My house seems to be over-run with mice! This is the first year in the seven years here that I've so much as seen one. I've already trapped about 6 of them, and SWMBO says she saw a baby one this morning, and I saw a good size one last night. I'm starting to think we will NEVER be rid of the little pests. Had to go out today and buy a bunch more traps of several varieties! So, the big question is, is anyone else having trouble with these little house mice this year??? Seriously, it can't be just my place! Also, for those of you with pets as well as pests, what do you use to control the mice without harming the pets???
&@*$ mice!
- Thread starter JLKuehl
- Start date
Seriously, we've got a handfull of outdoor cats, and i haven't seen so much as a squirrel or chipmunk (alive) in our yard for the last 2 years
the trick with an indoor cat for a mouser is IMO don't spoil them with canned food, that's when they get lazy
According to our local papers, the rodent problem is very bad this year. If you don't have kids or pets to worry about, put out some poison. The mice will bring it back to wherever they're living and share it.
You will also need to walk around your property to determine where they're entering your house. Even if you think an opening is too small, the mice can probably get in. Finally, if you don't want a cat, a few garter snakes will do a nice job for you.
We live near fields and have a few snakes in our bushes. When we looked into getting rid of them, the Department of Natural Resources told us that if we did, we'd have rodents all over the place. We decided to live with the snakes--they never bother us or try to come inside. Plus my kids think they're cool.
You will also need to walk around your property to determine where they're entering your house. Even if you think an opening is too small, the mice can probably get in. Finally, if you don't want a cat, a few garter snakes will do a nice job for you.
We live near fields and have a few snakes in our bushes. When we looked into getting rid of them, the Department of Natural Resources told us that if we did, we'd have rodents all over the place. We decided to live with the snakes--they never bother us or try to come inside. Plus my kids think they're cool.
I usually put a variety of at least 10 traps in my garage where I have found them. They like to eat my dogs dry food so I put a nugget on/in the various traps we use, then just throw them away, trap and all.
I had to put a screen around my gas fireplace, this is where I believe they were coming in as I saw they climbing through the vents.
I had to put a screen around my gas fireplace, this is where I believe they were coming in as I saw they climbing through the vents.
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- #5
The problem is, they can come in through a hole about 1/4 inch in diameter! My poor old house is over 100 years old, so locating and sealing holes of that size is pretty tough. I've heard that using copper wool, like from a scouring pad in those holes will stop them from coming in. Right now it's too cold in the midwest for garter snakes, but that's an option I hadn't thought of. My oldest dog (the chow mutt) hates cats with a passion, so that's out. We used to have several stray cats in the neighborhood, but I haven't seen one this year. 
Right now, we are using the old standby spring traps with some success.
My stupid beagle ate the live trap to get to the peanut butter I put in it as bait.
I swear, that dog has drain bammage (but I still loves her). 
Right now, we are using the old standby spring traps with some success. My stupid beagle ate the live trap to get to the peanut butter I put in it as bait.
I swear, that dog has drain bammage (but I still loves her). 
The problem is, they can come in through a hole about 1/4 inch in diameter! My poor old house is over 100 years old, so locating and sealing holes of that size is pretty tough. I've heard that using copper wool, like from a scouring pad in those holes will stop them from coming in. Right now it's too cold in the midwest for garter snakes, but that's an option I hadn't thought of. My oldest dog (the chow mutt) hates cats with a passion, so that's out. We used to have several stray cats in the neighborhood, but I haven't seen one this year.
My stupid beagle ate the live trap to get to the peanut butter I put in it as bait.
+1 on the spring traps, and use a variety of baits. Peanut butter and bread are my favorites. Put the traps along walls. If you have a basement and you do not let the dogs down there, you can go with warfarin (actually this will work anywhere the dogs cannot get at it. Vitamin K is an antidote if you want extra protection.
I agree with telecaster52....get yourself a cat or a couple of outdoor cats (which is a really 'green' solution), and/or call in a professional exterminator. 
Christopher
Christopher
I agree with telecaster52....get yourself a cat or a couple of outdoor cats (which is a really 'green' solution), and/or call in a professional exterminator.
