I have mice. My mil arrives in 5 days. Please help.

[Sarah CB]

We had mice two years ago as well and bought one of those electronic devices that emits a frequency that repels the mice. I think it finally wore out because it's making a different noise and now we have mice again. I put down glue traps last night; thinking that would be more humane than a snap trap. Um...no. I won't go into it, but glue traps are not pleasant.

 

Is there any way to tell how many mice there are? Maybe it was just the one mouse (wishful thinking)? I tried to buy another electronic device, but the store didn't carry them anymore.

 

There is poo in my silverware drawer. Did I mention my mil is coming in five days??

 

Any advice on getting rid of mice fast would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[Tammyla]

:grouphug:You have my sympathy.

 

The TomCat, sticky, peanut traps work very quickly in our garage. Decon will also kill them slowly and leave behind no smell, but you have to be careful of little ones and pets.

 

You might pull out the silverware and put a lot of bait in the drawer. I'd store the dishes in the dishwasher for the time being too.

[coralloyd]

Stick steal wool in every crack and crevis. Black and Decker sells the plug-in devices at our Home Depot.

[JudoMom]

Set out a ton of snap traps with peanut butter.

 

It's not pleasant, but it's more pleasant than having mice with your MIL visiting.

[4kiddies]

set lots of snap traps for the next few days and pray you get them all before you mil comes. FYI..you can put out the poison and that will kill them but if they get into your walls they stick as they decompose. Good luck!

[RebeccaS]

Or, you can bait a live trap with Decon. They die, no stink in your walls. :001_huh:

[SeekingSimplicity]

Do you have a cat? Or can you get a cat? We have 2 outdoor cats and that really helps a lot. Our chickens eat mice too.

 

Mice tend to follow the same path every time, so put the traps where you see droppings. We tried cheese and peanut butter, and different thing on ours. You can also use 'bedding' like bits of cotton they take back to their nest. It seems like it's peppermint? or maybe cinnamon? that mice don't like and you can sprinkle it around to keep them away. I can't remember which tho. Put your grains, and any food they might be attracted to in your freezer for now if you can.

[mohop]

I'm with you. I just saw a mouse scamper by in my kitchen. Am a little freaked out. I know my cat will catch it eventually, but I have no idea how many there are.

[hornblower]

I don't understand the MIL worry. My MIL has a summer house in the interior of BC and she gets mice too. My MIL once got so irritated by a mouse running across the living room that she picked up a fire poker and smashed it down & actually squished the poor little thing. My MIL is a very proper English lady so this is quite hilarious. She felt awful afterwards & my fil had to clean up the squashed mouse......

 

Anyway - normal MIL's have heard about mice & may have even had mice and will not hold mice against you.

 

Snap traps are your friend at this point. Bait with peanut butter. Put them perpendicular to walls, about every 12-18 in apart in areas where you know there are mice.

 

Is this silverware drawer in your kitchen? If so, try to figure out a way of getting the toekick off the cabinets. You need to get under there, sweep it all up and set traps there.

 

When you're in the hardware store buying your traps, also buy lots of paper towels, bleach, rubber gloves, a caulking gun and a good latex caulk.

 

gloves, bleach & paper towels are for cleaning. Depending on how bad hanta virus is in your area, you may need to be more or less careful but the general idea is not to stir up the dust. If hanta is prevalent, I'd also buy a N95 mask to wear while cleaning. (they're usually in the drywall section & cost a couple dollars). Do not vacuum up mouse droppings as it gets the dust into the air. Use damp paper towels to wipe them up. Clean everything afterwards with a strong bleach solution.

 

for the caulk: You may need several colors. You'll want to seal the inside bases of the cabinets. You can pull drawers out & then get in there & seal up all the edges where the sides, bottom and back meet. You can get caulking which is roughly the color of the inside cabinet....

 

A bigger job is to seal all the edges around drywall and floor. You may need to pull up your base floor moulding, and caulk there.

 

Use expanding foam in any large gaps on the outside of your house. If spaces are really large, use expanding foam over fine mesh chicken wire.

