Mice Advice

Hey everyone! This is my first thread ever on this site, so I thought I'd start by asking for some advice.

I have a mice problem! I live in a city row home and while mice are a pretty common household pest, this is my first time dealing with them. I am a huge animal lover, and hate to harm any living thing, but I've had enough! First, we started with plugging up any cracks or holes in the floor that they could fit through. My house is over 100 years old, so there are a lot of cracks and holes behind the radiators. Anyone know what materials, that mice can't chew through, that I could cover these holes with? How do mice usually get into houses? I'd like to try and block every way in, so I don't have a never ending mouse army.

And then, the traps. We've only caught 3 mice with the traps. The mice have figured out how they work, and they snatch the food right off of them, without getting crunched. What is the best bait for a mousetrap? A man my husband works with suggested putting peanut butter on the trap, but my husband and I are both allergic. Ever tried anything else with success?

I've also heard about those electronic pest repellent devices. They send out some kind of noise or signal that mice avoid. Has anyone had any luck with them?

My husband, myself, and our dog children want our house back!:bash:


Thanks so much, in advance! -Plainview

reply to post by plainview


We have this problem at work.....I feel your pain.

As for trap for baits: peanut butter. Works every time and the mice can't "snatch" the peanut butter off the trap. If not peanut butter (since you are allergic), you could try something like Nutella (a chocolate/hazelnut spread that you can find beside the peanut butter in the grocery store) or marshmellow fluff. Anything sticky that will hold its shape on the trap and can't be "snatched" off should work fine.

If you don't want to kill them (and I have to admit, as much as mice bother me, seeing them in a snap trap bothers me even more), the live traps work well. Trap them in the box and take them somewhere to release them.......far, far away from your house.

As for the electric pest repellers, I have them at home, and since I started using them 5 or 6 years ago, no mice, no bugs, no pests. I have two or three different kinds.....I swap them out every 6 months; some people say that the bugs and rodents can become "immune" to them after a certain amount of time.

As for what they can't chew through.....there's not much. The ones at work chew through plastic and wood and styrofoam and paper and anything else they can get to. The one thing we've found that they can't get through is thick, clear plastic or acetate. We've started keeping things like candy and sugar/creamer for coffee in the thick, clear plastic containers that you can get nuts or bulk candy in at places like Sams or Costco. I am sure that any home improvement store would have sheets/tiles made of that material that you could try.

[edit on 1/23/2009 by skeptic1]

I dont' know how effective plugging the holes is, mice can get through incredibly small holes.

Have you gone to a local pest control store? They usually give out free advice and sell the equipement and what ever you need. And of course will sell you their services if all your attempts at ridding the pests fail.

One thing I've done at my home is to fill the hole with steel wool, then apply silicone or great stuff to hold things in place. Seems to work so far *crosses fingers*

many ways to get rid of mice.
put a glue trap down where they come in.
snap traps work too and yes pb is fail proof.
too keep them from getting in use a piece of heavy aluminum and nails and caulk it in place- they can't get through that!!!!
all else fails get a cat- even if they don't kill them it is hilarious to watch

Plug the holes with coarse steel wool and hardware stores sell traps that trap the little buggers live in a baited box. Take the live mice and set them loose in a grade school and sit back and watch the fun.

Good luck with your new hobby.

Originally posted by plainview

Anyone know what materials, that mice can't chew through, that I could cover these holes with? How do mice usually get into houses? I'd like to try and block every way in, so I don't have a never ending mouse army.

Well I don’t know if this is true of all mice, but not too long ago I had a mouse in my garage. It was getting into the bag of dog food that I kept in there. I decided to put one of thoserubber maid tubs to at least make it harder for the mouse to chew through. Well you can see some bite marks where it tried to get through but it never was able to. The mouse was actually caught by my dog... go figure.

And then, the traps. We've only caught 3 mice with the traps. The mice have figured out how they work, and they snatch the food right off of them, without getting crunched. What is the best bait for a mousetrap? A man my husband works with suggested putting peanut butter on the trap, but my husband and I are both allergic. Ever tried anything else with success?

I’ve had success with glue traps in the past. I always put them up against the wall or right in a corner. If possible in a corner behind a bookshelf or something else that a mouse might hide behind.

If you have seen the mouse mainly put them against the walls there. Mice will often run along the walls so there is a decent chance that you can catch him like that.

Now the down side to that is, that it doesn’t kill them right away like a snap trap (or whatever you call them) does. Allot of people don’t like glue traps for that reason. But I have had the most luck with them.

There is always the humane traps that don’t hurt them. I haven’t had much luck catching anything with those though. I have used those and lured them in with food that has been lined with rat poison.

If you do use rat poison make sure you put it in an area where no children or animals can get to it.

I've also heard about those electronic pest repellent devices. They send out some kind of noise or signal that mice avoid. Has anyone had any luck with them?

I have never tried them so I just dont know one way or the other as far as the electronic pest repellent devices go.

Thanks so much, in advance! -Plainview

You are very welcome, and welcome to ATS my friend.

GST

[edit on 24-1-2009 by gimme_some_truth]