We have a rodent problem. Much to my growing consternation, we have had said problem for several weeks.
"It's because of the rain," said my husband, referring to the thunderstorm that has hovered over our house for the past two months.
I had another theory, but I kept my thoughts about the Bubonic Plague to myself.
The first set of mouse traps we purchased promised a humane end to our problem. At night, the mice would check into a sturdy, yet inescapable mouse motel by triggering a trap door. In the morning, we would open the trap door and gently and humanely toss the mice over our neighbor's fence (the same neighbor who admits to throwing the snakes she finds in her pool into our yard).
When mouse motel failed to lure in its desired guests, we swapped it out for several sheets of sticky paper. This method of mouse catching significantly decreased the chances of the rodents' survival, but increased the chance that I would not move into a local hotel with the kids by the end of the week.
At the end of the first forty-eight hours, it became apparent that we were not dealing with regular mice, but rather mutant rodents. Specifically, these miracle mice did what the sticky paper packaging said was impossible: they left footprints and droppings on the tacky glue, but no bodies.
By this point you might be wondering two things:
Q:Doesn't this lady have cats?
A: We do, and they are very efficient mousers when they are not lying comatose on the bed or eating chips and graham crackers out of the pantry cupboard.
Q: Why doesn't this lady solicit the services of a professional pest control company?
A: That would cost money. Plus, we like to do things the messier and, in the long run, more expensive way.
When Plan B failed to produce any corpses, I went to Lowe's in my pajamas at 6am and purchased a bag of conventional mouse traps and a blow torch, the latter of which my husband made me return.
"Smoking them out is not a viable option," he told me.
I'm sad to say that it's been three days since Plan C has been implemented and all I have to show for my growing obsession every morning are six empty mousetraps, the peanut butter and cheese baits licked clean.****
Any suggestions?
****
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117 comments
I feel you! My hubby uses bread with peanut butter on the traps. You may have babies that are light enought to eat the food and not get caught. If that's the case they will be big enough here soon. I know gross. Good luck!
Close the pantry then kick the cats off the bed...?
I've known a few people who have had the same problem. It was solved when they got a ::rat:: trap. Gross, I know. I'm pretty sure roof rats are pretty common all along the east coast, so that could very well be what you've got...
I second the rat trap suggestion - the rat glue traps are the ones you want, they are actually a little plastic pool filled with super-sticky glue and the mice just can't skate over them. We have caught a million mice with our rat glue traps and not a single one with the mouse glue traps. Good luck!
I do things the ultimately longer, more complicated, and more expensive way, too! I knew there was a reason I loved you.
Even the title of this post made my skin crawl! Eeeewwww.
Oh, this made me laugh! When I was a missionary in SoCal we had a mouse in our apt. that we simply could not catch. We tried a sticky trap, too, and caught everything BUT the mouse. Seriously, we caught some huge, disguting bugs in that thing! I wish I had some advice for you! It may be time to call in pest control and suck up the expense.
The two things I've found most successful are: a cheerio with a dollop of peanut butter in the hole, and a knot of thread coated in peanut butter. Either one will make them pause and tug, setting off the trap.
If you were petless and childless, then D-con poison would have been the way to go. But don't do that because even if your cats don't eat the poison directly, they could eat the mouse and still die. And well, your kids....I'm not even going to speculate what they might do.
Hate to tell you, but the professional way is the best way. Our exterminator put these little blue pellets out ...the mice eat them, get very thirsty ... when they get to their water source and drink, the pills activate and they die. So, no mice, and no clean up. You just have to keep your kids/other pets away from the pellets ....
My advice is use the humane trap... but you're not supposed to let them go near your house. They find their way back in. You have to take them a couple of miles away.
We recently had a serious rodent situation in our attic. You gotta try this..we got 3 VERY LARGE ONES, by this method!!
My husband built a "rat ramp" trailing up to a large Home Depot bucket filled with water and cereal. Poor fellas smelled the cereal, walked the plank, leaned in to get a taste and drown. Sounds horrible, but they only mocked us with those sticky pads...tossing those things around the room!
you should use soda.like coca cola. pour some in a little cap (like the ones that come on the top of the soda bottles.)they should drink that and their stomachs can'thandle it or something and it kills them. much safer then laying poison around the house.
