A mouse in the house

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grannyjo

Member
Just glimpsed the tail of a mouse disappearing under my kitchen stove last night. ARRGGHH!

This morning I've been out to the produce store and have bought not only mouse traps, but bait as well.

Spent the remainder of the morning moving not only the stove, but the fridge and microwave as well - giving everything a really good clean, disinfect and putting down baits and traps.

Oh my aching arms and back - those things are heavy to move around.

Found some mouse dropping under the stove, but no-where else.

I know I have mice outside the house, because I have a neighbour who has quite a few bird cages, and that encourages the mice.

I usually keep my back door open for my dog to come in and out as she pleases, but for a while, she will be supervised. I think the mouse may have come in via that door.

It is coming up for winter in Australia, and all of the creatures are looking for somewhere nice and warm to settle in.

Not in my house though please!
 

I don't know how you or your pup feels about cats. But even one or two can make a big difference, friendliest mouse traps you ever could meet.
 
My dog is willing, but aging - she did have a go, but she was too slow.

This dog really does think that cats are the mortal enemy.

Haven't had a cat now for over 11 years. Thought I might be a bit too old to see one through - my cats usually live for about 17 or 18 years. I shouldn't have worried so much - I'm still here and expect to be for a few more years.

If I'd got a pup and a kitten at the same time, there wouldn't have been a problem. Too late now though - the dog really wouldn't go well with a cat or kitten being introduced.
 

Our two dogs are Schnauzer+Pomeranian mix, with the Schnauzer traits being good for getting rodents. Our Misty nabbed a couple mice right out of holes in the back yard.

We have two cats, when they were younger they kind-of liked the idea of catching mice, but not really enthusiastic in practice.

I use snap traps and sticky traps, with peanut butter on the bait tab of the snap trap, or blopped in the middle of the sticky trap.
 
Many years ago my husband was out of town and I was on the bed in the evening watching TV. Our cat jumped up on the bed holding a squirming mouse by his tail and started walking toward me. I freaked out screamed at him to drop it, chased him down into the basement where he finally let the mouse go (probably just to get away from the screaming crazy lady :playful:), I hit it with a push broom until it was dead. Locked the cat in a room while I disposed of the body....took awhile to get my heart rate back to normal again. :eek:
 
grannyjo, when I lived in Adelaide, my friend and her daughter stopped by to help me with painting the kitchen. We were having a lunch break, and the daughter said 'ssh' and pointed at the stove. There, standing right on the burner, was a wee mouse. I was mortified! I couldn't move the gas stove, but cleaned under it as well as possible. My now ex-husband put a spring trap on the counter where we found droppings. It was very unpleasant for me to see the tiny creature laying dead in that trap. From then on, I allowed our Alsatian to sleep in the kitchen .. no more mice.
 
I had some mice a couple of years ago and it drove me nuts trying to catch them. It also seriously grossed me out. My dogs were not particularly interested in catching them, and I had to be SO careful where I put the traps so the dogs wouldn't stick their noses in them and get trapped. My Orkin guy said they can get into your house through the smallest places, as they can squish down (not a scientific explanation, but that's what they can do) and even come under a door that isn't completely sealed at the bottom, under the sink beside the plumbing, up beside the gas connection for the stove -- a zillion places. I finally got them all and they haven't come back yet (knock wood). THEN, I got the joyful job of sanitizing the places they had been. YUCK!! They had even gotten inside my oven.

The whole time I had them, I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin every time I'd catch movement out of the corner of my eye. Here in NM, some mice carry hantavirus, which can kill you, and even Bubonic plague. We get a few cases every year. That scenario made it even worse.
 
We have both kinds here Butterfly. They say the gray ones are normal field mice and the brown ones with the white bellies can carry the hanta virus. They say peppermint oil placed on cotton balls will deter them, haven't tried this method, but I do use PineSol sometimes when I clean out areas in the garage where mice have been.
 
Normally mice know enough not to live in a house with cats, but we had just moved in, and there was one incident with our three cats chasing a terrified mouse around the room. We rescued the little critter and I put him outside and we never saw another mouse after that. I hate the idea of putting out poison or traps to kill them. There must be humane ways to get rid of them. And also very important to keep food in sealed containers and not leave crumbs and such around.
 
