Mouse in the house

[Tomtint]

So we have a mouse..probably more than 1 .. In our attic. The house is about 12 years old and built very well .. very tight. Insulation is all foam.. walls roof etc. I have no idea how they are getting in so I can't block their entry. They haven't gotten in the rest of the house or in our
basement..only the attic. Anyone have advice where to look at how they are getting in ?

 

[Eagle1]

An adolescent mouse can fit its body through a hole that is the size of a pen. An adult mouse can fit through a hole the size of a dime. If there is a gap in your foundation, or a space around your gas pipes that is the size of a nickel, you will definitely be sharing your breakfast with a mouse.
Those young mice will get in and sometimes can't leave days later. If a pencil will fit in the gap so will a young mouse.
Good luck.

 

[Yander]

Pitch some bait packs in the attic. As for keeping them out, good luck. If they want in they chew their way in.

Outdoor cat will keep them in check. Also, if they are in your attic, they can go anywhere in your house.

Not trying to be a downer but have had a lot of experience with mice and rat issues over the years.

First house was a 1890 farmhouse and we fought rats for 9 years because the farmer next door kept his feed in open water troughs.

 

[RSKY]

We use TomCat brand blocks. When the mice eat that stuff they dry up and die. You will find the dehydrated body and there is no smell. Had a full grown raccoon get locked in my shop for a couple weeks and it apparently chewed into a bag of that stuff and ate several blocks. We never smelled it and found the dried up hulk when we got back.

RSKY

 

[oosik]

Mice and chipmunks. An ongoing problem here. I rarely get a mouse in the house but it's always because I leave the porch door open too long.

Like the occasional bat in the house. Chase the mouse/bat around long enough - it will find the open door and make his escape. I've never had a 'munk in the house.

I keep the hoods open on all my vehicles. Mice/chipmunks do not like these open spaces and will stay out of the engine compartment.

The chipmunks take great pleasure running back/forth on the front porch. Drives the dog crazy as he watches them thru the glass porch door.

 

[2manyrocks]

Bait blocks work well provided you don't have pets that can get to them or eat the mice that have been poisoned.

 

[Jstpssng]

Bait blocks work well provided you don't have pets that can get to them or eat the mice that have been poisoned.

This is why I don't use bait.

 

[dodge man]

We have them also, if you live in the country they are always a problem, all you can do is control them. We have a cat so in the house we use sticky traps. In my outbuildings I use the bait blocks.

 

[Alan W.]

Had a rodent scare myself this week. Came in to fix a sandwich for lunch and the bread sack had a hole chewed in it plus the hotdog buns did also.
Crap I havent had a mouse in this house since I built it in 98. Well all things must come to an end so I immediately started putting together my list of supplies needed.
Traps, snap and sticky paper. Bait, and number 9 shot shells. You know just in case.
While I was eating my can of soup my brain started thinking. There was no rodent droppings. The holes in the sacks had been tore out in one go not slowly chewed out.
Then I remembered that my wife always gave Goldie, one of our cats, bread because she loved it. And guess who was suppose to be in the basement while I was mowing.
I was relieved. My wife not so much. Apparently Goldie had been pilfering in the whole house while I was mowing.
Still rodent free

 

[camshawn]

We fight them several times a year and sometimes a rat as well. I have found spring traps with peanut butter, real butter, almond butter all work. I try them all and depends upon the mouse. Some have a taste for one but not the others. The rats mostly had lead poisoning but the bait did get a few. Dam neighbours had rats in their compost and now they are everywhere around. One makes it up here every few months.