Catching Mice?

[EagleFan]

I hate living in the complex that I currently reside. There are always problems that arise and the latest is mice. There have always been the sounds of things running around between the walls of the units but the other day I heard a sound that was much louder. It was a scratching sound that didn't sound like it was inside the walls.

When I went to check it out a mouse ran around the corner (opposite of the direction I was coming from) and was startled by seeing me and darted behind the refrigerator.

I tried to be "humane" about catching them and initially tried traps that would not hurt the mice so I could "relocate" them. This was mostly due to having children and dogs to worry about getting into the traps.

Those damn things would get the bait out of the trap and escape before the door would shut. Every time I heard the door shut it was the same story, empty trap.

I don't want to go with anything poisonous because of my kids and dogs so I finally decided to go with glue traps last night (though I know they are very cruel). It began to work as I first heard one trap moving arcoss the kitchen floor and got rid of one. A little later I heard one move around in the kitchen and saw it go under the microwave stand so I flushed it out and it darted right onto another trap (I was shocked at how it caught the mouse while it was moving at full speed). This one was a larger one, probably the mother or father. That makes two but I hear more.

I flushed another small one out but it squeezed just past a trap and behind the refrigerator. No luck with that one yet.

The problem that I have is that I do not know how many there may be and what may be a better way to get rid of them. More importantly, how to make sure no more come back. I am majorly allergic to cats so that is not an option. I thought about those sonic pest control things but have no idea if they work (the ones you plug into a socket and they are supposed to be emitting some sound wave that scares off rodents).

Any suggestions on the best way to get rid of them for good?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Any suggestions on the best way to get rid of them for good?

http://www.cahuillacue.org/Graphics/dynamite.jpg

Okay, failing that ...

-- re: sonic devices: I know people who swear by 'em, I know people who swear at 'em. Seems to be very a much one of those YMMV things. Personally, I've gotten mixed results using them to discourage squirrels, so I tend to have my doubts about their effectiveness.

-- One of the best ways to discourage them is to make sure you've removed a couple of their biggest attractions: food & water. In your situation, there's only so much you can do (since you mention them in the walls, there's probably problems in other units) but make sure all your food stuffs are secured, that there's no leaks under the sink or in the water line that runs to your icemaker, etc.

-- Make their lives as tough as possible. I forget what the exact number is, but I've been quoted something like a mouse needs an opening less than half it's body size in order to get through easily. So you're not looking for gaping holes, just anything larger than a caulkable crack. Bigger than that, you need to seal it securely, with plaster/dry wall repair kit, whatever it takes. Odds are, they're not coming through the front door, so you'll need to really go over the kitchen with a fine tooth comb to find their access points.

None of this will be foolproof, but it should give you a shot at making the situation at least a little better.

[st.cronin]

You need a cat.

[flere-imsaho]

You need a cat.

I am majorly allergic to cats so that is not an option.

:p

[lighthousekeeper]

I absolutely swear by the Peta mousetrap: https://www.petacatalog.org/prodinfo.asp?number=HP200


These things work amazingly well and the mouse doens't get hurt at all. The best part is you can just reuse the same trap over and over again. I've used the same trap to catch about 5 mice.

Just place a cracker with peanut butter in the little food holder area and you'll catch the buggers within the first night or two.

I even had the door break on mine after I'd used it to catch a few mice, and I contacted the company and they replaced it for free.

Plus it makes for a good family activity where you can take your kids to a (far away) park to release the mouse (and watch them get eaten by hawks).

[lighthousekeeper]

For example, I keep going down the road to Mays Landing, NJ and keep releasing them there.

[BrianD]

I used to trap and release mice, but I'm quite sure they always ran right back to the house. After that, whatever mice the cats didn't kill got flushed.

Mice can get through an opening the size of a dime. The only real way to keep them out is to find all of the holes and close them. If you don't do that, you will never get rid of them. Mice can reproduce at about 5 weeks old and have a gestational period of about 20 days. That means you get 6-8 new mice about every 2 months.

You should also talk to the apartment owners and tell them to bring in an exterminator.

