i can't win out against the mice

[Jena]

hi

i kinda dont' know what to do at this point. easy child had a friend sleep over for her bdy and they woke up to a mouse on the couch with-them.

i've caught two today in tupperware and had to release them in the wood because difficult child was beside herself hysterical crying when our cat walked out with it in its mouth.

i have blocked every hole i could find in the house with brillo, my food is all cleaned up, garbage out yet they aren't stopping and although cute i'm getting seriously grosed out bigtime at this point.

i mean, what am i to do next about this, just live with-them in my house on my couch and in our den ontop of kids sleeping?

i can't believe the weekend before i return to work i have spent my day dealing with-this stuff. difficult child is up my butt every which way to sunday to go play with her and i'm ready for bed.

 

[Abbey]

You can't just release them in a nearby field. It has to be MILES away. I was always told 5 miles at best. Then they can annoy some other home owner.

I put live traps everywhere in the house. When I'd find one of those buggers, I'd drag their arse into the desert. The traditional cheese as food didn't lure them. They seemed to like crumbs, bread, crackers, etc. I learned to keep my sliding glass door shut. Even though we had a screen, they could find a way through that.

Good luck!

Abbey

 

[DammitJanet]

I know its not easy child but poison them. We had a major problem with rats. Not pretty little mice but big honking rats and traps did nothing. The just dragged the traps with them. I got real tired real quick of having six inch long rats peeking at me from around corners or out of my air ducts. We were actually shooting the darned things with bb guns! In the house! It was like a carnival game...lol.

We found decon had no effect but make them grow larger so we found some fantastic stuff at the agri supply place in tablet form...about the size of a quarter. We stuck those behind the fridge, behind the stove, down the vents and even under the house and next thing we knew we had no more rats! I havent seen a rat in two years. I think they sent a message out to stay away.

 

[Hound dog]

Janet.......what's the name of that stuff?? And is it harmful to cats?? I need it. Traps aren't working and all Bruce will chase consistantly are flies.

Star suggested jello once...keep it in powder form. I haven't tried it yet.....I keep forgetting to pick some up. Supposed to swell them up til they suffocate and die. At this point I don't care, I've been cleaning and finding poo everywhere! Disgusting.

 

[DammitJanet]

Agrisel Gladiator is what I used. The local farming supply place sold it. I have cats and dogs and it didnt hurt them. I wasnt so worried that my pets would get into the poison itself because I placed it out of reach but I was worried about them chewing on the sick or dead rodents but that wasnt a problem. Either it didnt bother them or they found dead rats unappealing...lol.

 

[Hound dog]

Thanks I'll stop by TSC tomorrow while I'm out. If they don't have it I'll go to the feed store Monday.

I was worried about them chewing on the sick or dead rodents

Exactly what I was worried about. More with Betsy......just because she wouldn't know what it is. Molly wouldn't touch it, and I doubt unmousiful Bruce would. lol But it's getting to the point I will just have to keep an eagle eye on the pets and hope for the best. I will not let these buggers reproduce in my house.

Doesn't help we have 3 broken down barns out back of our property........great place for field mice to hang out.

 

[Jena]

Janet - omg! it musn't of been funny at the time, but wow lol. I am humbled now and should not complain!

yea, ok me not complain? i don't thnk so!

Thing is the house is very old, it's an old victorian home. there are cracks and crevices everywhere. i thought i got all the holes but i truly haven't. the walls are seperated from our wood kitchen floor, and in dining room.

i just feel like it's not my place to spend all this time, money and energy the home owner should do it, not me!.

i looked it up on line it says plant mint flowers on the outside borders of your home, mats and rice hate mint. they say even put a mint plant in your home.

i think from what ive researched they have nested in this huge house, i'm afraid to even contemplate going into the attic.

 

[hearts and roses]

Okay, this is really going to come off as horrible torture...me being 'mostly' a vegetarian and humanitarian and all - LOL. I laugh.

Anyway, when we had our mouse problem last fall into the winter, we caught upwards of about 42 mice total over the course of a couple of weeks. No lie.

Except something strange happened. When H became bored with walking up the road or driving a few miles away to release the recently caught mice (in a 'humane' live trap using peanut butter as bait), and it became too cold for my lazy hiney to do the same, what did I do? I put the trap with the mouse in it outside on our doorstep overnight. It froze to death. H then threw the body into the woods behind our house, I cleaned the trap and set it again. After about 6 freakin mice, we were done with our mouse problem.

Which leads us to believe that MANY of the 42 mice we were catching were one and the same. Which means that dumping them within 5 miles from the house enables them to find their way 'home' - to OUR house.

Jen, there is no easy way to say this: KILL THEM. Any way you deem yourself capable of doing so, just kill them. We later found out that the mice we were trapping were the same mice that can often carry Lymes Disease and the bubonic plague - this last part, as unbelievable as it sounds, from my sister who is a raptor rehabilitator and KNOWS.

Just kill them.

