Mice are taking over my house! Help!

[Crunchie]

Well, the title says it all. Boy, there sure are a lot of mouse threads on here today!!

Anyway, yes, they are taking over. I find mouse poop everywhere. I'm so sick of it! I really am at my wit's end. I have a young son who crawls all over the floor. This is just not cool! At first we tried trapping them in live traps. When that didn't work, I decided I'd try the kill (snap) traps. I figured that if the trap killed them pretty quickly, I wouldn't feel so bad (we're vegetarian, by the way, my entire family--so you can see how desparate we are to rid the house of mice!!). We didn't catch a single mouse in any trap!! I was sooooo desparate after months of cleaning up after these critters and not getting rid of a single one that I broke down and bought the sticky traps. I hate those sticky traps. I mean, how cruel. The thing gets stuck on the trap and you toss it in the trash to die of starvation/dehydration, because you didn't have the guts to kill it in a snap trap? But let me tell you, I hit the end of my rope....so I made a deal with myself that when I caught mice on the sticky traps I would destroy the mice myself so they died a quick death. Well...the sticky traps aren't working either!!!! AAARRrrgghhh!! Months of this, and still not one mouse caught....

We make sure that there is no food that they can get into, and that we clean up well (no crumbs on the counters, etc.). I honestly don't know what they are eating, so I don't know why they are staying! We put steel wool in the vents from our kitchen to the outside and in our stove (they were in the stove itself) to keep them out of that. We've cleaned all of our closets downstairs (they are only downstairs) out really well and eliminated any places for them to nest there.

Anyone have any advice, hints, etc.?? Poison is out of the question, for a few reaons--most importantly, I have a crawling infant in the house. But we also have pets that would be dumb enough to eat a half-dead mouse and so I won't risk poisoning the dogs/cat, either. Also, I'm really freaked out about a mouse dying in the walls or vents and the smell of it decomposing. Um, ew. I can't afford a hotel room for all of us while the smell clears out!!

But just about anything else is fair game!! Oh, and no, I won't sit on the counters and wait to pick them off with the BB gun. My husband already asked if he could do that.

You laugh, I did catch him trying to do this out in the barn one year.

Thanks!! I really want to get rid of these mice!

 

[Acre of Blessings]

I have never had a problem catching mice using the old fashioned mouse traps with peanut butter on them. Place these traps by the drain under all of your sinks. Check them each morning. You mainly catch mice during the night when it is quiet. I hope you catch them. Don't worry about being humane about it.

 

[Becaco]

Really don't know what to tell you. I do know that you need to have a heart to heart with your cat.

If a mouse gets past the chickens outside and gets in the house, it has just committed mouse suicide. I have several good mousers.

Even my dog will catch a rat if he sees one outside.

 

[joanna]

I know this sounds silly...but can you get a cat? I never have mice inside or out with my 2 cats. The only thing is, with mine anyway, if they can't find mice -- they'll hunt birds.

 

[Sparklecoon]

We had a mouse in the house this winter and the cats were useless. DH caught it and even held it in front of the little divas and not one had even a passing interest in it.

 

[southernsibe]

I understand exactly where you are coming from with this problem. The mouse problem has been worse here then ever before. I know that living in the country comes with certain things and mice being around is one of them. I also have to store my horse and chicken food in the garage, and even though it is sealed containers, the sometimes spills and such still bring them in. The kids like to get handfuls of food for the birds and that doesn't help because you know where half the handful winds up!!


Cats...not all cats are mousers. Some are just not interested. If you can add a new feline to your family, get an older cat, preferably one that has lived outside a bit. I know that it sounds awful, but they usually make better hunters. I am not advocating letting it back outside, but keeping it inside so it will catch your mice!!

It is said, if you see 1 mouse, count 10 more. I have reached the end of my rope as well, and today I am constructing "the mouse pit of doom". After reading just about every page I could on the web, I have decided to go forth with my plan. According to all I have gathered, this should really assist me in getting rid of them. If your're interested further, go ahead and pm me. It is a bit detailed and would make this already long post, very long.

Don't worry about being humane, I tried it, it doesn't work. The rodents and vermin will use it as a weakness and over run your entire household, you don't want your child to open a cupboard and have a mouse jump out, or reach to play with a toy and have a mouse run out at him because they are in the toys.

Rachel

 

[pips&peeps]

I get two or three every fall and use the 'ol peanut butter trick also, seems to do the trick.

I actually caught two this past month, which is very unusual for spring time. They were huge also! I thought they were voles at first.

 

[CarriBrown]

Maybe you can get SnM Poultry (Jeffrey) over there to punch them all.

 

[KellyGwen]

Try putting a dab of peanut butter in the middle of the sticky traps... Then when you catch them get a 5gal bucket of water and put the whole trap in there and push it down with a broom handle (it'll float)... that was the most humane way I could think of killing them with those awful traps... (I did it)

As for the snap traps... is the food gone off of the trigger in the morning? Sometimes you have to mickey with the trap so it's more of a hair trigger.. I use a chop stick to edge the hook towards the end of the trigger. I also try to wedge a piece of the "chunk" from the chunky peanut butter into the hook so the mouse has to really tug at it.. therefore he's more likely to snap the trap...

Good luck.. mice drive me NUTS!!!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Getting a cat does not sound silly. I have 15 stray cats that I care for. They live outside. I live in the country area where there are a lot of trees, wooded areas, etc. I have not seen a LIVE mouse or mice in YEARS. I only see the dead mice, rats and snakes that my cats leave for me at the back door as a "gift". Any type of rodent that moves around my house is history. A cat will definitely help solve the problem. I would not give up my 15 stray cats for the world. They take care of my "could be" mouse problem and I totally take care of them. I'm grateful for my cats.