Mice!

[PapaPerk]

Last week my wife discovered a mouse in our basement of our three year old home in a rural area. Since then between traps and glue pads, I have trapped about 7 mice over a period of four days and it has me stressed to the max. I'm having the carpenter who built our home to come out and check it for leaks. I'm also going to have a pest control service come out and sign me up for their service. Other than this, what else can I do? Without thinking my wife had stored some birdseed in the store room to feed the birds. I got rid of that and also put the dogfood in the garage in a chew proof container. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm stressing out to the max!

Get some old fashion victor mouse traps, put cheese on them. This kills them dead. Also a good cat will kill the rest. But a cat is a big commitment. Also check for obvious entry points.

Don't stress... It's not the end of the world. All houses get mice.

 

[photogman]

The local Orkin guy wants about $588.00 for a years worth of treatment. Any thoughts?

 

[MH8675309]

A boa constrictor would probably discourage mice form coming into your house. Try not to stress too much about it. Most of us have mice at one time or other and it don't mean you're dirty.

 

[oosik]

The Orkin man's price kind of depends - - Are you & your wife going to feel good with what you are able to do? Will having a professional exterminator make you both feel better?

My take on all this - maybe living in the country just isn't you & wife's "cup of tea". If a few mice are going to cause this level of stress - - it could be a lot more pleasant in a more urban environment. Just my thoughts.

 

[jerrybob]

I agree with many.....we have two barn cats.......they kill several mice, shrews daily. Never had a critter in the house....... Get a couple of cats!!!!

 

[photogman]

Oosik, I've lived in the country before...my wife was born and raised on a farm. This is the second acreage I've lived on. We both cut wood every fall and work daily on our virgin prairie remnant, but we've both worked two jobs for over ten years so that we could afford this home and be the only occupants of our home instead of sharing it with a bunch of fur coats.

I haven't identified the type of mice yet, but if they are deer mice, the Hantavirus is serious business and I likewise consider a few mice pretty darn important. The Ebola virus doesn't make you any "more dead" than the Hantavirus.

I'm soon to be a new grandparent and so I don't have more responsibilities, I would love to not have to acquire a cat, as I'm sure they are very effective, unless of course we would either foster a cat or rent a cat. My brother rented a herd of goats in California to eat underbrush reducing the chance of fire. Then the owner would round up the goats and move them to another customer's property to do the same thing. Sounds intriguing. Thanks for the feedback fellas.

 

[dave1949]

If you care enough about the environment to appreciate a remnant of virgin prairie, then you should understand the dangers of anti-coagulant rodent poisons:
Poisons Used to Kill Rodents Have Safer Alternatives | Audubon Magazine

 

[photogman]

Don't use them and never have Dave1949. Also, I'm keenly aware of chemicals, having eaten organically since 2003. I'm a member of several different environmental organizations with The Nature Conservancy and The Iowa Heritage Foundation being my favorites. I'm also a member of The Loess Hills Audubon Society.

Thanks for pointing that out just the same. A particularly horrible example of chemical poisoning is the "dead zone" where the Mississippi pours into the Gulf of Mexico.

 

[bigtiller]

I use a "Victor Tin Cat Mouse Trap" from my nearest farm store, Orschlen. I put it outside by the garage doors. It is advertised to catch 30 at a time. I seldom catch one at a time because after the first one goes in his friends go in to see what all the excitement is. I never use any kind of bait but you can if you want to. Put it in a bucket of water to drown them.

 

[Pixguy]

You mentioned the bucket trap and I agree that it will kill any that get into your home but you still need to find the entry point.

Nice profession btw.

 

[nybirdman]

I read some where that "mice" are the biggest carrier of ticks..........not good if you have LYME disease in the area.Kill them quick.Peanut butter and traps seems to work the best for me.

