NFT: Rodents in the home

😂

I just sold my tickets to the Eagles game to someone with a PA address.

So I reluctantly got a cat, which solved the problem (his odor alone chased them away). It's a huge commitment, but I grew to love the cat (of course) so now it's a labor of love instead of the labor of setting traps and disposing of dead animals. It's been three years now and a couple of times I've come across a dead mouse that my cat caught and gutted, but the house has been mostly rodent-free.

There are some very effective, quick kill traps available (use peanut butter).

In my experience, mice can sound pretty loud, especially in the middle of the night.

We've been in our house since 1988 and there were a few times early on that I thought we had rats, squirrels or Godzilla in our house.

But it always turned out to be mice. Sound can be deceiving.

I don't know where you're located, but here in the northeast we had an extremely wet summer which tends to result in an explosion of food sources for such critters and their populations will rise accordingly.

The best "solution" is to have your house sealed by an exterminator. Much easier said than done.

Mice (or bats, or any small mammals) only need a gap the size of their skull to get through an entry point, the rest of their bodies will follow.

We paid $1400 dollars a few months back for such a seal job and I've already had to have them back once (free follow ups) to do more work.

Anyway, good luck.

with the squirrels my recommendation is air rifle, it's fun, harmless (except to the squirrels) and helps you build up skills.

In the house it's probably mice. look at the tiles you probably see the black rice (mouse shit).

I used this successfully in my old house - just throw it up in the drop ceiling and you will smell decaying mice soon - lasts about two weeks. I never saw or heard another mouse. If you have pets don't just throw it in the drop ceiling because if it falls down and your pet eats it they could die. Use the bait station if you want to place it in a pet or child accessible area (under sinks, in closets, etc.)

baited with peanut butter. Quick humane kill, easy to empty and reset

The old steel spring traps are harder to set and really hurt when you get your finger caught. Also messy…. some times decapitates the mouse and hard to clean and reset.

Bait is terrible. Mice eat it and then crawl into your walls to die. And rotting mouse smell is not pleasant. Especially in a house sealed up for the winter.

Glue traps are just cruel.

Mice are carriers of disease including Lyme disease & other tick borne illnesses.

Squirrels may be outside now, but can chew their way in. Pellet gun is a good idea

In comment 16306333 VTChuck said:

Quote:

baited with peanut butter. Quick humane kill, easy to empty and reset The old steel spring traps are harder to set and really hurt when you get your finger caught. Also messy…. some times decapitates the mouse and hard to clean and reset. Bait is terrible. Mice eat it and then crawl into your walls to die. And rotting mouse smell is not pleasant. Especially in a house sealed up for the winter. Glue traps are just cruel. Mice are carriers of disease including Lyme disease & other tick borne illnesses. Squirrels may be outside now, but can chew their way in. Pellet gun is a good idea

If you know where the squirrels are going to try to enter stuff the area with steel wool soaked with carolina reaper pepper sauce (the undiluted kind). I did this and the squirrel went berserk flinging itself off my roof and running away. That was the last i've seen of him

could be dangerous to other animals you may have. The mouse ingests poison, cat eats mouse. Now cat has eaten poison.

Or that mouse dies later in wall, house smell gross for weeks.

With a mechanical trap, at least you know where the body is.

I used the 5 gallon bucket with the flap on top. It traps the mouse in a bucket filled with some water. Works pretty well. Just don't forget to check it.
Mouse trap 5 gallon bucket - ( New Window )

I learned a long time ago at some expense, if you are in my house or on it and are not invited, you are dead. There is no live and let live with furry or flying squatters.

Get rid of the squirrels by knocking the nest apart. They should get the idea. If you can't or they don't, then get the pellet gun. Have no pity or remorse.

Mice, the easiest, cheapest thing to do is the old-style trap baited with peanut butter. Place where mice are heard or you see their droppings, the little pigs. Check daily. Re-bait as necessary and dispose of carcasses by opening the trap outside with a screwdriver, letting the carcass fall on the ground and kicking the little bastard somewhere- trust me, the carcass will not go to waste. Reset (you can re-use the trap- mice are not scared away by the scent of their own casualties.) Repeat until no more carcasses. (If you notice the carcasses getting smaller, you are making progress)

On the traps, you may need to lightly sand or file the trigger on the trap as there are sometimes ridges left over from manufacturing. A hair trigger is best- you are dealing with a persistent and ruthless enemy. Good luck.

I can probably get 10 kills on one set of AA batteries. Seems the most humane death for the mouse to me and I get multiple uses out of the trap. The one I have now, I've had for probably 5 years, which means 50 or so kills.

Once death is confirmed by the little flashing light, I just open the door and let the mouse fall into the garbage. Don't even need to re-bait or worry about someone accidentally setting it off.

There are house mice and field mice. We've had both at different times. Field mice are bigger and have white underbellies. They're both a huge nuisance.

We got an exterminator in and think the traps he set caught about 10-15 of them, inside and outside the house, in about a week. He also plugged some holes where he thought they might be getting in. He said one of the basement snap-traps had something he'd never seen before: Two mice dead in a single trap.

I posted a question a couple of weeks ago about some work I'm doing on a room in my basement. The mice nest along the exterior wall above that room; there's a bathroom above and they seem to like to nest beneath the bathtub. Not sure how they're getting in — the access point may be beneath our rear deck. About 7 of them were caught outside along that back wall. When I vacuumed, tore mildewed/warped wooden shelving and pressure washed that room, I found mouse shit and the remnants of their nest. All spic and span now.

When we moved in two years ago, I spotted evidence of previous mouse-proofing. They keep coming back, we keep killing them. It never really ends. If it becomes too big an issue we'll get a cat.