As Butterfly said, mice can enter the house through the smallest crack in the brickwork. It is almost impossible to completely seal your home as there are normally ventilation gaps that they can get through. And they can compress themselves. We had some get into the kitchen many years ago and they made a real mess. They were coming up from the foundations though a gap in the floor where pipes passed. I managed to seal the gap and caught the mice. Since then it seems to have been ok. However, I am sure that they still access the foundations, I used to leave traps down there but it was too much trouble lifting carpets, etc to get beneath the floor to clear the traps.

The most common mouse here is the filed mouse. Brown with white belly. As I am close to farmland, it is inevitable that we will get mice. The biggest problem recently was in my shed. They loved the bird food and kept gnawing through the bag and stuffing themselves. I have now managed to protect the seed. However, the mice will still be around.

You can get some humane traps. These are like little boxes. The mouse enters in one end and the trap closes. You can then set them free. They will of course thank you and return to your home many more times to express their gratitude while you catch them over again and drive them to some far off land to start a new life! :D

Good luck with the mouse, grannyjo.
 
SeaBreeze said:
We have both kinds here Butterfly. They say the gray ones are normal field mice and the brown ones with the white bellies can carry the hanta virus. They say peppermint oil placed on cotton balls will deter them, haven't tried this method, but I do use PineSol sometimes when I clean out areas in the garage where mice have been.
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I tried the peppermint oil. The mice just grinned at me and walked around it.
 
ossian said:
As Butterfly said, mice can enter the house through the smallest crack in the brickwork. It is almost impossible to completely seal your home as there are normally ventilation gaps that they can get through. And they can compress themselves. We had some get into the kitchen many years ago and they made a real mess. They were coming up from the foundations though a gap in the floor where pipes passed. I managed to seal the gap and caught the mice. Since then it seems to have been ok. However, I am sure that they still access the foundations, I used to leave traps down there but it was too much trouble lifting carpets, etc to get beneath the floor to clear the traps.

The most common mouse here is the filed mouse. Brown with white belly. As I am close to farmland, it is inevitable that we will get mice. The biggest problem recently was in my shed. They loved the bird food and kept gnawing through the bag and stuffing themselves. I have now managed to protect the seed. However, the mice will still be around.

You can get some humane traps. These are like little boxes. The mouse enters in one end and the trap closes. You can then set them free. They will of course thank you and return to your home many more times to express their gratitude while you catch them over again and drive them to some far off land to start a new life! :D

Good luck with the mouse, grannyjo.
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I had NO luck with the humane traps. The only success I had was with old fashioned snap traps loaded with peanut butter.
 
Our home has a storm creek running through the backyard with lots of brush. Would assume we would see mice. When we bought this home 17 years ago, I picked up a "ultrasound rodent device". It has been plugged in in the garage and we have never seen a mouse in our house. We see them under the front and back decks. I am a believer in this thing that supposedly emits a high frequency sound that repels mice but we humans can't hear it.
If you have pets, there can be an issue with poison or with traps. One way to catch mice is use an empty paper towel tube. Balance the tube on the edge of your kitchen cabinet. Put some bread crumbs out in the far end. Set an empty wastebasket under the tube. A mouse goes into the tube to get the bread crumbs. Once he gets so far, the tube tips and dumps him into the wastebasket. You can dispose of him any way you want.
Also, mice cannot emit gas. Growing up on the farm, we used to put tins of CocaCola, etc. in the grain bins. The sweet flavor would draw the mice to drink. Then, they would bloat and die from the pressure of the gas. If a dog or cat got into the soda pop, they would not be injured.
 
Caught two mice in traps last night - one on the back verandah, and one in the garage.

No more signs of any in the house since I put down the baits and stuffed steelwool into any available gap that they may use to access my house.

I don't mind sharing - but not with vermin.
 
I don't have the heart to kill anything except the spiders...if your web is high enough I'll leave you alone. The centipedes I will smash you to bits and then some...the slugs get flushed whole. But furry things, nope can't do it.
 
Don't get a cat! That way you will get even more mice around the house.We always had at least two cats at a time, and constantly they brought mice in, usually alive, and then lost them.Have been cat less for a couple of years now, and no mouse problems.In the UK we let our cats roam about outside, maybe different in the US?
 
So this is how I got a mouse to leave my house voluntarily one time. I set a trail of sunflower seeds from where I last saw it to the open door and out onto the porch.....he followed the trail and let himself out. Asta la bye bye little mouse!
 
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