Mom Vs. Mouse --Need Help!

I think one of the companies makes a prebated self contained mouse trap. you don't have to see the mouse that got trapped in it. d-CON No View, No Touch Mouse Trap.

My sister-in-law likes the sticky traps. They walk onto them and get stuck. Only problem is, you have to dispose of them - ugh... (but probably no worse than the traditional mouse trap). Plus, put them where the kids won't get into them - they stick to hands too, and socks, lost a few that way.

Or, my favorite way to control mice has always been a good cat. When we lived in a house with mice we had such a good mouser that we never know about the mice until he was teaching the younger cat the skill. (She let a few get away while learning, that's how we knew.) He would even dispose of the bodies (eating them!) rather than leave the trophy for us. Maybe you can find a good kitty like that to help?

We recently had a mouse and my husband finally put out some D-Con and that got him. He was sprawled out in the middle of the living room when we got back from vacation! I read something in the paper recently that said that Slim Jim's were the best thing to use in terms of bait--that they love it. We had used the sticky traps and others to no avail, too. But yes, I was worried too that we wouldn't find it once it had died.

Mice can't stand the smell of peppermint. So...you buy peppermint extract and sprinkle it (or it on cottonballs) around your house in the "mouse areas".

We used mouse poison - the kind that makes their blood too thin and they get super dehydrated. Put the poison way back under the stove and other places your kids can NEVER reach.

Then do the mint treatment about 10 days later.

Get a cat - that will work!! Alternatively they make these traps that are plastic boxes with a sticky pad "floor"... your mouse walks in & can't get out. You could try that - then you would have the mouse & can dispose of it. Perhaps there are several though...I think you have to make that assumption.
They are called glue traps:
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=sticky+mous...

Dirty, nasty little pest!!! I had one this year too. I thik he was so tiny that it did not set the trap off and he would eat the bait. Finally, I got the little %&*^%&$ fat enough to set the trap off. I guess you will have to keep fatening up the little rascal! One thing I wanted to mention is, my house does not open to the garage and I keep decon out there all the time now! Even if it did attach to the house I would keep it out there. They come in when the weather changes! And our weather has been crazy! Good luck and it does not mean you are dirty, they are a sneaky little creature! K. K.

Try the ultasonic plug ins.

We have a friend in the country whose neighbor just mowed their field. She got invaded! She ended up getting the kind you see advertised on TV that plug in. It worked really well. Once they left her house, she put some in the crawl space and then some in the storage shed. She's left them in, at least for now, but she is now mouse free. And she didn't have to deal with mice, dead or alive, due to traps. GL!

We just had a mouse. Neighborhood cleanup weekend. I read the spring traps are the best and if you put panty hose around the peanut butter they get stuck and the trap gets them. We had those traps but ended up catching it with the electric trap. I plan on keeping it in the garage now so if there are more hopefully we can catch them before they come into the house this winter. We caught it in the twins room in the middle of the night. I heard my daughter scream and in the morning it was in the trap. I wonder what she saw if she saw anything. The electric trap was great, I got it at home depot for about 20.00

borrow a cat. it's the only thing that worked for us.

We used to have the same problem with a pesky mouse that we just couldn't catch. we tried everything from putting ham and cheese on every trap we could possibly buy and nothing worked. one of my friends told me about RID X i was at my wits end so i would try anything and im tellin you it works like magic!!!! It sends electric waves through your walls and drives them buggers out, plus it doesn't use any more electricity than any other thing that you plug in.
I bought it at Bed Bath and Beyond, but im sure that you can find it online somewhere, and i only paid 15 bucks for it. plus it drives out bugs and spiders too so that's a plus. Good Luck Andrea

LOL,
Sometimes it takes awhile. But If you make sure all areas are spotless (hard with kids I know) Like under the oven, couches, chairs, etc. Then he HAS to try to eat bait from the traps. If using peanut butter use a especially small anount as bait. If it is cheese make sure again to use a small amount pressed into the trap. NOTHING TO BIG OR TO LOOSE. Set up TONS of traps. It make take a few days but you will get him. Hint if you have one you probably have more. They reproduce like wildfire.
Also like you said not only is mouse poison dangerous, when the mouse dies it can die in any part of the house. Vents, walls, floor joists, AYWHERE. We will not use mouse poison it's just to "Iffy".
Take care, G

Andrea,

It sounds to me like you need to invest in some new traps. I have always used peanut butter, but have heard that dark chocolate is a really good bait. Evidently chocolate is toxic to mice. My mom always ties a piece of cotton to the trap, and smears the bait,(peanut butter, softened chocolate, cheez whiz) into the cotton so that the mouse really has to work at getting a taste. Like you, I hate mice and have had my share living in the country. I've resorted to the traps with a cover, because it grosses me out to look at them. Personally I think that the glue traps are inhumane and the old fashioned spring trap is a much quicker end to the problem. Once you catch one mouse, keep your trap set because where there is one, there are usually more.

Good Luck!

J.

Several years ago, we lived in a house with major mouse problems and traps can be so messy and not always effective. We got some devices that emit a sound that really irritates mice, but people cannot hear it. We did very well after that. I just cannot remember the brand and don't know if they might be a problem for pets with sensitive hearing. We didn't have pets at the time.

N.

We finally called Orkin and they brought professional traps, sprayed the foundation of the house and I don't know what else. It finally got rid of the mice after a couple of visits.

