# Need help with Mice



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

So, the very first time I saw one it went inside the ac vent (which has a cover but not screwed in) in my son's room. 

Weeks later, I saw one going back and forth from the sofa to behind the tv stand. 

There's a vent with no cover there that my husband recently removed months ago in Spring. Is there any possibility this may be an entry? I just have a feeeling they have to fit in and out of there and probably through the walls? 

I just took a photo and it even looks a little chewed up on the side or is it just 
me?


----------



## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Increase the number of snap traps and try some different baits. Mice like to travel along the walls so try different wall areas.

Poisons can work but the dead mice may end up inside your walls and stink for some time.

If you do not have pets try leaving small pieces of bait, I use american cheese, in different places with no trap. If no action that tells you a trap would be no use there. if some bait disappears you have lowered their defenses and you know where they travel.

They also make bait stations for outside.

As temperatures cool mice start looking for warm places to spend the winter. My guess is you have many as they little one has parents.

Bud


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Thank you Bud!

I will try breaking the poison in pieces, the blocks I've put I can't honestly tell that they've been bitten the edges already look smudged as they are in the package, but not a noticeable chew.

I will increase the snap traps. Ever since I saw that one mouse that I kept yelling at, then my husband saw one escape from behind the sofa, and since I've sealed up food in the kitchen and have not left food in the dining table, cleaned up more around the living room and stopped letting my toddler eat in his room, I haven't seen much activity.. but I know they're still here  

I called an exterminator just to chat get some suggestions, he said sometimes mice don't show up cause they have enough food stored also they eat crickets (which I have a lot in my yard)

I wish I was brave enough to go to the attic crawlspace and even move sofa around to check for them


----------



## dj3 (Apr 27, 2020)

Again, don't use poison, they eat it, then go inside the wall to die. With small children, you don't want that.
How many snap traps do you put down? I'd use 10.
With snap traps, you need to replace the peanut butter everyday, you have to wear gloves so you don't leave a scent, and if you're lucky, you have to dispose of the dead mouse and the trap, don't re-use it.
Traps work, if you do it correctly.


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

I live in a one level house with a basement and a large attic that was turned into a room with tiny doors along the walls that lead to the crawlspace.

I put three snap traps so far.. one in my room along the wall next to the baby's crib (i found droppings on the crib!), one in the living room behind the sofa and on under the kitchen cabinet.. 

My toddler is real curious that's why I didn't think of adding more of fear he'd find one, but ill try to sneak more around.

I didn't know I had to replace the peanut butter! I've heard of them licking it without getting trapped .. no wonder. wait, so I should be removing the present peanut butter, how do i do this without snapping my finger?


----------



## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

Get serious about this or pay dearly.
With the yellow pan trap mice can't easily lick this platter clean of peanut butter without getting trapped. Pissants can lick this trap clean and never trip it, even baited with Pecan nut chunks.


The yellow pan of the Victor trap can be removed to clean. It also has a sensitive / firm setting. Bait the trap with a small piece of nut rolled in aluminum foil pressed into the pan bait depression and forget about renewing bait every day. They prefer pecan over peanut butter at our place and i don't get it all over everything including behind my ears if i have an itch.


The trap can be de-energized by holding the wire bail with your thumb and releasing the trip wire. For easier handling you'll like the trap mounted to a 1x2 piece of lumber. Become a mouse trapping expert or they'll over run the ranch if they have food, water and shelter for nesting material.




Edit: Edit:


----------



## dj3 (Apr 27, 2020)

Peanut butter dries and loses aroma fast. 
Again wear gloves. 
To unwind the trap, hold the metal shaped like the letter C down, and release the trigger rod.
Wipe the old PB off, I use a plastic knife.
Apply fresh PB.
Wind the trap.
Obviously, I use the same plastic knife and a jar of PB only for this purpose.
Place the traps at night only, and collect them (discharge first) in the morning so your toddler can't find them. Use 10 traps, it will be much more effective.
You can also try glue traps with PB in the center. Don't let the kid find them.
I'm disturbed by the droppings in the crib.
Happy hunting.


----------



## dj3 (Apr 27, 2020)

Go to the Dollar store near you and buy a bunch of traps. Still less $ than an exterminator.


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

I will be trying placing nuts as well on the baits. The baits I have at the moment are Victor's Power-Kill Mouse Trap, but I will be investing in others.

My husband refuses to remove the bait stations with poison as the exterminator at his job said those work as well, although I know this is going to cause dead mice inside walls and odors..

I like the idea of snap traps more to be honest cause these poison bait blocks I just don't like the fact that the mice are still alive somewhere then die without me knowing where..


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Thank you for all those details dj, truly appreciate it! That's a good idea of adding traps at night then collecting them in the morning! I know many people are against glue traps and for obvious reasons that it's not a humane kill, but I managed to capture my first with a glue trap so glad about that.

