Mouse in house
- Thread starter Steely
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Malika
Well-Known Member
Here are directions for making a humane "trap" 
Place your bucket in an area where mice frequent, grab your peanut butter and spread a small amount on the inside of your bucket. This is the bait, now take your bricks, or in my case, cigar boxes and stack them vertically. This will be our mouse staircase. The mice will be lured to the bucket and will fall in while trying to eat the peanut butter. Then you can pick up your bucket and set your mice free in whatever natural environment you think suits them the best.
Place your bucket in an area where mice frequent, grab your peanut butter and spread a small amount on the inside of your bucket. This is the bait, now take your bricks, or in my case, cigar boxes and stack them vertically. This will be our mouse staircase. The mice will be lured to the bucket and will fall in while trying to eat the peanut butter. Then you can pick up your bucket and set your mice free in whatever natural environment you think suits them the best.
witzend
Well-Known Member
If you have seen one mouse, there are many more. It may have been a "field mouse", but it's moved up to "house mouse" now. I avoid poisons because of the dogs, but mice and rats carry diseases that can make you and your pets very ill. Leptospirosis is particularly nasty and is often misdiagnosed in pets and humans, resulting in hearing loss, extreme fatigue, vomiting, fever, diarrhea, skin rashes, and liver failure.
Wrap your food up tight, take out the trash every day, keep the fire wood away from the house, don't feed the pets "at will" or outside, buy some traps and get it over with.
Wrap your food up tight, take out the trash every day, keep the fire wood away from the house, don't feed the pets "at will" or outside, buy some traps and get it over with.
hearts and roses
Mind Reader
And I cannot sleep. What do I do to set him free? I do not want to kill him as he probably is a field mouse that just came in for a snack.....but....I also cannot sleep. I am really not so found of creatures other than dogs or cats roaming free in my house.
Bwaaaaahaaaaaahaaaaaaaa.....there are MANY mice, not just one lonely little guy looking for a snack.
Listen, I used to be the one who'd catch it and set it free, but I've had more than my fair share of run-ins with those cute little Twitchy-nosed creatures. Kill them. If you don't, your home will be overrun with them. Where there's one, there's more and they multiply VERY fast, quick turnaround for mousy pregnancies. Just sayin'.
I've already got my traps in preparation. It's mouse season. My heart has turned to stone. I don't like finding their poop in my Tupperware, sifter and spoon drawer, so their death is the imperative here. They can squeeze their tiny bodies through amazingly small cracks and openings. Rest assured, they have been everywhere in your house!
Good luck!
muttmeister
Well-Known Member
I live in an old house (over 100 years old) and there is no way for me to keep them out. I know that if you have one, he brought friends and there will be babies. He came in because he didn't want to roam free; he wants to eat your food and live in your house and poop and pee in your food. IF you put him out, he will try to find his way back in again.
I love animals, I am a vegetarian most of the time, I don't wear fur, etc. BUT there is mouse poison in the backs of my bottom cupboards and I don't feel bad about it at all. Mice may or may not be "cute" but they carry diseases and they are not housebroken - they spread their filth eveywhere.
If you have a newer house, the secret is to close every nook and cranny and keep them out in the first place. Easier said than done, but worth the trouble.
I love animals, I am a vegetarian most of the time, I don't wear fur, etc. BUT there is mouse poison in the backs of my bottom cupboards and I don't feel bad about it at all. Mice may or may not be "cute" but they carry diseases and they are not housebroken - they spread their filth eveywhere.
If you have a newer house, the secret is to close every nook and cranny and keep them out in the first place. Easier said than done, but worth the trouble.
donna723
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I don't think there's any such thing as "one mouse"! If you saw one, I guarantee you there's more. I'm the biggest animal lover there ever was but you just have to be relentless and set those traps! I live in a 160 year old house and there's no way to keep them all out, especially in the winter. They invite themselves in for the warmth and the food. I'm lucky in that two of my dogs are dedicated obsessed mousers but they can only get the ones that are on the floor. They can't get in to my cabinets but I've had to be super careful. I bought heavy airtight containers for the pet food, I rinse every speck of food off the dishes before I wash them, and leave nothing around that they could possibly eat.
