I had a mouse (and a kangaroo rat!) infestation a few years ago. What worked for me was sealing up all the entry points with steel wool to keep more from getting in and catching and releasing the mice already inside the house. My mice refused to get into the humane traps I bought and they were pretty bold little dudes so I would gently scoop them up in a towel when I saw one and took them outside to be released.
I'm still puzzled by the kangaroo rat, though. I'm guessing someone decided they didn't want to clean a cage anymore. He, sadly, accidentally killed himself by taking a dustbath in a box of jasmine tea - turns out caffeine is lethal to the wee rodents, according to my vet.
This may seem like a daft question but how do you make sure to get all the entry point holes? I mean besides obvious gaping holes in the walls... and steel wool is a great idea! Very crafty of you..
It takes a lot of time, and a lot of rooting about with a flashlight! You have to check EVERYTHING and bung it up, even the smallest, most insignificant-seeming hole. And check your pipes underneath your sinks, that was my biggest entry point - they'd shinny up the pipes from the crawlspace and then party in the kitchen.
It's pretty hard. Seriously, having cats is the best solution I've found. I have mice in my garage, but not in the house. My parents never had a problem when my cats and I lived there, but once I moved out and took the cats, they had a horrible rodent infestation. We moved back in, no rodents, left again, and they came back. My cats, for the most part, don't hunt the mice, but I guess the mice don't come where there are scary predators. Smart mice.
I do have a friend with a whole bunch of cats and a mouse problem, but she's really messy and her house is terribly cluttered and trashed, so I think that is a factor, too.
do dogs work well for that whole predator factor? Because when we had the cat we also had a dog.. and I'm adopting a dog today actually.. well I adopted it last week but couldn't get it until today..
My husband and I have an apartment and we have mice...
Like someone else said above, humane traps really don't work. The mice we have must be too light weight and when they go in the trap and drag the bread or cracker with pb on it out, it never even sets the trap off so the door never springs shut. Never. We've closed up a few holes in the kitchen and front closet with caulking. There was a hole that we knew they were coming in from specifically and that was underneath the dishwasher. We caulked that but that didn't stop them. They found other places to come in through. For a while there, though, we thought maybe we were rid of the mice... but then one day there was the bread and pb slid back out of the trap. It's really annoying and frustrating.
I get so fed up with them in my house because they are dirty and diseased. And it just disgusts me to know they are in the kitchen where we cook. We don't really know where else to look for holes. And the thing is -- if they are THAT small (half the size of
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ugh ive been having this problem lately too. my cats had their THIRD mouse the other night. I dont want my kitties to get sick, and the mice wont go into the humaine traps. I dont want my kitties to eat the poor little mice, but i dont want to kill them either. ughh
We get a mouse or two in our place every year. We plugged up all the holes they were coming through (like where the radiators go into the floor) and bought a humane trap and that's worked well.
You just have to remember to check the trap often because they can stress out, dehydrate, die, etc if you leave them in there very long.
What brand of humane trap do you use? I tried the "mouse depot" and they would NOT get in the trap, no matter what kind of yumminess was inside. I also attempted a homemade trap, using a big plastic container with a hole cut in the top, tortilla chips and dried pasta for bait (they liked dried pasta a lot) and a ramp leading into the container. The little buggers managed to jump out of it after partaking of the starchy goodies.
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I'm still puzzled by the kangaroo rat, though. I'm guessing someone decided they didn't want to clean a cage anymore. He, sadly, accidentally killed himself by taking a dustbath in a box of jasmine tea - turns out caffeine is lethal to the wee rodents, according to my vet.
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I do have a friend with a whole bunch of cats and a mouse problem, but she's really messy and her house is terribly cluttered and trashed, so I think that is a factor, too.
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My husband and I have an apartment and we have mice...
Like someone else said above, humane traps really don't work. The mice we have must be too light weight and when they go in the trap and drag the bread or cracker with pb on it out, it never even sets the trap off so the door never springs shut. Never. We've closed up a few holes in the kitchen and front closet with caulking. There was a hole that we knew they were coming in from specifically and that was underneath the dishwasher. We caulked that but that didn't stop them. They found other places to come in through. For a while there, though, we thought maybe we were rid of the mice... but then one day there was the bread and pb slid back out of the trap. It's really annoying and frustrating.
I get so fed up with them in my house because they are dirty and diseased. And it just disgusts me to know they are in the kitchen where we cook. We don't really know where else to look for holes. And the thing is -- if they are THAT small (half the size of ( ... )
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See my comment below. I think it really depends on which humane trap you use. :)
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You just have to remember to check the trap often because they can stress out, dehydrate, die, etc if you leave them in there very long.
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http://www.petacatalog.org/prodinfo.asp?number=HP200
Works pretty well, though. No real complaints except that in a dark corner it's hard to see through the green to tell if you've got a mouse inside.
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