Mice!!!

[Paint]

When I had my dog-trainer friend over the other week, she brought two toys for my Great Danes to try out - both are hollow rubber toys that you fill with peanut butter or kibble (we used soy-nut butter & kibble), and the dog spends ages trying to get the food out. Well, I had a bit to drink and completely forgot that these toys had been left in the family room, in the dog's 'toy box'. Now my house has been invaded by mice...they certainly were not there before these toys arrived, and I can only think that the smell of the soy-nut butter attracted them into the house, as we always feed the dogs in the garage and don't leave food lying around. I have now spent the last 2 days deep cleaning everything and setting electronic zapper traps.... I have heard that mice are repelled by the smell of peppermint, so I've soaked some cotton balls in peppermint oil and put them in my kitchen cupboards and behind the sofas - does anyone have any other ideas on how to keep the mice away?

....needless to say, the dog toys are now confined to the garage & garden LOL!

Paint.

 

[middie]

get a cat !!

 

[Paint]

I'd love one Middie, but DH hates cats and my youngest daughter is allergic to them....I guess I could drug up daughter with Benadryl and borrow next-doors cats for a while....

 

[GB]

LOL you too my answer Middie

 

[middie]

great minds gb !!!

 

[PA Baker]

Take a look around the outside perimeter of your house and see if you can find any tiny holes the mice may have gotten in through. They can really flatten themselves out and squeeze in, so they don't have to be big holes (like the baseboard mouse holes in cartoons!). My dad nicked the siding on their house last summer with the weed whacker and in no time flat they had a couple mice in the house. It was enough of a gap for the mice to sneak their way in.

We've had them before, too, and the best solution we've found are mouse traps set with a little peanut butter and a piece of nut on top. THe piece of nut makes the mice work harder to get the peanut butter. With the p-butter alone, once it dries some, the mice can somehow grab the treat and run without getting trapped.

Good luck!!!

 

[kitchenelf]

Borrow a cat!

PA is the only one with any good advice for you - the rest of us are a bunch of clowns.

 

[PA Baker]

PA is the only one with any good advice for you - the rest of us are a bunch of clowns.

And that's only because I have a cat that's afraid of spiders, let alone mice! We had to learn by necessity.

Reagan, my cat, will corner a spider and then sit and cry unitl I come and kill it for him.

 

[bknox]

My experience with electronic ultrasonic mice zappers is that they do not work as well as they say. Traps are the best although you have to deal with the dead mice.

A word about poison: If you decide to poison the mice keep in mind they could make it back into a wall before dieing. This is a problem in itself.

Check pest control company web sites for organinc ways to control pests, but I still think traps and peanut butter will give you the fastest results.

Bryan

 

[In the Kitchen]

Mice

How I relate to this problem! For years I had mice wake me up at night with their constant gnawing and running around in the attic. My exhusband never heard them and when I would complain that they might chew on electric he dismissed it. I would set traps but they didn't find them they liked the attic better. Now that my ex is gone I called exterminator and he put some kind of sealed boxes that I open with a key to put the poison in. Since this has been done on regular basis I have not heard them up there. Must be taking care of them as long as I replenish the traps with poison. I cannot rest when I know that there maybe some kind of damage done to the house especially fire. Do you think firemen would be able to tell if the house burned down from mice? I don't hesitate to rectify pests now that I am alone. I do have peace. I would suggest these bait traps to help. Good luck with your attempts to stop them fast. Always some kind of challenge to get rid of pests.

 

[Alix]

I am not sure what kinds of mouse bait would be available in the US, but here in Canada we use one that after the little mousies are dead, it dries up their little bodies so they don't stink. It has warfarin in it. Um....worked well for us. I would recommend calling an exterminator for advice or help. It is worth the $ if you truly have a problem, they will set out traps that are not harmful to kids or other pets. VERY important if you have dogs. Good luck.

 

[Lugaru]

I am not sure what kinds of mouse bait would be available in the US, but here in Canada we use one that after the little mousies are dead, it dries up their little bodies so they don't stink. It has warfarin in it. Um....worked well for us. I would recommend calling an exterminator for advice or help. It is worth the $ if you truly have a problem, they will set out traps that are not harmful to kids or other pets. VERY important if you have dogs. Good luck.

I sold that poison in Mexico... it's good stuff.

Honestly I reocomend sticky traps in high places where your dog cant reach, yet mice amazingly can. I caught one on top of my fridge once.

Only problem is that mice are really smart so sometimes you need to fool them into getting stuck. One method is the "you never would of guessed" which in my case consists in putting a trap inside a closed bread bag. They chew their way in and get stuck.

The other method is chasing the furry little rodents into a trap, althought Im not sure if seeing you run after a mouse waving your chef knives around and yelling tribal noises wouldent put a scare into your loved ones as well.

 

[Paint]

My experience with electronic ultrasonic mice zappers is that they do not work as well as they say. Traps are the best although you have to deal with the dead mice.

A word about poison: If you decide to poison the mice keep in mind they could make it back into a wall before dieing. This is a problem in itself.

Check pest control company web sites for organinc ways to control pests, but I still think traps and peanut butter will give you the fastest results.

Bryan

The ones I'm using are not the ultrasonic repellants, but are actually a trap that you bait, then when the mice go in they are electrocuted and instantly killed - humanely and with no mess like the old-fashioned snapper traps or glue traps (I used snapper traps once - never again, they just upset me too much because they were so inhumane, and as I used to keep mice as pets when I was a kid, I hate having to kill them, so have to do it as humanely as possible!). I've used this type of electrocution trap in the garage (where we often have mice because of the dog food in there), for the past 2 years now, and they are very effective....a light flashes to show you've killed a mouse and need to empty the trap. We can't use poison because of the dogs - and I don't like the thought of rotting carcasses lying around the house, undiscovered!

I thought I had already sealed off every possible entry route from the garage to the house 2 years ago - but I'm going to have to search around again and try and find where they are getting in...we can't seal the garage itself because the garage doors don't quite fit at the bottom corners.

I've thought of trying the ultrasonic repellants - but, like you, don't think they would be very effective and am worried that they would drive the dogs mad too. So far the peppermint seems to be working great and I haven't seen anymore evidence of mice since I put it down