The pellets are die con (I'm probably misspelling this but am too lazy to google it). You can also get it in cube form that they gnaw at. Poison is the only thing that has kept our New York city apartments rodent free. Although a friend of mine said putting out peppermint oil is also supposed to discourage them. Something about the strong smell. Good luck!
Nutella. They like it much more than peanut butter. Just hurry before they move into your couch!
I have found that the only thing that works for our mice is NUTS. Slivers of pecan work best.....they can't resist. Just place the pecan in the trap and voila!
Are you trying to build a better mousetrap? Cool. Let me know how that works out.
Lucky for you, the plague is only endemic in the southwestern US, so you folks in Philadelphia really don't have to worry so much.
We used chocolate. Hersheys and Reeses Cups. We also had one particular RAT we couldn't catch. Turned out we didn't need to worry....it offed itself by getting into our Sweet and Low. Stuff killed it. Needless to say, we quit using the stuff ourselves after THAT.
I've never tried it but heard of the bucket method. Worth a shot. As Cruson Crew said, build a ramp (piece of wood, whatever) up to the top of the bucke and they will jump in to eat not thinking they wont be able to get out. You can even just put some heavy rocks and pb in the bottom (so they dont drown) and then take them far far away and set them free.
Thanks for posting this one! I got so many good ideas for MY rats from your comments received by readers! When we first moved into our house, my hubby (Thank GOD it was him and not me!) pulled open the fold up attic stairs and a rat fell out!! Ackkk! It tried to run back up the stairs and hubby actually had the presence of mind to grab something and knock it off before it got back up. I of course would have run screaming and subsequently moved out.
After reading all comments I'm currently voting for "bucket with cereal and water in it". I don't like poison in the house w/pets and kids. Will keep reading for other ideas too! Thanks and good luck!
-Jen
oh man...that stinks!!! we had a problem like that in Texas- Rat traps work! I have never had much luck with the sticky traps...but have with the snap ones and with poison. I just would make someone else check the traps before I got around to them because I HATE finding a dead mouse in a trap- YUCK!! I usually love all creatures, but once they've made their way into MY living area- they're in trouble. I saw that someone else mentioned the pellets exterminators use. Poison really is the way to go. With the poison, the only thing that can be a pain is that you don't know where you'll find a dead rodent...yuck. You hope they go elsewhere to find water and not in the house...Good luck. Even thinking about this just gives me the chills...ugh...don't envy you in the slightest
I'd move.
YES!! I had a similar problem once. I even glued cotton balls covered with peanut butter to mousetraps and they'd be licked clean in the AM. Then when a mouse ran out from under my pillow I had to find a solution. This is what I did:
Stick a wire coat hanger through the top and bottom of a pop can (have to make a hole for it in the bottom) & place it across the top of a bucket. Put a few inches of water in the bucket. Spread peanut butter on the can. Rest a yardstick at the rim of the bucket so it acts as a ramp from the bucket to the floor. Put small pieces of cheese on the yardstick to lure the rodent to the top. When the mouse gets to the top he will jump to get the mother load of peanut butter on the can and it will spin over and dump him in for a swim.
Don't worry. If it is a mousetrap like in the photo, the mostly don't set off right. Try to get the ones with the big plate The plate is usually yellow hard plastic. If you set it up sensitive enough, even little mice will set those off. I had a rodent problem as well, and I succeeded with those. Good Luck
Use Laffy Taffy in the traps. It is sticky to keep the mice there long enough to set off the trap. After months of "our" mice eating cheese off the traps we caught three in a week. Bonus-kids get super excited to find out the candy you just purchaced is for the mice and not them.
Ok, here's what you need to do...go to Toys R Us and go to the board game section. Find Mousetrap. When you get home, set the board up near their home. They will think it is a game and want to play it. Before you know it they and their entire family, friends, colony? (Not sure about that one) will all be hanging out under the trixy drop down cage. Problem solved. Thank you very much.
