OT: Mice problem

[Fk_Pitt]

We noticed a couple droppings, nothing major, 2 nights ago in our pantry/laundry off our kitchen. I went out and bought some traps and in 48 hours have caught 7 mice. This has reached the level of disturbing and disgusting. I have a small hole in the floor by my dryer’s gas line that they must be coming up through…which means they are in my basement ceiling. I don’t see any exterior access points so not sure how they got in but I’m sure it’s not difficult for them with opening garage doors, etc.

Anyone ever have a similar problem or experience? Weird that we see a couple droppings and then killed 7 mice almost instantly. Hoping it’s only a mom, dad, and one litter and nothing more.

 

[CaptainMurphy]

I had something similar last year. Put down one of those traps that electrocute the mouse and caught 4 in 4 days. Haven’t seen one since. I just assume if I see one mouse there are at least 3-4 more in my house.

They tend to get into my house with the change of seasons. Found a few potential entry points and sealed them up. But I figure they’ll always be able to find a way in if they really want to.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

I had something similar last year. Put down one of those traps that electrocute the mouse and caught 4 in 4 days. Haven’t seen one since. I just assume if I see one mouse there are at least 3-4 more in my house.

They tend to get into my house with the change of seasons. Found a few potential entry points and sealed them up. But I figure they’ll always be able to find a way in if they really want to.

Thanks. Someone told me that a litter can be approx 6 mice…so maybe I had approx 8 at minimum. I hope they weren’t here any longer for there to be potential multiple litters.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

We noticed a couple droppings, nothing major, 2 nights ago in our pantry/laundry off our kitchen. I went out and bought some traps and in 48 hours have caught 7 mice. This has reached the level of disturbing and disgusting. I have a small hole in the floor by my dryer’s gas line that they must be coming up through…which means they are in my basement ceiling. I don’t see any exterior access points so not sure how they got in but I’m sure it’s not difficult for them with opening garage doors, etc.

Anyone ever have a similar problem or experience? Weird that we see a couple droppings and then killed 7 mice almost instantly. Hoping it’s only a mom, dad, and one litter and nothing more.

We had an exterminator (for another issue) tell us that regarding mice, there's no way to keep them from coming in. You can only treat the problem (ie killing them).

 

[PittPharm2002]

We noticed a couple droppings, nothing major, 2 nights ago in our pantry/laundry off our kitchen. I went out and bought some traps and in 48 hours have caught 7 mice. This has reached the level of disturbing and disgusting. I have a small hole in the floor by my dryer’s gas line that they must be coming up through…which means they are in my basement ceiling. I don’t see any exterior access points so not sure how they got in but I’m sure it’s not difficult for them with opening garage doors, etc.

Anyone ever have a similar problem or experience? Weird that we see a couple droppings and then killed 7 mice almost instantly. Hoping it’s only a mom, dad, and one litter and nothing more.

Stuff steel wool in the holes
They won’t chew threw it
Happens when the weather gets cold


spoken as a guy with a 100+ year old house

 

[PittPharm2002]

We had an exterminator (for another issue) tell us that regarding mice, there's no way to keep them from coming in. You can only treat the problem (ie killing them).

They only need a dime size entry point -
They come from the outside - you won’t kill yourself to a solution.

Mostly they will come through pipe opening.

We put some of these in our basement , which helps too

Amazon.com

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

I had some a few years ago. Good advice already given but scrutinize the outside of your house. Plug any openings the best you can. Expanding foam in a spray can could help.

Leave the traps around for a while even if you don’t get anything for a couple days. Leave some on every floor. You probably know but just perimeters is sufficient.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Stuff steel wool in the holes
They won’t chew threw it
Happens when the weather gets cold


spoken as a guy with a 100+ year old house

Yeah that was my original thought but steel wool is flammable so I’ll have to do something else around my dryer vent. Although it doesn’t appear they are coming through there. It appears they are coming into the pantry from inside my basement ceiling via the gas line through the floor and into the pantry. I don’t want to plug it right? I want them coming out so I can kill them.

 

[upj87]

We noticed a couple droppings, nothing major, 2 nights ago in our pantry/laundry off our kitchen. I went out and bought some traps and in 48 hours have caught 7 mice. This has reached the level of disturbing and disgusting. I have a small hole in the floor by my dryer’s gas line that they must be coming up through…which means they are in my basement ceiling. I don’t see any exterior access points so not sure how they got in but I’m sure it’s not difficult for them with opening garage doors, etc.

Anyone ever have a similar problem or experience? Weird that we see a couple droppings and then killed 7 mice almost instantly. Hoping it’s only a mom, dad, and one litter and nothing more.

hmm, depending upon where you live there is another side problem that we had in our first house. Once the mice get in snakes love those tasty little morsels. Wives just love waking up to 5 foot black snakes meandering around the family room. You really have to check for outside openings and the tiniest of holes. Eventually we got new siding/gutters and those guys did a great job of sealing things up and we never had the problem again. If all else fails, give Larry, Daryll and Daryll a call...

