How to Get Rid of Mice in a Nutshell:
- Seal-up all holes around your property, to prevent mice entering or re-entering.
- Clean-up all food. Do not leave crumbs or food scraps on surfaces or floors and store all food in sealed glass, plastic or tin containers. Same goes for water.
- Use timed pet feeders to feed your cats and dogs, do not leave pet food or water on the floor for the mice.
Best Methods for Trapping Mice
One of the best mouse traps is the Victor electronic mouse trap (Click the link to read about it). The best bait to use is peanut butter placed on a candy wrapper, also place some bait under the trap. Always place the trap against a wall or a corner.
When setting traps, use gloves so you don’t leave your human smell on the trap. BUT make sure you only touch the gloves at the “wrist end” because you don’t want to transfer you human smell the the gloves and then the gloves to transmit it to the trap.
Table of Contents
- Mice Infestations
- How Do I Know If I Have a Mouse Infestation?
- What Should I Do If a Mouse Has Moved In?
- Where Is the Best Place to Put the Mouse Trap?
- How Do I Set a Mouse Trap?
- How Long Should I leave a Mouse Trap in Place?
- Where Can I Dispose of a Dead Mouse Safely?
- If I Use the Trap & Release Method – Where Should I release The Mouse?
- Clean up the mess
Mice Infestations
An infestation of mice in your home can be difficult to deal with, especially if you don’t know how to get rid of mice efficiently and effectively. Rodents are nasty pests because they can cause a lot of damage to your property by gnawing through walls, electric cables and furniture, as well as posing a health risk.
The house mouse is a common pest. After all, they live in houses. Your attic is a warm, safe, quiet place for a mother mouse to give birth and raise her babies. Those baby mice will have baby mice and their baby mice will have baby mice, so that it you don’t take care of the problem you will have:
- The faint odor of mouse urine all over your house.
- Unexpected shorts and outages as the mice gnaw through insulation on electrical wires.
- Scratching and scampering noises in your ceiling and in your walls.
- Drips, leaks, and unexpectedly high water bills when mice gnaw through PVC pipes.
- Interruptions to cable and Internet service when mice chew insulation.
- Mouse droppings in your attic and in your kitchen.
- Damage to food in the pantry.
- Disease problems that are hard to track, such as E. coli and Salmonella infections from mouse-tainted food, and parasites in your pets.
Mice stake their territory in nooks and crannies anywhere in your house, but your attic is practically a vacation resort. In the safe and secure environment of your attic, just two mice can become 100 mice in less than a year. The sooner you get that first mouse out of your house, the fewer problems you will have. Here are not-really-easy but necessary steps to small rodent control for your attic and for the rest of your house.
How Do I Know If I Have a Mouse Infestation?
It is, of course, important to be sure there actually is a mouse infestation before you go off half-cocked trying to get rid of mice that may not even exist. A good way of identifying the problem is to use a camera trap (like a security camera). They are very easy to install because they are wireless and are easy to use. Most cameras have night-vision capability so are perfect to use in dark places like the attic and… at night. Check-out the top 3 camera traps here.
Another way to see where mice are getting in is to do your inspection at night with a black light (ultraviolet light). Mice navigate your house by smell rather than by sight, and their smell of choice is their own or another mouse’s urine. A black light will show you the highest concentrations of urine which are most highly trafficked by mice.
The most obvious visible evidence of a mouse infestation is their droppings. These look like small black beads. Mice poop a lot, and often, so there are always plenty of droppings to be found where mice have been. You can see pictures of mouse droppings at Dept of Conservation.
Look primarily in the kitchen and the attic. Check cupboards and drawers, as well as bins. Always remember they are after food, so try to think like a mouse and go where they are most likely to find food. Remember also, they are small creatures, so it doesn’t have to be a lot of food either. Crumbs dropped on the floor will provide a nice snack for a small mouse.
Mice are noisy creatures. They will inhabit the spaces behind your walls, or up in the attic. One single mouse can sound like an elephant charging, almost, if you hear it scurrying along your attic floor, which also happens to be you bedroom roof, in the middle of the night, for example. You may also hear them squeaking a lot too.
You are unlikely to smell the evidence of a mouse infestation in the early stages. By the time you can smell anything, the problem is getting out of hand. The main smells are of mouse urine, usually, and easy to recognize. If a mouse dies behind a wall, it will also smell as its flesh rots. The smell will be quite intense and very nasty.
What Should I Do If a Mouse Has Moved In?
You should start by blocking up the source of their entry. This way you can ensure that no more will get in, and then you can start to tackle the ones already inside. Check for cracks or openings in the foundations on the outside of the house. Check where pipes or cables enter or leave the house to see if there are any openings between the pipes or cables and the wall.
You need to check the tiniest of spaces. Don’t leave any space, no matter how small, to chance. Go around your house checking carefully, and eliminate all spaces and openings from the foundations to the top of the roof, and block them all up securely. It’s also a good idea to make sure your doors are closed every time they are opened. Door springs and door closers have to be in working order to keep mice out. This is particularly true if you have children. You should also check pet doors to make sure they close securely behind your pet.
Natural methods for deterring mice from entering apartments or houses include, soaking balls of cotton wool in mint and peppermint oil and leaving them in places where the mice are active, getting a cat or using an ultrasonic rodent repeller (this link goes to an article talking about repelling squirrels, but it is the same concept as for mice because they are both rodents).
