Dealing with a Mouse Infestation: Any Tips?

[pampchefrhondab]

Ugh, went in the attic today to put some things away and there was evidence of a mouse!! We bought some poison and put it up there. Anyone else deal with this? I never had them with my old cat, he was a mouser. I really miss him:-(!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Yup.Our home was built in 1840, the original structure is log. The mice have a freeway system built into the logs and on quiet winter nights, you can hear them running along in there.The cats do certainly keep the population down, but the best mouser we ever had was Squeaky, the Ferret.

 

[wadesgirl]

Look down at the bottom of this page at the Similar Threads - mine is "Stupid smart mouse!!"

 

[Kelly8]

We have mice quite a bit (building in the middle of a farm field doesn't help). Keep food they can get into (foods with softer packaging) high up where they can't get it. We keep D-Con in places where they will get into it but not the pets (in the pantry for example).

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Look down at the bottom of this page at the Similar Threads - mine is "Stupid smart mouse!!"

Maybe I should post my fried mouse pic again.

 

[esavvymom]

Traps with peanut-butter! And they make easy set traps now! push a button and it's set.

 

[jwpamp]

We had one quite a few years ago (gotta love living next to an Indiana corn field!!). We used glue traps. They worked great and no poison!

Good luck!

 

[BethCooks4U]

We have mice quite a bit (building in the middle of a farm field doesn't help). Keep food they can get into (foods with softer packaging) high up where they can't get it. We keep D-Con in places where they will get into it but not the pets (in the pantry for example).

high up?!? But they're in her attic. How much higher can she get?

I keep hearing noises when I'm in my office that sounds like something is running around in the attic but have never seen evidence of anything up there. I try to convince myself it's birds or squirrels on the roof...

 

[esavvymom]

Food high-up doesn't matter either. Those critters get around! My pantry had 'evidence' on the top shelf- even I can barely reach that shelf! I put cereal containers and larger items so I don't have to reach as high to get them. After our visitor- we found proof of his escapades in places you wouldn't expect.

 

[Sheila]

I have a huge field behind my house & every time those people would mow, my street would get a mouse problem where they all fled our way. I use the poison, of course they usually come out to water before they die, but they can crawl off behind a cabinet or something & die. Yick! I tried the glue trap ONCE. The poor thing was alive & screaming. When I walked in the room, he tried to run & fell over on his side - getting stuck more. I felt awful! I had to put him in the trash alive & just let him die. I put him in the one outside so I didn't have to listen to his suffering. Didn't know what else to do.

 

[pampchefrhondab]

Well most of you guessed it, I live right by an Indiana field. It's in my back yard. My house is 23 years old. We have had a mouse in the garage before, but never in the attic that we could see.I do have a cat which may help me keep them out of the house. I've heard they can smell them. My old cat stayed in the garage at night and loved getting outside sometimes. He would catch them and bring them to the pourch for us. My cat now has no desire to go outside. We rescued her from a shelter and she was near death. I would let her in the garage, but our van leaks anti freeze and that could kill her. Too bad the mice don't drink it.Well we will see what the poison does. I've read to find out if they are walking somewhere in your house to put flour down and see if you get foot tracks. Right now I'm worried how many are up there! My attic is VERY full of stuff!! My Grandpa use to do the peanut butter on traps. I may try that as well. I have heard the poison makes them leave and look for water. I sure hope so. We've used poison in the shed and play house and never seen any of them, but the poison is gone. I hate killing anything, but I cannot have them in my house!Thanks everyone for your help. We will check the poison next week. Wish me luck!

 

[vanscootin]

Good luck! We use the traps where you don't see them, you just turn the thing and it's set then they go inside. Our house gets mice occasionally... used to be in the cupboards under the sink... our house is only about 10 years old.... we set the traps and it helped. Then we got a kitty (Maine Coon) we have no more mice... until last Wedneday when I was getting ready to go to my networking meeting and I walked out of the bedroom and saw something on the floor, thinking it was his catnip mouse, it was dark... so I turned on a light and holy cow it was a dead mouse in the middle of the living room floor. Dumbledore brought me a present.... I was so mad my husband goes to work at 4 am and couldn't get it for me, but I had to clean it up before the kids got up. So I put on his big winter shoveling snow gloves and picked it up. EEEWWWW.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

There's an image - that's like watching someone trying to pick up a dime with a catcher's mitt!

