Mouse Issue
 

I seem to be having more than a normal invasion of mice into my basement this summer. I wonder if anyone else has seen an increase in their numbers and may be experiencing the same? Has there been an explosion in their population this year? I have been keeping traps set 24/7, picking up the bodies and resupplying them as needed with peanut butter. It is turning into a full-time job and have enlisted the aid of an assistant to try to keep them at bay. I refuse to use poison, as it can kill birds, wildlife and pets.

get a mouser
 

Peanut butter? Doesn't that attract from near and far? No mice are attracted to a cat's presence.

You have to be relentless about plugging their routes of entry.

Yes, I am having a huge problem this year. I can’t find how they are getting in, but I need to spend more time on it. I’ve been using 4 snap traps and I’ve killed 30-40.

I may need to call in pros.

True, and I've seen a related increase in hawks as well.

Very hard to find entry points, they need only dime size holes.Use steel wool to plug any that you find. Forget about all that anti mouse scented crap. Plug holes, traps or as noted a cat.

Alan

Brass or copper "steel" wool so it doesn't rust/deteriorate in a short time.

Mouse Issue
 

To have caught nine mice this past week seemed like a huge amount to me, but using a “mouse scorecard,” WinterHarborGuy, I cannot compete with you and have to concede and declare you the winner of this game. Wow, 30 to 40 is a tremendous number! May I ask the time frame involved in your estimated amount?

If more hawks are being seen in the area, perhaps Mother Nature is trying to even out the ratio by providing those birds with an ample supply of fast food, takeout meals. I have never been able to find all the places they can get in, as it is an old house with a stone foundation and they have a knack for squeezing through a very tiny space. I have plugged up the holes with steel wool in the places found..

I agree that there is nothing like a cat to deter them, but at this stage of my life, I am unable to care for a cat any longer. My old faithful calico passed away several years ago, but towards the end, she was not too interested in hunting mice anymore.
Thanks to everyone for your responses to my post.

I too have noticed a significant increase in mice this year. Fortunately for me, it's been limited to the garage, two indoor cats seem to be keeping them out of the house. I've also noticed more hawks, and maybe more owls as well.

Ultrasonic Pest Control
 

I used those RV ultrasonic pest controls with good results in the RV and cabin. The secret is to place them where they will be effective such as kitchen or crawl space. They may affect pets, so you can turn them on when the pets are away.
Peppermint oil spray is another deterrent. You can find these by the gallons! Spray around the base of the home on a weekly basis.

Plugging the access has been very effective for me to prevent new arrivals.
When I moved in n '01, I dug down a couple feet and closed all the cracks and gaps in my cinder block foundation. I still have bait packs inside and they have been untouched since then.

I also removed all the plants close to the foundation. Unfortunately, my wife has made flower beds in the front so I am keeping close watch, now!

Good luck!

That total is over the last 10 weeks. I haven’t had a kill in about a week. So I think I am winding down. Now I need to find the source. My house is from 1785 so the basement is a little problematic, as you can imagine. :)

Bucket with seed
 

5 gallon bucket with 6 inches of water on the bottom with Black oil sunflower bird seed floating on top is irresistible to them. Give them a ramp to the top of the bucket or place the bucket close to something that gives them access. They jump in to get the seed and drown. The results are amazing. Works for chipmunks outside too!

The source might have been just a breeding pair, and when it winds down, we forget to keep setting the traps.

My home isn't nearly as old, and I have seen nearly new homes, with the same issue.

I prefer not to bait so they don't die in some area that I can't get to and as they decay they smell.

One of the strangest things I had was missing bait for a while, determined that my switching from peanut butter to crackers and back to have maximum effect led to ants making the discovery of the crackers. So light they would never set off the traps. I fixed that with some diatomaceous earth.

Water Bucket Trap
 

I may have missed it, but our house has crawl space under it. We have found one of the best ways to get rid of mice is the 5 gallon bucket with about 4 inches of water in it. We used a coat hanger with a empty soda bottle running through, coated with peanut butter. A 2x4 leaning up against the bucket and when the mouse tries to get to the peanut butter, he spins on the bottle and falls into the bucket.

Amazon also sells traps that fit on top of a bucket as well.

Dave

Yes that works. Here are some variations:

https://fivegallonideas.com/bucket-mouse-trap/

Alan

Last year I caught 63 mice from April through October using that method. Just set it up again today. However, sometimes I found the mouse had not drowned and was treading water.

mouse issue
 

Check out Ketchall traps. These have been the choice of pros in the food industry for years.

Mice
 

I had a problem earlier in the spring. I did a trap with peanut butter and also ordered peppermint balls from Amazon. You put the balls in bags that come with the order and tuck them where you see mice droppings. It has worked really well.

I have a bucket type trap, but the mice seem to have figured it out. I now use electric traps made by Owltra. They run on 4 AA batteries, and I use cheese rind or cooked bacon for bait, as it’s less messy than peanut butter. A light flashes when a mouse is caught. No mashed bloody corpse. Not sure if the mouse suffers. Wish I could say I care. The traps are expensive (about $20), but I assume last forever. They are no hazard to pets (unless you keep rodents).


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Sorry, couldn't resist.

If mice get in to where they're not wanted, the system has failed.

Plugging entryways is key, but it's not always obvious where those are.

We had a mouse once and left it to the pros rather than jump through hoops figuring things out. JP Pest came out once, and we've not had issues since.

Sometimes it's worth one and done, especially in the case of rodents that leave a mess.

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Electric traps
 

I had a mouse problem during the winter a few years ago here in NJ. Found the mice got in through a chink of cement on my outside cellar door base. I bought 2 battery operated traps in Lowes for $19 each. Got 5 mice and no more issues. The nice thing is the trap has a hinged lid. I took the trap outside and could dump the body alongside the garage. With the stray cats around, each was gone overnight. So less messy than a mouse squished in a spring loaded trap. I used chunky peanut butter as bait. Once the mason fixed my cellarway, no more critters!

Hey Think. We use JP also…only we are just on the twice-annual plan (early and late summer) for ants/wasps. We haven’t had a huge winter problem with mice as I’ve been able to block up a lot of entry points in our seasonal home. Several times over the last several years however, a mouse has gotten in and chewed this or that up. So, just what did JP do that you were unable to? Did they literally block up every entry point and did they more or less guarantee that they’d be able to achieve that? Have you retained their service annually since then or was it one and done?

What they did is seal places I wouldn't ever have thought about nor been able to (easily/safely) get to as well as install exterior systems to keep activity outside.

For example, I have vinyl siding and the tech found trim that mice could get into that would never have occurred to me.

Also, we have some trees that the tech said made it easy for squirrels to get into places.

Every quarter, they come out and inspect and treat, based on the season and activity, and I've had no ants, mice/rodents, bats, bees, wasps, etc. etc. for at least five years. I'm a cheap guy, but I feel it's been money we'll-spent.

What about spiders? Spiders love us here?

No bugs, no ants, no spiders, nothing. It's glorious.

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Have you tried glue traps? They are extremely effective and economical. I’m very satisfied with this approach.

You forgot to add cruel.

I don't like mice in my living spaces, and am willing to reduce their populations, but I also don't want them to suffer.

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I agree. The pest company put these down and I saw one wiggling trying to get out of it and I didn't like it one bit. No more of those in my house.

Mice
 

We have had very good luck with one ultrasonic mouse deterrent. (Yes, we have tried several that have been complete fails.) We only tried this out of desperation. It has worked very well for us. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CXY1RS3V...d_asin_title_1