turnkey4099
Elite Member
While waiting to build our house we were living in an older house that turned out be infested with mice. It was nightmare as there were just too many holes and gaps in the house to ever get rid of them, so I ended up becoming an expert in killing them. Normally I am as much as an animal lover as possible, but when you find mice poop in your 3 year older bed, things change pretty quickly. I felt bad in the beginning, in the end I was just pissed off.
I must have killed 50 or more in the year or so we were there..
What did I learn?
1.. Peanut butter is best plain and simple.
2.. Live traps were hit and miss and in the end are alot of work. The good part of the larger ones is that once 1 goes in, more will follow.
3.. The best traps were the snap traps with the flat yellow surface that is actually sticky. These were basically were the top dog for me.
4.. Use as little peanut butter as possible, as too much feeds them most times without going off.
5.. Putting them along the wall a half an inch from the wall with the yellow slab facing the wall was key.
6.. See poop, put a trap there.
7.. Change the pb every 2 days. It needs to smell fresh.
The really sad part was that I actually had killed several of them by smacking them with my bare hands. Not a high point in my life but when you wake up hearing them in the room with you, turn on the light and they are runningfor the door. Blam!
Btw, you need to find out how they are getting in.... They did not follow someone through a door as they typically avoid contact. Start with every door and then check the sill plate all the way around the house. I did this but gave up after burning through 4 cans of sprayfoam.
I can say though, this experience made me so conscious when building our new home. A hole the size of some dime can be enough....
Spray foam doesn't work. I used it onlyi to find a hole eaten right through it.
Amazing how small a hole a mouse can use. I saw one go through a slightly wider than normal mortar seam in the concrete block basement wall
To maintain a mouse free (mostly) house in the country, I keep D-Con bait trays in the basement, closets and under the couch. Oddly, while I find the occasional deceased (and very desiccated body), I never smell anything. Last carpet clearner found one dead mouse under the couch. I sit right next to that couch every day and never smelled even a hint.
I also keep a D-Con bait tray in the car trunk and under the front seat after finding the roll of papert towels chewed up. I can do without mouse-chewed wiring.
Harry K