Mouse In The House?

[ttocs]

I've lived in my current house for 7-1/2 years rodent free. That record, sadly, came to an end recently.

I started seeing mouse droppings a few weeks ago. One, sometimes two, in the living area, and not often. I figured the basement was the home of the offender(s), so I bought some smell makers including mint packets and warm oil fragrance emitters using cinnamon oil and put these all over the basement. I fragranced up the whole house by doing this. I also bought bait stations for the basement which are unused even now.

A couple nights ago I SAW a mouse in the living room, then later saw it in the bedroom. Now, I know this might have been two different mice, but if there are multiple mice - why am I not seeing more evidence? I didn't sleep at all that night. So I got nasty real quick, starting with spraying ammonia along where baseboard meets the floor and there are gaps. I doused rags with ammonia and placed them in unused areas. I also bought the standard traps and more bait stations but this time I put them on the main floor.

And I also bought some Pine Sol. I normally use cleaners which have no lingering smell, so when you enter the house - it just doesn't smell. So I decided to start using Pine Sol to stink up the place, and that smell lingers. So now the house smells like cinnamon, mint, and Pine Sol. The ammonia dissipates pretty quick, it's just for where I thought mice might be using for their routes.

Then I got the audio system into action. I played loud bass rumbles, and also played very high frequency sounds in the 14,000 - 20,000Hz range. I played the sounds for 20-30 minute periods every few hours. I use an SPL meter to determine how loud the high frequency sound is playing to keep the intensity at least at 80dB. It's pretty amazing that these high frequency sounds also bother "me" to the point where I wear ear protection. I didn't think I'd be able to notice when the high freqs were playing, but I do.

I think I discovered an entry point for the mouse. A wood strip on the front windows had been pulled back that was covering a rotted portion it's attached to. The windows need replacement. I stuffed steel wool into the void and re-secured the wood strip and continued with the ammonia and sound assault. Since the night of the sightings there's been no discernible activity.

No food. Sure there's canned and bottled goods, but I have just one kitchen drawer that has less than a 1/8" gap around the drawer front with unopened packages of pasta and noodles, and anything else - including cereal - is kept in the fridge. This is a hold-over from when I had a problem with roaches when I lived in an apartment and the roaches migrated to my apartment when the unit above was being renovated. And for the record, I bag and freeze food waste until garbage day so only non-smelly items are in the trash bin. So the only food is in the kitchen area since I don't eat in the tv area, and only water makes it into the bedrooms.

I don't know what any mouse would be attracted to if it doesn't discover food. Does it leave? Does it bring in carry-out? Any mouse experts out there? I've often said that when it comes to mice, if you see one there's more, so I want to squelch this before it becomes a family matter, and so on, and so on, . . . .

[garbulky]

Have you purchased a flamethrower?

[garbulky]

You could get some humane traps, amazon has some of them.

[mountain]

I get a little fellow or two every year when it starts getting cold.  A couple of Toms Mouse traps and peanut butter.  Done.

[405x5]

Mice 🐭 are benevolent and REAL easy to get rid of. Catch the one or 2 you’ve got now and probably you won’t see one again for years. Get a Cheap package of those little traps from Home Depot and stick peanut butter or a little cheese on there. You’ll hit pay dirt in a couple of nights. Under the kitchen sink cabinet is an important place to stick one and anywhere you found droppings.
All that other stuff you’re doing is a waste.
My cat LOVED mice and just played with them.... I fired her.

Bill

[405x5]

A few years ago SOMETHING caught himself in my garage. I found out because the rubber moulding under one of my 9 foot doors was destroyed ( and it was new...oh well) THAT was no mouse!
25 years in this place and NEVER saw anything like that.

[ttocs]

Oct 13, 2020 14:17:22 GMT -5 garbulky said:

You could get some humane traps, amazon has some of them.

30 years ago my bride and I lived in a small 80 year old cottage with acres of wooded land around us. We had mice on a regular basis and used those traps on a regular basis early on. Our cat had a better idea, kill them and leave the bodies at the door to our bedroom. After a while the activity lessened.

