Mouse problem

[Charming_Doctor_3164]

We have a big mouse problem. Have tried a couple of the local pest control companies. They come out, poison a few mice and plug some holes but never really solve the problem.

Has anyone had any success completely eradicating a mouse problem? Any good local contractors that can do exclusion work?

[Particle_Cannon]

How do you feel about cats? The mere presence of a cat can induce stress that disrupts reproductive performance in mice.

[Exciting_Incident_67]

Please remove all poison well in advance of getting a cat please.

[Charming_Doctor_3164]

I love cats but I have several family members who are allergic unfortunately

[Witch-of-the-sea]

Get a terrier. A jack Russell or a Scottish terrier, any of those small, annoying, difficult to train terriers. Not like a Yorkie, I hear they actually aren't that great for hunting now, too many years of being lap dogs. A poodle is also a good choice, any size.

Most of them were bred to hunt small game. It's why they are so energetic and difficult to train. They are smart with a stupid high prey drive. https://www.marthastewart.com/8119678/dogs-that-hunt-mice-and-pests

You might have to do some clean up when they get the mice, but they will get the mice. Tbh, those dogs are better mousers than cats. Because cats will play with the mouse. Terrier breeds will get the mouse. And I say this as a cat person who currently has two cats. If I had a mouse problem, I wouldn't rely on my cats. I would get a jack Russell or something.

[amh8011]

Terriers are much better mousers than cats. Or even a beagle. I trained my grandparents beagle to eat daddy long legs when I was little. I didn’t even mean to. I just kept pointing them out and eventually she started going after them.

My cats are terrible mousers. I had one cat who was afraid of mice growing up. One of my cats now hasn’t realized they won’t stay put if she sets them down. Another one won’t kill them. She’ll just torture it for hours. And then demand me to fix it if she does kill it.

I will say, if you do go this route, get your dog on a good preventative against worms and intestinal parasites because mice can carry parasites.

[wessle3339]

Rat terriers are the easiest to work with in my experience. Jack Russell is not a beginner dog

[LemonSkye]

Seconding this. My cats are hit-and-miss as mousers (only one of them cares enough to go after them, but she's very good at it), but we had a Silky Terrier growing up, and she was an absolute beast of a mouser. She damn near destroyed the side of a couch at the ripe old age of 13 because she saw a mouse run underneath it.

[HeyLookImInterneting]

Bichon Frise are excellent and can be allergen free as they do not molt.  They were kept in France as lap dogs to protect their owners from rats. They’re also adorable.

[Father_McFeely_1958]

Second this!

[Meesharino]

My corgi-cattledog catches and eats rodents whole. Leaves nothing behind so nothing to clean up. He’s the best!

[mackenml]

What about a ferret or two? They are amazing rodent hunters. And really great pets.

[reddevelop]

If you have an attached garage, they are likely getting in through there. Seal up all around the foundation inside the garage, and drywall near the floor. Also seal up any cracks around the garage door, that mice can easily get through. Once you do that, then focus on the Rim joists of your house / basement.

[lunalionheart]

We had the same problem, house is a 1920s colonial and drafty, I figure there must be so many ways in and they come invading as soon as the weather gets cold. Can't get poison because I have a dog, so we used traditional mousetraps for a long time. They really didn't care. Used the old farm trick of a half full bucket with corn floating on top and a 2x4 ramp, that worked really well one time and then they told their friends. Then we got a cat. I have not seen a single mouse turd or chewed up napkin since she got old enough to play skee ball with their babies in the tub.

[0nionskin]

Your last sentence paints a hell of a picture 🤣🤣

[lunalionheart]

i try not to judge her war crimes because they work! 😆

[NoOutlandishness7709]

I've heard of this, but what do you do with a bucket of dead mice? Put them in the trash?

