Need rodent advice....

[ronandannette]

Whaddup!

First question, are you sure it's mice under the stove? You've seen one, or seen mouse poop? Because that also sounds like it could be damage caused by insects. If it is mice, I would guess they're there because they've found your stove to be a soft, warm place to nest. Same advice as I gave the OP, find the point of entry and seal it off.

Sadly, yes to both of these. I've seen and heard them and their droppings are occasionally on top of my kitchen counters but NEVER inside the cabinets or drawers or anywhere that food is stored and absolutely nothing is being gnawed on. It's weird, I tell ya. And bugs are totally NOT an issue in this climate during the winter.

 

[manning]

We had mice in our basement ceiling when we moved into the house. We sealed up the holes they had chewed to get inside - they were coming in thru a vent. We then put peanut butter and pecans in rat traps in the affected ceiling area. It took months, but we finally killed them all. Even though others say they are smart creatures, they could not say no to peanut butter and pecans That was their downfall.

Peanut butter works great.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Sadly, yes to both of these. I've seen and heard them and their droppings are occasionally on top of my kitchen counters but NEVER inside the cabinets or drawers or anywhere that food is stored and absolutely nothing is being gnawed on. It's weird, I tell ya. And bugs are totally NOT an issue in this climate during the winter.

What have you done to try to catch them?

 

[Virginia Hail]

They tend to stay away from their natural enemies.

 

[LisaR]

What? What? I'm spreading a myth? Impossible!! (Not really. I was repeating what the county agent told me, and I know how wrong the county can be at times. )

We've had rats twice, and both times we used traps, poison bait, and plugging possible entrances, with great success. Around here, they live in the trees and come inside during the summer when water is tough to find outside. While they're inside, they do rat things like poop everywhere and gnaw on everything. I honestly don't mind them outside in the slightest; they're quiet neighbors and less mischievous than raccoons.

RATS LIVE IN TREES???

I'm going to start walking around with a hard hat on. Bringing sexy back!

 

[aprilchem]

We use something called "One bite" that my DH gets from the local farm store. It kills rodents immediately and we don't have issues with them coming back. Make sure you put it in an area not accessible to children and pets - we put it in the crawl spaces and within access panels. And getting a cat will help as well.

 

[mamacatnv]

We went thru this recently - it took us several months to trap all the critters. There was a case of bottled water in our garage and they ate the plastic caps off to get to the water.
We bought the large rat traps and also the large rat size sticky pads (a lot of them). Rats tend to run along the walls, so we put tons of traps out every few feet. We made sure all holes for entry/exit were filled and we followed the poop trail for more traps. We took several sticky traps and stapled them to plywood with a baited trap in the middle, we placed a few of these near the areas that seemed to have the most activity.

 

[kidshop]

Sadly, yes to both of these. I've seen and heard them and their droppings are occasionally on top of my kitchen counters but NEVER inside the cabinets or drawers or anywhere that food is stored and absolutely nothing is being gnawed on. It's weird, I tell ya. And bugs are totally NOT an issue in this climate during the winter.

You need to pull out the stove and seal the opening where the pipes/wires come in behind it. That's how they are getting in, I am nearly certain. It happened to me. I plugged up the hole, put poison on the garage, and no more mice!

 

[tvguy]

Okay, it may be because I am tired on the first day back to work, and after a rough day, plus the loss of an hour's sleep after the time change, but a discussion about killing mice on a Mickey Mouse Discussion Board just caused me to LOL.

 

[aprilgail]

I would just move.

I second that- and if I couldn't move I would be staying elsewhere until that house was free and clear of rodents!!

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm going to tell you what a sage friend told me to do when I found a snake in my family room........... BURN THE HOUSE DOWN!




Sorry, but it made me laugh at the time. Thought it might do the same for you.

Good luck with it!

 

[ronandannette]

You need to pull out the stove and seal the opening where the pipes/wires come in behind it. That's how they are getting in, I am nearly certain. It happened to me. I plugged up the hole, put poison on the garage, and no more mice!

No ductwork behind the stove - it's electric. But I've got to figure something out - the peppermint, ammonia and mothballs have been a epic fail (except at making us all queasy...). I admit I've also put down poison and they're not even TOUCHING it...

 

[Poohlove]

If your stove is electric is it possible to move it outside and take a look underneath or possibly cover it and leave it for a day or two and set traps where it used to sit? Maybe if you even just pull it out a bit and set traps behind it along the wall. My sister has issues with mice and she has great luck with glue traps to catch the tricky ones.

 

[kidshop]

No ductwork behind the stove - it's electric. But I've got to figure something out - the peppermint, ammonia and mothballs have been a epic fail (except at making us all queasy...). I admit I've also put down poison and they're not even TOUCHING it...

Hmmm, my stove was electric too, but there was still a gas hookup behind it from the conversion. Also, they may have chewed around the electrical outlet enough to get in. They don't need much. Make sure to put the poison away from the peppermint, mothballs etc or not out at the same time. It sounds like they are nesting in the stove, not just coming in for food.

I just can't stress enough you have to find out where they are coming in and seal it up. It is the only long term solution. Check around all entry points into the house outside where wires and pipes come in and also inside, especially around sink pipes and furnaces and water heaters. Everything really.

Good luck!

 

[xlxo]

Are you sure they're not mice? Our pet rats were way bigger than that. A male and female rat, if left to breed for a year, can produce 2000 offspring (probably not what you want to hear).

Our rats were probably close to 18 inches from nose to tail tip.

To update my situation....

• You are right..... in my shock, I underestimated their size. That was not a 4 inch trap.... but an 6 inch trap. So that captured rat had a 6" body and like 13" head to tail.
• Exterminator have identified I have "roof rats" running in my basement.
• Second similar sized rat trapped by exterminator
• exterminator recommends wearing gloves when handling traps... human scent ruins the traps. Apparently there some truth. The rats are not touching my peanut butter traps.... only going after his traps within an hour.
• got more rats in the framework. Need them to come out of the mouse holes to reach the traps.
• I have a number of DLink surveillance cameras. They are really coming in handy to monitor the traps and when they go off... especially when I'm at work.

 

[mom2rtk]

Suddenly I find myself pulling my feet out from the darkness under my desk..........

OP, best of luck solving your problem!

 

[aquabone1109]

My advice is to not use poison. Sometimes they will eat it and go off and die (in the walls, attic, etc). We had a new metal roof put on our home and I requested to have it sealed really well to keep out rodents since we have a problem in our area with rats (they swim up the canals). one rat must have sneaked in during construction and I could never trap it. I tried everything. Decided to spend an afternoon hunting it and had an idea where it was in the attic. Went and purchased a BB gun and watched for it's head to pop up. Took a few hours but I got it. Have an outside cat now and have had no rats since.

 

[frostedpink]

You have to seal the entry points, that is the key to the whole thing. We had a pest guy come out and walked the perimeter of our house checking every inch. We had mice and frogs coming in thru holes near the egress window. So disgusting.

 

[ronandannette]

You have to seal the entry points, that is the key to the whole thing. We had a pest guy come out and walked the perimeter of our house checking every inch. We had mice and frogs coming in thru holes near the egress window. So disgusting.

It's tough - we live in a condo building and unless they're coming in and out the doors when we are, I'm really stymied. I did go in under the sink and seal up the opening for the dishwasher drain hose but that seems like a long-shot...