When you are satisfied that no mouse can either get in or out of the house, it’s time to set some traps. You need to decide what traps to use, do you use traditional mouse snap traps, electronic traps, or humane traps. You can also use glue traps or mouse poison bait. There are pros and cons for each.
Snap traps are very efficient at killing mice. As they are very cheap, it’s easiest to dispose of the trap and mouse at the same time.
Glue traps, trap the animal on a strip of glue. It stays alive, but you need to kill it once you find it, and then dispose of it.
Poison is, of course, dangerous to use, especially if you have household pets or children. This is why you only use them in conjunction with a mouse bait station.
Humane traps work well. They trap the animal without harming it so you can release it again somewhere far from your house. Of course, you do need to check these traps regularly, or the mouse will be left inside the trap without food or water for possibly days, which would of course be cruel.
Electronic traps are extremely efficient. They work off batteries, which mean they are completely portable without wires. They work by giving the mouse a high voltage charge when it steps on a special plate and completes a circuit. The mouse is killed instantly, and there is no blood or gore. Disposal of the body is easy and clean.
Where Is the Best Place to Put the Mouse Trap?
The best place to put mouse traps is where the mice are most active. You will know where this is by observing the amount of mouse droppings. There may also be an increased amount of mouse urine where they have been very active. This is likely to be somewhere that they can get at food and water. The kitchen or pantry is a likely place as well as the loft.
As a rough guide, the more mouse activity you see, the more mouse traps you will likely need. Placing several traps a few feet apart will likely work well. You should experiment and see what works best.
How Do I Set a Mouse Trap?
Each different type of mouse trap should be set according to the best way for that trap. Traditionally a piece of cheese was used to catch a mouse, but these days most people get great results using peanut butter. In fact, anything smelly and tasty will likely work with mice. Test various types of bait and use what works best for you.
Set a mouse snap trap by placing the bait on the trigger and very carefully loading the trap. These traps are extremely sensitive, so be careful you don’t get you fingers caught, which will be very painful indeed.
Poisons are another option. You should use them with a mouse bait station, don’t just scatter poison bait around your loft space. You can buy pre-loaded bait stations, so all you have to do is place the bait stations in corners or the mouse runways.
Electronic traps are set by ensuring that the device is switched off first, then placing the bait at the far end of the trap. Some people recommend smearing a tiny quantity of peanut butter at the entrance of the trap as a kind of appetizer for the mouse. Once it gets a taste, it will want more, and it will smell the larger amount of bait at the far end of the trap, but of course, it won’t make it that far.
Glue traps are effective and good for putting in places where the space height is too low to fit a conventional spring or electronic trap. You don’t have to set them, you just put them in the best location.
Humane traps should be baited in the same way as electronic traps by placing the bait at the far end of the trap. This will ensure that the mouse has to pass the trigger mechanism that will close the door of the trap, preventing it from escaping again. A tiny appetizer of peanut butter at the trap entrance could again work in your favor to persuade the mouse to enter the trap.
How Long Should I leave a Mouse Trap in Place?
When you don’t hear any more mouse noises, and you don’t see any new mouse droppings, and you’re sure you have sealed your house from new arrivals, then you don’t need to continue trapping.
Where Can I Dispose of a Dead Mouse Safely?
Getting rid of dead mice is a health hazard. It should be handled very carefully, and removed from the home as soon as possible. Make sure that any pets, and especially children, don’t touch or go near the dead mouse.
You can pick up the dead mouse using an inside-out plastic bag. Carefully invert the bag the right way around while holding the mouse, seal the bag securely, and dispose of the dead body in a tightly secured bin or container.
The body will decay and start to smell very quickly. Be sure to only put it, secured in a plastic bag, in a bin that other creatures cannot get in to. This is especially important if you have used poison to kill the mouse, but even if not, still treat the disposal of the body as a serious matter.
If I Use the Trap & Release Method – Where Should I release The Mouse?
The trap and release method uses a humane mouse trap that does not harm the animal. However, the mouse is still a health hazard. It has ticks and fleas on its body that can spread diseases, so avoid touching it. Also, the animal will most likely bite if you attempt to handle it, and this could lead to a more serious situation for you.
The animal should be taken as far away from the house as possible, preferable to some country area, and released somewhere in a field, quiet and dry. Mice are extremely resourceful, so it will find another food and water source very quickly.
It is important to clean out the humane trap before setting it again. Mice can easily detect the smell of humans, so wear gloves when handling the trap.
Clean up the mess
Mouse urine can carry bacterial infections that make cats, dogs, and people sick. Mouse droppings are disgusting, and a source of E. coli and Salmonella. Vacuum up droppings. Use an enzymatic fogging mister to neutralize dried urine. If you have just one step of the mouse control process done by a professional exterminator, your best choice may be cleanup. Exterminators will have chemicals that remove the pheromones that attract new mice as well as kill germs and parasites.