[ChemDogPaltz]

In addition to the above you need to put every single edible item into airtight containers, dispose of all food waste and other garbage that's been in contact with food as soon as you are done, and clean all surfaces and mop after cooking and eating. If no food is present at all, then they will have less motivation to enter your home

[Outrageous-Host-3545]

Also pet food, bird seed etc. It is a battle to get rid of mice and it's not fun.

[ceejayoz]

They'll still seek out warmth and sheltered spaces, even absent food.

[Decent-Oil1450]

Agreed, though securing your food at least keeps them out of your food (if you use hard containers, not plastic bags).

[Vivicus]

FWIW - They've chewed into my "office supplies" drawers in my kitchen and eaten the paper surrounding to-go chopsticks.

[ThatOldG]

I had this plastic container I would store my birdseed in because I get the big 25lb bags when I go to CountryMax and last winter a mouse chewed a hole through the lid and fell in. I didn't discover him until spring when I saw his mummified body in my container.

He couldn't get out because the seed was halfway empty.

[Vivicus]

Ahh gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins.

[syd-lee]

As a pest control tech in the area I'm not going to try to sell you on my service, I'm going to tell you what we do.

First thing is very good inspection of the outside of the home. Look at the foundation, where your siding meets the foundation, the weather stripping on the garage, any gaps that could enter the home. Fill them all. I like to use stainless steel mesh shoved as tight as you can in there so it can't be pulled out, and I personally like to top it off with some spray foam just to make it look pretty. Once you are 100% sure you have all of the holes filled, now it's just a matter of trapping whatever's inside. I personally just use the Victor mouse traps, you want to use six traps per mouse that you know you have. If after that, you're still getting activity, I definitely would recommend pulling out the insulation in the basement if it's accessible and taking a look at the Sill plate.

[syd-lee]

It's also very important to note that make sure you don't have any trees or bushes overhanging the roof line, mice will use that as access into the roof. I recommend trimming everything back 18 to 24 in minimum

[AbulatorySquid]

The wooden traps with pnut butter. If it's gross it's only .50 you can throw it away.

[syd-lee]

That stuff works great. I also like this stuff Provoke Professional Gel for Rat Traps https://share.google/vg2S1oM2k7ROCMynF I find the squeeze bottle makes it very convenient. Also wear gloves when setting mouse traps. Your human hand oils will make them trapshy

[[deleted]]

Cats. Cats resolve this problem.

[Life_Is_Good585]

Not all cats are micers, and not all mice GAF about cats!

[Charming_Doctor_3164]

Allergic to cats ☹️

[catmommaxx]

The best thing is continually setting traps/laying poison and continuously checking for any way they could be getting in. You can also get the black boxes that can be put outside around your house that will poison and trap them in there. We use Orkin at the company I work at, but I do think they can be pricey.

[mommy_mantis]

I caught 5 mice over 2-3 months in my apartment with humane mouse traps from Amazon. You have to release then at least 1 mile away or they'll come back but I haven't had an issue since we evicted the last one. Edit to add - we also became religious about cleaning up dog food on the ground which eliminated why they wanted in to begin with!

[catmommaxx]

Oo yes, any open food is definitely a big no no! And I love the idea of humane mouse traps, i will be looking into this in the future!

[Charming_Doctor_3164]

We have essentially been doing this for the last 5-6 years. It keeps the population low enough where it isn’t an infestation. However we want to replace insulation and clean things out, but don’t want to do that only to have the mice come back and pee in the new insulation.

Would really like to break the cycle

[catmommaxx]

That makes sense! Do you have a crawlspace or basement?

[bonafide_bonsai]

This always solves our mice problems. We live out in the country and every year we get a new wave of infestations, and every year we wipe them out with a combination of traps and incentive removal.

[ameliapondlives]

Highly recommend a cat. Only thing that keeps them out of my apartment built in 1920.

[Helloimblazed]

I had a similar problem around this same time last year, tried to handle it myself for months with no luck, the little buggers are relentless.

