There's a mouse in my house

[PanchoHambre]

ugh i HATE mice. When I bought my house it was INFESTED with the buggers I wont go into detal but I basically had to deconstuct my stove to clean it. I dont know how people live like that.

I have finally vanqueshed them but I am afraid they will be back for spring.

Its pretty hard to seal up a 150yr old rowhouse surrounded by empty lots.

any neighborhood in this town is mouse prone though... I might try a cat except I am afaird the dog would go nuts (he's not vicious to cats but he wants to play with everything and he is huge)

Decon did not work for me I think it actually attracted them to the house they ate trays of it and didnt die (maybe its the bad tough philly street mice) The glue traps did not due much either but the snap traps did.

Anybody ever use fox urine or anything else? I need some hints,

 

[suziquzie]

I'll give you my cat, he's HUGE and could probably hold his own with the dog.
Oh, but then I may get mice!
Hmmmm.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

ugh i HATE mice. When I bought my house it was INFESTED with the buggers I wont go into detal but I basically had to deconstuct my stove to clean it. I dont know how people live like that.

I have finally vanqueshed them but I am afraid they will be back for spring.

Its pretty hard to seal up a 150yr old rowhouse surrounded by empty lots.

any neighborhood in this town is mouse prone though... I might try a cat except I am afaird the dog would go nuts (he's not vicious to cats but he wants to play with everything and he is huge)

Decon did not work for me I think it actually attracted them to the house they ate trays of it and didnt die (maybe its the bad tough philly street mice) The glue traps did not due much either but the snap traps did.

Anybody ever use fox urine or anything else? I need some hints,

I know what you mean, Pancho. My house is 85+ years old and you just can't effective seal it all up. Believe me, you don't want to try the fox urine or the coyote urine. It's dehydrated but when you get any humidity in the air, your house will smell like a zoo. Having mice is better than that smell!!! Buy some pure peppermint oil (not extract or anything like that), saturate cotton balls and place them around the house, particularly closets, pantries, in and underneath the stove and behind the fridge. Someone told me about this when I had a terrible mouse invasion and I was desperate enough to try it. It works fabulously!!!! The only problem would be if you really hate the smell of peppermint because it's very strong smelling.

 

[pacanis]

Think about how strong that smell would be for the dog then..... I don't know if that would be a problem or not though.
They make those ultrasonic sound things, too. They are supposed to be safe around dogs and cats, but you son't want to use them if you have hamsters, rabbits or some other rodent family for a pet. I hear they repel pretty good.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

Think about how strong that smell would be for the dog then..... I don't know if that would be a problem or not though.
They make those ultrasonic sound things, too. They are supposed to be safe around dogs and cats, but you son't want to use them if you have hamsters, rabbits or some other rodent family for a pet. I hear they repel pretty good.

I tried an ultra sonic thing and it didn't have any effect but perhaps a different brand would work better. The peppermint oil doesn't seem to bother the dog or the cats but the coyote urine bugged them for a day or two. (The urine bugged me for much longer!)

I'm so glad you caught your little intruder, Pacanis. I have used the snap traps and they are effective but I can't stand to deal with the "aftermath".

 

[fireweaver]

alrighty, gotta add my rodent infestation tales:

once upon a time in vet school, a buddy and i were studying at the kitchen table when we saw a large black shadow flicker across the kitchen floor. "uh, that's not a roach," i said. "no, dude," he replied, "definitely a rat." and sure enough, we found the tell-tale stash of dog kibbles behind the stove and the washer, and the occasional rat-sized dropping. the next day, my roommate and i opened the pantry to see this lord of the rodent world casually chilling on the shelf, opened bag of rotini ready to hand, with a decidedly "yeah, so?" attitude. i screamed like a girl.

people, i'm a LAB ANIMAL veterinarian. i've wrangled a gajillion rodents of all flavors. apparently, it's totally different when the buggers are in your pantry instead of the lab.

i can't recommend highly enough hiring a professional. likewise to some of you guys, i had a rather old house, complete with crawlspace under the floor and squirrel-chewed holes in the under-roof eaves. the guy showed up, did a thorough home exam, nailed up wire mesh over the outside holes and stuffed steel wool in all the interior ones, and baited the whole place, paying very particular attention to the rats' ability to drag the baits out to where my pets could eat them. and yes, when the dead animal stench fired up in the TX warmth, he came back out with a powerfully-scented lemony substance that he dripped up into the mesh-stuffed holes and in the roof. worked great, like dead rat febreeze.

poisons: generally, rodent poisons are things that prevent your blood from clotting. so they'll die from internal bleeding. rodent baits are big whomping overdoses (you want those critters to die quick), so YES if your dog or cat eats one of these animals, it can get sick-unto-death. be careful.

steel wool: absolutely, totally works great. you must stuff enough that they can't just push it out of the way, though.

ultrasonic thingy: absolutely, totally crap. works ok in a very local vicinity, as in, high frequencies don't penetrate walls, into the next room, etc. so if you just want to make sure you never *see* one, set up one in each room. rodents still in your walls, in your pantry, in your house, but not running around in the room you're sitting in.

humane disposal: the abovementioned sledgehammer (or just a regular hammer, if you're ok with hitting the head spot-on) would work well, as would guillotine-style decapitation with a set of heavy scissors or garden shears. these are both obviously not for the squeamish, and will be messy. whatever you do, go quickly but firmly, and it will be a painless exit for our uninvited guests.

but seriously, hire the pros. totally worth the $ to have them find all the little holes and fix them, and have some kind of guarantee on their service.