 

(can you tell I've btdt?)

 

Long term, if you live in an area where there are lots of mice:

 

-go over the house again and again looking for gaps & spaces. Be careful about leaving doors open during the fall esp - one exterminator guy told me he figures most mice just walk in through open doors.

 

-consider adopting a feral trapped/neutered/released cat or two from a TNR rescue group. They live outside, still need to have some shelter & food put out for them but they are feral & need a place to roam & hunt.

 

-see if you can attract a bird of prey to your neighbourhood; we have an owl

 

-get a hunting housecat.

Edited December 18, 2009 by hornblower

[cougarmom4]

Unfortunately I'm with you, too. We have a mouse in the basement. It totally freaks me out...and makes me feel dirty!

 

We live near a hay field and have them occasionally when the weather changes--but have usually been able to catch them quickly with those circle traps that snap shut when they enter. (don't know the name, do you know what I'm talking about? You don't have to see the mouse--the little door just closes and traps him in. Personally I don't care too much after that...so I'm sure it's not humane, but I just want it out of my house). I just watch carefully for evidence in the pantry & cupboards and have dh put out a trap if I see anything. And then I refuse to enter the kitchen until he catches it.

 

The little guy in the basement hasn't been caught yet and it's freaking me out. Totally hoping & praying he is single. We also have inlaws coming next week. I know I need to get down there and clean up any evidence...but. I. just. can't. do. it. Have I mentioned that I seriously freak? Major phobia of this little creature.

 

The electronic device sounds like something I need to look into.

 

Good luck...and may your Christmas be lacking a stirring creature.

[Parrothead]

Borrow a cat from a friend.

[Sarah CB]

Thanks, everyone. I'm going to do a Wal-Mart run today and pick up supplies. I think I know where they're getting in. Unfortunately, I can't get underneath the cabinets - we have tile floors and the toekick is tiled as well. I am going to seal everything up, clean really well and then set more traps. Hopefully this will all go away.

 

My first mil (the one arriving in five days) would probably be Ok. Although there is still something really wrong about having a guest pull open the silverware drawer and find mouse droppings in the morning :( It's my second mil (dh's step-mom) who I'm more worried about. She arrives on the 28th. She likes things very, very clean. Mouse droppings would not go over well.

 

On the upside; this has given me an excuse to deep clean and organize all of my kitchen drawers.

[gardening momma]

Anyway - normal MIL's have heard about mice & may have even had mice and will not hold mice against you.

Not all MILs are normal, nor have they all had mice before. :001_smile:

[Impish]

Forget the peanut butter. I tried that, but the buggers licked it off without setting off traps. I was told by a landlord of a huge building to use jujubes. They love them, and really have to work to get them out of the trap, because you smoosh them in really well.

[lauranc]

We've just had a mouse (not sure if there are more yet) in the garage... regular mousetrap (wooden) with a hot glued chocolate chip as bait did the trick. Our mouse was too smart for the peanut butter. It did have 2 nights of peanut butter snack before we heard about the hot glue and chocolate chip trick. (could use crazy glue as well)

 

Good luck!

Laura

[KathyBC]

You can get these at Home Hardware. They reduce the gross factor. :D

[Liz CA]

This has worked for us every time and we live in the woods where mice and rats are abundant.

 

Buy a Live trap. It's about 8 inches long and smear peanut butter in the way back corner from the entry point.

 

Mouse waddles in and eats the PB. As soon as the mouse is inside, they cannot get out because the entry path moves upward. A new mouse can join the mouse because from the outside the path is uobstructed.

Sounds complicated but will make sense when you look at the trap.

 

Mice will be alive & well and will have PB in their whiskers. You then have to take them on a little trip somewhere beautiful to release them. :lol:

One summer, my ds and I did this every morning. We had just moved out to this rural property and we had so many mice, we lost count. It became a fun thing to check the trap every morning and see how many we had caught.

 

Okay, I would not have thought it was funny if I had had mouse droppings in my silverware drawer. Sorry!

