Mice Problem - Anyone have luck with Terminix getting rid of them?

[JKMastalski]

My mice problem has now gotten out of control. I think they are multiplying by the week. I don't even know what to do anymore. As far as I can tell, its confined to my kitchen, but who knows!
I have hired Terminix to come on Saturday, but I had to sign up for a yearly contract. They don't give you another choice. Anyone have any good or bad experiences with them?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

If you have mice they are everywhere. I don't know about Terminix but good luck. I hate having mice....bleech!!!

We used to have them in a house we lived in that was next to a farmers field.

 

[ChristmasElf]

We have had great luck with Terminex! They are very efficient and thorough. They come once per month and I have not had a bug problem ever in this house. Good Luck! I agree with the poster that said if you have one mouse-he most likely has several friends elsewhere in the house that you just haven't seen yet!

 

[kldmom2000]

You actually DON'T have to sign a yearly contract. 2 summers ago we had Carpenter bees in our wall (YIKES!) I called Terminex and paid the $250 (at that time) service fee to have them exterminate them. That $250 was for the one treatment for that one pest and was guaranteed for only 30 days.... last summer, we heard the same "scratching" noise in the same wall... again, I called Terminex, but opted to do the one year plan (not positive, but I think it was like $450"ish" ) since if I'd done it the year prior, this problem would have been included since it took place just under a year after the first problem. The scratching this time turned out to be thousands upon thousands of carpenter ANTS.... we do have the annual plan and they come out every 3 months to inspect for insects/pests. They are coming out tomorrow just to do a once over... but thankfully, I haven't noticed any problems yet.... oh, and we also had to do the preventative treatment for termites as they are EVERYWHERE in our yard (any stone you lift up is LOADED with the little white buggers!!!), but have not yet made it into the house. That was VERY EXPENSIVE-not covered under the basic annual plan. GL to you! Hope you get the mice problem under control soon!

 

[JKMastalski]

Thanks for the advice! I figure $330 for the year is fine by me and they guarantee that I won't see any more. As long as I get them taken care of , I will pay anything!!!!

 

[Patty3]

You are a better person than I am. Mice freak me out and I would have rented a room somewhere and not gone back home until they were gone. Mice are my phobia. Good luck.

 

[kpm76]

Thanks for the advice! I figure $330 for the year is fine by me and they guarantee that I won't see any more. As long as I get them taken care of , I will pay anything!!!!

$330 for the year seems reasonable to me. DH and I currently have a mouse problem and it has almost sent me over the edge...LOL. We have not seen any, thank God, but at night we were hearing scratching in our ceiling above our bedroom. Called Griggs & Browne (I think they are a local company, so you may not know them), they came out the next day, did an evaluation, determined it was mice and set up traps. Our contract is $225 for 3 months ($85/quarter after that if we keep them and they inspect for any pest). They come out once/week to check the traps and replenish the bait. Just today they came and set up a trap with a powery substance because Paul, our pest guy, said mice like to groom themselves so the powder will, shall we say, do them in quickly I told him the only mouse I like lives in Orlando, all others are NOT welcome in our home I've been super pleased with the service we have gotten so far. Just an FYI, we were told that mice multiply very quickly so good that you're treating the situation with a professional. Good luck....hopefully we will all be mice free by Christmas

 

[allie&mattsmom]

Uugh, mice totally freak me out (except mickey of course ). We found evidence a few weeks ago and I was a basket case. DH set traps in the basement and sure enough over about a weeks period he got three of them. You know there's usually never going to be only one. Anyway, we still have the traps set down there w/peanut butter on them and for about two weeks they've gone undisturbed. So for right now we are good but I know that can quickly change. Good luck!