As someone who has a huge mice phobia.. my heart sank when I saw the dropping in my newborn's crib.. luckily my newborn sleeps with me

I also found droppings in my toddler's bed (he also sleeps with me-luckily)..at some point I found two droppings in my bed underneath my sheet. I haven't been able to sleep ever since.

There are big enough gaps underneath my bedroom door and my son's room, which I will be placing door sweeps this week.


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

Ask your husband to help you check all around the sofa. Turn it over. They can nest in there.


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Thanks Nik,
we turned both sofas around and sure enough the love seat had a hole through it. I kept noticing droppings on top of the sofa and near a window by the sofa, also that's where I saw the first mouse go back and forth. 

When we turned both of the sofas my husband banged it with a broom several times and even ripped open the bottom part but nothing was there that day


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

How do you feel about cats? It was my cats that told me there was a mouse nest in the sofa, that someone gave me. They were clawing at it. Not scratching, clawing. Probably, could hear them.


If you were nearby, I'd bring you one of my half-tame feral cats that I feed. It would show you in a minute where they are. 

Someone dropped off their white mouse collection in the field where they live. Poor things.



I'm not sure what poison you're using, but, be careful with your kids. I know you know that. The most common excited phrase I've heard from mothers is "Well, he's never done that before!!!" :smile:


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

I am not a big fan of cats but wouldn't mind one if it meant to catch mice. But, my husband is asthmatic and allergic to cats.. maybe a dog? We use to several alley cats roaming around in our yard and in the neighborhood, but this year I haven't seen one. Surprisingly, yesterday I saw a black cat in my yard.. never been happier to see one (that's just me hoping it's catching any mice out there if there's any.)

Yeah, I'm trying to be extra careful with my toddler especially.. I only have two bait blocks (Tomcat).. which I haven't had any luck with. My toddler found one yesterday which I had hidden under a desk but one of his toys fell under and he noticed the block and said "Mommy look a toy!"..


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

*****Speaking of sofa and poison.. last night, while I was setting some snap traps (Which failed, as this morning nothing was caught).. My husband (who refuses to remove the bait stations the exterminator at his job gave him because he said these truly work) said let's check the bait station behind the sofa and when he moved it a mouse came out of the station. 

He checked it and it had eaten half of the "First Strike Soft Bait".. now I don't know if it has to eat the entire thing but it gobble up half of it probably would have eaten it all it weren't for moving the sofa and I haven't checked if it finished the rest but I'm hoping half of the bag was enough.

I checked the other four station with this same poison so far no activity, just the one behind the sofa. I don't know if this is the same mouse but so far that sofa every time it's moved a mouse comes out and surely enough it's the only bait station I've seen thus far where the poison has been eaten.


I heard these are single feed baits.. does that mean it only has to eat some of it or all of it for it to work? My husband says at his job he's seen cases where the mouse only bites a bit and ends up dead but I honestly don't know if that's in all cases.


----------



## del schisler (Aug 22, 2010)

micephobia said:


> Hey everyone,
> About a month ago I thought I saw something go inside the heater vent in my son's room, but thought it was just me seeing things.. few days later I've been randomly noticing droppings around my house. In the kitchen, living room, my toddler's bed, the sofa .. as someone who has a mice phobia, this was a nightmare to me. I've been living in this house for five years although it's an older house, never seen mice until now.
> 
> I was still in denial, even while seeing droppings until I saw a mice one morning in my living room, it saw me too. Then in another occasion one came out from beneath the sofa. I was able to catch a small mice with a glue trap. But I've had no luck, I keep my house with no easy food source (although my yard is full of crickets etc). I haven't seen much droppings ever since, but my friend who stayed over and slept in the attic said she heard activity in the walls up there. So now I think they might be in the walls,vents, attic crawlspace??
> ...


get those stickey pad's for mice , they work , i used them , box stores have them , i put them along the wall's


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

del schisler said:


> get those stickey pad's for mice , they work , i used them , box stores have them , i put them along the wall's


Hi, thanks! If those are the same as glue boards, I have several around my house so far only caught one small mouse with it, glad I did! Although, I do have to agree that it sucks as far as disposal because the animal is still alive


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

Personally, with a curious child around poisons, I'd get an exterminator.


This is the Safety Data Sheet for TomCat. It has First Aid, also.


https://www.motomco.com/images/pdf/canada/sds/30757-tomcat_mouse_killer.pdf


If the bait station is a different poison, look up the SDS.


Good luck!


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Thanks for sharing the data sheet will look into it for safety! All the poison we have is currently inside bait station which are meant to be safer. I'm home all day with my toddler so I keep close watch on him too.

I'd vote an exterminator too but my husband insists that we can do the same thing they're doing and since he has a connection at his job, he's getting the same poison directly from the exterminator at his job.


