OMG MICE!!!!!

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NiciS72
NiciS72 Posts: 1,043 Member
in Chit-Chat
I used to think that only dirty people had mice. That is until I bought a Tri-Level house with a crawl space. The first year was fine, but then the second year the village tore up the sidewalk in front of my neighbors house and unearthed a nest. They ALL came to my house as we only have dogs, no cats. We've been battling them ever since. Last year I thought I had them licked, we bought the Black & Decker ultrasonic plug ins and they disappeared. Well, they've come back. My husband thinks that there is only one and we caught him. I keep telling him the droppings I'm finding cannot be from one mouse, *SIGH* These are the craftiest mice yet. They keep getting the peanut butter and not getting caught. DH thought we caught one last night and that I'd thrown it out (EWW as if). Turns out one of the traps is missing which means the mouse was crafty enough to drag it somewhere in the crawl space.

Other than an exterminator (which DH says we don't need-I disagree) what do you all suggest to get rid of these pests once and for all? I'm so tired of finding that they've eaten into my food (had to throw out a whole bag of Quinoa).
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  • meshellmybell76
    meshellmybell76 Posts: 139 Member
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    perfect excuse to get a kitty!
  • Fit4Vet
    Fit4Vet Posts: 610 Member
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    Steele wool around any opening into the house (i.e. around plumbing pipes under the sink, etc.) & poison. Traps are only good if they aren't crafty...

    Good Luck
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,002 Member
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    Maybe it's time for a cat.
  • angel79202
    angel79202 Posts: 1,012 Member
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    borrow a friend's cat!
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    My honest opinion is that you need to call an exterminator. Your space is too large and has too many hiding places.
  • harley0269
    harley0269 Posts: 384 Member
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    put a small dish of automotive antifreeze in the crawl space where your puppies cant get at it. the buggers will drink it up & die.
  • dalgal26
    dalgal26 Posts: 781 Member
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    That time of year. They want to get in where it is warm.

    Good Luck! Please don't get the 'sticky traps'.

    Hey, a cat sounds good!
  • RachelJE
    RachelJE Posts: 172
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    We had one in MY TRUCK!!!! I mean...disgusting, right? MY TRUCK!!!! I had to drive an HOUR EACH WAY TO WORK wondering if that little sh** was going to run up my leg. I WAS FREAKED OUT!!!!! I am a VERY clean person, but I have 2 toddlers, and I guess the thing was after cheerios or whatever. Anyway, we tried EVERYTHING, and I do mean EVERYTHING. Dozens of traps - the sticky kind, the old fashoined kind, peanut butter, cheese, peanuts. And the thing would eat whatever we put out and never set off the traps!! The thing that FINALLY worked was the poisen packets you buy at Home Depot or Lowe's. Basically they eat the poisen, then it drives them to try to find water. So if they are in your walls, they go somewhere else to try to find water. In my case, they were in my truck and they went out to try to find water (this was after WEEKS of trying to get rid of them). When we moved about 8 months later, we found one half way stuck in the water trap in the garage sink (obviously we didn't use that sink very often...). That is the only thing that worked. Best of luck. I can't imagine having them IN the house, although I know in one house they were in our attic. I just never saw the suckers.
  • NiciS72
    NiciS72 Posts: 1,043 Member
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    Thanks for the ideas so far. We can't get a cat as DH hates them. I don't want to do poison as I worry about them dying in the walls/ceilings. I'll need to figure out WHERE they are getting in under the house for the steel wool, but that does sound like a good idea!

    Has any body used the big traps you supposedly can use over and over?
  • angel79202
    angel79202 Posts: 1,012 Member
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    Wear some Mickey Ears and join them? :)
    We had one once and had to call Terminex but we already had a contract with them so no extra cost..good luck! I'd call someone..
  • FairyMiss
    FairyMiss Posts: 1,812 Member
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    I used to think that only dirty people had mice. That is until I bought a Tri-Level house with a crawl space. The first year was fine, but then the second year the village tore up the sidewalk in front of my neighbors house and unearthed a nest. They ALL came to my house as we only have dogs, no cats. We've been battling them ever since. Last year I thought I had them licked, we bought the Black & Decker ultrasonic plug ins and they disappeared. Well, they've come back. My husband thinks that there is only one and we caught him. I keep telling him the droppings I'm finding cannot be from one mouse, *SIGH* These are the craftiest mice yet. They keep getting the peanut butter and not getting caught. DH thought we caught one last night and that I'd thrown it out (EWW as if). Turns out one of the traps is missing which means the mouse was crafty enough to drag it somewhere in the crawl space.