P.S. So many good ideas here, just thought I'd help. Sorry about the problem...please let me know what worked! These ideas are interesting to say the least.
wow definately all good ideas, I myself finally broke down and now just call the professionals, saves money in the long run, just spent $200 on saturday to spray our house for fleas and cockroaches, and camel/mormon crickets. did I mention that covered the house and the yard? anyhow, it is just easier to use the professionals, but I do know a friend of mine bug bombed her shed and it not only killed the bugs it killed her mice too, I know this cause she gave me the couch in her shed and while cleaning it I pulled a dead mouse out of the cushion--you don't want to know how my body reacted to that
www.lewis4higher.blogspot.com
Chocolate. We had a mouse problem, which when finally caught - turned out to be a RAT of preposterous proportions. The guy from the management company set a dozen traps around the house, with chocolate syrup drizzled all over them. wah-lah - RAT caught in 2 days.
Those green plastic traps won't work! I'd try the big metal humane traps. The glue traps are really awful. The mice rip of their skin and paws to try to escape. Not OK! Plus, with the humane traps the children will get the documentary-like thrill of releasing the creature back to the wild!
My only suggestion is that you be very careful about where you set up the mouse traps. We knew right where the mice were making their way through our kitchen cabinets and set up multiple traps to catch them. We had a safety gate to keep the kids out of the kitchen and a lock on the cupboard, but somehow our 2 year old managed to get through both and have the mouse trap close on her fingers! We were just glad it didn't break anything.
I have also heard that soda pop kills mice. Since the mice are unable to burp, the gas expands and kills them...You just have to make sure the soda is fizzy.
Suggestions? How bout trying that professional company?
Don't feed you cats, or anyone else, until the mice are gone. We had our pest control company come in and set poison food boxes in the back corners of our lazy susan and down in the storage room. The scratching in the walls eventually went away.
And be careful about the sticky pads - one of our cats stepped in one that was left out and freaked out, ran all over the house with the trap stuck to her foot, and when I finally pried it off, she was NOT happy and the sticky took forever to come off - she stuck to the floor for days when she walked.
Of course the kids thought this was hysterical.
AAAH!!! This is why I am concerned about moving to the east coast. Rodents in the house... I just don't think I can handle it. Right now my apartment has an earwig problem... fairly disgusting.
Growing up in AZ we would get snakes, scorpions, lizards, and roaches. The roaches I also absolutely cannot handle. Never mice though, I just don't even know what I would do with that.
Although, once, as a prank, these guys put six (store bought) mice in our apartment in the middle of the night. We spent the entire next morning catching them in tupperware and releasing them at a nearby park... you could always attempt that route, except non store bought mice probably run much faster...
Good luck!
From all the comments, it would seem that these mice would be eating at a nice buffet by the time you get done, between cheese and chocolate and peanut butter you would think you'd catch something!
Good luck!
Now I don't feel so bad about being allergic to cats.
After catching multiple mice with peanut butter on the traditional trap, we gave up and called in the professionals. There were just too many, and they got wise after a while. Sign up for a quarterly control program and you'll never have to see another mouse corpse again--until you move and find one in the water drip pan underneath the freezer. The poison makes them really thirsty. My kids left the baits alone, and they were inside plastic containers that were not easy for kids to mess with, but I'm not sure how it would work out for you.
I hate to say it, but the BEST thing you can do (other than the professionals) is let the snakes STAY... eeek, I know.... or get a few new younger cats. If they are more active then they will chase those suckers down more effectively. GOOD LUCK!
Move.
http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/(ecq2wzf3wzqxlvnz20yp5a45)/productDetails.aspx?SKU=7208796
Sorry such a long link but TRUST me this is the best mouse trap out there! We have tried them ALL from live trap to old school mouse traps-and this is hands down the BEST!
We put peanut butter on a piece of dog food and stick it in the hole-we have caught 31- yes thirty one- mice in three weeks on our back patio using two mouse traps! YUCK! Good luck!