Ridding mice from your attic doesn’t have to be extremely expensive, but you will save time by making sure you have all the equipment you need. Buy a motion activated security camera with night vision to identify the pest and understand its behavior. In addition buy a black light to detect urine trails. Seal mouse holes with at least a spray foam pest blocker. Buy stainless steel pads to stuff into small holes that you then seal with caulk. It’s best to go to the home repair center and get wire mesh to mouse-proof holes in walls, your roof, and joints and soffits. Get enough snap traps and/or tunnel traps to capture 24 mice. One or two traps just won’t do. Get a shop vac for cleaning up droppings.
Whether you do your own rodent control or depend on a professional, you have to stop new infestations before you can get rid of old ones. You care the most about the long-term pest-free status of your home. You are your own best pest exterminator.
We had set up mouse traps and caught a few mice in a couple weeks. We threw away any mouse trap that was set off and disinfected the whole countertop and saw no signs for a long time, so we stopped setting out traps. Then we started seeing mouse poop again and set some traps again but no takers. One morning I found a napkin that had been left out, a little shredded, and some poop, but they didn’t eat any bait on the mouse trap nearby. They aren’t getting into any of our food but we keep finding droppings or signs of plastic being chewed on but they won’t take any bait from the traps. We have cleaned and checked everywhere but no sign of infestation. These guys are getting bold though. Once in a while we will see one run across the room and my dogs will chase it, but they aren’t getting our food, and they won’t touch the traps. I’m at my wits end. I feel like we are in the movie mouse trap. Any advice?
Hi Jessica – the best way to understand mice behaviour is to film them in your home, it will give you some good clues as to why they aren’t taking your bait. At the top of this page click on “trap & repellent reviews” and scroll down to “rodent camera traps” to read more about them.
i HAVE HAD WORKMEN IN THE ATTIC THAT HAVE TOLD ME THERE ARE A LOT OF MICE OR RAT DROPPINGS. ONE MAN TRIED TO FIND WHERE THEY WERE GETTING IN BUT DID NOT HAVE MUCH LUCK
I HAVE A CONTRACT WITH A PEST CONTROL COMPANY THAT SPRAY INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE HOUSE; IT IS EXTREMELY RARE TO SEE ANY TYPE OF BUG IN THE HOUSE. UNFORTUNATELY, MY CONTRACT WITH THEM (old south exterminators)) DOES NOT COVER RODENTS IN THE ATTIC – I WOULD NEED TO HAVE A SPECIAL ADD-ON TO MY POLICY. I HAVE TRIED TO CONTACT THEM TO SEE WHAT THE PRICE WOULD BE FOR ADDING TO THEIR WARRANTY. I WANT SEE IF MY CONTRACT WITH AMERICAN HOME WILL COVER MY ATTIC INVADERS
Hi Beverly – you might want to get up in the attic and have a look for the rodents yourself. Unfortunately, it is quite common for pest-control companies to exaggerate a problem, so they can extract more money out of you.
Hello,
I spotted a mouse in my apartment around four times in a span of about a week and a half. Initially, I thought I heard one under my bed or maybe in the wall for a few days before that. I had a pest control company come out. However, they could not find any droppings or any signs of a nest.
I continuously have my apartment smelling like peppermint oil and I also had a neighbor’s cat attempt to find the mouse with no luck.
The pest control company said it would put baiting stations out as the next step. I am wondering if this is necessary as I have not seen the mouse come out or back in a week.
The pest control company also said that there was no viable food source here. I had previously tried to put out food, but the mouse never ate it. I already had the sticky pads that are designed to trap bugs, so I put the food there. The pest control company has put out new sticky pads for bugs. I do not currently have a bug issue but they said those rectangular sticky traps would be able to catch a mouse.
The weird thing is this coincided with sewage back up, I think. The day pest control came out I noticed a weird smell underneath my bathroom sink, which is now under the kitchen sink . The pest control company said it was sewage back up and not a decaying mouse.
I also suspect that the mouse perhaps came in my apartment when the person living upstairs moved out. Perhaps because an outside door might have been left open too long, it was very cold and I am the only apartment in my building without a cat.
I had my apartment holes sealed up last year after being bite by a bug.
The pest control company suggested caulking over the steel wool by a radiator. That is the only place I can think that the mouse came in from because I initially saw it run from there. The steel wool has been there for around seven years.
Given that no one else can find the mouse, there are no droppings and no sign of a nest, do you think it is necessary for the baiting stations as a precaution?
I am hesitant to do anything that could potentially bring a mouse back into my apartment if it left. The pest control company also said they did not see a need to have my apartment deep cleaned. They suggested the baiting stations because I would not be able to dispose of a mouse or even go near it because of health issues.
Thank you in advance for your advice.
Hi Holly,
If you have no recent visible signs of mice in your apartment then you probably don’t have any. The pest control company will keep suggesting things for you to have because that is how they make their money. If it was me, I would wait before paying for any more services. However, if you believe a mouse can get through the steel wool by the radiator then definitely get this caulked over.
Hi! For the past month and a half I’ve physically seen 4 different kinds of mice. I’ve never seen the same one twice. It started in the kitchen and then my bedroom. After sealing a lot of possible entrance ways I went weeks without seeing anything. (During that time I had 13 different traps and nothing caught) One night I heard something in my walls and the next morning seen droppings and pieces of the wall on the floor. I contacted Orkin and now I have 28 traps in my house. The first night bait was taken but nothing was caught but droppings were evident in one spot where a trap was. It’s been a week and there hasn’t been any sightings droppings or noises. I’ve been severely cleaning with pinesol and bleach since then. Does this mean there is no longer an issue or is there a possibility it’s somewhere else that I haven’t checked properly? I feel like I have an invisible mouse and it’s freaking me out!!! Every and any suggestion is more than needed now. Please help!!