 

[JerryK]

I had mice getting into my new house for about five years. Got good at trapping them under my sinks when they first came in. Each time, I would spend endless hours crawling around on hands/knees with a flashlight/mirror/etc... feeling around on the perimeter of my house foundation for entry points, filling ANYTHING that even looked like a hole with fresh mixed mortar. Cussing in bewilderment at the whole process. Finally noticed that they had put the vinyl corner pieces on my house first before they did the upper trim, and the little c_suckers were actually crawling up inside the corner piece and getting into the attic.... then down somehow into the crawl... up under the sinks/etc. Stuffed some 1/4 mesh hardware cloth up into the corners then filled the corners with low expanding window foam.... NOT A CRITTER SINCE. But, I still fight them outside, year round....... religiously.... It has not effected me mentally a bit, it has not effected me mentally a bit, it has not ..........

 

[photogman]

M

I had mice getting into my new house for about five years. Got good at trapping them under my sinks when they first came in. Each time, I would spend endless hours crawling around on hands/knees with a flashlight/mirror/etc... feeling around on the perimeter of my house foundation for entry points, filling ANYTHING that even looked like a hole with fresh mixed mortar. Cussing in bewilderment at the whole process. Finally noticed that they had put the vinyl corner pieces on my house first before they did the upper trim, and the little c_suckers were actually crawling up inside the corner piece and getting into the attic.... then down somehow into the crawl... up under the sinks/etc. Stuffed some 1/4 mesh hardware cloth up into the corners then filled the corners with low expanding window foam.... NOT A CRITTER SINCE. But, I still fight them outside, year round....... religiously.... It has not effected me mentally a bit, it has not effected me mentally a bit, it has not ..........

Jerry, I love your attitude throughout all this. I'm not there yet. After I find that magical hole, maybe then I will be able to look back and take it in stride. Right now the stage I'm at is im strapping on my .45 and my Ka-bar Companion and ready to do battle.

 

[txdon]

If you have a brick or rock house make sure all the weep holes are stuffed with copper mesh. It lets the water out and keeps the mice and insects out.

 

[JerryK]

M

Jerry, I love your attitude throughout all this. I'm not there yet. After I find that magical hole, maybe then I will be able to look back and take it in stride. Right now the stage I'm at is im strapping on my .45 and my Ka-bar Companion and ready to do battle.

[ The mice did not know who they were Fn with. I had just got thru with a twenty year battle with moles at my old acreage. And, though I finally ran defeated off the battlefield, steeled me for mice. No mice in my 40x80 barn, either.. ]

 

[RedNeckGeek]

At about three o'clock one morning I was awakened by what sounded like a machine gun in the kitchen. The noise was coming from behind and above the range hood. I took out the access panel to reach the vent pipe, pulled the pipe, and was poking around with the flashlight. Of course the noise stopped as soon as I started this, but when I spun the fan on the range hood one of the little mouse bastids came flying at my face. It was a little high and inside, but one swing with the flashlight put him right out into left field and permanently out of the game. That happened for two successive nights, but the new mice were caught above the flapper in the vent pipe and I just set it aside until morning when I could wander up to the idiot neighbor's property and let the little guy go where he can do some good . Finally I went up on the roof and pulled the weather cap off the vent pipe. I found out that the contractor had left the pipe open and anything that came under the roof tiles had a free shot down the pipe. I'd also found the remains of a little lizard in there. All it took was a piece of hardware cloth over the pipe and I haven't had any machine guns in the kitchen since. They do get up into the attic through the porch pillars, but since I started spraying with a dilute solution of peppermint oil every couple of months I haven't seen any further sign of them. I'll probably use that same peppermint spray when I start bringing pallets of firewood into the garage this winter. It smells nice and I don't have to worry about finding their little dead bodies in unwanted locations.

 

[FTG-05]

Get a cat - or two!

I've got two right now and am looking to perhaps get pair of calico sisters.

 

[tallyho8]

Just get one of these to control your mouse population. The only problem is that when you run out of mice, they start on your eggs, then chicks, then chickens, then turkeys.

 

[davrow]

The local Orkin guy wants about $588.00 for a years worth of treatment. Any thoughts?

First thought? Highway robbery.

Second thought? He's going to use poison. I don't like poison in my house, we use traps.

 

[FTG-05]

Just got two sister Calico's from one of the local shelter/rescue places. Cost was less for two kittens than for one "free" Craigslist kitten.

Pics tomorrow!