EEEK! ...mouse in the house?

[pixiedusty]

Last night I noticed some (eek!) mouse droppings on top of my basement dryer! (and dh saw some on the basement workbench.) I've never seen evidence upstairs although a few nights ago I swear I heard a funny noise (thought it was the cat but she was curled up near me).

dh promptly purchased d'con "no see" traps but I wish I knew of a more humane option - that works. I have a soft heart for all animals.

Any experience getting rid of these critters in a humane way? Should I freak out? Are there really dozens hiding in my home? I get the creepy-crawleys thinking about it! I read about peppermint oil and moth balls. Do they work? Do those plastic live traps work? As mentioned, I have a cat. Never saw a dead mouse from the cat.

Anyone willing to share their experience? I love THE Mouse but the mice....not so much!

 

[jonestavern]

I guess you could try a Have-A Heart type trap. I really don't know if they are used for mice, we use them to catch squirrels that get into our attic. I have heard that mice can squeeze into incredibly tiny spaces, like well under 1/2 "
So check for places they can be getting into & try to patch.
Of course the little critters do chew, so check the entry points regularly.

I am also interested in knowing if there is a more humane way a dealing with the mice problem.

Around here DH is known as "Dr Death", he uses D-Con. I do hate it but living in the country in a rambling 225+ year old tavern (see my screenname) mice will get in
Just be sure to keep all your cereals, flour sugar etc in Rubbermaid or Tupperware, no use feedin' 'em, they'll find enough to get into on their own.

Oh, & not all cats are mousers. Out here if we have 'lazy' cats it's not uncommon to borrow a mouser from a neighbor for a couple of weeks.

Yep Real mice

Good luck!

Jean

 

[pixiedusty]

Thanks Jonestavern. I guess it's just you and me with the mice.

I've never seen any evidence upstairs (no food touched/dropping) so maybe it's just a couple of critters trying to get out of the cold? We live adjacent to a wooded area. I will still make sure everything is sealed up in canisters. The thought of mice near my food would send me packing!

I guess I need to go on the defensive here. I've read that steel wool or foil balled tightly works well to seal up holes. The problem, I think is that the house is full of "holes"! The attic vents alone would let in any critters so inclined.

Any other tips out there? Any luck with peppermint/mothballs or live traps? Now that the D'con things are down there, I don't want to do laundry

 

[mjkacmom]

I guess you could try a Have-A Heart type trap. I really don't know if they are used for mice, we use them to catch squirrels that get into our attic. I have heard that mice can squeeze into incredibly tiny spaces, like well under 1/2 "
So check for places they can be getting into & try to patch.
Of course the little critters do chew, so check the entry points regularly.

I am also interested in knowing if there is a more humane way a dealing with the mice problem.

Around here DH is known as "Dr Death", he uses D-Con. I do hate it but living in the country in a rambling 225+ year old tavern (see my screenname) mice will get in
Just be sure to keep all your cereals, flour sugar etc in Rubbermaid or Tupperware, no use feedin' 'em, they'll find enough to get into on their own.

Oh, & not all cats are mousers. Out here if we have 'lazy' cats it's not uncommon to borrow a mouser from a neighbor for a couple of weeks.

Yep Real mice

Good luck!

Jean

I've researched the squirrel thing, and it seems that most agree that the most humane thing is to kill them. They are very territorial, and if set out into the wild, without a pack, will be killed by other squirrels, or end up in someone else's attic. My FIL used to trap them in the yard, and drive them miles away - I figure that there are always going to be a certain amount of squirrels in my yard, and just get used to them.

 

[pat fan]

Sorry, but the only good mouse (other than Mickey) is a dead mouse. D-Con the crap out of the basement, attic, garage and any crawl spaces you have and don't think twice about it. There are plenty more where one or two came from and if you let it go, you will be over-run.

 

[sunnyday123]

I feel your pain. I live across from a wildlife preserve and never knew I had mice till I got cats. Is yours a mouser? If she's never had the experience, you'll find out soon. My purchased-from-a-breeder,non-agressive don't let him outside because he won't defend himself Ragdoll is part of some cat-mafia that specializes in beheadings and dropping dead mice into Uggs.

