What is The Best Way To Get Rid of Mice

MicroE

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When the weather snapped cold a couple of months back we noticed a field mouse had come inside to join us in our suburban house. I put down some glue traps and so far I have trapped 3 of these little buggers under the kitchen sink. We see "signs" that there is at least one more to go.
What has worked for you in de-mouseifying?---Marc
 

was_jlh

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MicroE, blacksnakes in the basement do an excellent job around here. Short of that, the old "snap" traps laced with peanut butter usually work.
 

FC.

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Get a cat
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Sigman

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I have used peanut butter and had a pretty successful catch. I have found traps that the mice had merely licked off the peanut butter without setting off the trap (how I don't know - what talent!).

Someone told me that since mice need bedding material, to use tiny pieces of cotton balls on the trap "trigger". Never need to replace it! Anyone ever tried that?
 

txwest

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I haven't heard of the cotton ball trick, but I have had mice take the bait off a trap without going off, but does go off if you stare at it hard. Never have figured that out. TX
 

Wingerr

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Get a Ketch-all live trap; they work wonders, and you can choose whether to release them unharmed or drown them after you catch them-
They have a spring wound trap door inside a tunnel, and when the curious mouse walks through, it triggers the vane, and slaps the mouse into the holding compartment. Works on multiple mice as well, without problem.
Works on the craftiest mice-
About $15; you can find it online or at HF. Kness Ketch-All
 

Sigman

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Pretty spendy for a mouse trap, but if you have a good recipe...the meat is left in great shape! However if you release them, then you of course would be responsible for any "therapy" needed resulting from the psychological damage of "forced & suprised" captivity!
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(Sorry!)
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Wingerr

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It's a one time purchase though, so if you make a hobby of it...
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It really does work amazingly well, though- it even caught the same mouse twice. Don't ask-
 

MicroE

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Yes, peanut butter is great. I usually dip a toothpick into the stuff and drop the toothpick in the middle of the glue trap.

The psychological damage to the mouse is not my major concern right now. I have a few bleeding-heart-liberal relatives that can have "custody" of the captives if they wish. I am willing to provide transport of the prisoners.

As a last resort I am willing to use chemical warfare to free my home from these uncivilized invaders. Has anybody ever tried those green "Sure Kill" bait blocks that they sell in Home Depot?
 

MikeF

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MicroE,
Trapping is better (Kill trap or Live trap - your option) because with a chemical solution you have no control where they die since the "Chemical Warfare" is not instantaneous. If they die within a space that you cannot get to, such as within a wall void, you have to deal with the smell of a carcass decaying.
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Also, if you have kids, other pets especially hamsters, gerbils, you may not want to have the chemicals around.
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D

**DONOTDELETE**

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The Ketch-All seems the best to me. I haven't tried it, but if you have more than a mouse or two, this trap keeps working without attention; the wind up spring is good for 'pursuading' at least 10 or 15 mice to come inside, then you have to wind it up again..be sure to provide food for the prisoners if you won't be checking the trap for a couple days..the odor and presence of live mice inside the trap is probably the best lure to bring more mice in..
I've heard rats and mice never occupy the same area..so maybe a pet rat patrolling the area would help?
A cat may work to some degree, but my experience with them has been that they chase away the ones that appear in the open, but aren't interested in ones they can hear but can't get to, (in walls etc.) -- also a cat may catch one mouse and spend they rest of the day with it, ignoring all the others..now a ferret is a different story. A ferret (a mouser that is, some ferrets are so fat and 'domesticated' that they seem to lose the aggression to go after mice) presented with a room full of mice will methodically kill (quickly) them all, one after the other..then collect the bodies and hide them..but that's a story for another day..
 

ygbsm

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In my experience, a crucial part of the eradication process has been to find where the mice are getting into the house and plugging up the hole/space/gap with steel wool.
 

Lurker

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Please don't use the glue traps. It's horribly inhumane. Better to use the basic spring trap or any sort of live-capture trap (simple ones can be quite inexpensive). Not that I have any great love of pests, but why cause needless suffering? It's bad carma.

Three steps to guaranteed success:

1: If possible, find and eliminate their food source from your house. Also anything they might be after such as a water source, bedding material, etc. But if you find a chewed-open bag of bird seed or pet food, that's it. If you must store what they are after in your house, consider buying a small steel garbage can (or other metal container) to put it in. They may be able to chew through a non-metal container.

2: Plug access holes (probably around your pipes under the sink). Steel Wool is effective since they can't chew back through it.

3: Trap until they are all gone. If you trap and release, release at least 100 yards from your home.

With a little determination you can wipe them out in a few days.
 

AlexGT

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I like the thrill of the hunt, I use a Co2 pellet pistol (TAU-7)and match pellets, they are flat head wich gives good punch, or use CrowMagnum pellets wich deliver more impact, hide somewhere near the mouse`s usual trail and wait, when it passes blam! end of story, If you don`t like to wait, bait it with peanut butter.

A word of caution, DO NOT USE BB´S! they have a serious tendency to ricochet and wear safety glasses.

I once killed a rat that was very elusive, used a small metal plate with water and electricity, put one of the wires in the dish and the other hanging with the bait, or in a small metal platform, when the rat chew the bait had a very deadly surprise, this is more sinister and dangerous, so be careful.

HTH
Alex
 

snakebite

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i have 2 baby boas left to sell from the last litter.
live catch the mice and these little eating machines will not only do away with the mice but will also put on quite a show!
btw every other year or so i get a mouse foolish enough to move in here for the winter.they have a very short lifespan here.snap coil gulp!
 

Gone Jeepin

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After years of using the spring and stickey traps with some success, f you don't mind the disposal issues, I have moved to the sonic repellers. After getting them out of my house and setting up repellers, I set up another repeller alone in the garage. I knew that there were several nests up in the loft under the the roof edge. After a few days the mice left my garage. I left the repeller running and the following fall and winter the mice did not appear to come back.

My advice is buy several from your local hardware store, not a late night infomercial model. Set them up in a pattern to drive the mice out of your house, not scatter them inside the house. After the setup, give it a day or two, and search around for signs, see where the little devils went and adjust the repellers again. You can have them out in a few days.
 
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