# @@## mice in the attic (again)



## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Up early posting (venting) because I couldn't sleep. It's been a few years but the damn mice are back in the attic and walls in my MBR rattling and scratching around, mostly in the wall above the door. 3 level townhouse backs to woods so there are plenty of mice around. But how they get up to and into the attic is still a mystery. And how and why they navigate to a space in the wall over the MBR door that is near the center of the house is beyond me.

To make it worse I have vaulted ceilings so I can't even get over to the place the mice are to set traps. I set traps in the small core attic that is accessible but never caught one there. I'll be trying again nonetheless.

Last time this happened I eventually set traps outside on my ground level deck hoping to catch the buggers when they were outside and if not at least thin the herd of potential perpetrators. Caught a fair number after I figured out how to secure the traps from begin stolen by the other major varmints here, the @@##$$ squirrels. Those [email protected] carried the traps out into the woods where they could open the little doors to get the peanut butter out. I think I only ever found one of the traps I lost at the bottom of one of the big trees in the woods. No telling where the other 3 or 4 ended up.

Back then I also got so frustrated I took a sawzall and opened up the drywall over the door. When I pulled the square out I found and killed a mouse in the bottom of the 2x4 channel. I think I saw a couple skitter away but I wasn't sure. I trapped the cavity for a few weeks and never caught one then repaired the drywall and it has been quiet until last night.

Back to the battle... wish me luck, folks. Any tips gratefully accepted....


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

All it takes is 1/4" gap for them to get in.
Common places for them to get in is up under the bottom row of siding, any gaps around where plumbing or wiring enter the home, loose siding or rotted wood on the outside.
If there's a basement or crawl space and it has not been air sealed, rim joist or foundation plate gaps.
Got a bird feeder, get rid of it.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

I checked all that before and re-puttied the hvac and elec penetrations. I am thinking they may be going up the gutter drain pipe and getting in through the eaves somehow. But I can't get up there to inspect. Too damned high.

The bird feeder... yes I have one but haven't filled it this fall because it attracts squirrels that I REALLY don't want to get into my attic. Mice are bad enough...


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## PoleCat (Sep 2, 2009)

Mice present an even bigger hazard to your electric wiring. I helped some relatives get a house ready for market a few years back and we found that every appliance in the kitchen had been destroyed by having their wires chewed bare. I brought home a ceiling fan that they were changing out with a regular light fixture and its wires chewed up too! 

Spring traps along your base boards are effective.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Yes, I use some traps in the kitchen and garage once in awhile and catch a couple a year. They probably come in under the garage door and I really don't have a significant infestation in the living space. And I believe there are only a few in the attic and no real way for those to get into the living space. I think those come and go directly to the outside somehow to get to food and water.

No damage to any external wires. But I am worried about the attic. The internal romex wires are inaccessible (to us humans, anyway) for inspection or repair without tearing out the drywall. The walls would be doable but I couldn't do the ceilings without professional help. I don't think I'll ever get a place with vaulted ceilings again. They are nice for the headroom but create many other issues as I have discovered.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Just went up into my attic core area for the first time in a year and found the traps I left have been productive after all. 2 snap traps were "occupied" and my glycol bucket trap had 2 swimmers. But the 2 sticky traps were empty. I am going to renew the peanut butter and top up the glycol. I also put a couple of traps on the back deck and in the garage again. Hopefully I'll get my new visitors one way or another.


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## jmon (Nov 5, 2012)

Sounds like your doing all the right things Raylo. Keep up the fight, don't let those little boogers win.:thumbup:


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Man, it never ends! Thanks for the encouragement. I think I'll spend the night at the GF's place and maybe when I come back it'll be quiet again. One can hope....



jmon said:


> Sounds like your doing all the right things Raylo. Keep up the fight, don't let those little boogers win.:thumbup:


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## Arlo (Jan 17, 2008)

Are you sure they are mice and not rats? Try this: get a 5 gallon bucket and fill it with about 10" of water. Use some thin wood, like a 5 gallon paint bucket stirrer as a ramp to the top of the bucket. Rig a beer can as shown so weight on the top end will tip it. Rub some peanut butter on the can. I would place it outside near where you think they're coming in. You should have a drowned rat or mouse in the a.m. 

