Best way to get rid of a mouse in the house

[havaneselover]

Ugh!!!! Monday morning I swear I saw something black scurry from the kitchen to the family room. Then I noticed strange stuff in one of the dog's bowls (which was in the foyer). I don't know if this is related, but last night I went in the pantry and we have these little Krispy Kreme chocolate pies which are individually wrapped (they are amazing, by the way) and they weren't in a box and one of them had a large whole in the wrapper. Finally, this morning when I was feeding the dogs I noticed mouse droppings in the pantry.

What's the fastest/cheapest way to deal with this? My kids are at their dad's until Tuesday PM but if they find out about this they may permanently move out (huge fear of insects and rodents).

 

[eliza61]

I am soo not mad at your kids, it's funny I can take bugs, but mice, rats or squirrels??? I'm outta here.

truthfully I borrowed my neighbors cat, 2 days she got rid of the 2 mice that I saw scurrying around.

 

[usnuzuloose]

We just got one of those little boxes that plug in that make a noise that only the rodents can hear. They have not been back since.

 

[havaneselover]

I am soo not mad at your kids, it's funny I can take bugs, but mice, rats or squirrels??? I'm outta here.

truthfully I borrowed my neighbors cat, 2 days she got rid of the 2 mice that I saw scurrying around.

Cats crossed my mind, but I don't think my dogs would be happy

 

[havaneselover]

We just got one of those little boxes that plug in that make a noise that only the rodents can hear. They have not been back since.

Thanks! I hadn't heard of these so I'll look into it.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Mouse snap traps. Bag a bag and set them up. Put them along the walls, pantry, under kitchen sink, etc.

As far as bait you can use peanut butter, a half a QTIP, or whatever else you have on hand. With the QTIP method you cut it in half and have the fluffy part as the bait. Mice like bedding and may go after the QTIP.

This is the quickest method. Throw trap and mouse away when caught.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I never had much luck with traps. Poison seems to work best on the mice we get. Every fall and winter we few a couple garage mice and we just put some pellets in dark corners, behind boxes, etc, and it takes care of the issue.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I never had much luck with traps. Poison seems to work best on the mice we get. Every fall and winter we few a couple garage mice and we just put some pellets in dark corners, behind boxes, etc, and it takes care of the issue.

The issue with that is in your house you will have a dead stinking mouse or mice somewhere in the house. Plus she has dogs and I would not recommend using poison because of that.

 

[havaneselover]

The issue with that is in your house you will have a dead stinking mouse or mice somewhere in the house. Plus she has dogs and I would not recommend using poison because of that.

Yeah, my dogs are little too and one is in everything. But maybe in the pantry???

It's situations like these which make me think it's time to join match.com

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Yeah, my dogs are little too and one is in everything. But maybe in the pantry???

It's situations like these which make me think it's time to join match.com

Put out a ton of snap traps and lock up the dogs with you so they don't get hurt. It should not take long. Your first night of trapping is when you blitz the house with traps.

The key is to place the traps where they travel. Mice like to run next to the walls. Here are some tips. (Note the aggressive trapping method and use gloves when handling the traps and dead mice.)

Location : Good trap placement is an essential step for effective use of mouse traps. Inspect first to determine the activity of the mice. Placing mouse traps out evenly at a set distance may provide thorough coverage, but it is not guaranteed to reach the mice. Place traps in areas where mice are running or nesting.

Use Enough Traps: A common trapping error when placing out mice traps, is to use too few traps. Even for just a couple of mice, using a dozen traps are not too many. Place at intervals of two-three feet apart.

Two Mouse Traps(Snap Traps or Glue Traps) Placed Together: In locations of high mice activity, use two snap or glue mouse traps together, with about 1" space between them. This would catch mice that try to jump over the traps, a particularly common occurrence.

Aggressive Trapping: Take advantage of the first trap night when trapping mice. More mice are caught the first night, than the following nights. Make sure to set out plenty of traps to take advantage of the timing.

Baits or Lures: Only a small amount (pea size) of bait or lure is needed. It is a good idea to offer a mouse a lure that is high in protein, like peanut butter. The Provoke Mouse Attractant is a food matrix, designed particularly for mice. If the mice are currently building their nest, they may be attracted to nest building materials like cotton, string, etc.

Finish the job: Continue to monitor the areas for mice activity and continue to place traps out until the activity has ceased.

General Rodent Trapping Tips

• • Prior to handling traps, do not touch pets. Dogs and cats are natural predators; their odors can create an aversion to the traps. Other odors such as human or dead-rodent odors do not create an aversion.
  • Dead rodents and diseased animals have ectoparasites; do not handle rodents with bare hands.
  • Glue traps can melt in high heat, do not store in vehicles during warm weather months.
  • Use disposable gloves when handling traps. See tips on cleaning mouse traps and disposal of rodents
  http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/trapping_mice.htm

 

[lizabu]

The snap traps are the best. I remember I had a mouse before and I bought the glue traps. The next day they had fur on them but no mouse. He must've ripped himself free. I hate mice with a passion. The snap traps do the trick and you can just scoop the whole mess up and throw it in the garbage.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Snap trap & Velveeta. They love peanut butter, but I've had a few in the garage that were able to clean off the PB without tripping the trap.

 

[kidshop]

I use poison blocks in little black boxes pets can't get into. The name escapes me! Never smelled a dead one. Seriously, it has not been an issue. I assume they go to their homes to die, and most don't live in your house. Which brings me to the next point. Try to find the entry point to seal it up. In my case, once it was the pipe opening behind the stove, another it was through the a/c wires. It takes some doing, but really is the best defense.

 

[Rhombus]

I use the live capture and release type traps. Sure, there's a chance the mouse can reenter your house, but I usually drive it a short distance away and release the mouse in a wooded area with no homes. Sometimes the mouse expires before I can release it.

 

[havaneselover]

I use poison blocks in little black boxes pets can't get into. The name escapes me! Never smelled a dead one. Seriously, it has not been an issue. I assume they go to their homes to die, and most don't live in your house. Which brings me to the next point. Try to find the entry point to seal it up. In my case, once it was the pipe opening behind the stove, another it was through the a/c wires. It takes some doing, but really is the best defense.

Tomcat? Those are the ones that have really good reviews at Lowes.

 

[slo]

We live next to a forest so mice are not uncommon for us (or other critters - we've had raccoons in our attic). We use poison in the house, but remember, they can die in weird places and you don't know about it until the smell comes. I had a mouse in my car this year (I wasn't happy about it) and I drove around with it for days until a sticky mouse trap finally got it.

Good luck and remember - you can have the cleanest house in the world and still have mice.
Many people feel like you're a slob if you have mice and it's not true.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Cats are not entirely dependable with that. We got a mouse in our house where we used to live. My cat caught it and played with it for a while then let it go and sauntered off.

 

[asta]

A cat is the first choice. For the ones she didn't catch she was good at pointing out where they entered. We put glue boards there and caught a couple. We also leave glue boards in the attic and have caught a few.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

Call an exterminator. Seriously. They will set traps/bait for you (which is the easy part to do on your own.) But what they also do is inspect the interior and exterior of your home to find out how the mice are getting in. Even if you take everyone's tips here and manage to kill all the ones that are in your house currently, how will that stop more from getting in tomorrow? And just wait until fall when it gets cold outside...

We are on a quarterly plan with a local exterminator company as we live in the country and our home is prone to lots of wildlife in the area wanting a nice warm place to live (our home!). Well worth every penny.

 

[Kellykins1218]

Mousetrap with peanut butter. I've never had it take more than a few hours to catch one.