This is the trap we used, and it worked 100% of the time. So simple.


A few months ago a chipmunk had gotten in the house so I bought a Hav-A-Hart trap for chipmunks. I know it was a chipmunk based on the round droppings. Never saw it, but heard it a couple times. Two days of activity, then nothing, so I guess it got out. I think it came in when the guys who were working in the house were taking their tools out and left the door open. So I don't mind trapping when it is obvious that it's a single intruder. But when I have thoughts that there might be several or more residing in the basement, that's just something I can't live with, especially when it involves the bedroom where I sleep.

What's weird is that only after I put traps out, for the chipmunk and now mice, that there's no activity. But I still don't know there's no inhabitants in the basement, there's a lot of boxes stored down there so they could be anywhere. There's water, just no food - at least not what I would consider to be food. 

[405x5]

Oct 13, 2020 14:17:05 GMT -5 garbulky said:

Have you purchased a flamethrower?

[klinemj]

Oct 13, 2020 13:44:40 GMT -5 ttocs said:

I don't know what any mouse would be attracted to if it doesn't discover food. Does it leave? Does it bring in carry-out? Any mouse experts out there? I've often said that when it comes to mice, if you see one there's more, so I want to squelch this before it becomes a family matter, and so on, and so on, . . . .

Mice normally come inside to initiate hijinks with your cat and/or dog. I recommend you watch the show "Tom and Jerry" to learn all about it.

But...seriously...I have heard that mice tend to frequent the same general areas. If you see them in a particular place, even once they are "gone" - if they show back up, odds are they will come back to the same area. In my case, they very much like inside our kitchen island and our utility room. Any time I see evidence of them, I put traps in those locations. I typically get at least 1 within a few hours. And, if I get one - I typically get a second not much longer after that.

Also, I have heard mice can get into VERY tight spaces far smaller than you might imagine. They don't need a nice big hole shaped like a door in the baseboard ala Tom and Jerry. A tiny hole just ~1/4" or so will do.

Mark

[mountain]

Yep, kitchen and pantry.  Hell I had one drown itself in the toilet once. We’re related you know.......

[ttocs]

Oct 13, 2020 14:48:17 GMT -5 405x5 said:

Mice 🐭 are benevolent and REAL easy to get rid of. Catch the one or 2 you’ve got now and probably you won’t see one again for years. Get a Cheap package of those little traps from Home Depot and stick peanut butter or a little cheese on there. You’ll hit pay dirt in a couple of nights. Under the kitchen sink cabinet is an important place to stick one and anywhere you found droppings.
All that other stuff you’re doing is a waste.
My cat LOVED mice and just played with them.... I fired her.

Bill

I hear what you're saying about the other stuff. But with the sound, it's mainly just experimentation. It's easy to make the sounds. Those noise emitters that are supposed to annoy the mice are mostly just not loud enough. I've seen videos showing how barn mice react to the different deterrent products. When there is food present, the noise makers don't deter the mice. But when I make the sounds, I can make them as loud as I want. But it's only the rumble that can affect the whole house.

But mint is something that actually works even when the food is right there. The guy that made all those videos uses sunflower seeds which the mice love, but the mint smell was just something that was too overwhelming. You could see the back and forth motions showing the decision making process, should I, or shouldn't I?

[ttocs]

Oct 13, 2020 14:59:41 GMT -5 klinemj said:

Oct 13, 2020 13:44:40 GMT -5 ttocs said:

I don't know what any mouse would be attracted to if it doesn't discover food. Does it leave? Does it bring in carry-out? Any mouse experts out there? I've often said that when it comes to mice, if you see one there's more, so I want to squelch this before it becomes a family matter, and so on, and so on, . . . .

Mice normally come inside to initiate hijinks with your cat and/or dog. I recommend you watch the show "Tom and Jerry" to learn all about it.

But...seriously...I have heard that mice tend to frequent the same general areas. If you see them in a particular place, even once they are "gone" - if they show back up, odds are they will come back to the same area. In my case, they very much like inside our kitchen island and our utility room. Any time I see evidence of them, I put traps in those locations. I typically get at least 1 within a few hours. And, if I get one - I typically get a second not much longer after that.

