Best way to get rid of a mouse in the house

[bcla]

It's a little ironic to have this discussion on a Disney site...

View attachment 119131

There were much worse images I could have picked!

Not particularly graphic, but this just seems wrong:

http://www.costume-works.com/baby_mouse_caught_in_mouse_trap.html

 

[JaxDad]

This one is funny due to the shape of the bait, although maybe it should be a customer in the trap instead of Mickey!

 

[rszdtrvl]

Not mice, but our neighborhood has a problem with rats. Those critters are the size of a 10 week old kitten.

We use the Victor traps, and they work great. Not fun to find a dead rat in them though (for DH anyway - I avoid the areas with the traps in them because I do not want to see any dead things).

We did buy one of these :
http://www.amazon.com/Driveway-Patr...d=1440442200&sr=8-13&keywords=motion+detector

And put the sensor in the garage next to a trap during our big issues earlier this year, so we would know when there was something near the trap. It worked wonderfully, and we called it our "Ratatouille Radar". Unfortunately, the first time it went off, DH jumped up and went in the garage to see if anything was in the trap, which startled the rat enough to hide. The next time it went off though, he ignored it, but knew to check in the morning. And then he found the critter.

Good luck!

 

[quandrea]

Call a pest control service. They came to me, laid bait stations, which are locked and pet and child proof. The mice eat the bait, leave your house for water and die. I have not seen any sign of mice since the day he came last year. My sister has been messing with traps and those ultrasonic noise things for eleven years. She still has mice.

 

[TLSnell1981]

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

I'm surprised, that the dogs haven't taken care of the problem. Our cats AND dogs take care of any undesirables...snakes, squirrels, mice, skunks, 'possums, etc.

 

[havaneselover]

I'm surprised, that the dogs haven't taken care of the problem. Our cats AND dogs take care of any undesirables...snakes, squirrels, mice, skunks, 'possums, etc.

Well, one dog is almost 14 and completely blind (and has cancer). She had instincts but they are worthless now. The other dog is an 8 year old Havanese and she never had much instinct.

So I found a nest yesterday and screamed bloody murder. I opened the drawer below the stove and started pulling stuff out and it/they made a nest using stove insulation in my mini muffin pan. Needless to say that went in the trash. I'm super frugal but I may be calling an exterminator because the situation is playing mind games with me At least now I think I know they are coming in around the stove (which isn't on an exterior wall???).

 

[JaxDad]

I had mice in the house several years ago, and the entry point was behind the stove. I trapped one before I found the entry, then jammed the hole with steel wool and closed it up.

 

[havaneselover]

I had mice in the house several years ago, and the entry point was behind the stove. I trapped one before I found the entry, then jammed the hole with steel wool and closed it up.

Steel wool and peppermint oil are on my grocery list. Just need someone to help me move my stove.

Call a pest control service. They came to me, laid bait stations, which are locked and pet and child proof. The mice eat the bait, leave your house for water and die. I have not seen any sign of mice since the day he came last year. My sister has been messing with traps and those ultrasonic noise things for eleven years. She still has mice.

I have one dog proof bait station down. Just worried they will go to my dogs' water bowl. I have been picking that up and dumping it out at night.

 

[kamik86]

My cats are the deterant for most of the house but we did put a few traps in the basement just in case... we haven't actually found any there though.

I miss my oldest cat Mickey though... ironic with this name (BTW we didn't name him the shelter did) but he was the best mouser ever. He would then leave the dead body (which wasn't bloody like when my niece's cat would catch them) by the foot of the bed.

The younger girls now can catch them just fine... but they don't have the ferocity he did to kill them, not only does that freak me out (I can clean them up once dead but when they are alive... not so much) So you will hear them growling and they will carry it around (looking all limp and dead) but when they put it down its still alive. DH is made to deal with all of these.

 

[bcla]

Steel wool and peppermint oil are on my grocery list. Just need someone to help me move my stove.


I have one dog proof bait station down. Just worried they will go to my dogs' water bowl. I have been picking that up and dumping it out at night.

That's the other big criticism/worry about using poisoned bait, even if it's set up to prevent direct access by pets. The poison is typically an anticoagulant (but can be strychnine) which leads to internal bleeding and eventual death over a few days. There's secondary poisoning of animals that then eat the dead rodents. Sometimes it's vultures, crows, ravens, etc but it can include mammals like coyotes, foxes, and even pets. If you use this stuff around pets, you need to be aware of the symptoms of poisoning. It's not likely to kill a large dog, but can make a pet sick.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/general-news/20110424/rat-poison-keeps-on-killing

 

[aprilchem]

My DH swears by something called One Bite. He gets it at Ace Hardware. We put it in our cabin, and it always gets rid of mice right away.

