Mouse Infestation? (1 Viewer)

[JasonMC]

I have caught two mice in my family room in the last two days. My wife is freaked out that we have an infestation. At what point should I consider an exterminator vs. continuing to set traps?

Thanks,
Jason

 

[Scott McGillivray]

Just buy a big-ass Maine Coon Cat! (They can get to be a solid 20 lbs.)

No more mouse problems and one cool/fun cat to boot!

 

[JasonMC]

A mouse eating machine! I like it. Unfortunately, my wife wouldn't.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Yup that's Fluffy Pumpkin to a tee. I once found half a rat on my back porch. I guess he wasn't that hungry that morning.

In my case I didn't have to buy one, he just showed up as a kitten and moved in with me.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Scott and Dennis have made my suggestion. Out of our three Siamese, Charlie is the best hunter, weighing in at only 12 lbs of killer kitty.

 

[StephenA]

My cats don't intentionally kill the mice, rats, and moles they catch. The cats just bring them into the tub and bat them around and generally play with them till they die. They never eat them though.

 

[Kevin Alexander]

I am an exterminator and if I was coming to your house I would look for how they were getting in (holes that lead to the outside, pipe entry points under the sink, false bottoms under your lower cabinets, gaps under your door, ect). Once I find the entry point, I would seal it/them up as good as possible. In the meantime, I would put lots of glue boards in the family room behind the couch, tv stand, furniture, and other places where they were out of site. That way if you have some running around still, they are immediately caught. Just make sure you check them (glueboards) everyday to see what you've caught before they die and stink. There are several ways to approach the problem, this is just one. But if you can afford it, an exterminator can always help in ways and w/ equipment and techniques that would take me hours to type and describe.

 

[JasonMC]

Thanks for the info Kevin! The weather here will be nice tomorrow so I'll investigate some of the things you mentioned.

 

[Philip_G]

I've been trapping them in my garage like mad, caught 6 in a week and need to throw down some more traps.

Not a fan of the glu boards personally, and I don't understand why ANYONE would throw out poison, nothing like a dead, stinking mouse stuck in your wall ugh.

 

[JasonMC]

Philip,

You are using covered traps right? What brand are they?

 

[Philip_G]

yep, victor I believe, come in a yellow box.
I can olny get them at the local hardware store for 3.75 each
walmart doesn't have them.. here anyway.

 

[Tim Markley]

Try some of this stuff Shake-Away . I used it to get rid of some rats in my attic and it worked great.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Last week I woke up a couple morning in a row to a loud scratching in my walls and ceilings, right at dawn. I still had some poison in the back room from prior years' infestations, so I put out a block in the crawlspace under the floor and a block up in the attic space. Haven't heard the loud scratching since.

But tonight I noticed a tennis ball-sized hole chewed through the ceiling by my front door. Not sure if it dates back to when the scratching was happening, and I just didn't look up and spot it, or if the critter's still up there causing havoc, and I just haven't been around when it's been active.

I live at the edge of the woods in a very rural area, so critters are a problem this time pretty much every year as soon as the whether turns cold. But this is the first time they've caused this kind of damage.

 

[Stan]

Mice are horrid little creatures. I had four living under my dishwasher, chewed through the cabinets and the floor to the basement, no idea how they got in. They climbed up two feet of a cement foundation and under aluminum siding. My cat would sit for hours staring at the dishwasher until I finally figured out what was going on.

Put out traps with peanut butter as bait along with poison. Caught three, friends told me the fourth one probably got dehydrated from the poison and left to search for water, never saw it again.

 

[B-ROLL]

Cats are also a good solution to a mice problem ... but don't use them AND poison baits ...

 

[Richard V]

Cats are also a good solution to a mice problem ... but don't use them AND poison baits ...

My cats got a couple, brought them to me as their gifts. Haven't heard a peep since.

 

[Stan]

Cats are also a good solution to a mice problem ... but don't use them AND poison baits ...

Definitely. The poison was only in the basement foundation area that the cat couldn't reach.

 

[Malcolm R]

Definitely. The poison was only in the basement foundation area that the cat couldn't reach.

You also want to make sure the cats don't find/eat the mice that have ingested tne poison.

 

[DaveF]

^ That.

We've had some mice issues this year. I'd like to use poison, but not going to risk it with my cats. So it's snap traps with attractant.

 

[Mike Frezon]

From 2004 to 2017.

Mice are truly timeless.