Hi Erica,
It would suggest to me that all your activity has moved the mice on, but they could come back. My advice is to keep checking for very small holes where the mice can enter and fill them as soon as you find them.
Simon
Hi. I’ve had mice for about 4 weeks now I thought it was only 2 but now think there’s more. 2 weeks ago pest control put poison down and a whole bag and half as been eaten. 4 days ago I heard squeaking really loud. Is this them dying? My dad has checked all round and not found any dead mice and the trap is still empty. I haven’t had any droppings for 2 days now. Could they be gone?
If you haven’t had any droppings for two days that is a good sign. Stay vigilant. Have you worked out how they are getting into your home?
My dad is filling all visible holes with wire wool and filler and ive heard that pure peppermint oil is good to keep them away.
Yes, peppermint oil can work. Remember the scent of the oil will reduce over time so you will have to keep putting it out.
A friend of mine just moved into a brand new home. She bought a new sofa which now has mice. She’s got an appt with an exterminator but is worried that the $2000 sofa will be ruined. What can be done to make a sofa safe after rodents have lived their for days?
Hi Joice,
The first thing I would do is call my insurance company and make a claim for a new one.
All the best,
Simon
Hi there, what can be done to remove human scent from humane traps?? I didn’t see your website until now after I’ve already handled the traps with bare hands. I set out 3 multi-catch humane traps (2x Wilson Predator multi-catch live trap & 1x J.T.Eaton Repeater multiple catch live trap) for the first time last night and definitely heard the metal clang of the traps multiple times around midnight. I was certain I’d find a bundle of mice in each this morning, but they were completely empty with the bait still inside. For bait, I used crackers with cashew butter on them (I didn’t have any peanut butter on hand). I know I’ve placed the traps in the basement where there is mice activity because I put plain crackers out (not in a trap) for a few nights before setting up the traps and the crackers were all gone after each night. I was very stumped to find the traps with no mice in them and the bait still intact this morning and after finding your site, it seems that either the mice don’t care for cashew butter or it’s because I left human scent all over the traps and the bait (or it’s because the traps are all faulty?!). So what is the best way to remove human scent from the traps? Could I use a natural disinfectant spray or vinegar or would those smells be too strong and deter the mice from approaching the traps again? Thanks so much!
Hi Treece,
Don’t use any sprays or detergents on the traps. The best way to get rid of the human scent is to leave them in boiling water for 1 minute.
If you can’t do this because the traps don’t lend themselves to being dipped in boiling water, then rub dirt all over them.
Simon
We moved into a rowhome in March which was just completely renovated. A couple of weeks in we saw a mouse run under the refrigerator. I’m not okay with living with mice so I called the property manager. They set us up with Orkin. The first time the exterminator came out he saw “oh, its probably just a mouse trying to get outside now that the weather is turning nicer”. Lies. Since then we have had the Orkin tech come out three more times. Each time he would do minimal work, put down a couple of glue traps and then out the door within a few minutes. We are now at what has to be an infestation level mouse problem. I called Orkin again and told them to please send a different tech and that the issue was out of control. Each night we watch the mice run from fridge to dishwasher to stove. We’d put out snap trap and catch mice in them but they’re like that mythological three headed dog. You kill one and there are three more to take it’s place. Recently they’ve found their way onto our kitchen counter. Not okay. I’ve removed everything from the counter and wiped it down each night with a ton of Lysol. I find not a small amount of mouse poop every time. I saw how one was literally shimmying up the side of the oven door to get onto the counter. I was shocked! A new tech was sent out today. He said he would handle the situation… plugged up a bunch of holes with steel wool, laid out poison bait houses (about 7) and a few snap traps. Should we be doing more? We’re at the point where we don’t even want to make a sandwich in that kitchen but we can’t afford to break our lease!
Hi Melissa,
Sorry to read about your problem. I think the most important thing for you to do is to keep checking that you do not have any more holes where the mice can enter your property, and plug them. Keep laying the traps, it sounds like you don’t have any problem catching them.
Simon
We found a mouse yesterday in our kitchen…YUCK! This guy is between 2 cabinets and goes to the top of our cabinet or stays between them. We have moved the microwave so that he/she can not get down or back up. We have set multiple traps and put a cover over the bottom opening of the cabinet to try and get it to go back up thinking we would have a mouse in the trap this morning….no luck! Tapped on cabinet to see if we could hear it scurry up, but nothing. Do we just wait a couple more days???? I DO NOT do these rodents well at all
Hi Tami,
Stay vigilant at all times. Find where the mouse entered your property and plug the hole. Put the traps next to a wall and make sure you haven’t left your human scent on the traps.
Happy hunting.
Simon.
