[Wugmama]

So we have mice, again, for at least the 3rd time in 4 years. They are so bad that we have seen them come out in the open in the middle of the day, and of course we have seen them several times in the evening. They are in our drawers and cupboards every night, pooping. They even got into the bottom drawer of my oven, and pooped in all my pans in there, including my stoneware pan that isn't supposed to have soap used on it - yuck, I just want to throw it out but it was expensive.

Four years ago I ordered a live trap off of ebay. We caught 5 mice and released them at a park with a pond about 2 blocks away. I was pg at the time and getting really, really tired of taking all my dishes, silverware, pots and pans out and disinfecting all of the cupboards and drawers. We finally broke down and got the poison. It is the kind that is supposed to make it so when they die they won't smell inside your walls.

I already feel horrible about this. Now, I just heard from my dh, who works from home, that there is a mice dying in plain sight on our stairs (inside the house). It is still alive, obviously not well from being poisoned, apparently unable to move. I feel sick and sad and guilty, don't know what I'm supposed to do. I feel a lot less freaked out about the mice than when we first moved in and am less afraid of getting a disease. But still, I have 3 small children. I saw my 18 month old get down on her hands and knees and lick my kitchen floor the other day when she spilled some juice. I can't let the infestation go. I don't want them to suffer, I just want them out of my house!

One night there was a fairly small one that kept running back and forth, not making it into the kitchen where they usually go. I started thinking it was a baby, looking for it's mama to nurse, but the mama was dead because I poisoned it, so I was sitting there crying. Yeah, high hormones here I guess, I have two nurslings myself. I've got to get a grip.

Did I mention our house is on the market?

:

Tracy

 

[tinyblackdot]

What about getting a cat?

We had a rat once, and i fought and fought with DH about killing it....but finally we did. I broke my heart......so sorry mama!

 

[tracymom1]

How about getting or borrowing a cat? When I lived on a farm, mice and shrews were just a part of the deal, but the cats we had really kept their population under control.

 

[jeliphish]

Oh god that would break my heart too....
BUT you have to do what you need to do. Mice (and I enjoy mice) do carry disease that is risky to your children and you, especially in situations of an infestation like yours. Selling your house is important right now, right? It's okay to be sad, but you have to think with your brain about this and not your heart. I am definitly the pot calling the kettle black, but you have to take care of this problem. If you can find a more humane way of taking care of them then do so, but if you can't the poison is the only option. I would do the traps though instead of the poison....I think it's rather short and painless whereas the poison can take some time.

 

[rhiandmoi]

Other than a cat, you need to find how they are getting into your house and eliminate hiding spots. I personally would hire a PCA to come do a site inspection, but you can look for any place where trees hang over on to your roof, wood or other items are stacked up against the house, any open crawlspace vents that are unscreened, etc. Once you feel like you have a good handle on the entry points, I would clear away at least a 5 ft perimeter around your house, and place traps, either live or spring traps baited with peanut butter around the perimeter. Then I would take a live trap heavily baited with peanut butter and put it in the kitchen every night.

Another reason not to do poison is that it can affect the food chain if the mouse gets out and gets eaten by a predator.

 

[Wugmama]

We had a cat when we first moved in, but it wasn't a mouser. We had gotten him as an adult from the humane society and he as already declawed (we wouldn't have declawed him). My oldest has pretty bad asthma that is affected by a cat allergy (which is why we had to find the other one a good home).

I don't know about the traps being more humane - I thought I'd heard bad stories about them as well...

Thanks for the support, I do appreciate it.
Tracy

 

[oneKnight]

You don't want the sticky glue traps, that's a terrible way to die.

I consider the spring loaded snap traps pretty humane becaue they usually cause a quick or near instant death. Occasionally they can get a foot or tail and that's really bad, but when they work like they're supposed to they are humane enough for me.

I only use a poison as a secondary line of offense, if I can't seem to lure them out with a trap first.

 

[JamieCatheryn]

Some dogs are good for mice too, rat terriers for example. And even predator pets that aren't actually any good and hunting deter rodents from coming in anyway for fear of them.

 

[Freefromitall]

ITA, get the spring loaded traps. The death is a lot quicker, if not instant, because it breaks their neck. It's not pretty, but imho, it's more humane than glue traps, and not as dangerous for the LOs as poison (we also have pets, so poison is very out for us)
And I've seen ones where they don't have wires, they are easier to set and they reduce the GROSS factor of disposal.

Here, I mean something like this: http://www.victorpest.com/store/rodent-control/B130-2
And I've seen them at just about every home depot/hardware store

 

[karne]

We are seeing our fair share these days as well. I'm fairly tolerant because we live in a big old farmhouse in the country, so mice are hard to avoid. But, we saw one coming up through the gas grate on my stove and that was it for me! We've caught 5 so far, meaning there are probably many, many more. We've used the humane traps, but I will do the poison if I need to. That's just too gross for me.