Christopher
Outdoor cats are fine if you live in a rural or semi-rural environment, but they are not an option for city dwellers. Besides the risks to the cats themselves, it is actually illegal in many locations (it certainly is where I live). The OP has already explained why indoor cats are not an option.
We've been having a bad mouse problem outside and they're killing our vegetable garden. The cheap spring traps have worked the best, but I can't seem to keep up. We called in a professional this fall, but they mice just burrowed under the traps and made homes. Funny. We'd get an outside cat, but the bobcats, moutain lions or coyotes would have a nice dinner. I feel your pain.
First determine what kind of mouse you're dealing with.
A field mouse is usually brown with a white belly, and it about twice as large as a common house mouse. These usually live outdoors, and try to come into your house when the weather turns cold to find warm nesting. In the spring, they usually go away even if you don't do anything. These might drive you nuts, but aren't as much a nuisance as the house mouse.
A house mouse is all one color (gray/brown), and is smaller. These actually become permanent dwellers in your house, and can reproduce there, spreading throughout the whole house, nesting everywhere and causing a threat to your food.
Trapping will offer only limited success. Poison is probably the most effective solution for the money -- just be sure your pets can't get at it.
A field mouse is usually brown with a white belly, and it about twice as large as a common house mouse. These usually live outdoors, and try to come into your house when the weather turns cold to find warm nesting. In the spring, they usually go away even if you don't do anything. These might drive you nuts, but aren't as much a nuisance as the house mouse.
A house mouse is all one color (gray/brown), and is smaller. These actually become permanent dwellers in your house, and can reproduce there, spreading throughout the whole house, nesting everywhere and causing a threat to your food.
Trapping will offer only limited success. Poison is probably the most effective solution for the money -- just be sure your pets can't get at it.
Poison is about all that will work effectively. Put it in the attic, in the crawl spaces, wherever the dogs absolutely cannot get to. Put it in the cabinets, on the top shelf of the closet, behind access panels for your bathroom drains, etc. If you are seeing mice, or trapping that many in that short a period of time, you already have a substantial unseen colony. I live in an old drafty house and it is impossible to keep them out, but I keep bait around in the above-referenced places and find it to be gnawed open when I get back to looking there. I took off an access panel to get at my bathtub drain and was fairly shocked to see quite a bit of mouse scat within the wall cavity. There is a balance to the natural world inside your home and it certainly includes rodents, you just don't want them to get too pushy.
One thing to do is remove from their reach all the food that you have in the house. They stay for that. And that includes bird seed and pet food as well. Leaving pet food out in a bowl all day allows a mouse to live well. Dishes in the does the same.
How about a small terrier? They are notoriously good at finding and killing mice, rats and other rodents.
Our house backs onto a park. We get a couple of mice most years. One year I tried Warfarin. I swear to you the mice we had chewed it up and thrived on it. We put the stuff down . . . like green extruded kibble . . . only to go back and see it looking like a loose pile of beige sawdust a week later. I finally got the suckers with the old style mouse traps. Last year we had some construction done . . . I felt we were overrun with mice. I posted here and someone suggested peanut butter as bait. Now, with experience I fully agree . . . works way way better than cheese.
Mike
I'll tell you of a mouse trap I seen from an old trapper in Northern Alberta.
He would place one in his trappers cabins and go out on his trapline.
He left this trap "set" while he was away and when he came back from his rounds he would attend to it once again.
Here is how it worked..
He took a 5 gallon pail, and took the wire handle off and threaded an empty tube of toilet paper on there..
and then re-installed the handle,
but he bent it so that the wire was closer to the edge and fit just right..
He then set it in the spot it was to be and put up a 2x4 as a ramp leading to the open pail..
He then put a dab of peanut butter on the empty toilet paper roll and re-adjusted the wire handle distance till when a mouse would reach in to grab the peanut butter he would spin the tube and the mouse would fall into the pail..
which by the way would be filled about 1/2 way with water...
after some time away he said he would come and dump out a dozen or so dead mice...