This is by far the most difficult thing I have ever tackled in my entire lifetime, & quite frankly do not know how the exterminator folks manage it! I have done everything right, except I have 3 small children who are kinda messy, & my problem only multiplies…literally! And to add insult to injury, the DeCon people are no longer allowed to make their infamous, mice killing poison pellets & this new stuff they have out is just not the same by far! I am beginning to think that it would take the hand of GOD himself to smite these tiny, pesky rodents from Heaven to ever get rid of my infestation!! Grrrr >.<
April,
I don’t think you are alone in your struggle. The best advice I can give is think like a mouse.
Wishing you the very best of luck,
Simon
Hi, About four weeks ago we heard some scratching in the attic so I set some traps with peanut butter. A couple of days later I caught two mice. Since then I’ve been checking the traps twice a week. I have been catching one mouse a week. Is this an infestation but the traps aren’t in the right spot or is this random mice getting in from a hole I cannot find?
Hi Keith, it’s difficulty to say. I would definitely keep checking for holes. The problem with attics is that many people store a lot of their stuff in them. This “stuff” is often an ideal nesting environment for mice and it is doubly attractive if you have loft insulation.
If you have a lot of stuff in your attic, I would suggest storing it in hard plastic boxes, the type mice can’t chew through, and throwing anything that is not needed or valuable away.
Put some more traps down and keep monitoring the situation and think like a mouse!
Good luck and let us know of your progress.
Simon
i have a yorkie and he had been going crazy by my kitchen counter for a couple weeks I couldn’t figure out why so I pulled the drawers out and found droppings not a lot but one dropping is one 2 many so I payed out a glue trap and within 20 minutes caught 1 so I layed another trap and 10 minutes later caught another 1 so I layed out 16 traps n poured mothballs under the kitchen sink before I went to bed and I woke up I don’t see any new droppings and havnt caught anything else and my dog hasn’t growled anymore do you think i only had 2?
From what you said it looks like you caught them early before they started nesting in your home, so well done. Just be vigilant and check your house regularly. You could also try to understand how they got in and block any holes.
Hello,
I recently moved into a new home not even a month ago. Two weeks after moving in i woke up to a scratching sound in the wall under my window and close to my closet door. The sound stopped but i kicked the wall and it started again. It sounded like feet scratching the wall.
At times i would hear the same sound when the heat turns off. I first i thought it was just an old house creaking when the a/c shuts off.
I have not heard anything in a week today.The homeowner is not very helpful and has denied knowing anything about a mouse, but I have found 2 mouse traps that i have not put down. They are glue traps one in the closet and one under the stove. Empty traps i should mention.
I hav not seen any droppings.
What do i have? What should i do?
Hi Brenda,
I would have another conversation with the homeowner and ask them to be straight with you about the mouse traps you have found. Suggest you are willing to put your detective hat on and try to solve the problem together. If the homeowner doesn’t play ball with and the mice continue to be a problem then I would look for somewhere else to live.
Simon
Hi we moved into our new place in May of this year and didn’t notice any mice right away. Although when we we did our initial clean up of the apartment we noticed mouse droppings under a pantry drawer and we lived next to a fiels but no mice. Around August everyone in the house got a ill and was sick for about 24 hours. Turns out we all must have inadvertently cooked food on a grill that mice had been traveling on! My question is how do you keep mice from creating new holes once you have plugged up the existing holes? After we plugged up some holes we noticed that the mice had created a new one next to the old one. And also does having a cat really keep mice away? I have heard the scent of a cat is enough to deter mice.
Hi Terry,
Yes, most cats will keep mice away. However, if you have a very domesticated cat that is over fed, then this won’t. Ideally, you want a feral cat. The best place to get one from is a farm.
To stop mice making new holes, it’s important to protect your home with something that mice can’t chew through, like brick or a metal mesh. If you use mesh, remember mice can get through a 1/4″ hole!
Mice in my attic. I set out 2 spring traps with peanut butter. They were both sprung and the peanut butter was gone. But no bodies or blood! How did they do it? What do I do?
Hi Jim,
Yes they can be very clever. Try putting down two sets of two traps, put two traps next to each other. The other thing to confirm is, do you have mice or rats. A mouse trap won’t hold a rat.
I left the laundry room door slightly ajar one day when I went out into the garage. I was gone for 4 hours. When I came back I saw the droppings of a mouse on my kitchen counter. I put out about 15 snap traps and glue traps on the kitchen counters along boards, and on the floor base boards all over the house. The traps have peanut butter. 6 of the traps attracted ants, and these traps do not have the peanut butter on them anymore. II think the ants ate the peanut butter all night long. This is the 4th day I have kept these traps out with new peanut butter every morning. The traps have not caught any mice. I saw dropping for the first two days, after that there has been no droppings. Is the mouse gone or is he hibernating somewhere? How long do I leave these traps out? I’m getting a little worn out…. please help me. Thank you,
Hi Ramona,
Have a read of this post, it answers and number of your questions: https://www.pest-control-products.net/314/mice/what-is-the-best-bait-to-use-for-catching-mice/
A couple of other points, set traps in pairs and/or put a glue trap either side of a snap trap. Finally, place the traps near skirting boards. Mice feel their way with whiskers and like to feel a wall next to them.
If an attic is spray would it will mice under felt and batten and how long would it take kill once sprayed
Hi Colin,
Not a good idea to leave dead mice under felt and battens, they will start to smell very badly. The best solution is to trap them, have a read of this page https://www.pest-control-products.net/408/reviews/the-top-three-victor-mouse-traps/.