Tell your hubby you are going to rent one of these: http://www.rodenator.com/
My work uses these. it is louder than a shotgun and last time it brought out the county swat team. and then Rush Limbaugh had to talk about it too.
now that I solved that problem. please tell me how to keep crickets from escaping from their box while they wait to be frog food. it is the grossest thing to find them in the kitchen sink in the morning.
We bought a "Rat Zapper" - and I really cannot recommend it highly enough. Instant death, easy clean up. It's a win-win. (A win-win, that is, if the rodent death is inevitable anyway. Otherwise, not such a win for the mouse, I guess.)
I have the same problem!! After all the traps and frustration my husband picked up a few cats from the humane society. Cat number one is a 14 year old young lady with a limp. Cat number two is a seven year old de-clawed tabby who enjoys basking in the sun and finding new places in the house to declare as her own personal litter box. I asked my husband what he was thinking he turned to me and said...what they were free!! You can’t say no to free! Meanwhile our mice problem is multiplying and our realtor is on standby.
My best advice is to find their exit and entrance strategies. The more holes you cover and pathways in you can eliminate the better! We tried the mouse hotel too. They come back right after you release them!! Just like our children no matter where you drop them off they always manage to find their way back home!! Darn! Good luck!
I actually picked my cat up and placed her next to the mouse, which entertained her for about 5 minutes before it was naptime again. The cat has left 2 or 3 decapitated mice on the living room carpet for us over the last year. We plugged the hole that the mice chewed in the outside wall of the house into the warming drawer of my oven!! with a steel wool pad and placed traps which has worked for the last week. Mice are also supposedly deterred by strong smells like peppermint extract.
My dad also used the bucket of water and plank trick.
However, my DH made an obstacle course of traps the day we had a mouse in our house (also the day I went into labor with our first - true story). There was a line of traps - three different types, maybe 8 traps total- all around the kitchen counter. Of course, we caught one on the sticky pads while he was out of the house. I put a bucket over it and made him deal with it when he got home - which he did by throwing the mouse - trap and all - into the woods. Something had eaten it by the end of winter. Not exactly "humane" if you ask me, but my husband is a city boy. He gave me the whole "circle of life" song and dance.
We go through this problem every fall. My advice is to stick with the glue traps. They are the only thing that we have had success with. Also, if you ever see one scurry across a doorway, place your trap along his path. They seem to always run the same paths and almost always along walls, not the middle of a room. So, stick with the edges. I feel for you. I hate having those little critters in my house. I don't like killing them either. We had one caught on a glue trap that we then put inside of a plastic Target back and tied it shut. Then, we put the sacked, glued critter in the outside garbage can. The next day, when I took out the garbage, there was the mouse. He had freed himself from the trap and the bag and was living quite happily on our leftover garbage. I closed the lid and left him there for the garbage men to deal with.
It would be greatly appreciated if you could develop a roach infestation as well for you to blog about. I need suggestions to get rid of them!
I'm pregnant and can't do the typical spray-them-till-they-die method. And those roach traps are a JOKE.
I'm tired of having to throw out my Lucky Charms! I want them GONE!
Not to mention...they're not so great when company's over.
I'm just glad they're the little kind...if they were the big ones I would have moved out weeks ago.
We had a mouse problem too. We had some luck with the old-fashioned wood & spring traps, but my favorite and most successful trap was the rectangular black box you buy at Home Depot. It's made by Victor and has an opening the mouse goes into when it smells the peanut butter inside. Just as it reaches the PB, it steps on a metal plate and is essentially electrocuted. It's an awesome trap because a light tells you if you caught anything--you never have to see or touch the mouse. You simply open the door over the garbage can outside and VOILA! Mousey gone, wifey happy.
I concur with several other comments. You gotta get the heavy-duty glue traps for big ol' rats. They don't get stuck in the dinky glue traps. Also, the poison in the bag (blue pellets) works beautifully. They will hunt that poision down and eat it like candy. Doesn't take long for them to die once they consume it. You need to throw it in your garage behind all the storage stuff too. They nest back in those crevices.
The neighbor with the snakes...is it the same one that decorates with walking casts?
http://damselindisdress.wordpress.com
D-Con. It works every time.