To the previous poster who paid 1400 for a sealing of the house, do you think it was worth it?

I guess my main question boils down to is if an exterminator is worth it. Or should I just set the traps myself?

Every now and then I find a mouse organ laying on the floor....

To use diatomaceous earth for killing mice in home, you need to12:
Add essential oil to water and stir thoroughly.
Slowly add 1 cup of food grade diatomaceous earth to the water/essential oil mixture and stir until moist.
Place the mixture in a container and put it near where the mice live and eat.
Sprinkle some powdered diatomaceous earth on carpets, corners, baseboards, furniture, and other dry surfaces where mice may go3.
Leave the diatomaceous earth on the surfaces for at least two days to kill the mice.

In comment 16306512 Eli Wilson said:

Quote:

I can probably get 10 kills on one set of AA batteries. Seems the most humane death for the mouse to me and I get multiple uses out of the trap. The one I have now, I've had for probably 5 years, which means 50 or so kills. Once death is confirmed by the little flashing light, I just open the door and let the mouse fall into the garbage. Don't even need to re-bait or worry about someone accidentally setting it off.

You evidently use the electronic one from Victor. That is the only thing I have found works. Last year was the first real problem I had.
Many cats aren’t mousers. In my barn, I have had both rats and mice store D-con.
Electronic traps really work. The key is to have the mouse entrance next to the wall which is usually there trail.

Had most of the snap traps cleaned out nightly. Got an occasional mouse here and there.

Switched to super gluing kibbles of dog food to the wood base. Mouse has to work a lot harder. Kill rate went up 2X. Life is good.

Moth balls, but have to replace periodically.

Feed some stray cats.

In comment 16306558 TyreeHelmet said:

Quote:

To the previous poster who paid 1400 for a sealing of the house, do you think it was worth it? I guess my main question boils down to is if an exterminator is worth it. Or should I just set the traps myself?

That's me.

So far, the $1400 has not been worth it, but the second guy that came out a couple weeks ago finally listened to me that I was quite sure that the access point was on or around the roof, specifically the ridge cap.

He did some work in that area so I'm very cautiously "optimistic".

I've always had a very good system for killing them once they're inside (re-set snap traps baited with peanut butter), and we're far from overrun.

I just figured it was time to try keeping them out.

But remember, these critters, and Mother Nature in general, are relentless.

Just be prepared to keep up the fight. *grin*

I paid $200 a couple of years back. She set some poison baits around the house, stuffed copper mesh into any holes or cracks she could find - did the trick for a long time. Somehow, field mice have been getting in - my basement is finished, but there's a utility closet - glue trap in there I check occassionally caught 2 (stomped em in a paper bag), old school snap traps have been catching one each night for the last week... except last night. Hopefully, I got em all.

Peanut butter is like crack to them. They'll climb over their dead comerade to eat it.

Had them in my attic over the years. I caught 8 with the humane traps and released them. Found out later that they can find there way home up to a point. So I started releasing them 10 miles away.

Put a new roof on my house and sealed everything up and guess what theyre back. My gut reaction is to kill them but was swayed by my wife and kids not to do that.

Sadly, thats what I need to do. They never let up.

In comment 16306198 JohnG in Albany said:

Quote:

We paid $1400 dollars a few months back for such a seal job and I've already had to have them back once (free follow ups) to do more work. Anyway, good luck.

My situation mirrored John's closely, except I had the exterminator visit 4 to 5 times before they successfully sealed everything. Just to let you know, my main issue was from the installation of a stove exhaust duct, and the technician did a horrible job sealing it.

We also switched to using a stainless steel kitchen garbage can with a foot pedal for opening. We made it a habit to change the bag as soon as we noticed even the slightest odor. Although we're not fans of the steel can's appearance, it significantly reduced the mice issue. Our previous garbage can was built into the cabinet, situated between the stove and dishwasher, and the gas and water lines provided entry points for mice into the living area of the house.

In comment 16307065 x meadowlander said:

Quote:

stuffed copper mesh into any holes or cracks

Be very careful w the copper mesh. Once our a/c would randomly stop or not start and it took my HVAC guy a few hours to find mesh had cut through the sheathing. The weird thing is the exterminator hadn't been to the house in two years.

About the cost, I went for a 1-year plan where they'll come out as much as you want them to. We figured it would be in their best interest to do the job right. Plus the guy who sold me the plan could see my wife was losing her mind abt having mice in the house.

Met with the exterminator today. Quoted me an initial fee of 300 to seal the exterior of the house and set traps with poison inside the house. Service plan runs 48 a month and includes all rodents, termites, and insect control.

Seems a little high to me but I currently pay about 150-200 a year for a guy to spray for carpenter bees once a year. Can also add on 20 a month for mosquito spray which is a big problem in my yard.

It's not a huge issue but the Mice do seem to be a problem in my basement and I want it taken care of.

Thoughts on this deal?

In comment 16309042 TyreeHelmet said:

Quote:

Met with the exterminator today. Quoted me an initial fee of 300 to seal the exterior of the house and set traps with poison inside the house. Service plan runs 48 a month and includes all rodents, termites, and insect control. Seems a little high to me but I currently pay about 150-200 a year for a guy to spray for carpenter bees once a year. Can also add on 20 a month for mosquito spray which is a big problem in my yard. It's not a huge issue but the Mice do seem to be a problem in my basement and I want it taken care of. Thoughts on this deal?

What does your wife say? I could co-exist with mice. I wouldn't. I'd kill them and I'd kind of try and be humane, but not really care if I was or not.

But my wife would pay thousands to get rid of any shred of evidence a mouse was ever in our house. My dog once brought in a dead mouse (big guy was so proud) and she wanted to burn the place down.

So for me it's less what I think is is fair, more what I think would be thorough.