We have a huge field behind our place, that used to be filled with old trailers, sheds, etc. Anyway last summer they cleared all of that out. Every since then we have been having mice issues. At first it was just one or two here and there. Now I feel like I can constantly hear them, smell them, find droppings, etc. I am tired of cleaning out the cabinets every week to find more food that i have to throw out, and doing dishes over and over. We have tried mouse traps, sticky pads, just about every product out there except the poisons. We have kids, and a dog, so I don't like the idea of poison being around. I have also patched every hole I find with steel wool and plaster.
What are the other suggestions, or ways to get rid of them? Help, I am at my wits end. My husband just wants to sell our place and go rent somewhere, even though we own our place.
I had the same issue a few years ago. Mint works like a charm and as cheesy as it sounds find a fake owl- i found one at lowes for around $10 that i hung from the back porch, now i see very few mice and it also reduced the birds that were hanging around. Good luck i know how nasty mice can be.
Get a cat or two. Even if you're not a "cat person" you will become one. Cats can be very sweet and almost dog-like (I have a cat who thinks he's a dog, comes when I whistle or call, etc.) When we first bought our house there were mice - not alot of them but some. Our one little cat took care of that problem. Then she got very old and had health problems - the mice came back and for the first time that anyone in the neightborhood could remember there were bunnies - everywhere. (The funny thing is that all the pets in the neighborhood all were about the same age and started to decline within 2 or 3 years of eachother. Oh my goodness - the bunnies were EVERYWHERE!) Our little cat died and that Summer we got 2 cats. The began bringing us "gifts" of dead mice - waiting for us at our doorstep, by their dinner dish, etc. There were a few gross months of lots of dead- mice-gifts then they must have gotten them all. We haven't seen a mouse since. Not one.
(Unfortunately, everyone in the nieghborhood also got new young pets to replace their former pets - dogs, cats, etc. We no longer see the bunnies anymore either...) :o(
cats ~ they keep the mice away from our place.
I rented an older house one time next to a pasture and the mice were bad. I finally splurged and got the electronic plugs that emit a high pitched kind of noise. It really really helped! They were kind of pricey at first but after a mouse chewed up my favorite purse, I was willing to make the investment. I hope they help!
I can totally sympathize. When the field behind us was turned into subdivision we felt like we were being invaded. The cat was constantly chasing them and we could hear them in the ceiling.
YUCK! We did use traps and eventually they disappeared. It sounds like you have tried all you can think of and that it might be worth your while to call a wildlife removal specialist at this point. We had an issue with squirrels continually getting in our attic- even chewing through metal to get in. We used a company called A All Animal control. Found them on this website. http://www.wildlife-removal.com/ We first tried just a guy from the yellow pages and he was so lazy and did some things that I don't think other professionals would deem best practice. But the guy from A All Animal Control was great. You could call some places in your area and see what they do.
I agree completely with you on not using the poisons. We have 2 cats and little kids. Not to mention, the poisons are awful and disrupt the natural food cycle. I know of a couple people whose cats have died awful deaths after eating poisoned rodents. Plus, if you think about it, the natural wild predators are going to go for the easiest prey - ie the sick slow moving mouse. So then that animal gets poisoned. A mother hawk can catch one and feed it to her young and the whole nest can be lost. Poisons are just not cool all the way around. (I have also heard (not sure where) that basically the poisons slowly dissolves their insides and is very painful. I don't want to do that to any animal. It's not their fault people have taken over their natural habitat.)
Good luck!
ETA :PEPPERMINT OIL! I totally forgot! Somehow we managed to get mice in the car last year. No idea how they got in but tt was totallly gross to find droppings in the cupholders and chewed napkins in the glove compartment. We THOROUGHLY cleaned and then went to the health food store and bought a bottle of pure peppermint oil. I put several drops on cottonballs and placed them all over the car and we haven't had an issue with them in there since. As the scent faded, I added a few more drops.
My mom had a HUGE problem with mice in my childhood home, which was out in a rural-ish area with corn fields behind her property. It got so bad that the traps were catching 10+ mice per day! She called an exterminator. Honestly, I know you don't want to use poison but the professionals will be able to place it where your kids and dogs won't be at risk, and it's probably the only way you'll be able to get a grip on this. They can also evaluate and help you locate and close up wherever they are getting in. In the meantime, store your pantry foods in clear plastic boxes with tight fitting lids so they can't get in and nibble. Keep your utensils in plastic ziplock bags (if they are getting into the drawers too) so you aren't having to constantly wash. You probably won't need to worry about upper cabinets, but always be on the look out for mouse turds. Also, make sure you aren't leaving ANY food out and that the kids are cleaning up after themselves if they drop any food. And consider getting a cat, seriously. Good luck :)
R.,
Every year or two, we get a couple of the little critters here. Although I am an animal lover--I HATE MICE! They make me crazy. All I can picture is little paws on my dishes, and counters...we live on dishes and utensils out of the dishwasher to make sure they are 'clean'. So I understand your frustration. Completely.
That sad, they are getting in somewhere....keep looking for those cracks. As you know, they can squish down to get through a quarter-inch space.
What we do is set traps -- the whacking kind--but these last ones bought by my husband look like something out or Vietnam--until there are NO bodies for a week or two.
And you might want to consider getting an exterminator to treat your home (they will keep the poison out of harms way) if you have a LOT. Although dead mice=dead mice smell which is why we prefer traps.
Maybe they can safely treat your property, too. I have not looked into that.