We have bought mouse traps that are shaped like a circle called D-Con-- worked like a charm! The mouse was dead and instead and we just picked it up and threw it out!
We had the same problem, use hershey kisses still in the foil, they can't carry them away, and if need be you can follow the silver trail. only took three kisses to catch 2 mice - good luck!
Mint oil works wonders, but it's something you have to reapply. If you sprinkle it around, mice won't come back, because they can't smell their tracks. It's what CVS uses to get rid of their mice.
Humane sticky traps aren't all that humane, because you typically end up killing them to get them off anyways (you rip their little feet off)... most of the time its better to step on them and kill them.
And with the cage traps, it's best to take them about 5 miles from your house and let them go, or they keep coming back. We had that issues with damned squirrels.
It give me the creeps to think of mice in my house!
If you use pegzhere's idea with the pop can and bucket, will you set up a video camera and post it? I'd love to see how that works!
What if you used a glue gun and glued the hershey kiss or laffy taffy to the mouse trap? They'd have to really work to get that morsel off the trap! Success!
I can't help you with your 'mice' problem, however, I can tell you that I have voted daily for you to win the Blogluxe award for Funniest Blog AND whether you win their award or not, you win mine...for being the funniest, CLEANEST MOUTH, blog. Thanks so much for making me laugh and NOT offending me!!!
Now that you've got the mice well trained to come to the bait :) you just need to adjust the traps so they are hair-trigger. Usually when you purchase them they take quite a bit of weight to set them off. You want them to go off on a mouse's tongue. Just bend the little pin thing until you can barely hit the pad (with a pencil or something) and it goes off. Hopefully breaking your pencil as well.
Hot glue, my friend. Hot glue. Glue a piece of dog or cat food to the trap, and then they can't get the food off of the trap.
My husband once used one of my sausage balls (it's a Southern appetizer), and we caught 3 mice in one night. Of course, now he thinks I have to make sausage balls every time we get a mouse.
i will not rehash our Mousegate '08drama, but we did have poison put out under the house in the crawl space. the dude made sure there were no openings under the house in the brick foundation as well. our door to the crawl space had weathered and shifted allowing space for them to crawl in. remember mice are blind and always looking for water. if your crawl space has puddles or your outside has watery areas they will be attracted to your house. it is best to let a mouse man handle it. i did traps, sticky paper, humane stuff, nothing worked. they are too smart for all that. mouse man came back and found dead mice. we have been mouse free since. good luck.
-Kiki
Another awesome rat feature: rodent mites. These are teeny tiny (almost too small to see) insects that live on the rats. When the rats go, they come looking for a new "host" (us/you) and bite like mosquitoes. Because they are so hard to see, you start to believe that you are just going insane. (The itching, slapping yourself and cursing are bonuses.)
Beware the rat that goes to ratty heaven via the poison route. They can hole up and croak in a part of the wall that is impossible to get to unless you take the wall down. The aroma lingers for the better part of a year - especially in the summer.
We moved.
i managed a hip eatery on the Mainline years ago with a rat problem. We called in the big guns, who poisoned the rats and let them die throughout the walls of the 200 year old building. Rotting Rat was the smell for a few weeks. after decomp the problem was gone. This is 100% true. I am only telling you this b/c the swanky place changed hands and name a long time ago.
P.S. sad to say but i liked the old blog layout better. still love you though!!
Peanut butter on mouse traps. Put the trap in a brown lunch bag so when it catches a mouse you don't have a need to touch it EW and you can toss the whole trap and bag out. Ick ew ick. We had them once, too.
Your blog makes me laugh. No kids but lots of frineds' kids and I teach.
THIS TOTALLY WORKS!
Buy a few cheap plastic trashcans, about two feet tall. Leave in various spots where the mice are. You can bait them if you want to. In a day or two, the mice will be trapped inside, because they can't crawl back out. Then just dump the cans and replace.
We live across the street from a huge field and have caught dozens of mice this way. Total accident how we stumbled upon this.