 

 

 

[cougarmom4]

You can get these at Home Hardware. They reduce the gross factor. :D

 

Eeww...I don't know. Rinse and reuse. Nope...I can't even do that. I don't even want to see the darn thing...at. all. :blink:

[1GirlTwinBoys]

If you see the hole they are coming in from, you can put steel wool and they can't chew through it. Also, mice do not like peppermint so you could get some Dr. Bronners peppermint soap and mix with a little water in a spray bottle and spray all around the places you are seeing them. It will also make your house smell good too. You can spray it along baseboards but don't get it on your walls. :)

[Moira in MA]

Not all MILs are normal, nor have they all had mice before. :001_smile:

 

My first MIL had a rat take up residence in her kitchen towel drawer -- it had the temerity to take a potato from her veggie drawer to it's new home, too -- she was not amused, but I was. :D

 

~Moira

[KathyBC]

Eeww...I don't know. Rinse and reuse. Nope...I can't even do that. I don't even want to see the darn thing...at. all. :blink:

 

:iagree: If at all possible, dh or ds takes care of it. But sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. At least I don't have to touch it this way!

[katemary63]

We've been going through the same thing. It's nice to know I'm not alone. We are on a farm with long grass all around our yard and we get one every once in a while, but never before have we had this....um...many. We are setting snap traps. Just keep setting several at night until the snapping stops! I won't tell you how many we have cought so far. I will say that when I saw the first one, I thought he was the only one. I was wrong. :blush:

[Tammyla]

Oh brave, Liz...

 

Gag, gross out dance...:svengo:

QUOTE=Liz CA;1381014]

Buy a Live trap.

Mice will be alive & well and will have PB in their whiskers. You then have to take them on a little trip somewhere beautiful to release them. :lol:

 

 

We've got a foot+ of snow and they would freeze their little peanut butter whiskers off...or... They would just come right back in around here; or go into the neighbors.

[Impish]

Mice are one thing, rats are another.

 

Rats are far more destructive. They cost one woman I know thousands when they chewed through a water pipe :001_huh:

[AngieW in Texas]

Our first house was next to a 100 acre field that was planted in grains every year we lived there. As soon as the combines starting moving through the fields, we would get deluged with mice. I bought a full dozen of the "better mouse traps" and set them up all through my house. As long as the combines were in the field, I'd catch anywhere from 6 to a full dozen in a day. Sometimes I'd reset the same trap 4 or 5 times in a day. A couple of time, I caught a mouse just minutes after setting the trap.

 

I preferred these traps over all the others because they were reusable (lots and lots of mice, remember) and they were easy to unload.

 

I typically caught anywhere from 50-100 mice/year, but all of those would happen in 2-3 one-week time periods. The rest of the year I hardly ever caught anything.

 

My dh is allergic to cats, so we were never able to use cats for the mice. We had 3 dogs, but they were all outside.

[hornblower]

Mice will be alive & well and will have PB in their whiskers. You then have to take them on a little trip somewhere beautiful to release them. :lol:

 

You have to be diligent and fast about releasing them because they can & often will fight with each other - sometimes to death. They have quite complex social structures and having a whole bunch in there together can lead to problems.

Edited December 20, 2009 by hornblower

[Rosie_0801]

I just read in an old magazine that spraying oil of cloves around will keep them away. Even if it doesn't work, it will smell nice. That's always a positive...

 

Rosie

[Catherine]

Our three kitties, whose pride and joy is leaving yard mice and birds on the mat for us, were no help. I caught 4 in snap traps and have seen no new poo in the silverware. In the past, when time was not of the essence, I've put peppermint oil-soaked cotton balls around, at suspected entry points. It's very effective and smells nice too.

[Hedgehogs4]

get a young male cat and live traps...i.e. i agree with other posters. cats do control mice, if they have a reason to, i.e., they are young and interested in hunting. no mice could survive in our house for more than five minutes.

