There's a mouse in my house!?

Question

Ok, so does anyone have any ideas as to the best way to get rid of...and then prevent them from roaming in my house. My house is clean..probably not clean enough though. My wife and I were sitting around the couch and she said she saw a shadow move under the couch and seemed really creeped out. I said ok, lifted the couch and saw a little brown mouse with a nice pile of nuts that we leave out on the coffee table in a dish. After a long battle of trying to get him in a box and taking apart the living room..he ran downstairs and into the basement. I placed some traps around down there and when i get home tonight..will check them. Anyways...how can I prevent them from coming back??? All help is appreciated! And how do they even get into the house! I did check for holes or anything that he might be able to creep through..and didn't see anything.

Answer 1

Ew... I had the same problem a while back. Keep up with the mouse traps but put some peanut butter on them. Mice like that. >:) Mwahahaha... er.. yeah... anyways. Put the traps wherever you have seen mice traveling. Another thing, don't leave the peanuts out on the coffee table, or any type of food. Once the food is gone, they will usually leave. (if they haven't died from the traps.) Good luck!

=)

Answer 2

The snap traps are gross but effective and peanut butter really seems to attract them. So much for the removal part...

Now if you have a crawl space or basement go down there in full sunlight. Block out the windows if you can. As others have suggested, these guys can squeeze into really small openings. You are looking for light. I've found that I can use the expanding spray foam (Great Stuff is one kind) and I shove some appropriately sized nail in while it is still wet. See they can chew through the foam, but if it is loaded with say 8 Penny nails, they can't eat them. The insulation also seals out drafts - so two for one!

If you are still plagued, then call an exterminator. But the foam and nails will probably work and will cost less than $10 to find out.

Answer 3

Mice can squeeze through holes and cracks only 1/4" wide. Seal up any cracks you can find. Make sure you never leave food on your counters, crumbs on your tables, or dirty dishes in your sink. Any food that is not stored in the refrigerator should ideally be stored in plastic, glass, or metal containers.

I've had great success with this live trap in my house:

http://veganstore.com/index.html?stocknumber=266

It’s also available for $2 cheaper here (although I prefer to buy it from the other place since I’m not a big fan of PETA):

https://www.petacatalog.org/prodinfo.asp?number=HP200

I've caught over a dozen mice with it so far and it can be used over and over indefinitely. Or, you can try making the free homemade humane trap described here:

http://www.helpinganimals.com/wildlife_livingWithMice.asp

If you do live trap mice, please be sure to check the traps several times a day and release the mice promptly, approximately a mile away from your home. It is much more cruel to allow a mouse in a live trap to slowly starve to death than to kill it quickly with a snap trap. When you release the mice, do it in an area with some sheltering bushes or plants.

The absolute cruelest traps are glue traps. Mice have been known to gnaw off their own limbs and tear off their skin in an effort to escape, as they starve or dehydrate to death or suffocate in the glue. It can take three to five days for them to die. Poison isn't any better, as the mice die slowly and painfully from internal bleeding. It can take up to a week for them to die, and then they smell as they rot behind your walls.

It doesn't take much extra effort to be kind. You will feel better and so will the mice! Good luck!

Answer 4

It doesn't matter how clean you are, mice are gonna get in, they're trying to get out of the cold. It's literally impossible to to keep them out. If they can fit their head in a hole, then they can come in. You can set traps, or have glue traps. If you put poison, then they can die between the walls, or in the attic....and you'll have that smell of rotten flesh for about a week. If you can....go around the exterior of the house....and see if you have any trails....any droppings....they look black about the size of a grain of rice. That'll be clues to where they're getting in. Something metal is the best for covering holes...like flashing. Good temporary fixes for small holes is using steel wool pads, like SOS or Brillo.....but eventually they'll rust, and you'll have to place another in it's place. You could also seal them with silicone.....which I've had mixed results with...depending on the size of the hole. Having an outside cat will help also.....if you don't live in an area that snows.....and in the country. Best of luck to you.

Answer 5

Where there is a rat, there are a thousand more.

They are smarter than you, me and anyone here...
I think the best way would be to not let them get food, after all, that is why they are living now in your house.

Try to seal every hole in the house, put all kinds of venoms, buy a cat, and most important, keep all your food sealed in a metal container for a couple of months, and never leave garbage inside the house or anything they could grab to eat.

If they dont get food, they should look somewhere else. Like your neighbor´s house :)

Answer 6

I had the same prob, plus I have a cat!! AND my house is clean:) I bought those sticky traps~~ They get stuck on them, then that kinda' sucks, because then they look so cute you can't hardly..."dispose"... of them. But, if you have 1 you probably have alot more! I was shocked, and I guess eventually we got them all, and haven't had anymore. These traps are cheap, and you don't have to worry about getting your fingers fractured.LOL Plus if you have any spiders or other critters around, they get stuck on them too:)
Good Luck!!

Answer 7

All a mouse needs is the hole the size of a dime to gain entry.

I suggest calling an exterminator.

Answer 8

well mice can crawl through some incredibly small holes. i think that if you don't have anything for them to eat then they will probably leave