We had roof rats a few years ago and tried everything - the traps, the sticky paper, etc. The only thing that worked was POISON. They usually dont die in your house because it makes them so thirsty they go searching for water and die away from the house. I was into trying everything else because we have kids and pets, but one of those suckers climbed up into my car and chewed through my air conditioning line and that was IT. I bought some poison, spread it out up in the attic and in the corners of the garage, and in about 2 days I never heard that scratching in the walls and running in the ceiling ever again. Poison is the best, quickest way to deal with it. You can just set the whole box of it opened up where you hear them at night, and then take it away in the morning. Our roof rats ate it right out of the box, I was so elated when I checked in the morning and it was gone!
Side story - my cousin had this issue and used sticky paper and came out one morning to find a momma and 2 baby mice stuck to it. Horrible! Id rather poison them and have the whole thing outta site, outta mind!
Good luck!
Get Cats! They've killed 2 for me. Although they did then somehow get one in the bottom of my boot. So, when I put my boot on it felt funny. I thought it was a gel sole that I put in sometimes. So, I waited till I got to work to worry about it. My co-workers got to hear me scream as I threw my boot and mouse across the room.
We had the same exact problem. I swear that the mouse was a mutant becasue the sticky traps always disapeared. We ended up using a live bait trap that you buy at freight stores for cheap. We set it with peanut butter and caught the darn thing the next day. That how ever left us with the issue with what to do with a live mouse. we set it free in the mountains knowing it would be somethings dinner that night. But it was not in our house.
We had the same problem with the traps...but we solved it by getting cheap traps at the dollar store. They were much more sensitive--to the dismay of my husbands fingers, but also the mice.
I second the pecan suggestion. We had a severe mouse problem last fall after an early cold snap. We super-glued pecans to the mouse traps and caught 10 in 24 hours!!
PS the ad to the right on the bottom headlines: "Is your man GAY?" and then it goes on to ask how many times you have sex with your man.
My family moved into a new home that had been sitting empty for a few months. We had a HORRIBLE mouse problem. We found their dropping in the garage, but until we found one in the house, we made our own 'mouse trap'. We used a 5 gallon bucket; my husband drilled holes two holes, one on each side of the bucket, directly across from each other. He cut a piece of PVC pipe shorter than the width of the bucket and placed a dowel rod through the PVC. The dowel needs to be snug in the holes and smaller in diameter than the PVC, so it can spin easily. We then took an old t shirt and stretched the neck around the bucket to help the mice climb. Fill the bucket with about 8 inches or so of water, and place some peanut butter in the middle of the PVC pipe. They'll climb the t shirt, walk out towards the peanut butter and will spin off into the water. It's not very nice, but to me it was better than having rodents leave germs around or possibly start a house fire by chewing through wires! We caught 25 within the first 12 hours! GROSS! Hope this helps.
We have found the bucket method to be very successful! We didn't fill it with water, but with tasty McDonald's fries. We put the traps at the bottom of the bucket and waited. Sure enough, every morning we had a new friend! We ended up finding FIVE mice. Definitely try the bucket and ramp! Good luck!
We tried poison and put it where our children didn't go, even though it was very successful, our house stunk! I felt like it left a film in amy mouth...blehh!! A friend of mine had poison set out and her small dog got into it and was on medication for a couple months. Almost killed her.
I don't have time to read all of the comments to see if anyone already suggested this, but we used those traps with the fake piece of cheese that is plastic. They were the only traps that caught the buggers. We sometimes used peanut butter too, and sometimes not. We also put poison up in our attic. Good luck.
Ahhh...the mice. And uselss cats...My poor daughter is traumatized for life (http://six-packmomma.blogspot.com/2009/01/good-for-nothin.html)
We caught some with the glue traps but I think they wised up. I not only didn't want to pay someone to exterminate, but I didn't want rotting corpes in my walls.
When you figure it out, let me know.
Just put a little peanut butter on the trap right one the litter lever thing so they really have to work hard to get it. Or get a less lazy cat and don't feed it much.