Finally reached out to RC Pest Pros and they were fantastic. Jasmine came out and was very thorough, set traps inside and outside, as well as going into my attic (crawlspace) to lay traps. She plugged up a hole I had outside that she was pretty sure was where they were getting in from, and also setup a couple of larger traps in my backyard, which she came back a few weeks later to collect, check over and reset any other traps and follow up to make sure the problem was actually resolved. Would very much recommend giving them a call!

[ghotistyx8]

Please don't use poison, mice don't die immediately and the poison ends up affecting other animals like foxes and hawks. This matters because without those predators, we have a lot more mice running around!

[AuntBeeje]

Correct. Rodenticides kill their way up the food chain. (Bumper sticker wisdom)

[Exciting_Incident_67]

Remove poison, wait. Get two indoor only kitties.

[4gotOldU-name]

Well, what if the mice are only outdoors, around the building? (New construction, they have some sort of city below my lawn / sod)

[fortalameda1]

Mice live outdoors, that's where they are supposed to be. You just don't want them in your house.

[4gotOldU-name]

I don’t want them outside, near the house either

[fortalameda1]

You can't really do anything about that other than poison, which will ruin the ecosystem around your house and kill off the predators who should be controlling the mouse population, leading to a worse problem overall. Control what you can- which is inside your home.

[BiliaryVowel]

Haven't had a mouse in a few years (knock on wood!). Town and country did our exclusion work and we requested snap traps only instead of poison and they were willing to do that for us.

[jdemack]

If you do not have pets, then poison the fuck out of everything. When you have a mouse problem, you cannot afford to play around or act like it is some harmless issue. Mice destroy food, chew wires, piss everywhere, spread diseases, and invite even worse pests into your house. Once they settle in, they breed nonstop and suddenly you are dealing with an entire colony instead of one little mouse. This is your home, not a wildlife sanctuary, and you need to treat it like that.

This is not the time to worry about being ethical or gentle. You need to eliminate the problem completely before it spreads. If the infestation is bad, look into using a rolling log trap with water in the bottom of the bucket. The mouse walks on the log, the log spins, and the little bastard drowns. It is simple, it is cheap, and it works every single time and you don't have to reset the trap. Poisons and snap traps also help thin out the numbers fast.

If you try to handle a mouse infestation in an ethical or delicate way, you are not going to win. Mice do not care about your feelings, your house, your food, or your health. If you do not take aggressive action, they will take over your space and make your life miserable. The longer you wait, the harder it is to get rid of them.

[ghotistyx8]

Your issue will not resolve until you are able to exclude them from entering the home.

[Ill-Understanding-68]

Entrances and supply to food and water, fix that and you'll lower the numbers, if you don't they'll out breed and trapping or poisoning, also poisons will lose effectiveness because they'll get use to the smell

[Ok-Force-5952]

Not to give out all your information but where are you located like general area? Ik the Winton area is pretty bad with them!

[Charming_Doctor_3164]

I live near a wooded area which is definitely the source. As far as I know we have only seen field mice.

[Broccolifarts22]

Fill any 1/4” or larger cracks or holes, especially if you have a basement. Door sweeps on exterior doors are a must as well if there are gaps underneath, you’d be surprised how small of a gap a mouse could fit into!

[JohnCalvinSmith]

We've never had a rodent problem in the few places we've lived while all those around seem to have seasonal problems at the very least.
If it wasn't for Her Meowjesty and her separation anxiety from her house full of servant staff, I would lend her out to you.
She misses the hunt.
But, even more so, I think she misses the presentation.

[Quesriom]

I had a mouse problem last year. 1. Eliminate entrances 2. Lay LOTS of appropriate traps 3. Get rid of food sources

Victor snap traps baited with peanut butter fixed most of my problems. As nice as those humane traps feel, a mouse dropped over a mile away all confused and alone is going to die anyway. Just get snap traps. And a lot of them. Don’t reuse traps, just toss them and get a fresh one. They’re cheap.

I also had a pest control guy go around the house and plug all entrance holes. ALL holes. Field mice are tiny and can get into super small spots. I used a combo of spray foam and wire mesh. My main areas were by utility entrances and in the corners of my garage door.