Have you checked with your neighbors to see if they're having trouble? One neighbor feeding birds or leaving dog food out could be a big problem. Also make sure no trees are overhanging the house.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Yes they are mice. Nothing bigger than a few inches in the body.

I do have a glycol bucket trap just like that in the mix up in the attic. It caught 2 mice over the last year. When I first had the problem a couple years ago I trapped the small accessible part of the attic with the bucket and conventional traps and caught none. So it looks like they have discoverd the traps (and peanut butter) there and hopefully is on their usual routes now. If so I should catch them pretty quick. I also added a couple of bait stations to the mix in the attic and garage.

I have a couple of conventional traps outside on the rear ground level deck. I am not sure exactly how they are getting in but they have to be coming from that direction (the woods). I usually catch a bunch there quickly and probably have a couple this AM. I have added a petproof bait station out there and I have tied it to the deck so the squirrels can't haul it away. Same for the traps.

So I am pretty much going nuclear on them. With our proximity to the woods I probably need to plan to do this every fall... before I start seeing and hearing signs of them inside.


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## ChuckF. (Aug 25, 2013)

raylo32 said:


> I checked all that before and re-puttied the hvac and elec penetrations. I am thinking they may be going up the gutter drain pipe and getting in through the eaves somehow. But I can't get up there to inspect. Too damned high.
> 
> The bird feeder... yes I have one but haven't filled it this fall because it attracts squirrels that I REALLY don't want to get into my attic. Mice are bad enough...



If mice or rats or squirrels can get on your roof they will find a way in, there's just too many opportunities on a typical roof. Where the roof sheathing meets the fascia there will typically be a gap where they can squeeze in if you don't have drip rail flashing over that gap. Where the gable end rake boards meet the horizontal fascia there is often a 3/4" gap pointing down that they can crawl up.

Roof turbines have openings big enough for small mice. Ridge vents of the old sheet metal kind do too. Roof vent pillboxes might have openings big enough.

I have squirrels that were getting on my roof by climbing up the gutter downspouts. I put screens that I bent up myself from HD expanded metal on the bottom of the downspouts. Have to clean them regularly. Mice might be too small to go up a downspout though.

They will jump or drop from trees onto the roof as well, so keep them cut back.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

Well, good news on the mouse front. First, none of my indoor or attic traps have caught anything and no signs of mouse poop anywhere so there aren't a lot of mice in the house. Second, the traps I put outside on the lower deck caught a few the first 2 nights and none since then. It has also been quiet in the walls and attic since then so I am hopeful I got the perpetrators. <fingers crossed!>


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## TheBobmanNH (Oct 23, 2012)

Get mice in my attic ever year, everwhere I've lived. I just accept it as a fact of life at this point, that when the fall comes I have to go on a genocidal spree.


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## noquacks (Jun 5, 2010)

Arlo said:


> Are you sure they are mice and not rats? Try this: get a 5 gallon bucket and fill it with about 10" of water. Use some thin wood, like a 5 gallon paint bucket stirrer as a ramp to the top of the bucket. Rig a beer can as shown so weight on the top end will tip it. Rub some peanut butter on the can. I would place it outside near where you think they're coming in. You should have a drowned rat or mouse in the a.m.
> 
> Have you checked with your neighbors to see if they're having trouble? One neighbor feeding birds or leaving dog food out could be a big problem. Also make sure no trees are overhanging the house.


Pure genius!!


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## liquidvw (Jun 8, 2009)

a little steel wool in the corners where your garage doors come down solved my issue with mice in the garage.


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## noquacks (Jun 5, 2010)

another good tip. Wow. keep em coming.....LOL (did someone mention a cat yet??)


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