Simon
Hi Mark,
We have recently moved into a brand new home build and the neighborhood is still under
A lot of construction. It should be done in the next 2 months. We do have farms nearby so the mouse may
have come from there.
We hear a scratching in the interior front hallway wall about 3 nights ago. We have heard it in the same wall spot every night. It is light sounding. It sounds like one little guy who can’t get out. We have plugged every weep hole and other small holes that they could get in including where the a/c pipe goes into house. We checked the attic over the garage and all insulation is intact. We have no droppings in he entire house or attic. We set traps around and have seen nothing on them but of course it’s been one night with traps. I also leave no food anywhere it’s all sealed and clean in the kitchen.
If after a couple weeks the poison packs and traps we set do not trap anything, and if we still see no droppings what should we do or assume? What if we still hear scratching but no droppings or anything? Is he just stuck in wall?
Also our home builder missed a few shingles that cover the highest point on our roof, is this a possible entry place? We didn’t any sign in attic. We also sprayed peppermint oil everywhere. If it’s just one guy will he end up dying in wall? I am not sleeping at night or enjoying my new house and I don’t want it near my kids , any help would be great!
Thanks
Hi Rebekah,
It sounds like you have done a very good job sealing up your new home. If after a couple of weeks there is still no sign of mice like droppings or anything, and you continue to hear scratching in the same place, then it is unlikely to be a trapped mouse because it would be dead by then.
You could experiment. You could put food out and see if does get eaten, you could even install a night-vision camera to watch the food, they aren’t very expensive.
However, if you still here scratching in the same place, then I would look for other causes. For example, water/heating pipes will transmit and amplify the quietist of sounds from one end of your house to the other.
Put your detective hat on and please keep us up to date.
Simon
We found out we had mice when we were sitting on the couch one night and we heard scratching underneath it. The following day our dog started going nuts in our room, he was rooting around under our bed and we saw one scurry across the floor. The following day we immediately got traps. We then noticed a chewed hole in the wall near our stairs and then one in the bathroom where the pipes are. The only area we have seen and droppings is in one cupboard in the kitchen. We checked the rest!
Since then our dog has rooted around in the kitchen, which produced a mouse that ran under the fridge. Since we already have traps in there as well as an ultrasonic device, I then soaked some cotton balls in peppermint oil and put the all around our living room, kitchen, and dining room. We haven’t heard anything under the couch and our dog doesn’t seem as interested in the kitchen. He has instead moved his interest to our laundry room, which is connected to the kitchen. So far we have only caught caught two mice in our room which is on the second floor of our house. They don’t seem interested in any of the other traps we have set up around the house. They haven’t been getting into food either.
This weekend we will be plugging up the holes we found in the foundation around our house. Other than this I am out of ideas. So to sum it up, we have traps all around both upstairs and downstairs, ultrasonic devices up and down as well, peppermint soaked cotton balls all over downstairs, and we will be plugging up all holes outside. Any other suggestions?
Remember not to touch the traps with your hands. Furthermore, you may want to put a glue trap either side of a snap trap, so if it jumps over one trap, the next one will get it.
Hi Mark,
thank you for the informative article. I am from Sydney and have lived in the same house for 8yrs (it’s an old home about 100yrs old) and this is the first time we have had a mouse. I worry it has come from our neighbour’s property. She is elderly and about one year ago I saw two mice scurry beneath one of her outdoor window sills into her home. I told her grandson about it and he said he would deal with it (it appeared that mice wasn’t a new occurrence in the home). However he was quite abrupt and I don’t feel I can chat to him about working together to get rid of mice! My neighbour is over 90, frail and doesn’t speak English so I can’t really talk to her about it.
Anyway, about two weeks ago we had a backyard birthday party and about 5days later we noticed something run under the couch. it was dark we weren’t sure what it was, then the night after we saw something run under the kitchen fridge. The next morning we found droppings in the cupboard under the sink and under the couch. My husband and I thought that any crumbs or food left outside from the party may have attracted the mouse. So my hubby set up a variety of traps, along walls in the lounge and one near the fridge and of course under the sink. But it’s been close to one week and the mouse has not been caught! We have placed a sultana with peanut butter on some traps, and on others some peanut butter and salami.
We hadn’t seen any activity for 2 days or mouse droppings in the kitchen cupboard but just this morning I found some droppings behind my son’s bed (that really is the final straw for me!) To be honest I don’t know if the droppings are fresh because I didn’t actually check my son’s room for droppings (I naively just thought the mouse would hang around the kitchen!)
Anyway, I keep a clean house and do my best to keep it crumb free. I don’t really know what the mouse could be feeding on because I don’t have food laying around the house. Is there any way of knowing that the mouse is gone, or if we have in fact more than one mouse? I am petrified that we won’t catch the mouse and it may bring in a family of mice. That’s about when I may move LOL!
Also, yesterday morning I noticed some paint shavings from our outdoor window sill laying on the grass. I found it odd. Would it be a mice knowing at the paint/window from the outside?? Again, I don’t know when this actually happened, I just noticed it yesterday.
IS it ever possible that a mouse just moves on out of your home, or once you have a mouse you have a mouse???