I still would like one because I honestly don't feel comfortable even lifting up sofas to search for mice, I even get headaches and chest pain thinking about these critters.

He's convinced that we only have one mouse or two roaming, and insists to trust the bait stations as the mouse ate the poison last night. Let's see...


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

If the mouse ate half of the 'First Strike Soft Bait' it is most likely going to die right? .. this is stressing me out 

I haven't re-checked to see if it finished off the rest or if it ate the other poison from behind the other couch (I'll wait for my husband to come to do that)


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Called the manufacturer directly and they said if it ate half of the bait then that's more than enough and should die within 24hrs.. *crossing fingers*


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Howdy @micephobia, nice to meet you!

I'm with @Nik333, I'd be inclined to go slow or not at all on poisons with a little one in the house. Little children have an endless ability to outsmart themselves . . . 

That said, if you can truly keep the bait away from the child you should be okay, though if you have a dog or cat they can eat and get sick or worse off a poisoned rodent. Also, sometimes rodents develop immunity to poisons, sometimes startlingly fast. 

I've found in my decades of battling rodents that the best method is - everything you can lay hands on. 

Just out of curiosity, where are you? State/province and city/county is enough. Sometimes seasonal considerations apply.


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

Here's the SDS on the second poison which is an anti-coagulant (causes bleeding). 



https://liphatech.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/FirstStrike-Soft-Bait-SDS-2019-ENGLISH.pdf


Both poisons can be absorbed through skin.


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

DoomsDave said:


> Howdy @micephobia, nice to meet you!
> 
> I'm with @Nik333, I'd be inclined to go slow or not at all on poisons with a little one in the house. Little children have an endless ability to outsmart themselves . . .
> 
> ...


No animals, just one toddler and a newborn. 

"Also, sometimes rodents develop immunity to poisons, sometimes startlingly fast." 

Oh God.. :crying: I'm hoping the mouse that ate the poison, and if there's more around (which is likely) die. I haven't seen droppings today, but it's too early to many any assumptions.. I'd have to wait another week of battle. 

Reside in Dauphin County, PA.


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

I know you feel panic with the thought of mice, but, your distress will be much greater if your child is poisoned.


----------



## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

I've had good luck with these traps the times I have had mice. They can be reused, just a little harder to empty than the typical snap trap. But those have never worked for me.

And lately I have had no mice because I put an outdoor bait station against the house on my rear deck that backs to the woods. Get 'em before they get in. The outdoor bait stations are pet and child resistant (proof). And if you place them like I do they are not indiscriminate. They get the ones looking for a way in.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/TOMCAT-Kill-and-Contain-Mouse-Trap-Mouse-Trap/1002980596


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Nik333 said:


> I know you feel panic with the thought of mice, but, your distress will be much greater if your child is poisoned.


I agree, I am taking all precautions to maintain this as safe as possible and keeping the poison in bait stations. I am also writing down the locations where I've set the stations. If I could avoid using the poison I would because I honestly don't like the idea of the mouse hiding somewhere and not knowing if it died or not etc.. but that's not an option with my husband and he's now more pushing towards bait stations after seeing the mouse go inside and eat it. 

I just want something to work at this point


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

raylo32 said:


> I've had good luck with these traps the times I have had mice. They can be reused, just a little harder to empty than the typical snap trap. But those have never worked for me.
> 
> And lately I have had no mice because I put an outdoor bait station against the house on my rear deck that backs to the woods. Get 'em before they get in. The outdoor bait stations are pet and child resistant (proof). And if you place them like I do they are not indiscriminate. They get the ones looking for a way in.
> 
> https://www.lowes.com/pd/TOMCAT-Kill-and-Contain-Mouse-Trap-Mouse-Trap/1002980596


Never heard of these, thank you for sharing! I like the idea of no see no mess disposal. I'm going to invest in some outside bait stations. I wish I would have taken the steps to avoid this from happening sooner.. but since living here for 5 years and never seeing a single mice, roach.. I thought I was just lucky even if it is an older house. Now I know to avoid the problem from happening, disinfect, deep clean etc occasionally before summer/winter to avoid pests!


----------



## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Just be aware that the "no-mess" disposal assumes you toss the $8.00 trap in the trash. You can certainly do that, but I don't. I extract the little buggers, which can be a little messy, and reuse the traps. If you get them before they really dry up you can usually just shake them out. If not, the extraction is more difficult. I just found these traps to be more reliable than snap traps that, for me, never really work on the little bait stealers.



micephobia said:


> Never heard of these, thank you for sharing! I like the idea of no see no mess disposal. I'm going to invest in some outside bait stations. I wish I would have taken the steps to avoid this from happening sooner.. but since living here for 5 years and never seeing a single mice, roach.. I thought I was just lucky even if it is an older house. Now I know to avoid the problem from happening, disinfect, deep clean etc occasionally before summer/winter to avoid pests!