If you go the trap route, get the D Con ones that are ok to have around pets. And know that if you have one, you have more.

Good luck.

 

[pixiedusty]

There are plenty more where one or two came from and if you let it go, you will be over-run.

Is it true that if you see evidence of one, there are really several in the house? Am I naive to think it's just one or two?

 

[tazdev3225]

If you see evidence of a mouse you may or may not have more. I have never really had a problem with them as I have always had great mousers. The ony mouse we ever had was the one my cat brought me as a present, ALIVE , and dropped into my bed with me in it. It took a day and my other cat to get it out. I love animals but there is no such thing as a nice mouse other than Mickey. Do what you must to get rid of it.

 

[pat fan]

Is it true that if you see evidence of one, there are really several in the house?

That has been my experience. We don't have a cat (DH doesn't like them) and never had cats growing up, but we sure had mice/rats growing up and in almost all the places I've lived since, and there has always been more than one.

I'm not sure what D-Con traps people are talking about either. I mean D-Con as in the poison that they eat and then go off and die stuff. In all my years of using it I've never had to remove a dead body as opposed to traps that may work, but then you have to dispose of it. YUCK!!!

Good luck.

 

[JessR]

time to break out the traps and get them mice.

 

[eh24fan]

Poison, traps with peanut butter! I buy the bags of poison and just put them EVERYWHERE in the basement along the walls, under the sink in the kitchen, behind the trashcan, etc. The traps went along the walls in several places.

We had one mouse that we know of and caught it within a day or 2. I've left the poison where it is, reset the remaining 3 traps, putting one exactly where the other one was caught. So far, no evidence and no other dead mice. In fact, we never even had any droppings....I still haven't found them. I have no idea where this thing was hiding for a couple of days, how it got in, nothing.

 

[L107ANGEL]

If you see evidence of a mouse you may or may not have more. I have never really had a problem with them as I have always had great mousers. The ony mouse we ever had was the one my cat brought me as a present, ALIVE , and dropped into my bed with me in it. It took a day and my other cat to get it out. I love animals but there is no such thing as a nice mouse other than Mickey. Do what you must to get rid of it.

That made me dizzy!!!

 

[lovebuzz]

We had one in our garage and this is what the pest guy told me to use to tell if they are gone. They like peanut butter and slim jims. Once you think they are gone put some baby powder or flour around the trap and that way you can see if they are walking around the traps. They also do not like ammonia. You could try putting out a bowl of ammonia up high where a dog could not get into it. good luck.

 

[loco4dis]

One humane way I've heard of is to put cat feces from the litter box around the corners of the room. The mice "smell" the presence of a predator and leave. My preferred method, however, has always been mouse traps and…mouse death.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

I have a problem with mice too, but I can't bring myself to kill them. We've tried various humane traps but they seem to figure them out and either take the bait and leave or just avoid them. Right now I'm relying on keeping all my food in jars and rubbermaid so at least they aren't getting into that. I am allergic to cats so can't go that route, and my dogs are useless. One morning a mouse ran right across the kitchen floor and both dogs just stared at it, looking stunned. Thanks, guys, that was helpful.

Not only do I hate killing things (hey, I'm vegan) I worry that my dogs might get into any poison I put out. (They get into everything else around my house!)

Any tips???

How dangerous are mice anyway? They don't bother me, I just worry that they carry diseases.

Teresa

 

[monkey68]

We had a "Mickey" problem last year. We did set out traps, but he never went to them, we had a smart mouse. What I did do was go to my grandparents house, rolled the cat around in some kitty litter, and put it around the apartment. Someone told me the smell of cats drives mice away, and since this cat is a scaredy cat, I couldn't borrow him, but I did borrow kitty litter with his scent on it. And it worked, no more signs fo Mickey afterwards.

 

[N&B'smom]

Don't be freaked out. Look how cute they are!!!

 

[CajunDixie]

I wouldn't use the Dcon. They'll die and start smelling.
We used live traps with PB inside then just taped them shut and tossed them in the trash.....that is the trash dumpster at a pizza place a couple miles from here.