Also, I have heard mice can get into VERY tight spaces far smaller than you might imagine. They don't need a nice big hole shaped like a door in the baseboard ala Tom and Jerry. A tiny hole just ~1/4" or so will do.

Mark

This "Tom And Jerry", it this a local show or national? I don't see it in the TV Guide. Possibly on the Learning Channel?   

So far there is no particular area. There's been less than a dozen droppings altogether, and usually just one at a time - on the main floor. The basement is old  and unfinished, and there's still demo material down there from recent work, and will stay there until the other bathroom is renovated, so I can't determine what is what on the floor.

[klinemj]

Oct 13, 2020 15:16:14 GMT -5 ttocs said:

This "Tom And Jerry", it this a local show or national? I don't see it in the TV Guide. Possibly on the Learning Channel?   

So far there is no particular area. There's been less than a dozen droppings altogether, and usually just one at a time - on the main floor. The basement is old  and unfinished, and there's still demo material down there from recent work, and will stay there until the other bathroom is renovated, so I can't determine what is what on the floor.

LOL! Unless your TV Guide is very old, you might not find it - but it still plays on Hulu live! YAY!

I do second the idea of the old fashioned mousetraps others have noted. I used to old ones with metal mechanisms. I found the new plastic ones don't trigger as easily. I found many with the cheese missing and the mechanism not deployed. Given we have cats (yes...4 of them...and so far, in 20 years - they have only caught 3!), I can't put the traps out and about just anywhere. Well, I could, but the cats might not like that. So, I have to hide mine away where the cats can't get to them. I am pretty sure mine come in via the garage, so I have put some traps in the garage in the past.

Mark

[cgolf]

Oct 13, 2020 14:46:28 GMT -5 mountain said:

I get a little fellow or two every year when it starts getting cold.  A couple of Toms Mouse traps and peanut butter.  Done.

Jus had one run around in the kitchen the other day. One small trap & peanut butter, no more mouse!!

[tropicallutefisk]

Is it cold now in your area? They may be coming in for the warmth. Luckily mice are stupid. Just place traps against walls where they’re active. You’ll eventually get them. They primarily run along walls and avoid open areas. Now if you get rats, good luck. They’re quite intelligent and you need to stay a step ahead of them.

[Jean Genie]

If you don't have kids or pets, D-Con pellets. Put 'em where you saw the scat. They hoard the pellets and share them with any other mice that may be around.

[DYohn]

When I was in the Navy stationed at Mare Island, a friend who lived in Vallejo, CA one day noticed his front yard quivering and moving like it was alive. He called an exterminator and there was a colony of over 100,000 rats living under his house and yard. Yum.

[ttocs]

Oct 13, 2020 15:55:36 GMT -5 tropicallutefisk said:

Is it cold now in your area? They may be coming in for the warmth. Luckily mice are stupid. Just place traps against walls where they’re active. You’ll eventually get them. They primarily run along walls and avoid open areas. Now if you get rats, good luck. They’re quite intelligent and you need to stay a step ahead of them.

Yes, it's getting cold. Luckily there are no rats inside!! Now, the neighbors next door who avoided my attempts at introducing myself when I moved in ? ? ?

[ttocs]

Oct 13, 2020 16:53:03 GMT -5 DYohn said:

When I was in the Navy stationed at Mare Island, a friend who lived in Vallejo, CA one day noticed his front yard quivering and moving like it was alive. He called an exterminator and there was a colony of over 100,000 rats living under his house and yard. Yum.

I know there's plenty of activity in my gardens, especially along the front of the house. My Ring doorbell and cameras catch a couple cats that intently watch the garden late at night into the wee hours of the morning. The local skunk also finds the smaller garden on the property line interesting from time to time.

But my yard definitely does not "quiver". I just wish the owls that live in the trees of my back neighbor would spend more time close to my house.

[DYohn]

If you have owls that's a good thing to help keep that rodent population down - and it may be part of why they are hiding inside your house!