I live in the suburbs but still had mice a few years ago...cute little things really - brown field mice. But, ugh, I really didn't want them in my house.
I had 4 dogs and 3 cats - and still had mice!! Really, did none of my pets have any natural instincts? Finally one of my cats took pity on me and began catching the mice - left me one a day for about a week. She was very proud of herself. She wiped out the entire mice population in my house - I have not seen one since.
Because of my pets, and my son's allergies, I did not want to use chemicals or poisons either. Went to Lowe's and purchased living traps which we baited with cat/dog food and put in the hot spots around the house. We did catch several mice that way. Problem is, so I am told, if you release them too close to your house - they just come back. So we walked "our" mice about 4 blocks over to a park and let them go. I have no idea if they came back and where some of the ones that kitty caught. LOL
Another option that the nice guy at Lowe's (have I mentioned that I am in love with Lowe's) told us about is a device that plugs into your wall outlet and emits a noise at frequency only audible to rodents that scares them off. Not an option for us at the time because we also had a hamster. But, he told me that the devices where effective. Just a thought.
Good Luck with the "invasion". It is fixable, just takes a little time.
God Bless
Did the mouse traps work in the beginning and then stop? If so, they may have learned to stay away from them so you need to condition them to see the traps as non-threatening. Put a bunch of traps out but DO NOT set them. Bait them with peanutbutter. After a few days, if you see that the bait is gone start setting the traps again. Put traps in the crawl space of the roof as well. They may have a nest up there and are crawling down the walls to get into the house. Good luck!!!
Just a warning.... Try to avoid using poison at all costs. If you use it the mice might die in the walls and then you'll really have a very stinky problem!
We have four indoor cats and nothing worked as well as the Havoc rat poison that they sell at our local farmers co-op. You don't even open the packets. We used them in our crawl space and behind the stove and placed that the kids don't go. We had no smells of decaying rodents and no little bodies lying around to clean up. The people at the co-op said that the mice take it back to their nest which is almost always outdoors and feed it to the colony. The best stuff I have ever found!
I can completely feel your pain!
We just moved back into my childhood home which my mother neglected. She had mice EVERYWHERE. If you do a little research and see how often they can multiply and how soon those babies can multiple you will see that you can easily lose the fight against them.
We tried one company that basically came in and laid traps, sticky paper and yes, poison. That didn't work because they were still coming in.
Terminex came and we were lucky that we had a technician that actually wanted to help us solve the problem. He went around the entire perimter of the house and found the two main entry points. One was in the garage...up in the rafters the dry wall is not tight around the rafters so they squeezed in there, run down the inside of the walls and made themselves comfortable in the insulation in the basement ceiling. We pulled all the insulation in the basement, OMG gross, but it help eliminate a way for them to nest. They were also nesting in her heating vents...UGH!!!!!! So we had those cleaned.
Do you have a basement? If you do make sure you have those areas cleaned up and access points under control.
I still get creeped out and we haven't caught a mouse in over six months (probably just jinxed myself) lol. I bet every piece of dark fuzz you see you think it's a poop! I worked in a newborn nursery at the time and would 'see' their poop in there! Obviously not really, but it makes you crazy!
We could not have contained the problem without the help of professionals. And yes the poison which bothered me bc i was worried they would die in the walls and smell. We haven't smelled anything yet.
Gross gross gross. I just hate mice. And snakes. I have the heebie jeebies right now!!!
Good luck to you!
I went through this with a house we were once renting in the country, I had a newborn baby and mice running all about my cabinets...like I didn't already have enough to deal with, I felt it was so unsanitary I was ready to pack up and go to a hotel. After weeks of using the traps and not having much success, we finally used poison, my husband carefully placed it in areas where it would not harm us or the dog...it took care of the problem rather quickly, no signs of smelly mice left in the walls either but we didn't have tons. Since you are already at your wits end, save your sanity and just call an exterminator, they should be able to take care of it. Best of luck!
Try putting mint leaves in your cupboards, they repel mice. You can also put moth balls all around the outside of your house, or get a cat. If you don't have a cat or don't want one see if a friend will save the used litter, take out the poo and sprinkle the wet smelly litter around your house (outside) this will repel most rodents, mice rats rabbits ect.
The poisens are actually blood thinners, Warfrin is the same thing a Coumiden that is used medically to reduce blood clots. Since mice and rats fight so much they bleed out and die. So while it's not safe to be around kids and pets it's not as bad as insect poisens which are dulited nerve gas.
Have you called your local representive, alderman, city councilman etc. You may also call the local health department and the Dept of Agriculture. Having a rodent problem is a public health issue and should be addressed on a public basis. When they cleared out the old trailers and sheds from that piece of property they probably didn't think to get rid of any rodents living there. It would have been the perfect habitat for them. And now they need a place to live.
Good luck I hope this helps.
NY Metro - cats are what did in your bunnies! Sorry! When we see bunnies around here, we try to scare the cats away until the bunnies get big enough not to be dinner as much!
I agree with cats. Mousers are very nice to have around. They don't even have to be your 'pets'. Put out enough food that they won't starve, and they will stay around, but not so much that they won't hunt. Put out some water, and a few insulated boxes for shelter (even though chances are they will find their own shelter somewhere else...) Growing up, I lived in the middle of a field (in a trailer house... very mouse-accessible.) We always had one or two pet cats, and 4-5 mousers to keep the mice down. We very rarely saw mice in our place.
