Eww, Eww, Eww...Mice!

[Lilolme]

I noticed about a week ago that the mice are starting to make their way into the house. I am terrified of these little rodents to the point of not being able to move off of the couch, chair or whatever once I see one darting across the floor. We have put out glue pads and traps and have caught several...thank goodness! I also moved my cat back indoors for the duration of winter. I sure don't remember them being as bad as they are right now, last year!

Is anyone else noticing mice?

[madhen]

Mice are a lot like humans: they like to be warm and dry in the winter. I usually have more of a mouse problem when the weather gets super cold, but I had a bad rat problem in my tack room last year. They were going for all the chicken food, and they were using the hay bales as nice warm homes to burrow in. I had to lay down screen in the coop and lock the "girls" up for quite a while, while I battled the rats. (I tried locking them up without the screen, and the rodents just burrowed up and under to get to the food.)

[PrairieRose]

We had a small run not long ago. I got to looking for the holes (steel wool in hand to plug em up) and went crazy setting traps. I don't have a cat but considered getting one.... then I remembered the smell of a litter box..... Good luck getting rid of the vermin.

[MomToTwoBoys]

I haven't seen a mouse or a rat in the entire six years I've been in Calgary. Apparently, Alberta is rat-free and mouse-free from what I've read so thank goodness! I hate mice/rats too and when I was married the first time, my ex-DH got me to actually hold a mouse before it was fed to his pet snake. That actually got me unafraid of mice.

I'm so thankful that we don't have cockroaches either, omg those things creep me out like no tomorrow.

How are the mice getting in? Is there any way that you can seal any holes they're going through?

[Patty A]

Trying looking for holes, even small ones. If a mouse can get his nose in a hole he can manage to get in throught it. They can fit in the tinyest of holes! They won't chew steel wool, poke it in every spot you can find!

D-con has a new trap out, and it is great! Its a no see, no touch trap. You twist them to set them, then when the mouse goes in it twist shut! You don't even see the mouse!!

You also need to be aware of the hantavirus!!! It is most commonly carried by the
"deer mouse", but other strains carry other disease too. So be extra careful in cleaning any mouse area. It is the stuff you see that is dangerous, its mostly the dry urine that causes the harm, and you never know where that stuff is! Mix bleach at a rate of 5 water to 1 bleach, spray the area you know the mouse has been in and take no chances! We have had a few deaths related to this virus in and around our area so please be careful when cleaning areas when mice have been. It isn't worth taking the chance with your life. It was only a few years ago a lady just up the street from us died from this, it is a disease that can kill. Make sure you wet the area you are cleaning with the bleach mix, then you have nothing to worry about.

I didn't write this to scare anyone, we live in the field areas here where we live and mice are common in the hay, barns, chicken house, and sheds. They love finding nice warm places to live, and easy to find food. Just be careful, and clean up with bleach if you find them in your homes.

[nvmommyx6]

Bringing your cat indoors is probably a good idea, for me, I got a few cats as mousers for our 5 acres when we moved here, as soon as the cats were here though, we started having the mice in the house, the dang cats were driving them into the house!! I got rid of the cats and since then have had no mice in my home for 5 years!!!
I also keep the mouse poison outside of the house, putting it in the house draws them in to eat it!! The glue boards and snap traps work well and steel wool in any holes they can get through!
Good luck!

[allthewiser]

A cat does wonders.

We don't have any inside cats but we do have two outside old Tom's that we kind of adopted. We feed them so they stick around allowing them to live in the crawl space under the house. This area is known for mice yet in two years I haven't seen one yet. The two big tom's are probably death on them.

[Lilolme]

I am so terrified of seeing one that I am going to wait for my DH to get in off the road, which is tomorrow, to look for any holes/openings they may be getting in. I did not know they wouldn't chew through steel wool so thanks for that tip!

Last night I was sitting in bed crocheting and all of a sudden my cat came running through my bedroom (which has hardwood floors that I had just pledged with my dustmop) and was darting under my bed, running into the dresser, back under the bed, etc. Finally he stopped. I was frozen because I just knew he was chasing a mouse. EWWWWW! Then I hear the mouse running across the floor and my cat started again. Needless to say this carried on for what seemed like an eternity to me and then all of a sudden my cat jumps up on my bed with the mouse in his mouth. I probably sounded like a herd of elephants trying to get out of bed and out of my bedroom.

It's kind of funny now but last night was a totally different story!

[nvmommyx6]

Mice cannot chew through steel wool, make sure you stretch the steel woll over the edges of the holes so they cannot get to the edges of the hole to re-chew a hole again off of the original one!!
Also, bugs cannot crawl through steel wool either!!

Good kitty!!!

[Grayce]

Another thing is to make sure all food is sealed up in mouseproof containers. they can chew through boxes and bags etc. If there is food available it attracts them.

[Ilovesewing]

I'm sorry - I'm not laughing at you really I am also deathly terrified of mice and rats - I've done my share of running/screaming/waving arms wildly in the air. But your story of kitty bringing you his catch was funny - ONLY because it wasn't my bed he brought it into! We have an indoor cat and that seems to keep them away. I've also heard that if you plant mint around your house the mice will stay away. Good luck!

[georgiamom]

I have a cat that catches mice but will not eat them she just leaves them for me to get rid of. She also catches squirrels and possums anything that gets near the house. She mostly stays near the feed barn where I store the goat and dog feed. Another natural repellant is 1 tablespoon of tabasco sauce and 1/2 cup of soap detergent to a gallon of water and spray around your house or where ever you see the mice. I've also heard peppermint leaves or oil will run mice. Just dip cotton balls in the oil and place where you have seen them and they will not come back.

[AuntSissy]

Can't stand 'em...Am deathly afraid of them, too. Also, I cannot use commercial pest repellents/killers, so I am always on the prowl for natural and safe (for humans and my furbabies) alternatives.

The following have worked for me:

• Mix 1/2 cup of soap detergent with 1 tablespoon of tabasco sauce in 1 gallon of water. Spray around the outside of your house (you should only have to repeat once each year). I do this in the fall, right before it starts getting chilly.
• Take cotton balls and soak them with peppermint or spearmint oil (citonella oil works, too). Place them in strategic places where you think the mice might be coming into your home. Rodents are repelled by the odor of peppermint (and most people find it pleasant and "homey" - - especially around the Holidays!).

Good luck!
Anna <rodent-phobic, though spiders/roached/snakes don't scare me!>

[pat in east texas]

I despise mice in the house. My dog (a rat terrier, yet) is scared of them!
Mice are so cute out of doors - we uncovered a colony of them in cleaning up our property when we first bought it - but once they get in the house, their days are numbered!

[dcompton]

Awww, your kitty was so proud!