 

[muzzlet]

We had a mouse in the basement once. To show how truly fat and lazy my cat is, I found the droppings in THE CAT'S FOOD BOWL!!! I'm pretty sure there was a mouse newsletter going around the neighborhood saying: "Come to this house, there's a fat ole cat who will share her food with you!!"
Anyways, I used the D-Con "No See No Touch" traps. They look like plastic hockey pucks and they did the job right quick. No muss, no fuss and mousie died instantly. I know because I heard the trap snap, went downstairs, and there was not a sound coming from it. Chucked it into the trash and never had another problem.

 

[Saphellae]

NOTE - SHOW THIS STORY TO YOUR MESSY TEENS!

As a teenager my room was often messy.. like, REALLY messy. I had enough clothes to not wash for over a month, if you get my drift. And I ate in my room, too.

One day I was sitting at my desk playing a game and my cat starts running around like crazy. I freak out and realize there is a mouse living in my room, but I can't find it. The cat loses track of it and leaves.

The next day, same thing. Except the cat wouldn't keep her nose off a pile of clothes in the corner. I take it as a hint to give my room a thorough cleaning and discover the carcass of a mouse.. finally I knew that the smell wasn't from my clothes.. it was from a dead mouse... IN my clothes.

That was the worst experience ever. My room never got that messy again.

 

[pacanis]

NOTE - SHOW THIS STORY TO YOUR MESSY TEENS!

As a teenager my room was often messy.. like, REALLY messy. I had enough clothes to not wash for over a month, if you get my drift. And I ate in my room, too.

One day I was sitting at my desk playing a game and my cat starts running around like crazy. I freak out and realize there is a mouse living in my room, but I can't find it. The cat loses track of it and leaves.

The next day, same thing. Except the cat wouldn't keep her nose off a pile of clothes in the corner. I take it as a hint to give my room a thorough cleaning and discover the carcass of a mouse.. finally I knew that the smell wasn't from my clothes.. it was from a dead mouse... IN my clothes.

That was the worst experience ever. My room never got that messy again.

Soooooo....... you're saying I should stop tossing my dirty clothes under the sink with the potatoes?

 

[Fisher's Mom]

We had a mouse in the basement once. To show how truly fat and lazy my cat is, I found the droppings in THE CAT'S FOOD BOWL!!! I'm pretty sure there was a mouse newsletter going around the neighborhood saying: "Come to this house, there's a fat ole cat who will share her food with you!!"
Anyways, I used the D-Con "No See No Touch" traps. They look like plastic hockey pucks and they did the job right quick. No muss, no fuss and mousie died instantly. I know because I heard the trap snap, went downstairs, and there was not a sound coming from it. Chucked it into the trash and never had another problem.

This is too funny! But I have a very fat cat who will only catch mice when he feels like playing with them. It's funny, the best mouser I've ever had was a handicapped cat. She was a 3-legged, one-eyed cat. She was amazing and when she caught one, she would leave it on the floor in front of my bedroom door as a gift!

 

[Saphellae]

Soooooo....... you're saying I should stop tossing my dirty clothes under the sink with the potatoes?

Ick lol.. I just meant that it is a good reason to get your teenager to keep their room tidy!

 

[suziquzie]

NOTE - SHOW THIS STORY TO YOUR MESSY TEENS!

As a teenager my room was often messy.. like, REALLY messy. I had enough clothes to not wash for over a month, if you get my drift. And I ate in my room, too.

One day I was sitting at my desk playing a game and my cat starts running around like crazy. I freak out and realize there is a mouse living in my room, but I can't find it. The cat loses track of it and leaves.

The next day, same thing. Except the cat wouldn't keep her nose off a pile of clothes in the corner. I take it as a hint to give my room a thorough cleaning and discover the carcass of a mouse.. finally I knew that the smell wasn't from my clothes.. it was from a dead mouse... IN my clothes.

That was the worst experience ever. My room never got that messy again.

LOLOL!!!
I refrained from posting it cuz it was so gross, but I had that same problem!
I was 16 or so and it was in the bottom of my closet, under all the crap I would shove in there that I didn't want to deal with!
I made my brother get it out. Then I didn't have to deal with the crap either cuz I had to throw it all out.
Oh man is that the worst smell I ever smelled!!!!!
Guess what.... I don't shove crap in the bottoms of closets anymore.
I have shelves put up instead.

 

[Saphellae]

Yeah the smell is awful! I was hoping I wasn't the only one that has happened to.

