feed they find in there, they like the shelter there and i have only ever found one inside. dh is allergic to mice and will have an asthma attack when one mouse is in the house so when they are here we know.
for bait, i used to use cheerios on a glue trap, mice also like grains so you could try mixing up some with water to make a paste to put on traps instead of peanut butter.

Mice live in everyone's houses. They hide well so most never know.

If you live near a field or old houses or anything that would let them breed and run amok then you are always going to get them.

There was one time I was sitting in my living room and it was dead quiet. I heard scratching in the wall near me. We had mice because they'd mowed a vacant lot behind our house and it had been full of mice and other critters. They'd run for cover when the mowers had started up. It took us months to get rid of them because they were living in the walls and in the floorboards between the floors.

Put some poison out where your pets and children can't access it. You might get your house professionally treated. I think people who live there are more focused on the issues and will do more to get rid of them but a professional does use a much stronger substance.

Because you didn't actually see it, it could be a mouse, or a rat, squirrel, chipmunk, etc.

You need a professional exterminator to asses the situation because you have no idea What it is or How it got in. Those questions need answers before you can know what the next step will be.

Generally you put traps where ever you find droppings and where ever your pantry is.
If it can get in - it can get out.
Mice can squeeze through dime size holes and the tiniest spaces.
Most inside doors are not sealed with weather striping so they just squeeze right underneath.
A towel is just cotton and easy to chew through.
And you wouldn't think it possible but they can jump almost 3 feet into the air.
Get everything in your pantry (except cans and glass jars) into plastic containers with lids.
It's just a good habit to get into and keep.
(If pantry moths get into your cupboard the container contains the damage and it's easier to throw away one box worth of food than the whole pantry.)
Mice will chew through cardboard boxes/cellophane wrappers/ziplock bags with ease.
There is NEVER just one mouse.

When we first moved to the country (middle of a soybean field) I was fine with trapping them live and releasing them several miles from the house.
This all changed when I surprised one in the pantry that had climbed up on a shelf.
I opened the door and he ran for it - right off the shelf toward the door - bounced of my chest - ran down the hall and down a heating vent - yes air-ducts are convenient highways for them and they use them to travel to any/every room in your house.
After I stopped screaming I had this Bugs Bunny moment - "This means war".
We've used peanut butter for bait on snap traps ever since.
After the trap is sprung and I have a dead mouse - since it's not poisoned I just empty it in the ditch next to the soybean field - something will eat it.
I think the glue traps are cruel.
The creature dies slowly as it frantically tries to escape and tears it's skin off in the trying.
Snap traps breaks it's neck and it's a quick death.
I love mice - outside - inside is MY territory and coming inside is a death sentence.
I feel bad about the critter dying but I can NOT have vermin in the house.

We get a minor mouse invasion every year right after the soybeans are harvested.
When we see the farmer harvesting - out go the traps - and they stay out for at least 2 weeks after the last mouse is caught.

You might need an exterminator to help you with it but if you can find their entry points then stuff them up tight with steel wool.
They don't like chewing through the metal - it makes their teeth itch - and that means they can't get into your house anymore.

Outside we have plenty of hawks, eagles, owls, snakes, foxes, etc and they do a great job in eating up mice

If you heard it, it's probably not a mouse. They don't make a lot of noise. It's probably something larger, like a squirrel (red, gray, flying). Can you tell I've had them all? LOL!

So, with mice, here's the deal. They are so small, and they can easily get into any house. The areas where the pipes come in, the tiny spaces between the garage and the adjoining wall, and so on. The mice can flatten themselves and squeeze in through spaces you cannot imagine. You can't stop them, and a towel won't make any difference.

You can start with a mouse trap - the type that lets you put a bait inside and then the entry hole trips and you can't see the mouse, if you don't want to deal with the carcass. If it's a small squirrel, you want a hav-a-heart trap, some plain peanuts and some peanut butter to use as "glue" to stick the nut on the thing that trips the trap. If you can't use peanuts, can you use tree nuts? Or are you allergic to all of them? I think some cheap cheese with a bunch of preservatives in it will work.

But don't just catch one and let it go outside - it will come right back in. The options are: drown the animal in a bucket of water (I kid you not - that's what you're supposed to do), or relocate the squirrel in a park or nature area (which you aren't supposed to do but which people do anyway because they can't choose Option #1).

If you have someone clean your gutters, which people are doing around now, just have them inspect where the gutters and downspouts attach to the house and look for a small hole, golf ball size or so, maybe less.

Otherwise, get an exterminator, who will be able to tell from the dropping exactly what you are dealing with and what the extent of the damage is. I wouldn't bother with an electrician unless there is obvious damage - there's no way he's going to pull all the wires out of all the walls.

Try not to get all worked up about diseases - we're all exposed to far more than what we imagine.There are more germs on the screen of your cell phone (worse if your kids take phones into the bathroom with them!) than what you'll get from a mouse. We walk outside and step in all kinds of things. Somehow, we're all still alive. Wash your hands regularly with regular (not anti-bacterial) soap, and work up a lather, and rub. Just do this throughout the day. You'll be fine.