PLEASE HELP! What more can I do to get rid of mice?

Question

I've got moth balls down, bicarb and have put peanut butter onto 2 mouse traps. Apart from getting a cat (which I'm not able to at the present time), what more can I do? I was watching the telly and one just walked over the carpet and I nearly had kittens!!!!

Yes, I've even got the plug in thing-ies!

Answer 1

The Live Removal Method

One way of "removing" them alive is with an electronic pest repeller, but should you use one? The battle rages on, so here are the facts: They work by emitting a high pitched sound that people and most animals can't hear. Rodents, birds and insects can hear it and will avoid it - at least for awhile. If there is a tempting source of food in the area, mice will soon ignore the sound and come in for the food. Make your own decision, but from a frugal standpoint, the answer is "no." Not unless you're just looking for short term solution.

Another method of live removal is by using "live" traps. With these traps, the mice are caught alive and then you're responsible for setting them free in another, hopefully more mouse friendly neighborhood.

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Plan on a rather long trip away, or they may just return to your house, and don't set them free anywhere near a house for someone else to deal with.
If you want to use these traps, put them alongside the foundation spaced 20 feet from each other at the most. Use fresh bait like peanut butter or bread and change it daily.

I can't vouch for this, but a reader says it really works: "We had mice in our old house, and it was getting disgusting. I put out poisoned seed, but I was finding it on our dishes as the mice tripped merrily through it to wherever. Then I saw a gentleman on TV who said that essential oil of peppermint (NOT peppermint extract), daubed on cotton balls, should be put in all the corners or spots where you feel the mice are coming in.

"Did it. No more mice. No more mouse poop."

Another reader sent this: "We had a mouse problem last summer and fall in my daughter's closet. We blocked off holes and still had mice. Someone told me to sprinkle baking soda in the closet. It worked like a charm; no mice since."

The Kill Method

Since mice reproduce at an amazing rate (50 tio 70 babies a year are normal for a female mouse to birth), you won't be endangering the species by killing them!

Poisons seem to be the easier way to do it but it's dangerous, and not only in its original form. There is usually enough poison in a mouse to kill an animal that eats it. Because poisoned mice often go out of the house to find water, they're easy prey for anything, your cats or dogs included. Owls, foxes and other wildlife may be endangered by the poison, too.

The old fashioned kind of traps are the most frugal because they can be used over and over again. Disposable traps are expensive and only add to the landfill problems we already have. Use fresh bait and change it daily when you don't catch your mouse.

Mice soon learn where your traps are and what they are, so move them often, but put them where you've seen mice, or in natural runways such as around the perimeter of rooms, under cabinets and in closets.

There are a few ways to kill mice that don't involve using traps. How humane these are, I'll leave up to you, but they're fairly frugal:

Set out carbonated drinks. Mice don't know when to stop and will drink until they... um... explode. (You probably wouldn't want to do this in your house.)
Instant potatoes are dehydrated and take a lot of water to reconstitute them, so when a mouse eats them, they absorb liquid from the stomach and expand, causing a similar death.
Mix chocolate powder with cement and sprinkle wherever you've seen mice. They like sweet chocolate but the cement will kill them.
Mix anything sweet with borax. Borax is a poison, so don't use it if you have children or pets around.
Different mouse populations seem to have different tastes, so if your bait doesn't work, try something else. Peanut butter, bread, seeds of various kinds and soft chocolate candy are all good candidates.

You can't get rid of mice easily, no matter which method you choose, but you can get rid of mice frugally!



How to clean up a dead mouse or rat in a snap trap and
how to clean up a rodent nest

Wear rubber or plastic gloves.
Spray the dead mouse, rat, or nest, as well as the surrounding area, with a disinfectant or a mixture of bleach and water. Let is soak.
Place nesting materials or trap with the dead rodent in a plastic bag.
Seal the bag. Place the full bag in a second plastic bag. Seal that bag.
Throw the bag into a covered trash can that is regularly emptied or contact your health department for information on other ways to throw away dead mice and rats.
Wash gloved hands with soap and water or spray a disinfectant or bleach solution on gloves before taking them off.
Wash hands with soap and warm water after removing your gloves