I personally have never tried the method. but he was one smart ol trapper that knew the ways to handle situations without having to resort to more commercial methods..lol
anyway.. may be worth a go eh
price is right
good luck with it..
I haven't told that story in a long time lol...
He would place one in his trappers cabins and go out on his trapline.
He left this trap "set" while he was away and when he came back from his rounds he would attend to it once again.
Here is how it worked..
He took a 5 gallon pail, and took the wire handle off and threaded an empty tube of toilet paper on there..
and then re-installed the handle,
but he bent it so that the wire was closer to the edge and fit just right..
He then set it in the spot it was to be and put up a 2x4 as a ramp leading to the open pail..
He then put a dab of peanut butter on the empty toilet paper roll and re-adjusted the wire handle distance till when a mouse would reach in to grab the peanut butter he would spin the tube and the mouse would fall into the pail..
which by the way would be filled about 1/2 way with water...
after some time away he said he would come and dump out a dozen or so dead mice...
I personally have never tried the method. but he was one smart ol trapper that knew the ways to handle situations without having to resort to more commercial methods..lol
anyway.. may be worth a go eh
price is right
good luck with it..
I haven't told that story in a long time lol...
I've heard of using a similar pail set up on chipmonks.
Not a practical solution, but fun as all get out.
I have heard of the bucket trap, never used it myself.
I dissagree with the use of poisons in that accidental poisoning of domestic pets is very easy. This can get you sued by a neighbor in today's society.
Removal of food sources and sealing of entrances is the first and best defence. Do not store pantry items in containers that can be eaten through. Get metal or glass containers for flour, sugar, etc. Wash pantry shelves, walls and floors regularly (for sanitation and to help prevent infestation) Store fruit and bread in hanging baskets or wire and sheet metal keepers.
Enter your crawl space (and attic) and black out the vents on a bright day, look for any visible light. Fill gaps with foam or grout. Apply fine hardware cloth to your vents (1/4 inch). Apply the same hardware cloth to your eve vents. Inspect your roofline for damage, especially along ridge vents. Repair as necessary.
(If you choose to seal your foundation vents, take separate measures for foundation ventilation.)
Use of glue traps and repeating traps will catch more of these small rodents than spring traps (not dissing spring traps though, they are effective).
This will also very likely save you money on heating and cooling costs as a side benefit.
Phil
-fighing the battle against mice and squirrels for 2 years now.
I dissagree with the use of poisons in that accidental poisoning of domestic pets is very easy. This can get you sued by a neighbor in today's society.
Removal of food sources and sealing of entrances is the first and best defence. Do not store pantry items in containers that can be eaten through. Get metal or glass containers for flour, sugar, etc. Wash pantry shelves, walls and floors regularly (for sanitation and to help prevent infestation) Store fruit and bread in hanging baskets or wire and sheet metal keepers.
Enter your crawl space (and attic) and black out the vents on a bright day, look for any visible light. Fill gaps with foam or grout. Apply fine hardware cloth to your vents (1/4 inch). Apply the same hardware cloth to your eve vents. Inspect your roofline for damage, especially along ridge vents. Repair as necessary.
(If you choose to seal your foundation vents, take separate measures for foundation ventilation.)
Use of glue traps and repeating traps will catch more of these small rodents than spring traps (not dissing spring traps though, they are effective).
This will also very likely save you money on heating and cooling costs as a side benefit.
Phil
-fighing the battle against mice and squirrels for 2 years now.
Not a practical solution, but fun as all get out.
+1, I got one, and use it regularly. It will also take out bigger problems like coon at relatively close range. For the price it is hard to beat.
Phil
A small caliber rifle may be fun but ultimately ineffective if you have a large infestation. Something a bit bigger like a 12 ga would have good splatter effect. Like in the beginning of the movie Ratatouille.
(Reminds me of when I went jack rabbit shooting with a friend and he took his 338 ultra mag. Good times!
(Reminds me of when I went jack rabbit shooting with a friend and he took his 338 ultra mag. Good times!