I am cracking up. Steeley probably moved out in the middle of the night, just up and abandoned ship. I would have!!! Gosh i love animals, but don't consider mice as animals. tehe. They might really be but not in my mind. I can't live with mice. I rented a house one time, and we called it the mouse house. One night I went and borrowed my friends cat Mouser, because my two cats would sit in the bed with me at night looking scared to death. Well I thought okay, cats watch how it is done. I knew it was time to move when Mouser sat at the edge of my bed with the other two scaredy cats, looking at the mice looking at us. I went to bed and I generally lay on my stomach, put my hand underneath the pillow and there baby mice, newly born came out of my pillow case. The next morning, I abandoned the mouse house. I can't stand them. It was like Wild Kingdom gone wild in my house when the lights went out. I don't want to think about what else was in there, couldn't possibly have been just mice. EWWW, hate them. If you set him free, he will be free to come right back and visit.
keista
New Member
I'd rather have mice than rats. Unfortunately, rats (especially roof rats) are prevalent here in Florida. The last house I rented had roof rats. DD2 was jsut born, and I was HORRIFIED!. We tossed poison up into the roof crawl space, but they came back every year. When a stray cat started hanging around, we let her stay. Rats finally went away eventhough all research said that cats were NOT an effective copntrol. I guess they weren't expecting the cats to hang out ON the roof!
I say get some kitties. They'll commit the dastardly deed of annihilation and then keep future critters out.
I say get some kitties. They'll commit the dastardly deed of annihilation and then keep future critters out.
Steely
Active Member
OMG you guys are making me LAUGH!!!!
Jody you just sealed the deal for me....a mouse in your pillowcase AAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK.
And Tesla is clueless. Really? my little hunter that eat lizards and snakes? Just laid all wrapped up in the comfy bed. Nice.
I am going to go buy poison right now. In Dallas it was rats and roaches - and believe me - I had no problem with poison. Anything is better than those 2 combos. Now I live on a big lot of land, where creatures run amok. I can only imagine what else might be out there trying to get into my house. So far I found a whole family of frogs in the (non-hot) hot tub, a raccoon tromping around my porch at night, and now mice. (I made my mom help me re-locate all the frogs safely - she was not too happy about that motherly duty -LOL).
Jody you just sealed the deal for me....a mouse in your pillowcase AAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK.
And Tesla is clueless. Really? my little hunter that eat lizards and snakes? Just laid all wrapped up in the comfy bed. Nice.
I am going to go buy poison right now. In Dallas it was rats and roaches - and believe me - I had no problem with poison. Anything is better than those 2 combos. Now I live on a big lot of land, where creatures run amok. I can only imagine what else might be out there trying to get into my house. So far I found a whole family of frogs in the (non-hot) hot tub, a raccoon tromping around my porch at night, and now mice. (I made my mom help me re-locate all the frogs safely - she was not too happy about that motherly duty -LOL).
hearts and roses
Mind Reader
There is no guarantee that the kitties will do their job if they are well fed. I have two cairn terriers, which are supposed to hunt, kill and eat rodents. They don't do a darn thing - they are the most spoiled, chunky little pups who couldn't care less about mice, except to play with them and bat them around. Maybe if I starve them a few days...hmmmm, lol.
Steely
Active Member
The thought of a kitty crossed my mind, but you know, every cat I ever had were like yours H&R. My super precious Ash who died a couple of years ago, would actually sit on the porch and let a Mockingbird pluck the fur from its tail!!! Then would role over on his BACK and let the mockingbird do this while gently batting him with his paw!! He was a trip. Awesome cat - but no hunting instinct whatsoever. Besides I think Tesla may eat a cat. Not totally sure, but she certainly tries to go after bunnies, and jack rabbits with fervor.
Malika
Well-Known Member
All is relative, of course. I am rather phobic about mice but now they seem to me relatively anodyne creatures. Why? Because when I lived in Marrakech, I shared our basement flat with... rats. They used to climb up the drain pipes. One evening I went into the bedroom to see a fine fellow dancing on the bedside table... Used to call the night guardian in, who found my horror and terror very amusing - he would chase them noisily with a colander and a club and then insist on waving the dead rat in my face (to add to the fun).
Mice any day, please
Mice any day, please
Steely
Active Member
OMG Malika - I HATE rats....I mean they are one of the few things I am terrified of. In Dallas they could get as big as cats, and then you would poison them and they would die right on your porch or something digusting. I couldn't even take that let alone someone running around and clubbing one. I would DIE.....