Put a chunk of peanut butter on the glue traps. We had a rodent problem at our previous home. The glue traps and a great mouser cat solved our problem quickly. I hope you get this resolved quickly. I know it's maddening.
Seriously, the best thing we've ever used was a piece of an oreo cookie, cream included of course! I traded my Utah mice for Texas snakes, I think I'll trade back!
so.. I heard a mouse in the wall last year and told my husband about it. A few minutes later I heard a loud roar and found him cutting a huge hole in the wall. He then got a mirror and verified for me that there was indeed a mouse in the wall. Brilliant. And to this day, the spot has been spackled, but not painted. Klassy huh?
Amanda wins.
We used to live in an old pioneer home that I lovingly call the "mouse house" whenever I pass it. One morning, before my husband left for school at 5 am, I found him in his temple worthy tighty whities and boots with several newspapers all rolled up hitting at what appeared to be several infant mice circling thier parents on a sticky trap. *shudder* Our first baby was a newborn, and I had to clean every dish, every cupboard and every jar of food each day. I feel your pain....
I personally would not call the professionals unless the mice were sharing my dinner at the table with me. Poison is an awful option, especially when you have children.
I say stop feeding the cats so they will be hungry enough to catch the varmints. After they have been eradicated, resume Fancy Feast. Or, I could lend you Striper. (see my Monday post)
oh, and fill every nook, cranny, baseboard, with steel wool.
That sucks. Happened to us 2 weeks ago! We caught all of ours but we used sticky traps with granola bar pieces stuck in the middle. That got them stuck and gone!
my parents had a mouse problem last year, below is what my dad says they used:
~used an assortment of traps.
~also used globs of peanut butter.
~got one on a sticky trap w/ peanut butter.
~got one on the “classic” kill trap w/ peanut butter.
~Sticky traps are supposed to work best if you put them against a wall.
Years ago, we had a similar problem which was only solved when we finally came to the grim conclusion that it was not a mouse problem it was a rat problem. I get heebeejeebees just thinking about it now. See if a rat trap does the trick.
I am thinking the blow torch would have worked.
we had to use a box that has these little poison pebble things in it. obviously put it where the kids won't mess with it. our sone wasn't crawling when we used it, so it wasn't a huge deal. but we haven't seen them since!
no need to call the exterminator... you can buy the little blue pellets at wal-mart... they work great... and if your pet gets into them just make them swallow a couple tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide... no more mice!
Yes, use a marshmellow or jellybean. Slide it over and under the bait holder and then cover with peanut butter. When then tug on the marshmellow or jellybean...WHAP! No more mouse!
Wait- keep the kill traps out- you'll get them. We have the same problem and we catch them totally haphazardly so you always have to be prepared!
Try the bucket thing!
i suggest using the D-Con poison traps...poison in the trap, away from kiddos, kills the mouse. Or bait bars placed around your house. Or just hire an exterminator -- our neighbor the exterminator suggests all three. We've been mouse free for over a year now.
The bucket and the water thing works. It keeps them from possibly jumping out!
We thought we had a mouse, maybe mice. Spent a bunch of money on traps to no avail. Finally called a pest control company who told us we had Norwegian Roof rats (yeah, fun). They set traps in the attic and filled up some holes in the rafters of the garage and in the attic. The first night the traps were in the attic, we heard a SNAP! at about 5am. We called the pest co. and sure enough, it was a rat. The pest control place came back every other day for a month to check the traps but thank goodness we just had the one rat. One was enough, thankyouverymuch. BTW it cost about $300. Worth EVERY PENNY.
My advice: Bite the bullet and call the pest control company before you spend tons of money on things that won't work, like we did.
Sorry, I stalk your blog and thorougly enjoy it! Thanks for the laughs! When I read that you had an infestation my heart went out to you. I too, have suffered an infestation. The pests moved into a large antique cupboard and we had a mouse condo! Truly a multple family dwelling. Last fall I ordered Riddex online and have been rodent free ever since, knock on wood. Hope this helps!
The sticky paper would never work for me. Instead, look for plastic trays with this thick layer of sticky stuff. That stuff is so good it will catch cat-sized rats. Yes, we had them in our old house that was by a huge field and park. The sticky trays are amazing. Good luck!!