 

[Sheila]

Dezi, you can also use the inside of a trash bag, plastic grocery/Wal-mart bag, etc. That way you pick it up with the bag protecting your hand, then tie it up & toss it without ever having it's fur touch your skin (or something that you'll touch again). I'd be sanitizing that winter snow glove now! LOL

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Spoken like an experienced dog walker! ^__^

 

[Brenda.the.chef]

I just use those instant kill snap traps that you can get from Menards or Lowes. I smear some peanut butter in the trap and set it and leave it. This way, the mouse is laying there, DEAD and waiting for me. No need for me to search and destroy looking for a decaying mouse that has eaten poison and crawled behind something to die. I just hold over the toilet and give it a proper burial and then re-set it for the next family member. I'm not nice at all to any critter that crosses my threshold. If they are outside, I leave them alone.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

The early bird gets the worm.

The second mouse gets the cheese/peanut butter.

 

[vanscootin]

Dezi, you can also use the inside of a trash bag, plastic grocery/Wal-mart bag, etc. That way you pick it up with the bag protecting your hand, then tie it up & toss it without ever having it's fur touch your skin (or something that you'll touch again). I'd be sanitizing that winter snow glove now! LOL

LOL! I guess I did fail to mention that in my original post... I had on his glove then used a walmart bag to get him into it.... my reasoning behind using the glove was because I didn't want to actually touch/feel the mouse.....

 

[chefsteph07]

Living on a farm, we get mice from time to time, and having GROWN up on a farm, I have more mice stories than you'd care to hear.

Please don't use the traps...just get the poison pellets, that way they can eat it and go back to their nest and die..that will take care of the problem. And I"m sure there's more than one...there usually is. Traps make you have to deal w/ a dead body, or worse yet, what Shelia had to go through. That would be truly horrible.

 

[wadesgirl]

I throw away the traps mouse and all! The poison makes me nervous cause I want want a dead decaying mouse some where in the house! Peanut butter works great but make sure to rub it really well on the trap. We had a problem where the mouse was taking the peanut butter right off the top because my husband was just putting it on without making sure that it was smeared on there. Set the traps along walls and in corners. They generally run along walls vs in the open.

 

[pampchefrhondab]

Well we are doing the poison for now. I'd like to kill all of them at once of possible. My daughter's fiancé said the poison worked better for them then the traps when they had them in their attic.

 

[ChefPeg]

Believe it or not, we got two mice in one trap. What are the chances?

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/522717_10150661197753192_527958191_9077238_579632942_n.jpg

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Several years ago, we had a mouse that decided the range was a nice, toasty, warm place to take up residence. One day, I started baking something, and he found out it was toasty, alright. He was trying to climb out through the burner that vents the oven but there was something cooking on that burner.

Gives new meaning to the term, Crispy Critter.

[Photo withheld by popular request.] Click HERE if you'd like to see the unfortunate fellow.

WARNING! Use discretion in following the link. It's not for the faint of heart. (You've been warned!)

 

[pampchefrhondab]

I actually do feel bad for the poor things, but I don't want them in my house! I wish they would let me catch them and just throw them out; however, my boss tried that and they just kept coming back to his house! Our co-worker kept telling him it was the same mouse. He didn't believe him until he finally gave up and killed it. Then it didn't come back. He was amazed because he let it go blocks away.

 

[kcjodih]

You gals are amazing! I now live in the country on a 5 acre lot surrounded by farmers. I KNOW there are mice, snakes etc but I haven't seen them and sure as heck don't want to! The 4 year old house we moved out of when we built this one was on the edge of town and I had never seen any critters until packing up to move and then found a dead one in an old toy box, a live one ran out from the crawl space across the carpet and in front of the big screen while we were watching tv - that was enough for me! I DID NOT go downstairs again the entire week before we moved. Nope, never saw my basement again

If I found one here, I couldn't touch it, glove or no glove, look at it, nothing. It would sit there dead until the hubby came home.....and I would be sitting out in my car crying like a baby I'm sure, until he got here