So I got the poison, and you guys are right, (as always) I started placing the boxes in corners, and noticed drop after drop of mice poo - that evidently all occurred in the last 24 hours...........it is obvious there are many mice and I am now completely disgusted. I swear if I get into bed Jody and find a baby mouse you will be hearing me scream all the way from Washington!!!!!!!!!!
So I got the poison, and you guys are right, (as always)
I started placing the boxes in corners, and noticed drop after drop of mice poo - that evidently all occurred in the last 24 hours...........it is obvious there are many mice and I am now completely disgusted. I swear if I get into bed Jody and find a baby mouse you will be hearing me scream all the way from Washington!!!!!!!!!!
donna723
Well-Known Member
EEEwwww, Steely, Please be super careful with any kind of rodent poisons around your dog! There's almost nowhere you can put them where the dog won't have access to them! If you use the kind that is little pellets, no matter how well you hide it, the mice will scatter it around where the dog could possibly find and eat a few pieces. It doesn't kill the mice right away, they carry it back to their nests and it can end up anywhere. And if a mouse eats the poison and gets sick, the dog could pick up the slow moving mouse and get sick from it too. About the only thing you can safely use around dogs is an old-fashioned spring loaded mouse trap that is put where the dog can't get near it.
DammitJanet
Well-Known Member
We toss pellets into the walls themselves. Or under the stove or behind the fridge...that seems to be the best hiding place for poison and they dont bring the pellets out into the kitchen. Thankfully my mice leave the house to die.
Steely - You just invited MORE mice into your house. They don't know that the stuff is poison, so they go tell their friends.
You either have to...
1) mouse-proof outside of house so no more mice can get in (can be difficult, depending on age of house and so on, but can be done)
or 2) get rid of mice for about 2 miles around your house.
Sometimes, 2) is easier than 1).
For example... mice are attracted to compost bins and the like - good source of both food and warmth - and to gardens, and to garbage cans... and tall, weedy grass... and fruit trees and bushes and... sheds and garages and old junker cars... and...
In other words - anywhere there is food and shelter.
So...
If you have any of those around - I'm joking on the 2-miles - but three or four property-lot widths in any direction - you need to take the mouse poison to where the mice are. And get rid of them out there. ANd make them think you're being nice by throwing this party for them. BUT you do have to find places to put the poison where other animals (& kids!) can't get it. (sheds are a good one, or under compost bins)
ANd then - mouse proof the house anyway. Others have noted this - but yes, you have to. Metal tins, glass jars are safe. Really heavy plastic is sort-of safe. Anything else is NOT MOUSE PROOF. All food, all of the time, including pet food, MUST be in mouse-proof containers (the fridge and freezer are considered mouse-proof). Yes, even your LUNCH BAG. Yes, even in your car.
We had mousies 2x in our last house. None here so far - touch wood. But I'm still 95% mouse-proof all the time.
Because I absolutely hate rodents.
You either have to...
1) mouse-proof outside of house so no more mice can get in (can be difficult, depending on age of house and so on, but can be done)
or 2) get rid of mice for about 2 miles around your house.
Sometimes, 2) is easier than 1).
For example... mice are attracted to compost bins and the like - good source of both food and warmth - and to gardens, and to garbage cans... and tall, weedy grass... and fruit trees and bushes and... sheds and garages and old junker cars... and...
In other words - anywhere there is food and shelter.
So...
If you have any of those around - I'm joking on the 2-miles - but three or four property-lot widths in any direction - you need to take the mouse poison to where the mice are. And get rid of them out there. ANd make them think you're being nice by throwing this party for them. BUT you do have to find places to put the poison where other animals (& kids!) can't get it. (sheds are a good one, or under compost bins)
ANd then - mouse proof the house anyway. Others have noted this - but yes, you have to. Metal tins, glass jars are safe. Really heavy plastic is sort-of safe. Anything else is NOT MOUSE PROOF. All food, all of the time, including pet food, MUST be in mouse-proof containers (the fridge and freezer are considered mouse-proof). Yes, even your LUNCH BAG. Yes, even in your car.
We had mousies 2x in our last house. None here so far - touch wood. But I'm still 95% mouse-proof all the time.
Because I absolutely hate rodents.
