getting rid of mice

[evident]

i've recently discovered that i have mice coming and going from underneath my fridge and oven. there is a small spacebetween the sheet rock and the concrete firewall between me and my neighbor (townhouse) and they seem to be running along that wall. behind the fridge there's a little hole where the can get access to the main area of the kitchen. that i can easily seal up w/ great stuff foam.

behind the oven however there is a bigger area which i need to seal up, would it be safe for me to seal up that entire area w/ great stuff as well? I dont really want mice carcasses behind the drywall but there's no other entry point into my actual house... not really sure what to do here.

i wish i could explain better, but i may just post pics when i get home.

These MFer's just started showing up during the heatwave. I caught two mice with a mousetrap, one was a bigger brown one with a white underside and the second one was a little gray mouse. I thought that was the end of it but i saw mouse droppings this morning as i was heading out to work.

and tomcat brand mousetraps are horrible. they are good if you like fattening up mice w/ peanut butter. I got victor brand traps from the local hardware store and they work right away.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

Gluetraps!!!! for every mouse you see there are 50 pregnant ones you dont see. gluetraps are the only traps that can trap more than one mouse at a time. they are mean and cruel but so is crapping and pissing all over your house and and eating your food. i live in a very expensive building in downtown san francisco and we had mice last year and it made living here very unpleasant. it was so awful that i moved out for a month while they exterminated and the building disinfected. do something quickly, they can breed and do a lot of disgusting permanent damage very quickly. they like to nest in couches, i had to throw mine out and get new ones because of the crap and piss. and talk to your neighbors about putting traps in their place as well, there is no way you can keep mice out of your place if they are living in the adjoining residence. my condo was reasonably clean (no food left out) and i couldnt get rid of the mice just by putting traps in my place, they would sneak in from the other units through the heaters and they were hard to trap because they werent hungry since they were well fed. we ended up having to get a professional exterminator

 

[NetGuySC]

The summer of 2000 I bought my house. The following winter I caught at least 11 mice. I then bought about 10 of those electronic repellers, put them throughout my house and haven't seen a mouse or seen evidence of a mouse in my house since that winter ended. I think it helps with roaches also for I haven't had any since. I do not have any type of pest plan with a pest control company, only a termite plan.
My mom saw these exact results st her house in the country.
It will not immediately remove what is in your house, but seems tp keep any others out.
I know online they say these electronic repellers are a scam, but these are my results.

 

[highland145]

Agree. Tomcat traps suck. Glue traps and a BB gun, FTW. Just keep trapping until they're gone. NO POISON. Dead in the wall smell really sucks. When you think you've got them, try and block their access.

I like my rat zapper from amazon.

 

[Texashiker]

Why do you want to get rid of the mice? They help keep the cats away.

If you use a glue strip, tie it to something heavy. I use my knife to poke a hole in the corner, then tie the strip to a door knob or something that will not move.

Last year I put a couple of glue strips up at the deer camp. One of the mice drug the strip out of the pantry. I found it several months later under the living room couch. From then on, I use something like trotline string to tie the strips to something.

 

[her209]

Get a cat?

 

[evident]

Get a cat?

i have two kittens. they sit next to the fridge and oven all the time during the day. unfortunately they also like to come upstairs and cuddle with us when we sleep, and normally the mice droppings show up overnight.

 

[HomerJS]

I had 2 mice a few years ago. All the fancy traps didn't work. They walked on the glue traps and just left foot prints.

Did 2 things. Wend to old fashioned Victor wood traps w/peanut butter bait.

Check the perimeter of your house. Any small hole the mice can get in. I had a small opening where the A/C line from condenser went into basement. sealed up w/canned foam that hardens

 

[lxskllr]

I had 2 mice a few years ago. All the fancy traps didn't work. They walked on the glue traps and just left foot prints.

Did 2 things. Wend to old fashioned Victor wood traps w/peanut butter bait.

Check the perimeter of your house. Any small hole the mice can get in. I had a small opening where the A/C line from condenser went into basement. sealed up w/canned foam that hardens

^^^

Glue traps are lame. Don't torture animals because you didn't secure your property. They're doing what they're supposed to be doing, and you need to prevent that in the first place. Find where they're getting in, and fix it. I'd use steel wool, and expanding foam to plug the holes. Trapping them without fixing the cause won't accomplish anything.