----------



## fireguy (May 3, 2007)

My brother & I had a bedroom downstairs. The house had a daylight basement/garage. The door between the garage and basement had enough of a gap to let the nasty mice in. However, we had a live trap we kept in our bedroom. When we had too many mice, we would catch a bull snake, and put it in the cage. When the snake got hungry enough, it would get out of the cage, in search of food. Snakes will take care of the mice. It was years before Mom knew we had snakes in the house.


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

fireguy said:


> My brother & I had a bedroom downstairs. The house had a daylight basement/garage. The door between the garage and basement had enough of a gap to let the nasty mice in. However, we had a live trap we kept in our bedroom. When we had too many mice, we would catch a bull snake, and put it in the cage. When the snake got hungry enough, it would get out of the cage, in search of food. Snakes will take care of the mice. It was years before Mom knew we had snakes in the house.


Hmm. What was Mom's reaction when she learned of them?


----------



## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

He's probably still waiting to tell her! ;-)



DoomsDave said:


> Hmm. What was Mom's reaction when she learned of them?


----------



## prairiewind (Jan 26, 2019)

Not sure how smart these mice are, but I caught 5 in 9-days when I moved into my house using the Victor yellow paddle traps and peanut butter. 



Left all traps (over a dozen) in place and caught 2 more mice 6 months later, which showed me where the hole to get in was. Then I spent the rest of the summer mouse proofing. 



Never had a mouse since. Keep traps outside on my fence line and get one every month or so. Slugs and ants eat the outside peanut butter.



Wear new nitrile gloves when you set your traps and rebait your traps. From experience the peanut butter works for at least six months. If you are worried, spray it with peanut oil once a week.


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Hey all, sorry haven't been as active on here.. it's because I've been sleeping good again! Ever since we saw that one mouse eating the poison inside the bait station, we haven't seen it again or any other mouse, or a single dropping for that matter for over a week and counting.

I asked my husband to seal the vents that had no cover in the living room and in my son's room. Also, I completely hid all food sources in the house. Cleaned up and moved all furniture in my room ..

I'm assuming the mouse died somewhere haven't smelled it, perhaps the poison dried it out. I don't know if that's the last mouse but there hasn't been a single dropping or activity.

Yes, I'm happy and sleeping better and freely walking around the house with no socks just sandals  but I know how smart these critters are and I can't start singing victory until I find out how it got inside to begin with which I haven't found the hole or main entry.. but for now I went from seeing droppings nearly in every room to cleaning it up and not seeing anything.

I'm still leaving the bait stations just in case, and I've def learned my lesson to keeping my house mouse proof and getting pests in general under control before they get inside the home.

Oh, and thank you all for your advice and helpful tips!!


----------



## RanK2 (Feb 19, 2020)

I use live traps and release them in a wooded area, but then I'm rural. I have used snap traps before as I thought them the most humane, but came home one day and the snap trap had just broken it's back and paralyzed it. I took it out as quick as I could, took it outside and shot it with a .22. Decided then I would only use live traps.

Whatever you do, I would ask that you don't use glue traps. .... Yes, they are mice, but kill em quick or trap them. JMO but causing any creature to die a torchered death via starvation and dehydration, is cruelty. 

And BTW, they are a nuisance, but they won't attack you.


----------



## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

glad you got them. but don't let your guard down. oh, and you will almost never find how they get in. chances are you didn't see any before was cause there was a cat around, that is no longer around.


----------



## dj3 (Apr 27, 2020)

I like success stories.


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

RanK2 said:


> I use live traps and release them in a wooded area, but then I'm rural. I have used snap traps before as I thought them the most humane, but came home one day and the snap trap had just broken it's back and paralyzed it. I took it out as quick as I could, took it outside and shot it with a .22. Decided then I would only use live traps.
> 
> Whatever you do, I would ask that you don't use glue traps. .... Yes, they are mice, but kill em quick or trap them. JMO but causing any creature to die a torchered death via starvation and dehydration, is cruelty.
> 
> And BTW, they are a nuisance, but they won't attack you.


I agree, about glue traps. Although, I caught the first mouse with one which I was happy about I did not like the fact the it was still alive squeaking for its life.. not to mention, my husband does not like killing live animals.

Yeah, I just honestly don't like mice in general.. they just creep me out, it's not so much about them attacking it's just having them show up out of nowhere and to mention how disgusting they are leaving their little droppings everywhere in unimaginable areas. lain:


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Fix'n it said:


> glad you got them. but don't let your guard down. oh, and you will almost never find how they get in. chances are you didn't see any before was cause there was a cat around, that is no longer around.



Yeah, I've learned my lesson! I'm too paranoid as it is now to even leave food on the table. I can't say for sure if they're 100% gone, or if I only had two mice in here.. but I did leave some bread on the kitchen counter by mistake for a few hours and it was untouched. Also, the fact that I haven't seen any dropping that's what's more certain that they're at least not in the first level of the house. I have to check the bait I put in the attic!