How to clean out cabins, sheds, barns, or other outbuildings

Open all doors and windows. Leave them open for 30 minutes before cleaning.
Wear rubber or plastic gloves.
DO NOT sweep or vacuum up mouse or rat urine, droppings or nests. This will cause virus particles to go into the air, where they can be breathed in.
Clean up all rodent urine, droppings, nests, or dead mice or rats using a disinfectant or mixture of bleach and water.
Mop floors or spray dirt floors with a disinfectant or mixture of bleach and water.
Clean countertops, cabinets, and drawers with a disinfectant or mixture of bleach and water.
Steam clean, shampoo, or spray upholstered furniture with a detergent, disinfectant, or a mixture of bleach and water.
Wash any bedding and clothing with laundry detergent in hot water if you see any mouse or rat urine or droppings on them.



Facts About Hantavirus

What are Hantaviruses?
Hantaviruses are a group of viruses that may be carried by some rodents. Some hantaviruses can cause a rare but deadly disease call hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The disease is called HPS for short.


How can HPS be prevented?
Keep mice and rats out of your home. Clean up mouse and rat urine, droppings, and nesting materials with a disinfectant or a mixture of bleach and water as outlined below.

Answer 2

Try squashing a bit of Milky Way onto the traps. I fould that great bait when I had a mouse problem. As it's sticky, they cant steal it as easily as some other bait. You really need to try to find where they are coming in and seal up the gap. Where your water pipes and possibly boiler pipes come out from the wall is one possible access route. Seal these with expanding foam. Make sure the traps are set along the skirting boards or other areas the mice may be lurking.

I know you cant get a cat at the moment (I cant either so I sympathise) but perhaps you could 'borrow' one for the weekend? I did this once and it worked - mice hate the smell of cats and will often leave before the cat even catches them.

Hope you solve your problem soon - I'm not a coward but I really dont like mice in my house either. Good luck.

Answer 3

a million. Get some puppy cats. 2 Get some rat poison 3 Get a mouse catch(s) or mouse catch station 4 call pest administration ultimately dont provide the mice or rats a reason to be there. verify all meals and waste are appropriate rid of. Seal off all cracks crevices and places mice could decide to stay in.

Answer 4

usualy the traps are very good. But failing that i once caught a mouse with a shoe box held up by a pen and a piece of twine tied to the pen, i waited for about an hour, when he showed up, bam, i nabbed him. Also last night i heard loud rustling in my bedroom, i thought there was a person in the room, my room is very clean but its an old house with unused chimneys so mice can easily work their way about, any way the mouse had eaten, not just torn a hole but eaten the grease off a bag of chips that was in my fireplace.(paper and all)

Answer 5

Apparently they don't like the smell of peppermint. You can buy little bottles of peppermint oil at the chemist and put some drops in areas where you think they are coming in. It's not an offensive smell to people. Worth a try. Also I have heard that slices of Mars Bar are good things to put on a mouse-trap. Good luck and you have my sympathy!

Answer 6

maybe they dont like peanutbutter i did hear that a small piece of mars bar on the trap do you live in an old building?they can squeeze thro a hole no bigger than a pencil and would suggest that you block up all holes leading outside your home do you live near to the country these may be field mice and always seek shelter in the winter all you can do is keep laying the traps but keep trying different bait good luck

Answer 7

Find out how and where they are getting in at and seal it off. Check water pipes under the kitchen sink, cracked foundations etc.

Get some good traps, victor makes some plastic traps that are amazing and easy to set. They will catch even the babies. Set them near their entry places. Best bait is peanut butter with bird seed.

Answer 8

We got that thing that makes loud noise that only mice can hear. Apparently it screams in their ear and they can't stand it but humans can't hear it. You can get them at your local Menards store. We haven't seen a mouse since. We had 2 of them enter the basement at the beginning of last year which scared the h ell out of me and no more since we got this. Ok, this is giving me the willies talking about this so I am going to end it now. lol

Answer 9

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Answer 10

Get a cat anyway, hell with a landload saying no, a cat is better to have then mice.

poison and traps dont work all that great.

I vote get a kitty and to hell with anyone who does not like it.

Answer 11

well if you have no pets and dont mind the smell of them rotting in ur walls , or tripping over half dead bleeding from the mouth mice carcasses you could put out bait.
or try one of those plugin to the power point pest deterrant thingos

try to find where they are coming inside.