 

[Numenorean]

Nuke them from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

 

[Zargon]

Agree. Tomcat traps suck. Glue traps and a BB gun, FTW. Just keep trapping until they're gone. NO POISON. Dead in the wall smell really sucks. When you think you've got them, try and block their access.

I like my rat zapper from amazon.

the rat zapper rocks.

it also works on small rabbits and ground squirrels

 

[highland145]

the rat zapper rocks.

it also works on small rabbits and ground squirrels

Well, they are tree rats.

 

[nageov3t]

The summer of 2000 I bought my house. The following winter I caught at least 11 mice. I then bought about 10 of those electronic repellers, put them throughout my house and haven't seen a mouse or seen evidence of a mouse in my house since that winter ended. I think it helps with roaches also for I haven't had any since. I do not have any type of pest plan with a pest control company, only a termite plan.
My mom saw these exact results st her house in the country.
It will not immediately remove what is in your house, but seems tp keep any others out.
I know online they say these electronic repellers are a scam, but these are my results.

I always assumed those things were snake oil.

in my old apartment, I had at least one mouse. I never saw it, but one day, coming back home after being gone all weekend, a hole had been chewed through a bag of bread I had on my kitchen table and a big chunk was missing from the loaf.

my landlord was really sucky about that kinda stuff, so I ended up soaking cotton balls in peppermint oil and putting them near any possible point of entry.

never had the problem again, and my kitchen always smelled like Christmas

 

[Zargon]

Well, they are tree rats.

yup!

 

[BergeLSU]

my landlord was really sucky about that kinda stuff, so I ended up soaking cotton balls in peppermint oil and putting them near any possible point of entry.

This solved my mouse problem, but if you have any pets, I think the smell would drive them crazy too.

 

[Zargon]

ants also hate mint, its a neurotoxin for them

 

[IGBT]

if you can stay out of it's way..rattle snakes are monster rodent killers.

 

[darkxshade]

Get an air conditioner?

 

[SunnyD]

Get an air conditioner?

Damn, I came here to say this. Also, turn your air conditioner around. :thumbsup:

 

[rudder]

I had 2 mice a few years ago. All the fancy traps didn't work. They walked on the glue traps and just left foot prints.

Did 2 things. Wend to old fashioned Victor wood traps w/peanut butter bait.

Check the perimeter of your house. Any small hole the mice can get in. I had a small opening where the A/C line from condenser went into basement. sealed up w/canned foam that hardens

I find that many of the mice are too light to set off the old wood traps. I have too many instances of peanut butter being eaten off the trap. Lowes has some good traps that are a more expensive but they are very sensitive.

And good luck sealing up the house... it is a losing battle. It was the worse when I lived next to a corn field and after harvest the mice would flood the house. A couple of times they got zapped in the dryer. little fuckers. But no more corn field but I do get 4-6 mice a year still.

My dumb dog will sit and watch the kitchen for hours... but the wood floor is slick and he can't get traction fast enough to catch a mouse. When I see him watching the kitchen.. that is when the traps go out.

 

[highland145]

My dumb dog will sit and watch the kitchen for hours... but the wood floor is slick and he can't get traction fast enough to catch a mouse. When I see him watching the kitchen.. that is when the traps go out.

Well, he's still doing his job. "Yo, Boss. Mice in the kitchen."

 

[vshah]

Get an air conditioner?

this. scatter a few around the apartment for a few days. Then, post for sale on craigslist. Don't mention the mouse aspect in the CL posting.

 

[randay]

somewhere out there beneath evidents oven...

 

[lxskllr]

I find that many of the mice are too light to set off the old wood traps. I have too many instances of peanut butter being eaten off the trap. Lowes has some good traps that are a more expensive but they are very sensitive.

It's easy to adjust the sensitivity on the wooden traps. You can make it so a strong breath sets the trap off.

 

[kage69]

I have two words for you: Maine my excellent compatriot.