I'm almost sure they were getting on the first level of my house from the vents, we had one in the living room that had no cover.

You're right about the cats cause since I've lived here in this house for five years and never seen a single mouse until last month. Last year we use to have so many alley cats roaming around the neighborhood.. and a few months ago they just all disappeared but I saw a black cat two weeks ago so who knows.

I'm going to check some area i think they might have gotten in but it's going to be hard finding the area spot cause this is an older house there's just many different areas I can think of.. I never found the nest either, but that i almost sure was either in the attic crawlspace which I will never go inside


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

dj3 said:


> I like success stories.


:vs_clap: So do I! It feels great to be myself in the house again lol.. I was already getting anxiety from cleaning droppings


----------



## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

@micephobia, glad to hear things have a lid for the time being.

A congratulatory public service message . . . 

While you likely won't get rid of them forever and ever, you can certainly reduce the chances and amount of any reinfestation.

I agree with @Fix'n it as to the impossibility of sealing a house completely, but it still won't hurt to take the time to check and seal what you can. Even if you can't turn your house into an airlock, you can still reduce the number of places they can enter. 

For what it's worth, I sincerely doubt you'll get an odor detectible to humans from dead mice. They usually dry out instead of rotting, so completely it's startling. Alas, I know, only too well. And rats, too. Point being if you have to use toxins potential odors aren't a reason, though I certainly respect and understand other reasons not to do so. 

And, it's good to avoid leaving food out. That reduces all kinds of pests, including roaches. You don't have to be a "neat freak" just use basic common sense and sensibility. 

It's evident that the mice really do bother you, and I hope you're able to keep them at bay. Take the time to periodically check and see if they're making a return. 

Depending on where you are, there may be seasonal issues. If you're in a place like lowland Southern California, or the Arizona desert, you might not see as much seasonal variation as I remember at least in northern Ohio, where I lived before I migrated to the land of Fruits, Nuts and Fire. 

Hope you continue to be mouse-free, and let us know if things change. And, do share if you learn anything new of interest.


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Thank you Dave!
Sorry for the late response. 

So, I definitely had not seen any 'mice activity', no droppings etc, it's been about a good three weeks. I don't trust them but, I was so happy that I was ready to return all the mice traps I had bought at Home Depot tomorrow.

AND OF COURSE.. this morning my husband heard some squeaking and found a mouse trapped on a glue board that I completely forgot I still had under kitchen cabinet.

They're back... assuming, I still hadn't seen any droppings or activity. It could be that one got inside somehow again, or never left and were just hiding inside the walls and were laying low.. I don't know, these rodents are sneaky.

I am not as paranoid as before, just had not seen one in almost a month so.. back to the trappin'!


----------



## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Don't bother returning any of those traps, just assign them to a box and store them somewhere, they do not age and you avoid an emergency trip when one shows up in the future. Mice are all around your house and they know it is warm inside with winter coming. If they cannot find an opening the are quite capable of making one, chewing is a requirement for their teeth which never stop growing.

Keep at it and as you said, they are sneaky.

Bud


----------



## J. V. (Jun 1, 2007)

SeniorSitizen said:


> Pissants can lick this trap clean and never trip it, even baited with Pecan nut chunks.


What is a pissant? 



micephobia said:


> I am not a big fan of cats but wouldn't mind one if it meant to catch mice. But, my husband is asthmatic and allergic to cats.. maybe a dog? We use to several alley cats roaming around in our yard and in the neighborhood, but this year I haven't seen one. Surprisingly, yesterday I saw a black cat in my yard.. never been happier to see one (that's just me hoping it's catching any mice out there if there's any.)
> 
> Yeah, I'm trying to be extra careful with my toddler especially.. I only have two bait blocks (Tomcat).. which I haven't had any luck with. My toddler found one yesterday which I had hidden under a desk but one of his toys fell under and he noticed the block and said "Mommy look a toy!"..


You know the old saying about cats. "feed one and he will never leave". This saying is almost true.
A feral cat or abandoned cat will hang around if food is present.
It might be in your best interest to feed a cat or two. You can allow them to enter the house and let them leave at will.
No vet bills and no litter pan. Just a mouse killing machine for free. They are a killing machine regardless of how well fed they are. Its in their DNA.



fireguy said:


> My brother & I had a bedroom downstairs. The house had a daylight basement/garage. The door between the garage and basement had enough of a gap to let the nasty mice in. However, we had a live trap we kept in our bedroom. When we had too many mice, we would catch a bull snake, and put it in the cage. When the snake got hungry enough, it would get out of the cage, in search of food. Snakes will take care of the mice. It was years before Mom knew we had snakes in the house.