    Other than an exterminator (which DH says we don't need-I disagree) what do you all suggest to get rid of these pests once and for all? I'm so tired of finding that they've eaten into my food (had to throw out a whole bag of Quinoa).

    whatever you do DO NOT USE RAT AND MICE POISON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • RoanneRed
    RoanneRed Posts: 429 Member
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    I get them occasionally, including in the oven and there are teethmarks on some of my tupperware lids! I'd suggest poison sachets in the crawl space - some of them make them crave water so they come out to get it and die outside, there are also ones that are not dangerous further along the food chain, eg. won't harm the bird that eats a mouse that died form poison.

    Next time you empty and clean out the kitchen cupboards after them, wipe all round the edges with eucalyptus oil before refilling the cupboards.
  • fisherlassie
    fisherlassie Posts: 542 Member
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    Get a drum set and practice! They don't like the noise. We have one in the basement that I get my husband to play in the fall when the mice are looking for a nice place to stay for the winter. They go somewhere else.
  • fitplease
    fitplease Posts: 647 Member
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    http://www.ehow.com/how_4556143_repel-mice.html

    Crushed bay leaves worked very well for us here. I sprinkled them in drawers, on food pantry shelves, near the dishes, in the linen closet (Before that, a mouse tried to build a nest by eating the towels!). It kept the mice away from the stuff they would normally eat in the house or use to build nests. We used bay leaves in conjunction with spring traps coated with peanut butter.
  • fitplease
    fitplease Posts: 647 Member
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    Has any body used the big traps you supposedly can use over and over?

    My friend uses the humane, metal cage mouse traps in his business. (It's with food.) He says they work very well.
  • TipMcE
    TipMcE Posts: 158
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    We have mice too as we live near the woods. With 2 cats they still come in the house when the weather is really bad. A guy at my husbands work said to put mothballs in the areas where they come in. He went and got 2 boxes and threw them all under our porch.... BIG mistake. You couldn't breathe in the house! He had to use a shop vac to suck up all the mothballs. He still left a couple under there and boarded it all up. I'm not sure if it'll help. I've read mice can get through a hole the size of a dime and that they'll eat through anything! My mom has told me mice hate the smell of coffee and that you can sprinkle coffee grounds in the areas where the mice get in. I haven't tried it but you never know. An exterminator might be the way to go since your problem sounds like a big one. Maybe you can get a consultation to start with. I also used to work in a building that had an infestation and the exterminator told us that mice pee everywhere they walk!
  • Tyler4846
    Tyler4846 Posts: 41
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    tie a string to the mouse traps, so they don't run off.
    and possibly get a cat they do more than just lay around
    all day, unless you name him Garfield
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,248 Member
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    The last time we definitely* had mice, was when I'd taken in a mama cat and her kittens to re-home, and temporarily had ELEVEN cats in the house.

    I know mice have brains about the size of one Rice Krispie, but you'd think they'd be smart enough to avoid the house with nearly a dozen cats. My immediate neighbors don't have any cats. But they have children... savage little children. Maybe their children seem more of a threat than my cats. I don't know.




    *Sometimes the cats (there's now 7) act like there might be something under the fridge, but since I'm not finding any mouse poop or mouse corpses, I can't be sure it's not just a milk tab or bottle cap they're looking for.
  • _Sally_
    _Sally_ Posts: 514 Member
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    I used a company called Critter Control for a squirrel problem once. They trap and release and they also inspect the house and find the likely entry points. Not sure if they handle mice as well for trap and release, but they may be another option to check out.

    If you don't resolve the entry points, they will keep getting in every year when the weather turns colder.
  • FairyMiss
    FairyMiss Posts: 1,812 Member
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    i will say again



    DO NOT USE RAT AND MOUSE POISONS, IT IS NOT WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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