[kdmama33]

I have mice. I haven't seen them, and they haven't touched any of my food yet, but I've found droppings under the sink and on the bottom shelf of the pantry. Weird to me that there are droppings in the pantry, but no evidence of them eating any of the food; I want to act before they decide to start chowing down. I haven't even pulled out my stove or fridge yet for fear what I will find behind them.

I've tried the bait, spring-loaded traps, but no luck. They just eat the food (cheese spread, peanut butter) and go about their merry. I'm not fond of the idea of leaving out poison, as I don't want to be smelling dead meeces in the walls, or in other places where I can't find them and dispose of them. So how do I get rid of mice without calling an exterminator and turning my house into chemical central?

I've read a few old threads in which people recommend stuffing holes with steel wool, so I bought some of that this morning and will brave behind the stove, fridge, dishwasher and such tonight. I also read that peppermint works to deter them. Does it really??? I want these little UAVs gone before they multiply and get out of control! Help!

 

[Turquesa]

Do the preventative measures for sure, although also realize that they won't get rid of the little darlings that already made it in.

I have a dog and a toddler, so spring traps and poison were both out of the question. The glue traps are extremely inhumane, even with the so-called "humane release" option. The mouse either dehydrates to death or yanks off huge chunks of fur and skin while trying to get off.

I finally went with one from PETA. Even if you're not an animal rights person, the trap is very effective and not at all dangerous to the family. I put a glob of peanut butter at the very end on the inside. Mice like to run along walls, so I position it accordingly. I've caught a total of 6 (indoors and out) since I bought mine 3 years ago. You may need more than one . . .

I haven't tried the ultrasonic plug-ins, but supposedly they send mice scurrying out of your house. Hardware stores usually sell them.

 

[WildIris]

Borrow a cat?

 

[34me]

Our personal record was 7 caught in 2 days. We used a have a heart trap. Then, when we discovered the snakes in our back yard we make it as friendly to them as possible. Haven't had any since.

 

[fioner]

I wish I had snakes in my backyard. I also have a mouse that has been under my sink, but has caused no real damage other than pooping all over my cleaning supplies and apparently eating part of a votive candle. I actually have a cat who is obviously not doing his job, and I'm considering firing him.

 

[ChetMC]

We've tried lots of stuff, and have only had luck with rat poison. We've used it and so have our neighbours. We live in attached housing. The walls are built of hollow cast blocks. It's mouse heaven.

Rat poison makes mice desperately thirsty. They should come out of the walls and floors looking for water right before they die. When we or our neighbhours have put out poison we always found the dead mouse out in the open, often in the bathroom... though one turned up near the laundry room sink.

I wanted to use traps, preferable something that would kill the mouse quickly, but the mice just wouldn't go for it.

And for some reason, dead mice really liked to turn up on days when the public health was coming to weigh a baby. This happened with DD #1 and DS both!

 

[wendinbill]

We have this problem every fall. We are surrounded by fields. We have cats, so poison isn't an option. Thankfully 2 of the cats catch the mice. One kills them, the other keeps them as a pet.

Before cats we've always had luck with traps, the spring kind. Good luck!

 

[Turquesa]

I forgot to say that somebody in another thread once advised setting up a box outside to attract barn owls. They live on a diet of mice and can gobble them up before they get close to your house.

 

[MsHiss]

I'm having the same problem. My lazy cats are useless! I just read that Borax can get rid of them, they don't like it and avoid it. I'm going to try putting some around where I've seen mousy signs and see how it goes.

 

[Peony]

Look for the mouse traps with the fake scented cheese, our mice here have always LOVED them. Catches them every time when everything else just has not worked for us. They can be hard to find, only one store in my entire area carries them, so I stock up once a year.

 

[mudmama]

We use sticky traps, Works good in my jeep too. yes, they get my jeep. In our garage though we use an invention of my dh and you are all welcome to build this ingenius contraption yourselves... It's a 5 gallon bucket of water filled 1/2 full. A tin can (like a soda pop can) with a wire strung through and hung across the top of the bucket. A ramp of some sorts for the little critter to climb up, want a drink of that water or a taste of that peanut butter you put on the can; the cute, poor, dumb little thing tries really damn hard to get on that tin can. Once it does, he's drowning in that water below. Never fails. Catch em all the time in our garage.

 

[hippie_mommy]

We've been having issues with mice, and our local authorities really encourage us to, uh, eliminate them due to hantavirus concerns. We have had good success with spring traps. We bought the fake cheese ones, and we only caught our neighbor's cat (it was fine - just spooked out). Peanut butter works like a charm though. There's no way they could get the pb and not get trapped.

We have at least 3 snakes (1 bull, 2 garter) in our yard, and now the mice are trying to move into our garage. I think our snakes are over-fed by mice because our yard backs to an open space that is full of wildlife. I'm sure they're eating some, but obviously not enough mice.

 

[BaBaBa]

Cat!

They deter and (hopefully) kill.