 

[mstang67chic]

We had a mouse problem pretty bad one year and husband bought something similar to what Janet talked about. The stuff we got was in pellet form though and a funky green color. He also got it from a feed store but I don't remember what it was called. **I just asked him and he doesn't remember either but he said to go to a hardware store and buy something called One Bite. He said it's basically the same thing that I was talking about. The mice eat it but it somehow doesn't digest and plugs them up till they die.

I'm also an animal lover and hate the thought of killing things but sometimes that's the only way you can get rid of mice.

Whatever the stuff was that husband bought, our mice too must have sent word out because I haven't seen one since and that has been probably 10 years ago.

 

[Jena]

this is crazy guys i rent this place. this is total bs. this woman lied to us and snagged us bad. and here we are now. boyfriend wants to move, difficult child is flipping out. i dont' want to go to bed either.

difficult child flips out. totally. we've caught in the 20 something range so far. yet i do believe they have nested in here and did so prior to us being here. this is not a new problem. i'm nto catching as many as there are.

difficult child flips out each time one dies or the cat gets it. now tonight she wont' go to bed one crawled on her tonight while we were watching a movie. i just posted about it becuaes i too am flipping out. it's grose and i've made sure that the place is spotless yet this isn't going to work i dont' think.

it states on web to plant mint tress around the perimeter of the house rodents hate mint. it states block al holes with metal.

so i emailed the owner tonight and told her i need someone here a.s.a.p. to put poison in basement block up all the holes with metal and plant these trees or we're outta here.

difficult child wants to move now she's crying saying we get this great house adn now mice are everywhere lol

 

[Hound dog]

Jena

Fast easy way to get difficult child to stop having a hissy fit is to remind her that these rodents often carry deadly diseases that could at the very least make her very ill and the worst could kill her. There is a serious reason behind killing mice and rats.

I'm an animal lover by nature and believe every creature (even the ones I'm not so fond of) have their place in the world and their job to do. BUT that doesn't include my home. If they come into my house, they're fair game. Period. It doesn't take long for mice to progress to rats. And believe me, rats are not cute lil field mice.

They also knaw on wiring and such. Fire hazard.

I'm going to hunt down that stuff Janet used and those darn rodents are gonna die die die!

For the record, I'm also living in an old Victorian home.

Hugs

 

[hearts and roses]

This might be one of those times where it's okay to lie to difficult child. Tell her they are going to the pet store, but really....

 

[Andy]

I wonder if soaking some rags in some strong cleaning substance and laying in the doorways and along the walls on the floor would help? Would the mice cross them?

 

[DammitJanet]

The stuff I used was green to and it did come in a smaller pellet form too for mice but I got the larger form for rats.

Yes daisy...do put some out in the old out buildings too.

I wouldnt bother with planting mint or completely filling all the holes you can possibly find with brillo pads. I tried that too. Mine just chewed around the brillo pads! Just kill the darn things and be done with it. This will only take a few days with one container of these pellets and you wont see anymore mice. Dont even mention it to difficult child.

 

[gcvmom]

We use the C.A.T. brand of traps. Works every time!

Be very careful with any bait you get from the feed stores... make SURE it is in a trap that is inaccessible to your pets or small kids. The poisons used for rodents are often an anticoagulant. It causes them to dehydrate and then bleed out. They leave the building in search of water but usually don't make it too far out of the building. Make sure you discard the carcass in the trash so other animals don't eat them and become poisoned.

 

[1905]

If you're renting the place, you can do something where you withold the rent until they take care of this. Escrow account. Or buy all the stuff, and give them the receipts, with the remainder of the rent, taking out for what you spent. Call them and have them hire an exterminator, or call the realtor and tell him all this. They need to take of this.

We had mice, we live in a woodsy area. An exterminator put poison out, I don't know where he put it as I had never seen it, but the mice have never come back. I know he put some in the attic, so don't forget the attic!-Alyssa

 

[Marguerite]

I posted something in General on this, but something I left out - if you're using traps, try baiting them with peanut butter. Bacon rind is good, but tie it on firmly so they can't get it off the trap. Peanut butter (or hqazelnut spread) is good because it has a strong smell (for the mice) and they have to stop to lick it off, it doesn't pull off easily so they can't steal it and get away.

But poison is best if you can get it. We buy a brand called Talon. Look for stuff that the mice have to go inside a thing to get, it means you're not scattering pellets of stuff around for pets to lick up. If you have a mouse plague, chances are so does everyone in your neighbourhood (especially if you have been releasing them - sorry, NOT smart). If everyone elsle has mouse trouble, the stores should be full of useful gadgets, traps, poisons etc.

Forget the sound wave rubbish - it's nonsense. "Plug this in, it emits a sound wave that keeps all pest species at bay but doesn't affect pets at all." yeah? What if you happen to keep pet mice? I've had a salesman tell me that these gadgets don't affect pet mice. Idiot! If the gadget will drive away mice & rats, then it would also have an impact on other mammals too.

Check out your other thread, I made some suggestions there in terms of bedding, furniture etc. And if difficult child is upset and complaining about living in a mouse plague, Google "Australia" and "mouse plague" to see if you can find some video or photo of what a REAL mouse plague looks like!

Marg