But once the snake ate, he most likley would not eat again for a very long time.



Bud9051 said:


> Don't bother returning any of those traps, just assign them to a box and store them somewhere, they do not age and you avoid an emergency trip when one shows up in the future. Mice are all around your house and they know it is warm inside with winter coming. If they cannot find an opening the are quite capable of making one, chewing is a requirement for their teeth which never stop growing.
> Keep at it and as you said, they are sneaky.
> Bud


Like the OP I am not fond of mice or rats. I throw away the trap when it has a mouse in it. Victor. I think they are very reasonable.

Once many years ago I worked in an Italian deli. The owner set a mouse trap and got a rat.
The rat was running and squirming as the trap did not kill it right away.
The owner told me to get it and throw it away.
I told him no. That I would help. But not be the principle on this task.
It was gross and very upsetting to see the rat caught, but not dead.
We finally got him into a box while screaming like girls the whole time.
It was horrible!


----------



## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

J. V. said:


> What is a pissant?





A small ant. ie : insignificant 



Edit: Edit:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pissant


----------



## Awesomepest (Oct 6, 2020)

Mice are very stinky, ugly and are very annoying. If you want to get rid of them you should get some help from Pest control service. Because their staff are very professional in their work and they know how to get these mice out of house.


----------



## Nik333 (Mar 1, 2015)

About the cats. It sounds like someone trapped them or poisoned them. Neither leads to a happy life unless they are trapping, neutering and releasing them. I would ask the City about what happened to them. Or Animal Control depending on where you live. You don't want to encourage cats only to have them killed.
It's very strange to me, having come from Southern California, but, in one town here, cats are TNR'd and co-exist pretty happily with people. In another town the cats are trapped & killed. It all depends on the cats.


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Nik333 said:


> About the cats. It sounds like someone trapped them or poisoned them. Neither leads to a happy life unless they are trapping, neutering and releasing them. I would ask the City about what happened to them. Or Animal Control depending on where you live. You don't want to encourage cats only to have them killed.
> It's very strange to me, having come from Southern California, but, in one town here, cats are TNR'd and co-exist pretty happily with people. In another town the cats are trapped & killed. It all depends on the cats.


I think the alley cats might have been trapped by animal control, that's just my guess.. although I just started to notice cats in the neighborhood last year, it's this year that for some reason I don't see any. There's one black cat that hangs around our yard, we give it food every now and then


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Btw guys.. this morning I heard some squeaking. I thought I was going crazy but after hearing it again I was a little paranoid and looked around where the noise was coming from and yup, as expected I trapped another mouse on a glue trap that I had behind the tv stand that I forgot to remove. That trap I had placed when I first noticed droppings.

There I was face to face with this pest that I am terrify of, I'm kind of glad I saw it this close because they're a lot smaller than what my mind pictures them to be.. about the size of two fingers.. I honestly did not want to kill it, that's what I hate about glue traps and agree that they're terrible, but I am glad it was caught. These glue boards some how work so well because it was not able to get away unlike other glue traps I've heard of.

This was a little traumatic for me because the mouse was very much alive and I had to find a way to kill it.. AND I had a cable stuck on the glue board that I was not able to remove and had to do something fast because the mouse kept moving.. I went crazy and banged it a few times with my broom sweeper which broke in pieces during the process. I hated that experience after that it either pretend to be dead or it died because it wasn't moving after that.. anyways why am I getting into details.. I put it in a box and threw it away.

I have to start putting more snap traps and calling it a day, they're still here. No idea where the damn nest is at, I haven't noticed droppings like before or anything but they're obviously still here because we're catching one at least once every two weeks, we have to get back to the hunting.. sigh.


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

So, I went from noticing a tons of droppings in various places about two months ago. Captured one in a glue board two weeks after noticing the droppings but the droppings continued, then we saw one eating poison from a bait (never found the dead mouse btw), after that the droppings drastically decreased in fact didn't see another dropping but still caught another mouse in a glue board under the kitchen sink three weeks ago.


At this point no more droppings, but caught one in a glue board this morning. So, I don't know if they're living inside the walls coming out for food, if they live in the attic/basement.. if they're getting inside the house little by little from the outside. who knows.

So that's a total of seeing 1 eat the poison, and catching 3 in glue boards, in a two month period. I've heard of people catching 3-4 mice and never seeing a single one again. Do I think they're gone? nope.

QUESTION: All the mice I've caught on glue boards have been mice as in small ones not babies but the size of two fingers which to my guessing is an adult or mature mouse. One time I had a visitor who slept in the attic and said she heard noises like scratching on walls (there is no way I am going inside the crawlspace btw..)

IS IT POSSIBLE THAT I HAVE RATS IN MY HOUSE AND THESE ARE THEIR BABIES? I have not seen rats at all and all the droppings I did notice were small like those of mice... and I did read once that mice and rats are two complete different breeds.. the ones I've caught have very thin tails, I heard rats have thicker tails but do their babies do too?

damn I should have taken a photo of the one I caught this morning.