 

[whitney250]

Ok, so this is going to sound pretty gross, but it works really well! There are some granules you can buy online that smell like coyote urine, put some in closets, under sinks, etc and the mice will be gone in a day or two. We tried traps, etc. and nothing was working, but that stuff was a life saver. Try not to use poison, because if the mouse leaves the home to die, any animal that may eat him will also become sick, and will die due to the poison. Since you have dogs, I would strongly suggest you not use poison, if they get ahold of the mouse, they're in danger, too.


ETA: The repellent is called Shake Away, and you can get it on Amazon (the smell never bothered us, that I can recall if you are worried about that lol)

 

[bcla]

My DH swears by something called One Bite. He gets it at Ace Hardware. We put it in our cabin, and it always gets rid of mice right away.

Sounds like Just One Bite.

http://www.justonebitebrand.com/faqs.html

The active ingredient is bromethalin. It's not an anticoagulant like warfarin or coumadin. It's basically a nerve toxin with no antidote other than maybe pumping out a stomach.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2013/05/24/bromethalin.aspx

 

[havaneselover]

I'm making progress. I went out and bought two packs of Tomcat traps at Walmart. I added peanut butter and set three of them--one under the stove, one in the pantry, and one in the dining room. The one in the dining room worked as designed. I also pulled out my stove, cleaned under it (tons of droppings) and filled all holes with steel wool. This thing/these things have been everywhere. I've found mouse droppings on my living room couch, on my desk in the living room, under the stove, in my dog's bed, in my dog's bowl, in the pantry, in the coat closet, under a bench in the family room. So disgusting.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

Yuck. I really recommend calling an exterminator. It sounds like you have a major infestation.

 

[havaneselover]

Yuck. I really recommend calling an exterminator. It sounds like you have a major infestation.

Well it's been two weeks and I haven't seen any evidence that there was more than one (no more mouse droppings anywhere). But seriously, this thing was everywhere downstairs in a few weeks (living room, dining room, family room, under the stove, in the pantry, in the coat closet, etc.). My lesson learned is if this ever happens again, go right to Walmart, buy the TomCat traps, fill them with peanut butter, and let the traps do their job.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

Well it's been two weeks and I haven't seen any evidence that there was more than one (no more mouse droppings anywhere). But seriously, this thing was everywhere downstairs in a few weeks (living room, dining room, family room, under the stove, in the pantry, in the coat closet, etc.). My lesson learned is if this ever happens again, go right to Walmart, buy the TomCat traps, fill them with peanut butter, and let the traps do their job.

Now that they are gone, and with the cold weather coming up, I suggest you buy pure peppermint oil, sprinkle it on cotton balls, and place them all around your house in out of the way places. The mice are allergic to peppermint oil and will not come in. We had mice when we lived in the country, and this was the only thing that worked. Once we started using peppermint oil, we never had another one again. You can get the oil from health food stores.

 

[havaneselover]

Now that they are gone, and with the cold weather coming up, I suggest you buy pure peppermint oil, sprinkle it on cotton balls, and place them all around your house in out of the way places. The mice are allergic to peppermint oil and will not come in. We had mice when we lived in the country, and this was the only thing that worked. Once we started using peppermint oil, we never had another one again. You can get the oil from health food stores.

I wonder if Whole Foods sells it. Where do you put the cotton balls. I know under the stove would be a good place since the mouse turn my stove drawer into his condo.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

Whole foods probably sells it. I used to put it behind furniture, in the back of cupboards, in the garage and attic, etc. just...around. Putting it where you saw them, or where you see droppings, etc, would be a good start.

Good luck!

 

[CPanther95]

It's a little ironic to have this discussion on a Disney site...

LMAO.

I consider mice rodents, not cute pets - but I can't stomach what the glue traps are designed to do. If you are going to kill it the snap trap is far more humane.

I prefer the humane traps and a dab of peanut butter. Usually catch it the first overnight it's down and I just go drop it off away from the house in the morning. I also prefer a live mouse in a little plastic box, than a dead mouse sitting in my house - especially with 3 dogs that could come across it.