Mice in the walls

HoneyNut

Senior Member
Does anyone have a successful strategy for mice in the walls? I have tried and tried to prevent them, but have not had complete success. Now the weather is getting cool and I hear them. It makes me feel so helpless. I don't understand why manufactured homes are not required to be sealed up sufficiently for human habitation.
 

The mice aren't inside the house itself (not anymore - several handymen later) but they are getting inside the walls of the house. I've put poison in the crawlspace under the house (probably need to put fresh now that I think of it) and inside the door to the plumbing by the tub in the bathroom. I've paid handymen in the past to plug up holes around the house and try to exclude them with wire mesh and close-fitting crawlspace doors. But they are somehow finding more ways under the house, then they go up into the inside of the walls. I don't know how to find the little spaces they must be using to get under the house. And the bottom of the house is covered by insulation and plastic (moisture barrier I think it is), so I have no idea where they sneak in. I wonder if there is any practical way to figure it out?
Now that I think of it, years ago when the problem wasn't happening we had several barn cats and the crawlspace was accessible to the cats. But, I don't want to go back to having barn cats because now I have a nice variety of bird-life outside, and I feel too old to mess with any barn chores, not even cats. I feel so old, and I'm still 2 years away from full retirement age, but I am seriously thinking to retire a year early (next year, as soon as there is a covid-19 vaccine).
 
We had a bad mouse problem for a couple of years. Then some hawks and falcons moved into the neighborhood and poof! no more mouse problem! Snakes also eat them, but I think it's more the predentary birds that got them under control. They're also cool to watch. There are also a few cats roaming the neighborhood that probably eat mice.

Like others have said, maybe get a cat.
 
Does anyone have a successful strategy for mice in the walls? I have tried and tried to prevent them, but have not had complete success. Now the weather is getting cool and I hear them. It makes me feel so helpless. I don't understand why manufactured homes are not required to be sealed up sufficiently for human habitation.
The mice aren't inside the house itself (not anymore - several handymen later) but they are getting inside the walls of the house. I've put poison in the crawlspace under the house (probably need to put fresh now that I think of it) and inside the door to the plumbing by the tub in the bathroom. I've paid handymen in the past to plug up holes around the house and try to exclude them with wire mesh and close-fitting crawlspace doors. But they are somehow finding more ways under the house, then they go up into the inside of the walls. I don't know how to find the little spaces they must be using to get under the house. And the bottom of the house is covered by insulation and plastic (moisture barrier I think it is), so I have no idea where they sneak in. I wonder if there is any practical way to figure it out?
Now that I think of it, years ago when the problem wasn't happening we had several barn cats and the crawlspace was accessible to the cats. But, I don't want to go back to having barn cats because now I have a nice variety of bird-life outside, and I feel too old to mess with any barn chores, not even cats. I feel so old, and I'm still 2 years away from full retirement age, but I am seriously thinking to retire a year early (next year, as soon as there is a covid-19 vaccine).

www.terminix.com/blog/education/get-rid-of-mice-in-walls/

www.orkin.com/rodents/mouse-control/how-to-get-mice-out-of-house-walls

Don't waste your money on ultrasonic pest and rodent repellent gimmicks as the emitters are directional plus the maximum effective range at best is 15 feet even in optimal conditions and are unable to penetrate any surfaces which renders them completely useless if the mice are in the walls of your home. I hope this helped.
 
I get mice indoors several times a year. I can only tell because of the droppings they leave. I don't like traps that kill, so I developed my "never-fail" (almost) tilt trap - works just like walking the plank. Place bait (peanut butter) at the end of a 4 by 7 inch piece of cardboard and suspend it over a deep waste can so it just balances on the edge of a counter. Can must be at least 3 feet tall or the critters can jump out. The mice walk out to get the PB and their weight tips the plank and they fall in the can. One time I caught 2 at once. Then I take the waste can and the passengers for a nice ride out in the country. It's catch and release. Then I have to come home and Clorox the kitchen.

mice 3-31-19.jpg
 
On the farm, when we went out of pigs, no longer had warm places for outside hunter cats.
That's when the problem started.......BIG TIME.
Mice can get in through the smallest of spaces.
Set up mouse traps every nite, with peanut butter, caught them nightly, had a hard time keeping up.
So
I started a expensive project.
Everything in storage downstairs went into containers.
In closets upstairs, except for clothes, went into containers.
I almost exploded when i went to pull out clean towels, sheets etc., out of hallway closets, filled with mouse crap !!!!!!!!
Checked daily for mouse crap where i couldn't put stuff in containers.
Finally convinced my spouse at the time, to go and fill anywhere on the outside of the house, basement walls that they could get in......would never be 100%, but should help.
Good thing he wasn't paid for the job, made a big mess with caulking and foam, and quit too soon.
The house wasn't old style, was a bungalow, but that doesn't really matter anyway, mice like warm places.
The mice problem didn't seem to bother him.....just kept telling me my imagination was going wild.
Mice chewed the wire on my curio cabinet in two......who knows what other wires they chewed.
We did have stray cats outside which i'm sure helped, but no warm place for them in the winter.

That's my terrible story. I HATE MICE.
 
I get mice indoors several times a year. I can only tell because of the droppings they leave. I don't like traps that kill, so I developed my "never-fail" (almost) tilt trap - works just like walking the plank. Place bait (peanut butter) at the end of a 4 by 7 inch piece of cardboard and suspend it over a deep waste can so it just balances on the edge of a counter. Can must be at least 3 feet tall or the critters can jump out. The mice walk out to get the PB and their weight tips the plank and they fall in the can. One time I caught 2 at once. Then I take the waste can and the passengers for a nice ride out in the country. It's catch and release. Then I have to come home and Clorox the kitchen.

View attachment 124849

Ha ha ha, lol. Mickey and Minnie look mad as Hell, lol.
 
Every Fall and Winter, since we moved to the countryside, I have to contend with mice. I've tried various means of control, but found that the simplest and most effective means is to spot a half dozen basic traps, baited with cheese, in the basement. Those pests find their way in by squeezing under the garage door weatherstripping...I suspect....looking for warmth. So, any day now, I will place the traps, and if it is a normal year, I will probably squash a half dozen, or more.
 
Thie worked for me>

Drill a small hole in the wall a few inches above your floor. Drill the same size hold in a cardboard box. Place a food-scented trap inside the box and cover the box with cellophane.

Secure the box against the wall, so the two holes are lined up. Replace bait traps inside the cardboard box as needed until all mice are gone. Once the mouse infestation is gone for good, patch the drywall.
 
If you have a cat and it eats mice be sure to give the cat wormer. The mice give cats worms. For us the rats and mice were living in the engine compartments of our cars. Putting traps and poison in there just attracted them. They were very good at getting the peanut butter off without springing the traps. They started chewing up parts of the car engines. We open the hoods a little and block them open when they are in the yard. That way the critters don't want to hide or build nests there. Oh, and we took off the big black cover thingy over the engine - can't remember what it's called, so they couldn't hide under it. Our mechanic suggested these things after we had umpteen repairs because of the critters. They worked. Oh, and add moth balls in the engine compartment. They hate the smell of moth balls.
 


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