 

[CaptainMurphy]

I use copper wool instead of steel wool to plug holes given apparently it is more difficult for mice to chew through and it won’t rust.

 

[wbrpanther]

We noticed a couple droppings, nothing major, 2 nights ago in our pantry/laundry off our kitchen. I went out and bought some traps and in 48 hours have caught 7 mice. This has reached the level of disturbing and disgusting. I have a small hole in the floor by my dryer’s gas line that they must be coming up through…which means they are in my basement ceiling. I don’t see any exterior access points so not sure how they got in but I’m sure it’s not difficult for them with opening garage doors, etc.

Anyone ever have a similar problem or experience? Weird that we see a couple droppings and then killed 7 mice almost instantly. Hoping it’s only a mom, dad, and one litter and nothing more.

Don't overthink it. Mice can get in your house in various ways. Last year I caught 7 or 8 in the same place on the same trap. This winter I haven't noticed any droppings. Just don't panic over it. Usually they are just a pain in the ass nuisance.

 

[CaptainMurphy]

Don't overthink it. Mice can get in your house in various ways. Last year I caught 7 or 8 in the same place on the same trap. This winter I haven't noticed any droppings. Just don't panic over it. Usually they are just a pain in the ass nuisance.

Yep. They aren’t a sign your house is a pigsty or that your walls are full of them. But you’ve got to get a handle on it early.

And forget about live traps. The same ones will just keep coming back unless you take them very far away. I don’t like killing anything but the electric shock traps are quick and zero chance of suffering.

 

[Pitt1975]

You can put poison bait boxes around the exterior of your foundation. Really helped….

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Yep. They aren’t a sign your house is a pigsty or that your walls are full of them. But you’ve got to get a handle on it early.

And forget about live traps. The same ones will just keep coming back unless you take them very far away. I don’t like killing anything but the electric shock traps are quick and zero chance of suffering.

Eh, I would go live traps and try to relocate them. Then again, as evidenced by the meat industry - people don't care what happens to animals. My only hope is some universe-driven karma in the afterlife where the roles are reversed.

 

[upj87]

Eh, I would go live traps and try to relocate them. Then again, as evidenced by the meat industry - people don't care what happens to animals. My only hope is some universe-driven karma in the afterlife where the roles are reversed.

you serious Clark? Seems to me not many of these cute disease carrying vermin die of old age and the quick snap of instantaneous death from a mousetrap is favorable to their fate in the wild...

to paraphrase the great Tom Petty...
You got lucky, mouse
You got lucky, mouse
When I found you

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

You can put poison bait boxes around the exterior of your foundation. Really helped….

It’ll also help kill chipmunks and other wildlife. They go off to die and something eats the bodies.

Sometimes poison is necessary but it should really be a last resort.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

They only need a dime size entry point -
They come from the outside - you won’t kill yourself to a solution.

Mostly they will come through pipe opening.

We put some of these in our basement , which helps too

Amazon.com

Which is why the exterminator basically said its a waste to hire someone for that. An exterminator can look for cracks on the outside but come on, they arent going to find them all unless you get lucky. Homes are going to have mice. You just hope they arent in the living areas. Perhaps you can kill yourself to a solution in that living area but they'll be other places.

 

[pittdan77]

Living out here in god's country, many of our neighbors pretend to be farmers along with the real ones. That means a guy here with a couple of beef cows and a guy there with a couple horses, and of course, it seems like everyone has a chicken or two. Don't care how may animals you have, if you put feed down, you have rodents. The worst are those big "field rats" that we get.

Amazing what some cats will do to improve that situation. I feed a bunch in my garage and have a few inside. Burrowing animals are not an issue. The groundhogs won't even come close to my house. The don't seem to bother with opossums and skunks but everything else seems to be fair game.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

you serious Clark? Seems to me not many of these cute disease carrying vermin die of old age and the quick snap of instantaneous death from a mousetrap is favorable to their fate in the wild...

to paraphrase the great Tom Petty...
You got lucky, mouse
You got lucky, mouse
When I found you

I could say the same for people.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Might be nothing more than a nuisance but the thought of nests and droppings throughout my walls and ceilings creep me out. Not to mention if any die in there and start to smell.

 

[USN_Panther]

Might be nothing more than a nuisance but the thought of nests and droppings throughout my walls and ceilings creep me out. Not to mention if any die in there and start to smell.

The newer chemical solutions contain a dessicating agent that dries them out. They mainly leave to find water and die outside. But the agent dries the carcass quickly so the smell is only around a few days.
Rats will take the bait back to their nest and kill the whole family.
I call it "the blue candy".
We're starting to get cold nights here so everyone wants in the house. We're good hosts, so serving up some blue candy today.

 

[pittdan77]

Might be nothing more than a nuisance but the thought of nests and droppings throughout my walls and ceilings creep me out. Not to mention if any die in there and start to smell.

Yeah, that's why I don't use poison. Made that mistake one time and, yeah, not good.