----------



## CaptTom (Dec 31, 2017)

Yes, mice and rats are two different things. Mice can make a lot of noise in the walls. It sounds like that's what you've got.

You are not done yet. You need to find how they get in, block it, and trap like crazy until you have them all. It's an iterative process. There will be lots of trial-and-error. Review the "Mousetrap Monday" channel on YouTube. I second his recommendation of the "walk the plank" traps. But supplement with snap traps, glue, poison or whatever else you want to try.

The other possibility for the noise in the attic is squirrels, or even bats, who will live in walls or other unseen spaces but go outside to feed, so you'll never catch them in the house. Their entrances should be much easier to spot. Sometimes you can tell by the timing of the movements you hear. Flying squirrels will be most active around dusk, when they're going out for the night. Mice are most active in the middle of the night to the wee hours of the morning. Red or grey squirrels go out during the day.


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

CaptTom said:


> Yes, mice and rats are two different things. Mice can make a lot of noise in the walls. It sounds like that's what you've got.
> 
> You are not done yet. You need to find how they get in, block it, and trap like crazy until you have them all. It's an iterative process. There will be lots of trial-and-error. Review the "Mousetrap Monday" channel on YouTube. I second his recommendation of the "walk the plank" traps. But supplement with snap traps, glue, poison or whatever else you want to try.
> 
> The other possibility for the noise in the attic is squirrels, or even bats, who will live in walls or other unseen spaces but go outside to feed, so you'll never catch them in the house. Their entrances should be much easier to spot. Sometimes you can tell by the timing of the movements you hear. Flying squirrels will be most active around dusk, when they're going out for the night. Mice are most active in the middle of the night to the wee hours of the morning. Red or grey squirrels go out during the day.


Thank you! That's a good question, I didn't ask my guest what time they heard the noises I think it was while they were sleeping, this was about 3 weeks ago so I'll just let that fly for now. I do have squirrels in my area that I constantly see jumping from my roof to the neighbor's to get to a tree etc but yeah.. I will check out that channel!

Ok it's good to know what I am dealing with because someone recently told me "what if they're baby rats".. and it made me think but after doing a lot of research about these critters, I read somewhere once to always look at the tail. So I suppose, no matter how small/young they are rats and mice tails differ.. and the ones I've caught have all had long skinny tails.

I will try again to see where they may be coming from definitely somewhere between the basement or attic and getting in the living room/kitchen. I just live in an older house, where there's literally some sort of crack or space in so many different areas that they could get into.


----------



## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

i caught a mouse !. i set a trap weeks ago, the little booger ate the peanut butter. i just left the trap for another day. weeks later, today, i found the trapped little guy. going on winter, i need to set more traps, they will be back.


----------



## dougp23 (Sep 20, 2011)

When we moved into our house, a foreclosure that had been abandoned and vacant for 6 months, we had mice. One month I caught 23 of them. The best way to deal with mice is to make sure they don't get into your house. There are thousands of them outside, looking for a warm place to stay, and your house looks terrific to them! You need to go outside, walk all around the house, get on your hands and knees and look for places they can get in. Where the house rests of the foundation seems a favorite, a board may lose a knot and now you have a nice opening. Where wires come into the house, if not sealed up properly. Around bath and dryer vents. Once you close up those kinds of places, you probably won't have to keep catching mice!
As for filling those holes, I can't think of the name, but it looks like copper Brillo pad. Stuff that into any holes you might see. Where the house rests of the foundation, I went all around and stuffed it with the plastic insect vent they use with roof ridge vents. 
My experience with exterminators is they will come once a month, put more poison out if it's being eaten, and just keep doing that. Again there are thousands of mice outside....


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Fix'n it said:


> i caught a mouse !. i set a trap weeks ago, the little booger ate the peanut butter. i just left the trap for another day. weeks later, today, i found the trapped little guy. going on winter, i need to set more traps, they will be back.


awesome! I truthfully believe its good to leave traps in spots and just give it time. The one I caught today was from a glue board I place almost a month ago! I’m going to set a few more traps as well!


