mouse proofing the house

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HydroSqueegee

Golden Member
Oct 27, 2005
1,709
2
71
we have mice getting in from time to time. our lot butts up against a forrest/field. garage is attached, but has no door to the inside of the house, have to go outside to the door. the garage is really bad and i know of at leat one place they can go in and plan to fix that. Inside they seem to just be in the basement, which wouldnt be so bad if our bedrooms wernt down there. I have no idea how they're getting in down there, but i suspect its the same place the baby snake came through (that was fun to find this morning and what finally prompted me to take action).
I'm eyeballing http://www.amazon.com/P3-Internation...pr_product_top but its mixed reviews. poison will go in the garage. a trap has been effective at least 2 times so far. and the 4 cats keep the ones we know of in check inside, but i dont want them there to begin with.

our record is 2 kills, 2 captures, and 2 misses with mice in the past 2 years
we're at 1 capture with snakes

i need to go around the foundation and see where they may be comming in and stuff steel wool anywhere i see and caulk around the pipes. where else could they be comming from? how can i prevent it?

Scoreboard update!
Cats: 1
Cat Assists: 2
Traps: 2
Escaped: 2

good ol cats playerd with one almost to death last night. he was just kinda twitching when i scooped him up. sometimes cats ARE worth it. :D

and the wife informed me something sounded like it was "stretching" in the outside wall in the kitchen yesterday... hmm...
 
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bignateyk

Lifer
Apr 22, 2002
11,288
7
0
I'm in the same boat as you. I just bought 5 of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Victor-M2524-E...7658452&sr=8-1

I'm gonna set them up tonight, so I'll let you know how they work out.

We just moved into a new house in the country a month ago and there are mice all over the place (mostly in the garage, but I saw one in the house too).

I'm also going to set up traps outside the foundation. My father in law uses coffee cans with a small hole cut in them and puts poison inside. This kills them before they even enter the house, and the coffee cans make them weather proof and keeps other animals from getting the poison. The mice can fit just about anywhere though. They can squeeze through a hole the size of a dime, and chew through just about anything.
 
highland145

highland145

Lifer
Oct 12, 2009
43,973
6,340
136
I have the one in your link + ratzapper. Haven't had any under the house since ~January. So far so good. We'll see what the cooler weather brings.

Read that if they can get their head in, then they're in. Quarter size hole?

Edit: Someone posted a video with a 5 gal bucket, can, dowel and some peanut butter.
 
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bignateyk

Lifer
Apr 22, 2002
11,288
7
0
highland145 said:
^^Sounds like a stinky foot problem.:D
Click to expand...


Yeah. I find the dumb bastards in the garbage cans in the garage and they can't get out. I get pissed and stomp them. I'm about to unleash and all out war on them though. I've got about 15 traps to set up, and will be getting two cats to add to the mix.

The other day I came downstairs and there was one just sitting on the steps. It didn't even try to run away. I scooped him up into a plastic container and tossed him in the trash can.

Shit's about to get real.
 
JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,600
1,005
126
Keeping one of these around has negated the need for any mouseproofing of our house.

She goes out and rids the neighborhood of mice too so she works both indoors and out.

IMG_6948.jpg
 
SamQuint

SamQuint

Golden Member
Dec 6, 2010
1,155
45
91
Be careful, I would not use rat poison when you have cats around. Mouse eats poison, cat eats mouse, cat gets sick!
 
JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,600
1,005
126
bignateyk said:
Cat's don't usually eat dead animals do they? I've only ever seen them eat things they catch.
Click to expand...

Mine kills and eats what she catches. She'll play with it for a while before killing it though.

Mice don't usually die right away after eating the poison so it is possible his cat could catch it before it dies. Another problem with poison is the mouse will go off somewhere, like inside your wall, and die then rot and stink up your house for a few weeks.
 
Oyeve

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,076
887
126
No poison, a couple of cats. When I was a teen in the early 80s I worked at a fish deli in NYC and we had to emaciated cats (25lbs each) and their job was literally to catch the mice and massive rats. No poison. Just big fat ghetto cats.
 
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HydroSqueegee

Golden Member
Oct 27, 2005
1,709
2
71
DominionSeraph said:
Four mice in 2 years is not a mouse problem. Stop being such a weenie.
Click to expand...

perhaps i have understated the mouse problem...

when i gut the basement and pulled down the old ceiling tiles, it was a constant mouse turd shower. 7 mouse nests, a dozen mummified mice and a couple live ones.
when we cleared out the old furnature, there were large caches of dog food, stored for later in different rooms upstairs. im pretty sure a couple have died in the walls already because every now and then a spot near any given wall in the basement will smell like death for a few days.

and quite frankly, i dont want any more mouse shit on my stuff. blech.
 
gsellis

gsellis

Diamond Member
Dec 4, 2003
6,061
0
0
Watch for crickets and other bugs. Mice are looking for food, but 5 in 2 years is not bad. But a line of death of a bug spray/granules can help kill an bugs they are looking for. I think it is crickets like cave crickets that are candy to them. But be careful if you have termite bait stations as doing so can interfer with them.
 
Gooberlx2

Gooberlx2

Lifer
May 4, 2001
15,381
6
91
If you get traps, get the regular old spring/neckbreaking kind.

As mentioned poison just gives the mouse the opportunity to die in your walls and rot. Glue/cage traps, despite the idea behind them, are a lot less humane when you inevitably forget about them and the mouse dies of starvation.
 
H

HydroSqueegee

Golden Member
Oct 27, 2005
1,709
2
71
Oyeve said:
No poison, a couple of cats. When I was a teen in the early 80s I worked at a fish deli in NYC and we had to emaciated cats (25lbs each) and their job was literally to catch the mice and massive rats. No poison. Just big fat ghetto cats.
Click to expand...

i think the word you're looking for is obese.

at the local stable, a barn cat lives there. fattest damn cat ive ever seen. Her only diet is mice.
 
Baked

Baked

Lifer
Dec 28, 2004
36,052
17
81
The electric ones are the bomb. My old boss had one in his office. Put PB&J in it and BAM! Mice be dead.
 
mmntech

mmntech

Lifer
Sep 20, 2007
17,501
12
0
We had a bad mouse problem in my parents house for years. One inevitably died in a basement wall. When we tore it down, we found an extensive mouse condo project inside. Lot's of poop and a strong urine smell. All that drywall, wood, and insulation had to go. Huge mess.

Turns out there were massive holes where the central beams met the foundation. So big you could put two fists through. Patched them up, no more mice. Traps and poison don't really solve the problem. They just bandaid it. The trick is patching up where they're getting in. Mice can squeeze into some very tight places.
 
MovingTarget

MovingTarget

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2003
9,002
115
106
You have already mouseproofed to the best extent possible (by deploying cats). I'd get rid of the poison though. This could be detrimental and allow dead mice to stink up the place. Use traditional mousetraps to complement the cats.
 
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