[molson]

The idea of a "humane" mouse trap is kind of funny. How long can an "indoor" apartment-dwelling mouse survive in the middle of nowhere? Seems like a slower death than poison.

[Jon]

I lived in Newark, NJ in law school and we had a mouse problem. What I mean is that we caught 18 mice in a three day span. We were clean, we kept food (etc) away, but that didn't help. The problem was that we lived on the top floor of a four story building that had a pizzeria in the basement. So no pest control people would come. Our landlord didn't really work enough to take care of the problem (he just caulked the holes, but they can eat through that), so I had to take care of it myself. So, I used a four pronged attack. I put glue traps in places that they would be caught, regular traps where I could, and poison in places that I could. That worked in so far as we would catch them. However, the little rascals got a little brave and ran across my girlfriend's foot in the middle of the day. So I sent her to her parent's house for the weekend and took care of it myself. I bought some caulk, some steel wool, and proceeded to move furniture around to fill in the holes with a little bit of steel wool and the caulk. Supposedly they don't like chewing through the steel wool. I filled in about five to ten holes, but left one in case the things had to come out and die. Fortunately, once I did that, we stopped having mice in that apartment.
As for the exterminator, they won't come into a building for one apartment. So you should talk to the owner.

[JediKooter]

Call your landlord ask what he/she is going to do about the mouse problem and that it's creating a health risk. I believe mice feces carries the Haunta (sp?) virus which can actually kill people as it did in Arizona a few years back.

[Logan]

For example, I keep going down the road to Mays Landing, NJ and keep releasing them there.

2 hours and no one made a "I would rather die than have to live in New Jersey joke?"

[gottimd]

2 hours and no one made a "I would rather die than have to live in New Jersey joke?"

So the bartender says to me "wouldn't you rather die than have to live in NJ?"

[AlexB]

Catching Mice would make a great band name...

[gstelmack]

The steel wool in the holes is important. We had one move in to our laundry room cabinet, and steel wool + glue trap fixed the problem.

I don't feel bad about the glue trap given how careful I had to be with a mask and gloves and Clorox wipes trying to clean up the mess he left for us and our children...

[Karlifornia]

Dude, I don't see why you can't just go buy groceries like a normal person...

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

There was a mouse in my place and when I saw it scurrying about, I screamed like a little girl. When my girlfriend didn't dump me on that day, it was at that point I knew we were meant to be with each other.

Incidentally, I bought one of those plug-in sonic things and the mouse has not been back.

[BrianD]

There was a mouse in my place and when I saw it scurrying about, I screamed like a little girl. When my girlfriend didn't dump me on that day, it was at that point I knew we were meant to be with each other.

Incidentally, I bought one of those plug-in sonic things and the mouse has not been back.

My first mouse catching incident went much like yours did. After catching at least 20 of them (with help from the cats), I got much better at dealing with the situation. My wife and I still occasionally laugh at the trauma of the first mouse.

[Leonidas]

Funny you mention this as I'm dealing with it too. I actually did pest control for a living many years ago, and have found your run of the mill spring loaded mouse trap is far and away the best means. I'm in England and they have these cheap plastic things that don't have the right tension. The mice just lick the peanut butter off and go on their merry way. I managed to get my hands on some good old wooden, spring loaded traps yesterday and got my first kill last night. The really funny thing, the second trap I put out was actually destroyed, and the nutella I used for bait gone. At first it seemed king rat stomped my pathetic little trap, but my best guess is the trap sprang itself (they were pretty tough to set) and it broke itself on release and the mouse was lucky enough to lap up the stuff after.

Some key tips to mouse hunting. Obviously look for the trail of turds. When baiting the trap forget cheese. Use peanut butter, but be sure not to glob it on. Put it on pretty thin. And place the trap against a wall with the bait facing the wall. Mice like to run along the base of walls.

I hate poison. It's damn effective, but far too many problems with it. The biggie being when they die, you won't find 'em until you smell them. And they could be in your voids or attic or whatever. When I did pest control I spent a whole morning in a lady's attic trying to find the poisoned mice. And of course cats and dogs can get the poison and it will kill them too.