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

dougp23 said:


> When we moved into our house, a foreclosure that had been abandoned and vacant for 6 months, we had mice. One month I caught 23 of them. The best way to deal with mice is to make sure they don't get into your house. There are thousands of them outside, looking for a warm place to stay, and your house looks terrific to them! You need to go outside, walk all around the house, get on your hands and knees and look for places they can get in. Where the house rests of the foundation seems a favorite, a board may lose a knot and now you have a nice opening. Where wires come into the house, if not sealed up properly. Around bath and dryer vents. Once you close up those kinds of places, you probably won't have to keep catching mice!
> As for filling those holes, I can't think of the name, but it looks like copper Brillo pad. Stuff that into any holes you might see. Where the house rests of the foundation, I went all around and stuffed it with the plastic insect vent they use with roof ridge vents.
> My experience with exterminators is they will come once a month, put more poison out if it's being eaten, and just keep doing that. Again there are thousands of mice outside....


thank you for the tips! My husband thinks they might have gotten in from a pipe that is exposed outside but we havent investigated it yet going to do so tomorrow .. i honesty think theres just so many cracks around the foundation for access and Im going to seal them up!
My sister in law lives two houses away from us and she saw a mouse in her house as well so this is def a neighborhood thing.. im just surprised after living here for 5 years never spotted a single one aside from dried droppings when we moved in which says enough.
Im going to take some more time and look around the house from the outside as best as I can. I don’t know how people are lucky enough to get rid of mice for years after only catching a 5 as Ive heard before, unless they think theyve caught em all.
From my research mice are so sneaky they can live in your home for a long time and you’ll never realize it and the fact that they constantly breed.. this has to be one of the worse pests. I swear I rather have roaches or bugs!


----------



## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

micephobia said:


> I swear I rather have roaches



ooh ohh, NO YOU DON'T ! i have seen first hand the effects of untreated roaches. it was so gross i could not go over there any more. you would pray for mice.


----------



## Bud9051 (Nov 11, 2015)

Not sure if mentioned but mice have a nasty habit, besides chewing on your wires, they don't bother to go outside to pee and poop. I have had to deal with those potty spots in my own house and many others. They pick a remote location inside your home and in addition to the droppings you see they use that one spot repeatedly. Gross and the longer they live there the worse it gets.

I don't like giving bad news but even when the traps stop snapping you need to keep they baited.

Bud


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Fix'n it said:


> ooh ohh, NO YOU DON'T ! i have seen first hand the effects of untreated roaches. it was so gross i could not go over there any more. you would pray for mice.


My friend’s house is severely roach infested, they were crawling everywhere dining table, Walls, bathroom and they followed her everywhere Even outside her house ..her baby’s car seat, her book back it was bad,so I know what you mean.. they don’t care what time of day it is they show up everywhere and multiply rapidly. I suppose mice are more minding their business and really dont want to be seen but even then Mice are just much more smarter, have diseases and i dont know why im so afraid of them I guess it’s having one show up unexpectedly that freaks me out they just give me the creeps even though theyre Rather “cuter” than roaches


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Bud9051 said:


> Not sure if mentioned but mice have a nasty habit, besides chewing on your wires, they don't bother to go outside to pee and poop. I have had to deal with those potty spots in my own house and many others. They pick a remote location inside your home and in addition to the droppings you see they use that one spot repeatedly. Gross and the longer they live there the worse it gets.
> 
> I don't like giving bad news but even when the traps stop snapping you need to keep they baited.
> 
> Bud


When I first notice I had mice it was an all of a sudden thing, I saw droppings for the first days everywhere and I mean in places that would make me cringe.. kitchen, dining table, constantly on the sofa, my son’s bed etc. I no longer see droppings but the fact that I am catching one at least once every two-three weeks or so lets me know theyre still there unfortunately I think I will always have some sort of trap or bait present.


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

To anyone who has an idea:

So I just took a quick look outside and I have two exposed pvc pipes on the side of my house from a high efficiency furnace, about 2” in height from the floor, could this be an entry and if so how could I prevent entrance as I can’t seal these pipes? Would a mesh cap work? Either way gotta cover asap, theres three exposed Pvc pipes


----------



## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

where do you live ? makes a diffference.


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Fix'n it said:


> where do you live ? makes a diffference.


Pennsylvania


----------



## micephobia (Sep 1, 2020)

Hey all, so this is what I mean by I may have a lot of possible entry areas (as shown in photos)

I still have to search more areas but this is one area on the side of the house where I feel may have the most entry access. I circled in yellow the 3 exposed pipes where they may have gotten inside from, the red shows all the cracks that may have an entry I have no idea if that's also a possible way for mice to get in but believe so.

Any ideas for the pipes? All I can think of is a wire cap because I can't completely seal them as the pvc ones are from the furnace .. the metal pipe I'm not sure yet. all the areas where you see debris at I may have to seal?

If the thought of mice being capable of getting through the smallest hole..as you can see, there's so many different cracks and areas..


----------



## Xena D. (Mar 29, 2021)

micephobia said:


> Hey all, so this is what I mean by I may have a lot of possible entry areas (as shown in photos)
> 
> I still have to search more areas but this is one area on the side of the house where I feel may have the most entry access. I circled in yellow the 3 exposed pipes where they may have gotten inside from, the red shows all the cracks that may have an entry I have no idea if that's also a possible way for mice to get in but believe so.
> 
> ...


Hi, were you able to free your home from mice?


----------

