What did you do about your mouse problem?

[Tolduonce]

I'm in a situation I never thought I'd have. For the last month or so, I've been hearing mice running, scratching, squeaking inside my walls and in the space between the first story ceiling and second story floor. Never seen one and have no visible droppings. However during the past winter, I was catching them in snap traps sometimes at the rate of two per night out in the garage. Seems they found a bag of sunflower seeds out there and decided to spend the winter. Soon as the weather warmed, I did a complete garage clean up and don't have them there.

I don't have a problem with using kill traps.
I have pets and kids off and on, so I'd prefer to stay away from poisons. (including moth balls).
I think I may have found a couple of access points for the little critters, but I definitely don't want to caulk them up with the mice INSIDE the house.

So, if you've ever had them and were able to get rid of them, I'd sure like to hear how.

 

[danek]

I've had great luck with the plain ol' snap traps. They're cheap, easy to use, and effective.

How I do it:
1) use peanut butter as bait. It stays put, mice can't rob it and not get caught, and they LOVE it.
2) place the trap perpendicular to the wall, with the bait end touching the wall. Mice travel along the base of walls and will easily find your trap that way.

 

[mretzloff]

My parents had a mouse a while back and the snap traps worked. I forget what they used as a bate, but the mouse was caught two days after they put the trap out.

 

[Emmett]

Snap traps and peanut butter. Or if the buggers have figured that out, Havaharts. I have never had a mouse steal bait from one of those.

 

[professorchaos]

 

[FlatFork]

We use the electric traps at work they run off of AA batteries I think, they go in get popped and the indicator light lets you know there is a dead one in it. I picked them up at tractor supply.

 

[gone down south]

You're going to have to seal those entry points if you want to solve the problem, sorry. Every mouse you catch is going to be replaced by a dozen more if there's food and water available to them.

 

[David in Boston]

Get a cat.

 

[kap49]

Try this.

 

[Tolduonce]

Got a cat, but she's pretty much useless. Maybe I could stop feeding her for a few days. The mice really aren't after food or water as there is absolutely none available. I honestly think they're after nesting material, ie. fiberglass insulation and shelter. The evenings have been pretty chilly lately. Heard of the electronic zap traps and they seem to get good reviews.
My only real problems are I can't get access to the places the mice are (inside the walls and between ceiling and floor). I'd love to fill those spots with traps. The other issue is I don't want to wind up with dead rotting mice in an inaccessible place. This is why I'm reluctant to seal the entry points. I would love to chase them out someway, seal them out permanently and then trap them out in the yard. Frustrating to be outsmarted by these little suckers.

 

[The Nid Hog]

I agree with sealing up the access points. A decaying mouse will produce a horrible stench, but they turn into little mouse mummies pretty quick. I would also say to saturate the area with traps. Put them in every room, along every conceivable route that the little guys might be traveling. They tend to follow the same path and the like to move alongside walls. I've lived in an apartment that was subject to a plague of mice and it isn't pleasant. I've used glue traps, snap traps, mouse-away transmitters (useless) and even a borrowed cat or two. Keep trapping and plugging, trapping and plugging. If your problem persists, call a pro.

 

[gollum83]

The mice aren't after food? What are they dead?

Anyway, as has been mentioned, peanut butter works excellently in those snap traps. Even if don't seem to be after food in the house, they're suckers for peanut butter.

 

[stobes21]

Kill a few and stick their heads on stakes around your house. Let the others know what awaits them inside.

I was going to suggest a cat, but I see that's been addressed. And in my experience most domestic housecats can't hunt worth a damn anyway. Snap traps are probably far more effective.

Anyway, if for some reason you don't want to kill them you can get a plastic trash can with a smooth plastic interior (something the size of an office trash can is big enough). Make a trap by putting peanut butter inside (on a wall is best) and giving the little buggers a ramp. They'll climb the ramp, hop in, and be unable to climb back out. Then you can go dump them or kill them humanely.

 

[gollum83]

I was going to suggest a cat, but I see that's been addressed. And in my experience most domestic housecats can't hunt worth a damn anyway. Snap traps are probably far more effective.

Don't tell my cat that. She's a regular killing machine.

 

[jeffmeit]

I once had mice in between my walls and heard the scratching etc, I popped open the drop ceiling and put some poison down there (kids can't get there). That cured it, now I own a cat and have zero problems.

 

[stobes21]

Don't tell my cat that. She's a regular killing machine.

Nice. A few years back my parents three cats cornered a mouse. The thing was trapped, no where to go. So of course it ran straight at one of them. The cat showed it's mettle by promptly spinning and running to hide. The others spooked as well and went to hide. The dogs ended up catching and killing the mouse. Damn cats...

 

[mmack66]

 

[Bulldawg]

I had a mouse a couple years ago and the little bastard would eat the peanut butter off the trap. Try this if peanut butter alone doesn't work:

- use an old school wood and metal mouse trap (the place where you put the bait has a hole in it)
- take a cheerio and smear peanut butter on it.
- use a twistie tie thing from a loaf of bread and thread it through the cheerio and the hole in the place where you put the bait so it's attached firmly.
- the greedy bastard will try to remove the cheerio and ......

 

[gollum83]

I had a mouse a couple years ago and the little bastard would eat the peanut butter off the trap. Try this if peanut butter alone doesn't work:

- use an old school wood and metal mouse trap (the place where you put the bait has a hole in it)
- take a cheerio and smear peanut butter on it.
- use a twistie tie thing from a loaf of bread and thread it through the cheerio and the hole in the place where you put the bait so it's attached firmly.
- the greedy bastard will try to remove the cheerio and ......

Wow! You're a regular evil genius, you know that?

 

[_JP_]

I had a mouse in the kitchen once. One night I went into the kitchen and saw it run and hide in the toaster. So I grabbed a pot lid, slapped it on top of the toaster and threw the whole business out the door into the yard. Checked the toaster the next day, no mouse in it. Cleaned out the crumb tray and cycled it a couple of times. It made toast for many more years.