I don’t know what else to do., I have been disinfecting cupboard and floors but don’t know if its pointless if the mouse is still here??! Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Hi Yve,
I think your first step is all about prevention and working with your neighbor. If you have clutter or an overgrown garden this is the environment pests like, so start here. If you have a well maintained garden then good. The next step is to check and make sure there are no holes where mice can get into your home – seal up everything – they can get in via some extremely small holes.
If your neighbor’s home is a refuge for mice and they won’t do anything about it, contact your local authority and see if they can help.
Finally, when setting traps in your home, be very careful that you do not leave a human smell on the traps – i.e don’t touch them with your bare hands.
Simon
I recently found mouse in my lounge it was climbing up the fireplace fortunately I managed to catch that mouse, with in an hour of seeing it as i had watched the path it was taking, I left my traps out just in case, I had two weeks of no activity and then came down to find another mouse in the trap I had put in the exact same place as where I caught the first mouse. I have looked everyday since seeing the first mouse and can’t find any mouse activity (no noises, droppings or gnawed boxes, wires etc). I am just wondering if this is just two random mice that have found there way in to my house (as my neighbour has been having their out of control ivy that covers their entire back garden seen to, as I had never seen a mouse before this and have lived here for seven years), or the fact I caught them in the same trap that they know each other and have nest nearby. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
You did very well catching your two mice with, what it seems, not too much difficulty. The most important thing is to keep an eye out for any mice activity. The seconding thing to do is to try to find out how the mice got into your home and block that route in.
It could be as you said, if your neighbor is getting the ivy sorted, then this may up prompted any mice to try to find a new home, and they chose yours!
Hello! I began seeing mouse droppings about 4 months ago. I immediately bought several glue traps and bigger traps (the ones that you put bait inside.) No luck catching mice. It seems as if they went right around the traps. I would see droppings inches away from the traps. I had an exterminator come in about one month after who put down poison. The poison was blue in color and he said if I saw blue droppings, then the mice have eaten the poison and would die soon. No luck. I have been seeing blue droppings for two months now. I also bought the electric “buzzers” two months ago (the little squares that you plug in and emit that buzzing sound that mice allegedly don’t like.) Again, no luck. The mice are still here. Any suggestions or ideas? I see droppings on the floor but never in cupboards or cabinets where food is (thank God!) I bought some mint oil that I will put on cotton balls and pray that helps. Should I try to ond a stronger poison? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
I don’t personally like using poisons, I prefer using traps.
The thing with traps is that mice have a very keen sense of smell and can smell the human scent on traps. Therefore never handle traps with your bare hands. Use gardening gloves and rub them in some soil before touching the traps.
If you can see droppings near the traps at least you know the paths the mice travel and have the traps roughly in the right place.
Always place your traps along a wall, mix up the type of traps as well. Think very carefully about positioning of traps, a mouse will jump over a snap trap, but if you put two down, the second one will trap him. Or put a snap trap next to a glue trap. Create tunnels out of cardboard boxes and put traps in their – use electronic traps.
To catch a mouse, think like a mouse.
Simon
My family and I have recently moved into a rented home. We moved in in November and we saw about one or two mice. We got traps and thought we had caught the ones we had been seeing. Then a little after Christmas a house two doors down was completely torn down. Lately we have found mice wandering around but we do not know where they are coming in from. My mother-in-law has seen them in her room where there is a crawl space but the landlord said it is filled with insulation. We have tried decon but we do not think they are getting into it. We have caught 5 using the sticky traps and still have seen 3-4 more. My husband and I also hear scurrying around in our ceiling at night/ early morning. People say we only have mice because of the house being torn down but I am not sure. Can you help us?
It may be true that you wouldn’t have mice if your neighbor’s house wasn’t being torn down, but the fact is, you do have mice now.
Mice love insulation. It makes great nesting material. You can even bait traps with insulation. It’s that attractive to mice.
Glue traps don’t do a very good job of capturing mice. When the mouse gets all four paws stuck to the glue, then you will catch the critter. But adult mice can easily detect the glue by its scent and scurry around it. Glue traps really don’t work except as a backup trap to capture mice when they move around a snap trap.
When you have mice in the insulation, it’s not a good idea to try to poison them, either. Your mother-in-law may be seeing live mice now, but she may start smelling dead mice if you keep putting out Decon. What you need to do is to set out snap traps, and not just one or two.
If you have seen 3 or 4 mice, you need about 20 snap traps. Put them in locations where the mice are likely to travel when they forage for food or water, such as under sinks, under the stove, under the refrigerator, and under cabinets. It is also a good idea to put out traps under the sink in the bathroom, since mice may go there to get water, as well as any place you have seen evidence of rodent activity (droppings or torn fabric, for example).
Place traps in pairs, perpendicular to the wall. Orient the traps so that one trap’s trigger end is next to the wall and the other trap’s trigger end is away from the wall. This makes it impossible for the mouse to hop over the trap. Make sure you wear gloves when you handle the traps, so you won’t transfer your own human scent from traces of sweat or dead skin cells on your hands.