 

[darlenemt08]

My sister & I haven't had any mice in our current house in the 10-1/2 yrs. we've been living here.

When we first moved out of our mom & dad's house 21 yrs. ago, we lived in a farmhouse. We had mice at the top of the basement landing where we kept the cans/glass recycle garbage can. One day, I was talking to my mom on the kitchen phone and opened the basement door when a mouse ran out in front of me. I screamed into the receiver. LOL It's a good thing she's deaf in one ear but so far, her hearing is still good in the other one. LOL My sister always set our traps. Our dad taught her how to wrap thread around the end of the thing, over the hole and then pack the hole well with peanut butter. The mouse would lick the peanut butter and eventually, he'll hit the thread and trigger the trap to snap faster. We've caught quite a few mice this way. I'd pick up the other end of the mouse trap and take it outside and called the cats. I used a pair of plyers and lifted the other end to release the mouse. We had a momma cat for awhile who'd catch mice out in the barn, garage, or somewhere outside and kill it. She'd then bring it to the porch and meow until we'd come to the door and see her with it. She'd swat away her kittens until we'd tell her she was a good kitty and then she'd pick it up and take it away to eat and feed kitties. LOL

We had mice under our kitchen sink in our next house. We caught a few mice with the traps. My sister stuffed the holes with steel wool and that stopped them until they'd find new ways of getting inside. I had a rat terrier mix during part of the 9 yrs. we lived there. He wasn't a mouser. LOL

Our current house has a well-built foundation under it. So, instead of mice, we get those dang ladybugs & boxelder bugs (we call them Democrat bugs). Our 2 elderly Papillons aren't mousers. Our almost 5-yr.-old Border Collie Papillon is a mouser 'cause he finds them at our mom & dad's house. He found one under a cement slab and started digging a hole next to it to try to get to it. Our mom & dad's Dachshund isn't a mouser. She'd rather chase squirrels with our dogs. LOL I'm very allergic to cats and so, I can't have them inside. 2 of our 3 dogs don't like cats and the third one wants to be friends with them. LOL

Darlene

 

[expatgirl]

Yeah the smell is awful! I was hoping I wasn't the only one that has happened to.

Saphellae------are you my long-lost twin daughter??? Your twin thinks that her bedroom floor is another closet shelf that holds more and is more practical..........I cleaned out her room (after I warned her that I would) and found 3 year old Easter candy and all kinds of yuck things...I'm sure that it would have been just a matter of time before wee beasties would have moved in. She had gone off to a debate camp for a week and was very happy to find a clean room------I did respect her personal items, however. She was happy, that is, until I told her that I paid myself the $50 of loose change that I found EVERYWHERE! If I have to be your maid I'm charging you. I'd like to say that it was a good lesson but she is a slob to this day.

 

[PanchoHambre]

I know what you mean, Pancho. My house is 85+ years old and you just can't effective seal it all up. Believe me, you don't want to try the fox urine or the coyote urine. It's dehydrated but when you get any humidity in the air, your house will smell like a zoo. Having mice is better than that smell!!! Buy some pure peppermint oil (not extract or anything like that), saturate cotton balls and place them around the house, particularly closets, pantries, in and underneath the stove and behind the fridge. Someone told me about this when I had a terrible mouse invasion and I was desperate enough to try it. It works fabulously!!!! The only problem would be if you really hate the smell of peppermint because it's very strong smelling.

thanks for the warning on the fox urine..... wont go there I thought it was suppossed to be oderless...

so far so good but they are about to be "in season"

peppermint will smell better than most other things in my house...lazy smoker brother and stinky drooly poop-eating dog (i love them both though)

LOL on that fat cat with droppings in the bowl That is what I am afraid of getting a useless cat.

No way to seal up my house.... there are just too many holes... hopefully when i redo the kitchen this summer and pour a slab under it that will help.... right now from what I can see there is no foundation there at all just beams sitting in dirt with a deck on top (gotta love 19th century ingenunity..the kitchen probably started out as a shed in the days before indoor plumbing and they just built around it.... what building code?)

 

[Corey123]

I found a mouse that was stuck on one of the glue traps this morning in the middle of the kitchen floor. The thing was squeking and wailing away trying to get off the trap. Went to get a plastic bag to pick up the trap.

The thing bit me! Twice!!! Grabbed some really thick rubber gloves to protect my hands and I put it in the toilet to drown it. Supposedly, rats and mice can't swim.

Trying to drown it for ten minutes, it still refused to die!!! Flushed the toilet several times after pulling its legs off the trap. Still, it refused to die!!! The tail was seen thrashing about in the hole under the water! One more flush, and it disappeared from sight.

 

[pacanis]

Geez. Poor mouse
Next time try something more humane, like putting it in one of your vaccum sealer bags and sucking the life out of it.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

That's terrible, Corey! Did it look like the one Pacanis caught?

 

[pacanis]

If he got bit twice by a mouse that looked like that, he would be drug down a hole somewhere and not telling us about it......