[lighthousekeeper]

The idea of a "humane" mouse trap is kind of funny. How long can an "indoor" apartment-dwelling mouse survive in the middle of nowhere? Seems like a slower death than poison.

I prefer the humane mouse traps no so much because it is humane to the mice, but because (1) it is a cheapest method (you only buy 1 trap) (2) it is less repugnant to pick up a trap with a living mouse than picking up a dead/dying mouse (3) I have young children and don't want them exposed to poison.

You just have to make sure that when you release them, you drive very far away.

[lighthousekeeper]

I used to trap and release mice, but I'm quite sure they always ran right back to the house. After that, whatever mice the cats didn't kill got flushed.

It's not too smart to release the mice that close to your house.


It reminds me of my college housemate, who bought 2 mice, thinking they were the same gender (they weren't), so they quickly multiplied to about 20. Then, when he moved out, he didn't want to take them with him, so his solution was to dump them in the backyard, about 10 feet from the house. :mad: Needless to say, for the next few months, our house has a serioues mouse problem.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Is it wrong that I thought that peta trap was hilarious?

Be sure to check the trap frequently, so mice won't suffer needlessly.

[BrianD]

It's not too smart to release the mice that close to your house.


I figured that out later. Normally the mice weren't caught until I was either in bed or already in my pajamas. At that point, about all I could do was fling them as far out the patio door as possible and hope they went for the neighbors' houses. Never seemed to work that way.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

I bought thr peta trap and it has never caught a mouse. After about a week, it might have... but I'll never know if it did because it was in several pieces on the floor, all chewed up (dumb dog figured out how to get the cheese!)

So I glued it together and still caught nothing. The dog actually caught and liked a mouse on Sunday and I thought I was done. I then saw two more. Picked up glue traps on Monday and since Monday night I have caught five more.

Well, actually today's #5 got off the glue trap and the dog got him...

[JediKooter]

PETA + TRAP = Oxymoron.

[lighthousekeeper]

I bought thr peta trap and it has never caught a mouse. After about a week, it might have... but I'll never know if it did because it was in several pieces on the floor, all chewed up (dumb dog figured out how to get the cheese!)

So I glued it together and still caught nothing. The dog actually caught and liked a mouse on Sunday and I thought I was done. I then saw two more. Picked up glue traps on Monday and since Monday night I have caught five more.

Well, actually today's #5 got off the glue trap and the dog got him...

It's unfortunate that it didn't work for you. I still swear by them.

The problem may be that you're using cheese - which really doesn't work well. You have to use peanut butter. Smear a big ol' spoonful of peanut butter on a cracker and place in the slot in the peta trap. Mice can't resist.

Also, remember that you can call the company (not peta, but the maker of the trap) and they will likely send you a new one if it broke. My wife called them saying that the latch broke and they sent a new one totally free of charge.

We keep the trap in the garage where our dogs aren't allowed.

[sabotai]

FRY: I give up, what's the catch?

LANDLORD: No catch, although we are technically in New Jersey.

--- next scene ---

FRY: Not one place even remotely livable.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

The problem may be that you're using cheese - which really doesn't work well. You have to use peanut butter. Smear a big ol' spoonful of peanut butter on a cracker and place in the slot in the peta trap. Mice can't resist.

It is currently set with a big smear of chunky peanut butter on the back of the trigger. Nothing.

Putting glue traps across the floor just inside a closet... Works very well!

[Dr. Sak]

My home inspector also told me that mice cannot resist chocolate. Put some hershey's syrup on the trap and they will come.

[cthomer5000]

PETA + TRAP = Oxymoron.

except not at all.

[EagleFan]

It is currently set with a big smear of chunky peanut butter on the back of the trigger. Nothing.

Putting glue traps across the floor just inside a closet... Works very well!

No wonder, mice like creamy not chunky.... :)

I swear by glue traps at this point. Sadly we were fighting the entire complex it seems, caught almost 20 when all was said and done. I think we are done with them by now (I hope).