Scared to go in my basement

**annymoll** · 08-03-2009, 08:01 AM

This is what I do- Get a sticky glue bait trap,(I love 'um.) bait it with fruit or cheese.Put it inside a brown paper lunchsack, against a wall. Mouse goes in, gets stuck, croaks, and then you just dispose of the bag. You don't have to deal with the ugliness of his death.

**ladytoysdream** · 08-03-2009, 08:10 AM

I just took a few minutes, and read all of this thread.

The part about catching it live and releasing it , reminded me of a local story from years ago. A true story btw.
Seems this house had a lot of mice...the wife made the hubby catch them live and then take them for a ride somewhere. After awhile, the mouse population was not letting up. Just as many as before they started trapping. The husband was seriously baffled, but he had a idea....he put a drop of red fingernail polish on the back of the mice before he released them.

.............
they were catching mice previously caught.......the critters kept returning *home*

**monkeywrangler71** · 09-26-2009, 09:50 AM

I never caught anything, I found no more signs, and I gradually started going back into the basement. Last night I was down there on the computer and I had a cup of coffee with me. Remembered this morning that I left the cup down there, went down and got it and it had mouse poop in the empty cup.
This is the first sign I have seen in over a month. Does this mean there is only one? Surely a colony would be noisier, smellier, and messier. Or is that wishful thinking? If it can leave no evidence for this long, what is it eating? Nothing is chewed through anywhere.

Should I bait the traps with coffee? Seems to be the only thing it comes out for.

**never2late** · 09-26-2009, 11:44 AM

I wouldn't count on there being only one, sad to say! We live in an old farmhouse and mice are a problem each and every fall. I have had good luck in the past with mixing D-Con with a bit of peanut butter. If you have pets in the house though, you really need to keep them out of the area until you remove the D-Con. I was just talking about mice in the house last weekend with a friend. She recommended the enclosed traps. You bait them and set them out and then throw them away once you catch your mouse. I priced them and they were a bit more than I wanted to spend, considering the number of mice we get! They may be a good alternative for you though. Good Luck!

**Sara Noel** · 09-26-2009, 11:56 AM

There's never just one. Sadly, mouse droppings attract more rodents. It'll end up bigger rodents such as rats, moles, etc. if not addressed.

**monkeywrangler71** · 09-26-2009, 12:02 PM

SARA!!!
Don't say the R word to me!!!!!!

...going to go vomit now

**Debbie-cat** · 09-26-2009, 11:34 PM

Mice, moles are common around here on the farm. Although I do NOT like them and they scare the living daylights out of me when I see one, I don't like to see any animal suffer when needed to be destroyed. We don't have too many around the house but I am sure that is because of the cats we have. There are many in the barn though and I HATE going in the barn! I so sympathize with you and no, there isn't only one I am sorry to say. Good luck!

**cissylu** · 09-27-2009, 01:16 AM

We have one occasionally . wdh will catch with a trap. we have dog name dixie . She is a daddy`s girl go mouse hunting every night. even accross the street every night at the same time.
dh`s sister bought her some doggie halloween wafers for all her hard work . she got them yesterday.

**Judi Dial** · 09-27-2009, 09:37 AM

Originally Posted by madhen

Mice are a part of life out here. And ground squirrels. LOTS of ground squirrels....

I would love to have a basement. I hear "basement" and I think "root cellar." A cool place to store canned goods and produce that keeps well. I even thought about having a root cellar dug for me a while back, but I figured the cost of digging one deep enough to stay cool in this climate, through solid rock, would be prohibitive.

Madhen, I hear you. I have a crawlspace instead of a basement as it's granite bedrock 4' down.What I've thought of doing (and haven't done, yet) is a "cool closet." Do you know about those? It's an insulated closet with hardware wire shelves that has air from your unfinished basement allowed up into it and a pipe out (so it doesn't cool the house) but that cool, moist air helps keep everything cold without a speck of electricity! If I can possibly figure out where to put such a thing AND how to mouseproof it (we have mice too) then I'm gonna have one done when we finish the redo on the kitchen.

Judi

**madhen** · 09-27-2009, 10:09 AM

I've never heard of a cool closet Sounds like a great idea! Unfortunately, I don't even have a crawl space anymore.

Some day, I'll either have the money to have someone install a big root cellar or I'll have the time to dig one out myself!!

BTW, re: rodents, I have read somewhere that you are never more than 10 feet from one. And if you see one, it typically means there are at least 10 more that you DON'T see.

**fixer** · 09-27-2009, 10:48 AM

We usually have one mouse a year. I see signs, set traps and catch one. After that, I don't see any. It makes me crazy trying to see where they gain access to the basement.

I have wanted a root cellar. I am amused that a big selling point for a house is a wine cellar. I would rather have storage for potatoes.