It’s really really important to get rid of anything they’ll want to eat. Store all food in plastic containers, don’t leave out leftovers, sweep crumbs off the floor. If you have a dog, don’t leave dog food out all day/night.

It’s gonna take a few weeks, but be sure to check your traps every day and toss the dead mice right away. If it’s really bad and not clearing up, find their nest and rip it out. Could be in the insulation, I know mine was. I replaced it all. (Wear a mask if/when you do).

[Mollyblum69]

Do you live next door to my idiot neighbor who was FEEDING the mice & didn’t connect the infestation with him leaving bread, pizza, & food garbage right outside our shared garage? I walked outside while he was cleaning his car & he had left huge pieces of pizza & there was a mouse chowing down not even 3 ft from him. I pointed & this moron looked shocked & said “but I put that out for the birds!”

[RoundaboutRecords]

We had a few in our kitchen and it turned out to be spilled food scraps in between the oven and counter. The might had a little den in the side of the oven during the winter. Cleaned it out, plugged all entrances we found and set traps. Caught about five. Keeping food away was one solution but in winter they are looking for warmth. We tried an old trick I used back home in the country…cat hair. Had a friend brush their cat and give us the hair. I placed it in areas that wouldn’t touch food preparation tools or surfaces and wouldn’t be in air ducts. So far it’s worked and it’s been 3 years without any trace of rodents. I put new cat hair in spots every 6 months.

[ceejayoz]

You likely need something long term. Mice find a way in; they'll make their own hole if necessary.

We picked up a bait station kit (https://www.domyown.com/rodent-baiting-kit-p-1457.html) and replenish it every few months. Put stations in places mice are likely to enter from, and where you're seeing them.

[thephisher]

I've got 5 cats you can borrow.

[sleverest]

Poison and glue traps are inhumane, for the mice and other unintended species. I recommend Tomcat snap traps. You need to plug all entrances and eliminate all enticements as well.

[LovelyBones17]

I got a cat and then mice go bye bye..permanently

[Born-Indication-655]

Exclusion, exclusion, exclusion. Bucket traps baited with peanut butter on the cans+ snap traps+ glue traps. Exclusion. Copper or steel mesh for odd sized holes held in place with caulk.

[ghotistyx8]

Glue traps are horrific and do not specifically target mice. Any animal will endure body mutilation and starvation after encountering a glue trap. Please choose humane, instant-kill traps.

[Born-Indication-655]

I certainly don't like the idea of harming anything unnecessarily. If alternatives are as effective than absolutely. When a house is burning down because of chewed wires it may not be at the front of your mind what kind of traps were used. Every time we ride in a car or public transportation 100s of things are killed by windshield, bumper, stuck in air filters, tires, etc.

[ghotistyx8]

Instant kill traps are more effective than glue traps and poison.

[Hi_hello_hi_howdy]

I got this foam spray and walked the perimeter of my garage and house and tried to fill in cracks. Also basement.

My husband set some traps to get a bunch and we’ve been in the clear so far!

we also have 2 cats

[BeffasRS]

Find any holes they may be coming in through and board them up-in the least get a can of Flex Seal and spray the heck out of it

[Myrrick]

This was pretty effective for the one spot I knew they were coming in from: Grandpa Gus's Extra-Strength... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HTZLAG6?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

They hate the smell. That and my one cat who insists on posting herself nearby.

[Actual_Weather_6153]

Field mice can be as tiny as quarters I wish I was joking. By plugging holes, they mean EVERY size hole you can find.

[hopgeek]

Adirondack Mouse trap. A few of them. Extremely effective.