 

[anewmama]

We recently bought a small house in the country and apparently the previous tenants did not mind sharing the space with mice. I minded though! I stopped wanting to go up there (it's a weekend/vacation place) and finally realized why. So I send DH up there to mice proof the place. He did a fantastic job. There are no more mice. If you don't want to use traps or poison, this is what you have to do:

Get small screen, duct tape and paper and basically you need to stuff every single place they could come in. DH put metal screen under the vent covers, he nailed screening around the pipes that come in to the toilets, he stapled screens around any door crack, etc. It's actually not as hard as it sounds as there really are only so many places mice are coming in. If you have a vent in a cupboard over the stove, be sure to seal that off.

From a friend of DH who works with pest prevention, the ONLY way to really deal with the problem is to block HOW they are getting in. We tried traps and it worked but it did not eliminate the problem. Finally, after he worked to seal everything, they are completely gone.

I REALLY recommend you go after your house this way. of course, once you seal it, you will need to trap the once stuck inside the house if they nested inside.

 

[onelilguysmommy]

yeh i sat and cried thinking that, too

i used to get sticky ones let them go by a park, thats the ONLY way i could catch them after trying a couple of months for other ways and catching two but seeing many more and couldnt just keep tryiong after waking up with them in my bed etc.

 

[Alana]

I love mice, used to have them as pets. But I draw the line at uninvited guests in my house. We live in an old farm house and get field mice. We have 2 cats that are fabulous mousers, and without hesitation I use the spring loaded traps. Yes, they are cute, and yes Im killing them....but they got into my cupboard and pooped on my dishes. If they were smart, they would have stayed in the creepy basement I refuse to go into.

Any sad thought I have I replace it with thoughts of the diseases they carry, and that helps me be heartless....my cats are naturally heartless though. j

 

[MamaMonica]

We have mice, too and they've managed to steal the bait (cheese) from the traps. I can't use peanut butter (allergy) so need to find another sticky bait they can't steal.

I'm going to try looking for how they're getting in and blocking the entrances because we keep getting more

:

I feel your mouse pain!

 

[oneKnight]

mamamonica ~ I've heard that they really like Avacados.

 

[MamaMonica]

Thanks!

I'll try that.

 

[2bluefish]

I broke down and used poison too this year. They were chewing through bags of feed in my feed room! I cleaned the room really well - sooooo many mouse terds - yuck! And got some big barrels to put my feed bags in. And put out the poison. Never did figure out where they went to die. But after day one - one whole block of poison was GONE. After a week, I didn't see any more mouse activity. Gosh, I would be pretty distressed to see them dying too. But the poison is effective for when something has to be done.

 

[elsie]

You can also get a snake - they are rather effective against mice and not nearly as disease infested.

 

[confustication]

I felt terrible about killing the poor little mousies- I think they're cute and I can't even stand killing bugs most of the time as I really think they have as much right to exist as I do.... HOWEVER....

Mice can carry terrible diseases. Particularly where I live hantavirus is a very real risk, so to protect my family, the mice must GO.

I do keep all our food in tupperware etc to keep it safe.

If I find any suceptible opening, I fill it with steel wool (this works really well and is cheap!)

We have two cats. It's a nice thought, but if you remember any of the Garfield comics with his watching the mouse- yeah, that's what my cats do- they're old and lazy these days. Still every once in a while they'll find one and leave it decapitated as a present. Gee thanks, good kitty, please don't leave that where I'll step on it.

Ultimately though, I don't like the poison idea, so I go with traps if there is a problem. I load them with peanut butter or something tasty and put them near the problem area. They are usually effective, and I consider them as humane as it can be- if you have to kill something. Death is pretty much instant, and while they can be messy (I haven't tried the newer ones, just the old wire, and I actually set them out on a paper towel so if it was a really bad mess I just chucked the whole thing) it's effective and efficient.

I have a responsibility to keep my family safe, even when that means doing something I don't like.

 

[SequoiasMom]

I just want to say that we recently went through this with rats in our attic and walls. The traps don't work! The rats are smart and become trap shy. You might catch a few, but you will not get rid of the infestation.
The company uses a tube system, where the tubes are baited with non poisonous food and lined with a powder.
When they leave your house and go back to their nest (hopefully it is not in your house), they clean themselves and ingest the powder and die.
This is better than poison bait because the bait kills them quickly and they end up dying in your house and walls.
After the tubes stop getting "hit", then there is very little to no activity in the house, the company seals the house and makes sure there is no way for the animals to get in.
It worked wonders for us. It was more expensive than the trapping companies, but it wORKED!
I think you *could* do this method yourself, you would just need to be very diligent and careful.
Good luck!