Edited December 20, 2009 by Hedgehogs4

[babs]

My dh is the best mouse proofer that I know! He uses a material called Great Stuff to seal up holes. You must look for gaps where the house meets the foundation. Caulk any crack that light can come through. Wish we lived closer - I would send him over to look for holes. (Even a hole just big enough for a wire to go through is big enough for mice to get through.) They can even squeeze through vents (like the ones that cover heat registers). Creepy little critters.

 

Before cleaning up droppings, spray them with a bleach solution.

 

I learned (through years at different homes) that they leave a urine trail that other mice will follow in. They are attracted to the heat they feel coming from gaps in your home - after they are in they start looking for food. I keep most things in my pantry in glass jars so we don't have to throw out so much if we find a mouse in the house.

 

I also agree with the other poster who said that your mil should understand - if she has lived long enough to be a mil, then she has had a chance encounter with one as well.

 

Snap traps work the best.

[Sarah CB]

Well, I think we may have had success! Yesterday morning we caught another mouse. This morning there were no mice in the traps and no poo anywhere! Dh filled cracks and holes outside. I'm so relieved.

 

I'd like to deter any new mice that may find their way in - does anyone know where I can buy the peppermint or clove oil?

 

I appreciate everyone's help.

[LittleIzumi]

 

I'd like to deter any new mice that may find their way in - does anyone know where I can buy the peppermint or clove oil?

 

I appreciate everyone's help.

 

Health food stores have essential oils :). I have some I could send you FFS if you want.

Edited December 21, 2009 by LittleIzumi

[OurClub190]

call your MIL and ask her for advice on how to get rid of them! I'm not crazy, do it. Here's why: (1) She'll love that you think enough of her to ask her for advice, (2) she'll be on the alert for them and not surprised if one scampers by, (3) she will become your ally and will likely arrive at your house armed with stuff to kill the buggers, and (4) it will give you two something to laugh over in years to come.

 

((((hugs)))) for courage,

Chris

[Miss Sherry]

This has worked for us every time and we live in the woods where mice and rats are abundant.

 

Buy a Live trap. It's about 8 inches long and smear peanut butter in the way back corner from the entry point.

 

Mouse waddles in and eats the PB. As soon as the mouse is inside, they cannot get out because the entry path moves upward. A new mouse can join the mouse because from the outside the path is uobstructed.

Sounds complicated but will make sense when you look at the trap.

 

Mice will be alive & well and will have PB in their whiskers. You then have to take them on a little trip somewhere beautiful to release them. :lol:

One summer, my ds and I did this every morning. We had just moved out to this rural property and we had so many mice, we lost count. It became a fun thing to check the trap every morning and see how many we had caught.

 

Okay, I would not have thought it was funny if I had had mouse droppings in my silverware drawer. Sorry!

 

 

 

Do you think maybe the same mouse was coming back for more and more PB ? LOL :lol:

[elfgivas]

You can get these at Home Hardware. They reduce the gross factor. :D

 

yup, that's what we use, with peanut butter. they're like a giant clothes pin, so i don't ever have to touch the blessed little things. this time of year, they even get into my car. (we're rural). its pretty funny watching someone new get in and see half a dozen mouse traps in the car! our cat does the indoor duty : ).

 

in the end, it is what it is. you do your best, and your mils do their best (maybe)....

 

good luck!

ann

[Joyful]

First of all, :grouphug:.

I find it frustrating to deal with mice problems too when they come up...

 

call your MIL and ask her for advice on how to get rid of them! I'm not crazy, do it. Here's why: (1) She'll love that you think enough of her to ask her for advice, (2) she'll be on the alert for them and not surprised if one scampers by, (3) she will become your ally and will likely arrive at your house armed with stuff to kill the buggers, and (4) it will give you two something to laugh over in years to come.

 

((((hugs)))) for courage,

Chris

 

DH was peeking over my shoulders as I was reading this reply, and he said, "Ooh, that's a good one. I like that suggestion." And he was serious too.

(Although, there is the risk, that if your MIL is really afraid of mice, then she might opt for not coming unless you have caught them..... I have a friend who is very, very afraid of mice. And she would be very, very uncomfortable being some place if there is even a remote possibility of one scurrying around while she is in the room.)