Sounds like we have the same mouse visitors. = ) We have found that the pads with the glue on them works the best. We put them right where they come in and they are none the wiser. Now keep in mind they do seem to be REALLY smart so if they have friends, you need to be sure to remove the trap as soon as they catch one. They resist the traps once they figure out they are dangerous. Also remember that little kids love these dumb traps, and find the sticky so fascinating so pick them up during the day, mice are nocturnal anyways.

One last note, these are not very humane traps, pretty awful actually, so not for the faint of stomachs but you will be down one sneaky mouse.

There are these metal mousetraps that once the mouse goes in, it can't get out. The metal boxes are bigger, so you can catch several mice in it. We used these at work and it caught a lot of mice, but it was from a professional pest control company. I don't know if you can buy your own.

good luck,

marci

The best thing I've found is a box of D-Con. The mouse eats some of it and dies soon afterward. You would have to deal with finding a dead mouse around your house in the future but this has worked for me.

Unfortunately where there is one there is probably several. I would set two or three traps in the area you know they are, peanut butter has worked well for me. Check around your house under sinks, doors, laundry room for any openings and fill them with steel wool and seal them off with caulk, or weather stipping. A mouse only needs a hole the size of a dime to get in.

Hi Andrea,

Umm, get a cat! LOL sorry, I couldn't pass up the opportunity! I have no clue what else you can try. I have two cats, want to borrow one? LOL Good luck!!

It sounds like you need a cat!

Try sticky traps so he can not escape. Good luck!

We had a mice around our deck and knew they would be in the house soon. I ended up asking friends who said they bought those plug in the wall sound wave devices and they actually worked. So, I went to Walmart and bought a two pack for $20. I was very skeptical but I plugged it in and we haven't seen them since. It definitely beats using all of the traps!

Try a have a hart trap. I have a mouse problem also and this is the trap I recommend. No steeling in the bait. If they touch it the door closes behind them. Also humane as you can let them go far from your house.
Good luck.

We use the spiced gum drops and they work every time. We either saw it on a show or read it in an article but just use a pinch of the gum drop and you will catch them every time. Good luck!

I gotta tell you, I'm not a huge fan of this method, but it's effective - sticky traps. If you prefer, you can hire an exterminator to place the traps, and they'll remove them once something is caught, but it typically ends in a live mouse on the trap. Like I said, not a big fan, but it works. If you want to try it on your own, lay the sticky traps along the walls/baseboard - apparently that's the route the mouse usually takes. Good luck.

My hubby made a cool trap himself one time and it ended up being a fun guy adventure. He took a drawer and propped it up in one corner and had a string attached to bait in the middle of the drawer so that when the mouse touched the bait the whole drawer came down and they used a pizza box to scoop up the drawer and then they released the mouse "in the wild."

Perhaps a bigger trap will be more effective.

I have no desire to be humane to a rodent in my home. Sorry if that isn't politically correct! lol. that being said we got the traps that zap the mice when they touch the food. it's a little black box, I was looking into them from a late night infomercial (you know if you stay up late watching you want it all!) lol. anyway I did some research on it and it sounded good but I didn't want to pay forty bucks for a mouse trap...so I went to walmart and what do you know they had one for ten bucks so we got that. it worked so well we got 2 more. (we had mice making babies) in 3 days we had killed 20 mice (so gross I know...they built houses in the field behind us) the traps are great just keep the batteries charged, ours didn't die for 2 years. we had the house sealed with steel wool and that foam stuff that hardens, they chew through the foam but get caught in the steel wool. when they built on the other side of us the traps got 2 mice and the batteries died, my dh was deployed and I was NOT going to deal with the traps again it just felt like too much so we got a good mouser--haven't seen one since. lol. but barring getting a cat (do you know someone who would lend your thiers for a few days???) I'd go with those traps again. you hear the zap and know they are in there (if you aren't in the room the light blinks to let you know and you just lift the lid and chuck the mouse. I still shudder. I feel your pain. I can not stand rodents. my kids will never own a hamster, mouse or gerbil and I don't care how cute the new guinea pig super hero movie is!! we go visit fish and other creatures like that in the pet store.

I don't know what they're called, but there are circular, closed traps that the mouse has to go inside to get the treat, then it closes on them. There's an indicator that tells you if a mouse was caught so no need to view the remains! Put the traps up against the wall because that's where they run along in the room. Walmart sells them.
Good luck!

Andrea,

Beg, borrow, steal, or otherwise obtain a CAT!

Put the D-Con in the vents trust me have done this for years, they will not die in the vents, Dcon drives them out because they are looking for water and you might find them dead in you house trying to get out and thats what they do, or on your door step or the place that they are coming in at, it works wonders but has to be in the vents or other places away from you children, not all mouse traps work unless you know that they are there chewing on things and you can trap them one way or another to catch them with the traps, I got tried of it and figured I would rather find them dead laying around then fighting with the traps.
good luck I now have them in my house again and I will be using he D-Con

I have a cat who is a good mouser. However we still got a mouse in the house. There was actually one when we moved in and one that my husband found, already dead in my food storate room-yeah, nice. We have a field behind our house so even with our mouser, we can still get mice. Thank goodness for d-con. We have d-con in our garage, behind the stove and now in the room we have our food storage in. I have only ever found one mouse. And never had any smells from any dead mice. If you use d-con, make sure everything is dry after using it since it makes them thirsty. Keep your food put away, in plastic if you have to, and the little critter will have to eat from the traps eventually. You can also try cotton balls in your traps, they like it for their nests.