It usually only takes a night or two to get rid of 3 or 4 mice. Check all your traps daily, and if you don’t have any kills in 72 hours, put on gloves and take up all the traps for 48 hours, so mice won’t get used to them. Put the snap traps out again two days later and see if this doesn’t get rid of your infestation.
hi
we caught 5 mice a few weeks ago in live traps we thought they were all gone as i left the traps down for 4 days after that and didn’t catch anymore but I saw a dropping under my bath though it was fresh one but wasn’t sure cause i thought the heat coming from the bath could of kept it moist as i was fixing the panel, i put a trap in there and in my hot press. i put food in the trap but noticed that when i went back to check them the next day the food was gone so i did it again and it happened the food was gone. I haven’t heard any scratching or seen any new dropping or heard anything could this be a mouse again?
It sounds like you have mice who are at least as interested in finding water as they are in finding food, and that maybe your trap has a defective door. The first thing you can do that will help control the problem is simply to make sure you never leave any water in the tub, even a tiny amount of water in the tub. A mouse only needs about 4 ml (about 1/60 of a cup) of water daily for survival. A few drops of water around the rim of the drain in your tub can be enough to sustain a mouse, and, more importantly, sufficient to attract a mouse.
The second thing you can do to catch mice is to make sure the spring on the door of your trap is working correctly. Some large adult mice and adult rats are capable of bending the door lock so the door pops open. Just bend it back with a screwdriver.
Want to try additional methods to keep your home rodent-free?
It sounds as if you have the ideal situation for using an ultrasonic deterrent. Place the device as near to the bathtub as you can. Don’t run it all the time. It’s OK to turn it off during the times of day when you are in the bathroom. This way the mice don’t get accustomed to the sound, and you don’t have to worry about a mouse popping in you while you are in the room. Turn the machine back on at night and during times of day you are not at home.
I have recently discovered a single mouse under my counter top stove. We heard it and immediately set a trap. Within that night he fell for the bait and is no longer with us. We have emptied out all of the kitchen cabinets and drawers, and have sanitized all of the cooking materials. There was droppings found in a couple of the cabinets and drawers, but I wouldn’t say that there was a “ton” or enough that makes me think there is an infestation….especially since they poop a lot on their own.
We also sealed up any holes or cracks in the cabinets (they back up to an outside wall). Two days have passed now and nothing in any of the traps! So my question is how long should I wait before cleaning down all the cabinets and putting my cooking supplies back?
Hi
As it has been a couple of days since you have seen or heard any evidence of mice, I would clean down now and put your stuff back.
However, you always need to be vigilant and check your whole house once a month for possible entry points.
M
If you hear mice scurrying around, then you still have an infestation. Double check everywhere to make sure there are no holes, no matter how small, you need to block them. You are doing the right thing in keeping your home clean and tidy and making sure there is no food or water available for them to drink.
Read these two articles:
https://www.pest-control-products.net/408/reviews/the-top-three-victor-mouse-traps/
https://www.pest-control-products.net/314/mice/what-is-the-best-bait-to-use-for-catching-mice/
When setting traps it is very important not to leave the human scent on them. Wear out door gloves (not latex) or use three sheets of newspapers when handling traps. Furthermore, do not transfer you scent to the glove when putting them on. You might want to rub them in some dirt or mud and then only pick them up by the wrist end.
Two nights ago we heard weird noises in our wall during the middle of the night. Now, two days later my husband went down stairs (in our basement-liveable”fixed”) to our bedroom and smelled something awful. After checking things out the smell was coming from the laundry room. The l.room and our b.room share a wall. He cut the wall in the l. room maybe 2 feet wide and found around 40 dead mice 2-3 were about 2-10 days old and dead. The others were anywhere from 30 to only 2 years old. We have lived here for almost 5 years. He also found 2 live mice in the wall when he cut it he said both were not adults, but not babies, middle sized. He threw those out to the cats who ate them very fast. yuck, but I’m happy! He went into the attic and saw many mice holes in the insulation and dropping, but is unsure if its 30 some years old, or new holes. We are planning to get bait tomorrow, and traps. Mice freak me out more than anything……. We have 4 kids who are terrified also. Is there anything to help with this? Do you think they are infested here, or a fluke to find 2 in the wall with all the dead ones? Thanks, very worried ;(
It sounds like you have an infestation and recommend you apply all or many of the suggestions on this page. One of the most important things to do is block all the possible entrances into your home. Furthermore, check with your neighbors, work together and form a plan of action. You need to be very vigilant over the next couple of months.
We just moved into a new apt. Our boxes were in storage for a couple of weeks.
Today we unpacked a box to find what we think are droppings inside the toaster.
We find weird that there were no other signs of mice in any of the other kitchen boxes
And that the droppings were jus located in the toaster and the paper in which it was wrapped
The descriptions we have read about droppings seem to match.
How do we know if we have mice and what should we do?
I am super freaked out. Thanks!
The first thing to do is positively identify that you have a mouse infestation. Yes identifying mouse droppings is one sign but look for two more. Mice like to gnaw on things, so look to see if the corner of boxes has been chewed, look for shredded paper (which they make nests with) and if your toaster was wrapped in paper, check for signs of entry.
Furthermore, at night when it is very quiet, you should be able to hear them scurrying around.
If you do find further evidence, read the article above plus these two:
https://www.pest-control-products.net/408/reviews/the-top-three-victor-mouse-traps/
https://www.pest-control-products.net/314/mice/what-is-the-best-bait-to-use-for-catching-mice/
Good luck.