 

[noelr]

they say for every one mouse you see there are ten. we have mice in our basement and garage which are impossible to keep out and i'm like whatever. i'd be freaked out if i'd saw them in the kitchen or bedrooms above.

 

[MorningCoffee13]

In truth, you have not found nor will you find all of the openings. A mouse literally can get in a tiny slit.

I had mice that would come in through my gas fireplace. They were able to get in from the outside and loved it because it was warm with the pilot lite. Frankly I would have never known had me and my cat not seen one scurrying over to the dog’s food bowl to grab a morsel and then run back. I put traps inside the access to the fireplace and there was nothing worse than hearing the trap go off and the echo off of the fireplace structure and then the mouse flailing around in the trap banging against the fireplace. I ended up caulking around what I thought was the opening they got through but i probably put myself in more danger sealing that than just letting the little effers live their lives.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

they say for every one mouse you see there are ten. we have mice in our basement and garage which are impossible to keep out and i'm like whatever. i'd be freaked out if i'd saw them in the kitchen or bedrooms above.

Best you can do is keep them out of your living areas. There are hundreds of mice in most homes.

 

[USN_Panther]

Yeah, that's why I don't use poison. Made that mistake one time and, yeah, not good.

You had the old type, or the cheap stuff. The newer poisons dry them out. I'm off to the farm supply store to get some. Our rodent problem is with rats. I call them mini-JoePas. I am going to rein down chemical carnage on those MF'ers.
I cut some holes in plastic ice cream containers and put the poison inside so the dog can't get it. I chuck those around the house under the crawlspace. And chuck a few blue candies up in the attic.
No ratface's allowed around here.

 

[ChiefJusticeMarshall]

I got moles/voles all over my yard and garden. So much so, it attracts neighborhood cats. Which also leads to rabbits (property borders on some woods) which then the cats go after. Evidently the past week one of the cats must of gotten a rabbit. Why? Because when I let my two dogs out when they came back to the door to let them in, one had like this big Santa Clause like furry mustache/beard coming out of her mouth. It was hilarious. I should have taken a picture. But it was a tail of a rabbit.

 

[joeydavid]

We noticed a couple droppings, nothing major, 2 nights ago in our pantry/laundry off our kitchen. I went out and bought some traps and in 48 hours have caught 7 mice. This has reached the level of disturbing and disgusting. I have a small hole in the floor by my dryer’s gas line that they must be coming up through…which means they are in my basement ceiling. I don’t see any exterior access points so not sure how they got in but I’m sure it’s not difficult for them with opening garage doors, etc.

Anyone ever have a similar problem or experience? Weird that we see a couple droppings and then killed 7 mice almost instantly. Hoping it’s only a mom, dad, and one litter and nothing more.

Move to the Northside... and convert to the right side.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Move to the Northside..

I’d rather live in the burbs with mice than in the city with the humans who live there.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

My only hope is some universe-driven karma in the afterlife where the roles are reversed.

Sounds like something I'd expect a werewolf to say!

 

[noelr]

i had a $hithole apartment in brooklyn in the 90s and there must have been 100s of mice in my ceiling. i could hear them banging and fighting in the partioned ceiling and dust would fall down. it was awful.

 

[NCPitt]

Best you can do is keep them out of your living areas. There are hundreds of mice in most homes.

No house I've ever been had even close to that number.

 

[NCPitt]

Might be nothing more than a nuisance but the thought of nests and droppings throughout my walls and ceilings creep me out. Not to mention if any die in there and start to smell.

They can be more than a nuisance. They can carry disease in rare cases. But a bigger danger is that they sometimes chew electric wires and that brings the risk of fire.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

No house I've ever been had even close to that number.

Makes me wonder where SMF has lived all his life if his expectation is hundreds of mice in his house.

 

[andypappas]

They only need a dime size entry point -
They come from the outside - you won’t kill yourself to a solution.

Mostly they will come through pipe opening.

We put some of these in our basement , which helps too

Amazon.com

Do they actually work?

 

[Conemaugh]

Stuff steel wool in the holes
They won’t chew threw it
Happens when the weather gets cold


spoken as a guy with a 100+ year old house

Believe it or not, I am another guy in a centery+ older home and haven't had a mouse in the house for the 20 years I have lived here.

Bats on the other hand...... with 4 chimneys and a fireplace in every room they have it easy. I have made steady progress on it though.

 

[pittmeister]

I don’t know where you people live, but the only rodent problem I have is an occasional visit from the sister-in-law…

 

[Conemaugh]

I don’t know where you people live, but the only rodent problem I have is an occasional visit from the sister-in-law…

Might be time to burn that place to the ground 😉

 

[USN_Panther]

Believe it or not, I am another guy in a centery+ older home and haven't had a mouse in the house for the 20 years I have lived here.

Bats on the other hand...... with 4 chimneys and a fireplace in every room they have it easy. I have made steady progress on it though.

You can get bird netting for the chimneys. That will solve this problem. Go to your local fireplace dealer for this. They can put them on when they clean your chimneys and flues.

 

[thom67]

Also look out for mice making nests in your car air system. Check your air filters and cabin filters.