Advice/Suggestions After Finding Mouse in Apartment.?

Question

I moved into my current apartment in May and just last week saw a very large mouse in my laundry room. I immediately closed the door and placed cardboard across the bottom. I had two bags of garbage stored there for collection day that I removed. I went out and bought several "snap" mouse traps and placed them throughout my apartment. A couple of days later I walked into my kitchen and the mouse was on my stove and it dove under one of the burners. I covered the burners with aluminum cake pans and weighed them down with pots and pans (this morning, almost a week later, I finally got the nerve to check the stove and found nothing). I bought 16 more traps - the sticky kind - and placed them throughout my apartment with a big glob of peanut butter on each one. I work night shift and when I leave in the evening I turn the lights in my apartment off to try to draw the mouse out. Since the day I saw the mouse on my stove I haven't seen any sign of it and the traps remain untouched. I plan on keeping the baited traps down for about another week after which I will just leave them unbaited. No matter what, I will keep some traps down from now on. I have never lived anywhere that's had a mouse before, so this is a new (and very unpleasant) experience. My apartment is clean, but I am being extra careful to keep all my used dishes washed, garbage is always keep in a garbage can with a lid and my pantry is a free-standing unit away from the other kitchen cupboards. What I would like to know is can anyone who has been in this situation offer any other advice or suggestions as to what I can do to deal with this, and most importantly, after how long of not seeing the mouse (or signs of) can I start to relax and assume that it's either gone or caught by one of the other tenants? Thanks for any answers provided.

I know my question is long. I apologize but I wanted to explain the circumstances clearly. I didn't feel there was any use for anyone to write in suggesting I try things that I've already done. Again thanks for any ideas provided.

Answer 1

This is right up MY alley! I live in country and in fairly new house that my hubby and i built, nice and tight. but the buggers always find a way in, usually through where the water pipes come in. they are attracted to water, then any food scraps they can find, if none, then clothing or towels or anything they can get their nasty teeth into , to shred to make a nest. so, just because you don't see him (or HER) you may have little babies being incubated. uck , sorry!

don't mess around, get the little 'decon' (spelling) poison traps. There are little pellets they eat. I have no idea where they go off to die. but I don't smell anyghing!! I went all kind and got have a heart traps, used snap traps, the poison is only thing that works. I also rent out my inlaws house and there are several mice, actually they are voles, much bigger than a mouse, but not a rat!

I put the little triangular traps all over the cellar there and it keeps the population way down. Of course tell the landlord. he/she will use the poison or contract someone to get rid of them. The lady I rent to got very ill from mouse turds at another place, they will make you sick, so don't mess around with this! good luck!

One more thing, they can get into your CAR too and often get in through the vent, or make nests in the vents. keep your car air on 'recirculate' when you turn it off. this prevents them from coming in from the vents
they shredded some insulation in my car, it cost almost 200 dollars to get the nest out and the dead mice and fix it. the dealer told me when they showed me the ziplock bag (gallon size) stuffed full of white fluff and mouse turds.
'that's nothing, last week we cleaned up the damage from a mouse that got into the ceiling of a customers car, between the lining and the roof , on the inside, that cost 2,000 dollars to fix! so for preventitive mesaures for your car, the auto shop can put a screen on the entry ducts and the "cowling" I think they called it. that was only about 40 dollars, and is worth the prevention. (supposedly you can put moth balls somewhere but that smells just too much for me!) I also heard you can put dryer sheets around, (in car in the glove box, at home, in the pantry?)

sorry to be so long winded, but I wanted to answer your question as thoroughly as possible, go chemical, sorry animal lovers, but this is only perm. solution!

Answer 2

Okay, this is NOT a recommendation, but my daughter's cat caught a mouse in our basement. Besides getting traps which were never tripped, and cleaning out everywhere we found mouse signs, we got a three-pack of those thingies that plug into the wall and are supposed to emit a sound or something that mice hate. They advertise as a big cure-all; I have no faith in them, but -- oh, God, a -mouse-!-- I was desperate. We put one in the basement near the food pantry, and the other two upstairs.

We haven't seen a mouse since, nor any signs at all -- and now we know what to look for. Frankly, I think it was just one mouse that wandered in from outside and found food. But that sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it?

Anyway, no mouse. The three-pack of thingies was about twenty or twenty-five bucks, and each has an outlet in it, so you can still plug things in while the outlet is occupied with the -- thingy!

Answer 3

You need to contact your landlord and advise him of the situation. If you are renting, it is up to him to deal with the mouse. Know that this is also a reason to ask for a rend reduction or to break your lease.

Next time you see the mouse, take a picture of it as proof if you can't catch it. This will serve to help you if you need to move.

I'm sure your house is clean... Mice don't like dirty homes...

And not to make you nervous or anything, but are you sure it's a mouse and not a rat???

Definitely contact your landlord!

Answer 4

Have you told your landlord of your mouse problem? He/she really needs to know this! It's also best to find out where the little critter has originally gotten into the house and plug that hole up. If he can't get in, he can't terrorize you! Also...what's the policy of owning a cat?? They're great for mouse control!

Answer 5

My advice is to get rid of the sticky traps. I caught a mouse in one of those one time and it was the grossest thing ever. There was blood splattered all over the floor and wall because the mouse tried to chew its leg off to get out of the trap. I'd suggest using either the snap type or plastic box type of trap. There are also little pellets you can use; they work very well.

Answer 6

That's a long question. Since I didn't get to read the whole thing I would assume that the mouse is gone. You can buy hav-a-hart mouse traps and set them in your apt. They don't kill the mouse but hold him in there and them you puck it up and let him go back outside.

Answer 7

Notify your landlord A.S.A.P. Even if the mouse left your apartment, it may be in one of your neighbors apartments and come back. Good luck!

Answer 8

sounds like its gone, but keep the traps out ,

Answer 9

Get a cat.

Answer 10

the length of the question is beyond my attention span shorten it a bit