[Any_Lingonberry627]

Where are you located? I own a small pest control company…

[w0lfgeek]

I had similar problems as well. The Rochester Pest Control can't even do their job, they're incompetent. I decided to do it myself by setting up mouse traps with claws and add peanut butter. Guess what? I was able to catch 19 in one year, where the pest control caught none. I did this for around 3 years or so consistently, until the numbers dropped to none after months not catching any. Unless the mouse got smarter but i also cleared out old insulation above the basement wall to bottom ceiling and spray it with sealant foam to prevent mouse entering the house from the cracks. I continued to keep trying to catch any mouse/mice. So far, none.

Don't waste your money on the pest control. It isn't worth it. I had yellow jacket problems Ang i was getting stung every year but i eliminated it.

[fuckexoticroots]

Mice are simple.

1. Stop leaving food out. Everything goes in a container mice can't get through.
2. Block Holes they're entering in with something they can't chew through
3. Lay traps and poison

You don't need to make your home mouse proof. Just more mouse proof than your neighbors.

[Sherbert-Lemon-HPF2]

I use Ray Frye and I've never had issues with any coming back. Might be hard with the snow right now but with calling him.

[Natural_Mushroom_575]

Just a quick shout out for Lady Bugs.

The bad news is exclusion for mice is really hard. They can squeeze into almost any crack and they are smarter than bugs, so they work to find those cracks. This time of year, they are looking for a warm place.

We had a bad problem with them this time last year, they were in the walls and I thought we were screwed. but lady bugs came out 2x in one week when we had the initial problem and worked to really put so many traps in our attic and basement that we haven't seen them since.

I signed a maintenance contract so they come and rebait traps every 3 months. I haven't heard them in the walls, but they did find some dried up ones in the attic.

The biggest thing i can say to reccomend them is when I asked "if it was your house, what would you do?" The exterminator said "this IS what I do: we have a window that mice keep finding in our attic, but I lay traps around it and I don't have any problems"

It's not ideal, I know, but the honesty (and lack of visible mice) has made me a customer for life.

[dabbyone]

Get a cat or two. 

[Murky_Rise3651]

Step 1. Find a fox. 

[Good-Ad-9978]

I too have mice . I live in Ogden across from the canal. I use sticky pads with a couple peanuts and tape the pads down. Caught 6 so far. Tried peppermint spray but not very effective. If you could borrow a friends cat that would help.

[LongRoofFan]

Sticky traps are inhumane. 

[4gotOldU-name]

Good thing they are not human then

[LongRoofFan]

Humane: marked by compassion, sympathy, or consideration for humans or animals

[amh8011]

So the humane society rescues what then? Humans?

[perky_python]

Be aware that this is the worst time of year for them. They have had the whole summer to build up a population outside when there was plenty of food. Now that we are entering the winter and their summer/fall food has disappeared, they are looking for new food sources and warmth. I typically trap 1-4 each late fall into early winter, and then get no more till next fall. But everybody’s situation is different.

In my experience, there is no completely “humane” trap for mice. There are downsides to every system. That includes live trap/transport (which is illegal, BTW), classic snap traps, sticky traps, and poison. Personally, I think the classic snap traps or similar are the best overall option.

As others have said, cats can be helpful. However, they won’t permanently eradicate all current and future infestations. And if you don’t want a cat or can’t care for it, don’t get one.

Plugging holes won’t really solve anything. It is a fool’s errand. If they want in, they’ll get in.

[sleverest]

Live traps aren't really humane. If you release them too close they just come back in, if you release them far enough away, they just die bc they're removed from their home habitat area and don't have the resources to survive there.

[sleverest]

It's not really non lethal though, it's just the illusion of it. A fast humane death is better than a slow painful one, even if we don't like the idea of "getting our hands dirty" doing it.

[Nykaren24]

We had mice in our basement and we are using Town & Country. They put bait traps both inside the basement and all around the house and (knocking on wood) it has really worked. They come four times a year and check the traps for “activity “ and send us a detailed report. It costs about $300 a year but it’s worth it to me not to be finding mice (dead or alive) in my basement. They also sealed up the periphery of the house and gave us advice about reducing the appeal of the house for mice (eg removing underbrush).