Mice

[Max]

Hi, Folks.

We have mice in our basement. I don't know how many but I guess that one is too many. Our cat brings them up every once in a while and then plays with them. In the past I would catch them, take them outside and throw them into the woods. I used the humane traps so that I could release them in a similar manner. I'm past that stage now though. Now I use traps that smoosh the mice. Then I throw them out into the woods. I've had two traps in place for a little over a week now and I have caught 4 mice. 3 decent sized ones and 1 a little smaller. The cat usually catches small ones. I don't want to use the term infestation at this point, that sounds too alarming, but I'm wondering what experience other people have had with mice? I think I know where they come in. The steps at the front of our house need to be repaired and that's happening this fall some time. I don't want to use poison because, as I'm sure you know, dead mice STINK after a few days. I don't want stinky, dead mice in my walls. Any suggestions for keeping them away? My hope is that I am slowly killing them off and they will eventually "disappear" but my dread is that they will just keep on breeding and remain indefinitely. Anybody had any success / problems with the ultrasonic prevention thingies you can buy? I don't want anything that will drive my cat bananas.

We live in a pretty rural place. Surrounded by woods on 3 sides, 250 yard long drive. I expect to see the occasional visitor and since they don't make any appearances upstairs (except when the cat brings them upstairs) I don't know if I should panic or not. There is no evidence (poops) of mouse activity in closets, etc. so I am reasonably confident they are confined to the basement (which is unfinished, concrete floor).

Cheers, Max

[tudor]

Ugh, mice. They're hard to get rid of permanently but you can reduce them to an occasional one or two.

First thing to do is find and securely plug any holes they are using to come in from outside. Depending on where you live, they'll start to do this more seriously when it gets colder at night. They can get in through very small holes, like half an inch or even less in some cases--holes for wiring or cracks in exterior shingles. Steel wool is a good thing to use--basically anything they can't gnaw through easily.

After that, you can trap the ones inside. We use spring traps because they quick and cheap and you can check to see if you've caught any mice pretty easily. If you have small children or pets, you probably want to stay away from poisons.

Also, if you cut off their food, they'll have to go elsewhere. Move anything you think the mice will eat (food especially, but also things like books, newspapers, bars of soap, etc.) into a metal container with a top on it. One of my worst moments with mice was leaving a plastic bag of lawn seed out on a kitchen counter. Mice demolished the bag and left grass seed hulls all over the first story of the house. This was not a lot of mice either--maybe 3 or 4.

[Max]

thanks, Tudor. I have birdseed in my garage which is attached to the basement but no food in the basement itself. Access between the garage and basement is pretty easy for a mouse though. As you say, they can get through tiny gaps which I've found when trying to catch some of the little buggers the cat brings me.

I use the spring traps too, the plastic enclosed one with no metal spikes. Those things are powerful - they almost take the mouses head off. Sorry to be gross, but they are effective. They're easy to empty without having to even touch the mouse.

I'll plug the hole up as well. It should be permanently sealed when we get out steps rebuilt / replaced.

Cheers, Max