M&M's. Use a little peanut butter to make it stick. They are attracted to the shininess.
And make sure you're using the trap you have pictured. They have a "prettier" more expensive trap that is yellow plastic. Those don't work at all! We have to search to find the old fashion ones.
Sticky traps are so sad! You still have to kill the mouse. It's not like you can pull them off there. We used the traditional traps with chocolate chips... of course we knew the mouse like chocolate. He was nibbling my husbands Christmas candy while we were asleep.
Ok...the trap is the only way to go. I say the only good mouse is a dead mouse. My next door neighbor, fresh from city living and now a "country dweller" set a live trap in their brand new home. All I could say in my shock was "You do know they don't live alone, right?" Anyway, use a cookie or chocolate piece tightly wedged into the bait thingy...put a tiny dollop of peanutbutter on it. Catches them every time, eyes bugging out!
I have not read all you comments so i am not sure if this has been said yet, but we have caught mice with a couple five gallon buckets filled a little over 1/2 way up with water. Then thorw sun flower seeds on top of the water. The mice will smell the seeds, jump in to eat and then they cannot get back out. Yes it is cruel, but I cannot stand the thought of mice in my house so we do what we have to do. Good luck on getting rid of them!
There are some great traps we used in when we had a little mouse problem.. when all else failed we bought D-Con no see, no touch traps. You just put a little peanut butter, or whatever in the little hole on the bottom, put back the cover and the mouse goes in one side, sets off the trigger and (I know this sounds awful) gets snapped in half. There is NO way they can eat the peanut butter without setting off the trap. It got rid of our AWFUL mouse problem very quickly.
They make traps that are plastic little boxes so when they get the mouse you don't really have to see it, they are easier to set than the traditional kind too and probably safer around the kids
Yep, you have baby mice, that will continue to multiply. I would call in a professional if I were you.
Laughing so hard I am crying at everyone's stories!
Our mouse did not return (visibly) after we plugged his entry hole with aluminum foil and covered that with duct tape.
We bought tons of traps, but the only thing that worked for us was the ole' cheap toilet-paper-roll and trashcan trick. There's no way a mouse can escape gravity.
http://www.curbly.com/DIY-Maven/posts/3465-how-tojavascript:void(0)-catch-a-mouse-with-a-toilet-paper-tube
You might want to go with a more humane approach than sticky paper. Electric traps are still lethal, but kill mice instantly. An example is the Victor Multi-Kill. I've read that it's safe for kids and pets too.
Here's the trap:
http://www.victorpest.com/store/rodent-control/m260
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Yes there are quite a few traps that are iffy at best. Visit www.StopthatRat.com for the same traps used by Myzzer Man. We even called him for advice. He said use "creamy" peanut butter, because they can push a nut off. Worked great for us.
Thanks for the share! Have you thought about coating Mouse Poison in peanut butter and then baiting the surrounding area with it? I have done this a few times and it has worked out great!
I think those glue traps should be banned I think they're insanely inhumane... I'm trying the snap traps because it's a quick kill and they're not suffering for hours and hours and hours on end... I think those and the poison once they sell should be banned!
Yes, those work well!! I really think those glue traps and the poison one should be banned they're so inhumane and also if any other animal eats the rat or mouse after eating those poisons they could die also!
That so so sad... Those glue traps and poison should be banned! I'm using the snap traps because I feel if you're going to kill him at least that's the most humane way is a quick death, Not an agonizing slow torturous inhumane one...
Well that is great that they are gone- I just think those are so inhumane the torture that the mice or rats go through with those I just think the quick snap traps are a quick death and I think the poison and glue trap should be banned!
Yes I cannot even believe anyone would use those sticky glue traps- Those and the poison should be banned! The poison kills so many other animals besides the rats or mice and the sticky glue traps-the mice just cry and cry and it's a slow torturous death- Why in the world anyone would use one is just horrible. Just use the snap traps for a quick least inhumane way of getting rid of these critters!
Yes those sticky glue trap should be banned!!
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