 

[MELISAZACK]

terminx is too much money - I am from the suburbs of philly
I would try calling a pest control guy named Bullock pest control see if he does your area - does what terminx does but w/o a contract and only $25/month had him for 2 yrs - we had a mouse issue and it took about 6 months of chem. chews to control it and stop it...but if you live in a row
home or anything expect them to come back -

 

[lazarru]

We've got a mouse issue right now and are 40 days out from closing on our house. We saw some droppings when we started to clean things up so put down some of the glue traps. We caught a couple upstairs and 3 others in the basement. We've now gone a few days without catching any upstairs so I'm hoping maybe they've realized not to come up.

I'm sure they are not gone, but right now just hoping that when the town comes to inspect for the certificate of occupancy that they don't refuse to give us one based on the fact that there were/are mice. We've already had to spend about $1500 on things that suddenly came up with this house and really don't want to have to shell out 400-500 more to take care of mice.

When they do come to treat, are they doing anything other than capturing? I know we've had ant & termite issues in the past and when they treat for that they are actually putting some down that doesn't kill right away, rather stuff to take back to the nests to kill. Do they do that with mice also or are they just catching them that we would already be doing?

 

[MELISAZACK]

the stuff my guy puts out looks like a cherry block it is stuff they will take back to the nest with them and feed others- it will then kill them and work on others....
Just clean and vaccumm up the dropings right before inspection they don't come out that fast that after a 1-2 hour inspection you should be fine...
but I would still cont to treat afterwards till you make settlement...
I know the people who moved into our home haven't done anything and my attached old neighbor never treated for them so I am sure they have made their way back over after 2 months...new home so far is mouse free except for mickey

 

[kpm76]

We've got a mouse issue right now and are 40 days out from closing on our house. We saw some droppings when we started to clean things up so put down some of the glue traps. We caught a couple upstairs and 3 others in the basement. We've now gone a few days without catching any upstairs so I'm hoping maybe they've realized not to come up.

I'm sure they are not gone, but right now just hoping that when the town comes to inspect for the certificate of occupancy that they don't refuse to give us one based on the fact that there were/are mice. We've already had to spend about $1500 on things that suddenly came up with this house and really don't want to have to shell out 400-500 more to take care of mice.

When they do come to treat, are they doing anything other than capturing? I know we've had ant & termite issues in the past and when they treat for that they are actually putting some down that doesn't kill right away, rather stuff to take back to the nests to kill. Do they do that with mice also or are they just catching them that we would already be doing?

So sorry you are having a mouse issue so close to closing on your house. Selling a house is stressful enough, you don't need anything else to add to it. I'm certainly not attacking you so please don't take offense, but if you think you have a problem that you will only be able to "mask" for the inspection, try to take care of it before the new owners move in. Just as there are unexpected expenses related to selling, the same is true for buying. DH and I just bought our house in September and I have no reason to believe that the prevous owners had a mouse issue that thet were trying to hide, however, we have one now and have to deal with it. The weekend we moved in we had a water issue and had to call a plumber in the midst of unpacking. We had a very detailed home inspection that took nearly 3 hours so I do think if there was any evidence of mice they would have picked up on it. Just something to think about.....your problem now might become someone else's problem very soon.....

 

[kilee]

There is almost never just one. We had a small problem a few years ago. I actually jumped on the couch and screamed when the first one went scooting through the living room. We caught that one the same night on a trap. Thought that was the end of it, until I heard them in DS's rooms garbage the one night. I was totally freaked. DH set some more traps and caught 2 more. That was 2 years ago. I haven't gone in the basement since (they were definetly coming from there). I hope to never see another. We also got a cat the same time that LOVED the basement. He's a mouser too, so maybe he scares the things away.

 

[chrissyk]

We used a local exterminator when our old house in MA got infested with mice one winter. He put out these blocks of poison along the top of the walls in the basement, under the cabinets, etc. There were some bags of poison seeds that he put out too. He put them where our pets couldn't get to them. Whatever he did worked like a charm. We never needed another service, and we stopped seeing mice and their waste products (sorry if TMI!).

Our neighbors ignored the problem (all of our houses were infested thanks to another neighbor digging a foundation during the winter and stirring up a nest!). They all still had mice years later! Gross!