Submitted by Redditguy221996 t3_10dtupc in WorcesterMA
My roommate and I have caught 7 mice this past couple months and our neighbor has caught 8. Anyone else having mice problems?! Where do they keep coming from? And any advice how to get rid of them for good?
Thank you in advance
For real. We hear mice in our walls and attic, but they never enter our living space; they can smell our cats.
This is Worcester in Winter. They're going to find where it's warm. They can get in a place through the smallest cracks and holes. Apartments and multi-deckers will likely be rife with them. Not gonna lie, my last flat was the Happy Hunting Grounds for our semi-feral cat.
also using peppermint oil is supposed to defer them so place that everywhere and maybe sure any holes are filled with steel wool and then covered
Have you engaged an exterminator?
Over the years, I’ve repeatedly done @all@ the do-it-yourself over-the-counter remedies. Snap traps, poisons, plugging entry points, water buckets for drowning, glue boards, cats, obnoxious odors which supposedly deter them, costly electronic frequency devices to scare the mice away, etc. Have spent multiple hundreds of dollars in the attempt in any one season on my own and still failed to solve it.
Or, simply call the exterminator (we use ProTech) and for a couple hundred bucks they came and properly applied human-safe pet-safe baited traps. In a couple heavy years their first visit did NOT completely solve the issue but it didn’t matter since they come back free of charge until it’s taken care of. They know @where@ to place the traps and poisons as opposed to my inefficient approach. They examine exterior of house to locate the real entry points and then they fill it with silicon/etc
Thank you for the comment and a link been using traps
You’re welcome.
My $.02 is that once you catch a few in the traps you’ll notice that it’s never ending since traps are just a one at a time game.
Instead need an approach that lets them kill themselves en masse ie poison. But if a non-professional just places poison here and there (as i used to) there’s chance kids and pets will get into it. Also the issue that the attractive poison itself can draw hungry mice to the area so really want it placed in as exact a location as possible.
Thank you! How much was it if you don’t mind me asking?
It’s been about $180 for the Fall/Winter guaranteed mice service but I don’t know if that is a discounted price because we also use their service for Spring/Summer carpenter ant spraying which is also about $180.
The poison can also kill other animals that eat mice
Snap traps with peanut butter.
Please don’t use poison. Mice don’t die immediately after eating poison. They can then be eaten by birds of prey, foxes, cats, etc., who can then die from ingesting the poisoned mice.
I wish the whole world knew this. Also glue traps which I wish didn’t exist. So inhumane
Agree. I actually found a few places they come into my house and I just stick snap traps along the wall at the opening. So there are maybe 6 traps along the row on each side of the hole with a few stuck right up to the entrance.
If one mouse gets in one and flips it, the next trap will catch the next mouse. I've had several in the traps at the same time. I catch a few dozen a year and no longer see mouse trails around the house. Better to find where they enter and put traps down. If you seal it, they'll just find another spot you can't figure out. No need for bait either when you know where they enter.
They travel along walls and will walk right through the trap. The downside is the bait encourages them to get their head snapped. No bait, you end up with the mouse in different arrangements, but still dead.
I use the plastic kind with large teeth. Other traps may not work as well with the no-bait technique:
https://www.amazon.com/Indoor-Effective-Sanitary-Catcher-Family/dp/B083LDKS6Z
Glue a peanut in the snap trap. Less messy, no re-baiting.
Poison is the absolute worst. Not only does it kill birds of prey; but heaven forbid one gets caught in your walls dying from poison. It’ll smell like the worst sour milk in the world for 2 weeks.
Mice are ubiquitous in New England this time of year. Look up common ways to keep them at bay, and seek professional extermination. You likely will never get rid of them for good.
😭
I had just one in my kitchen causing havoc the past few weeks. I tried the peanut butter method and it licked the traps clean, 5 of them and no snap! I saw a YouTube video about hot gluing dog or cat kibble on the plate so they try to take it away but can’t and SNAP they dead. Worked on our FAT, indoor-all-it’s-life unwelcome visitor within 2 hours. I was properly freaked out since I’d never even seen a mouse before irl. Call me privileged but my parents place I moved from never had any rodent or pest issues in Worcester. One positive side effect of having OCD parents.
It got cold out and they want the warmth. Every fall/winter we deal with a few mice. We recently moved in to a place surrounded by woods. It got to the point they were in the ceiling so we had to poison them instead of using traps. If you rent contact a landlord, if its your house get more traps/maybe move it up to poison. Tomcat Chunx worked well for us.
Thank you!
Welcome to a Worcester! Seriously though they’re coming in from the cold. Understandable but sad. Caught 12 last winter. Three during the summer heat wave. Shoulda stayed outside.
Buy some traps. Use dog food wrapped in peanut butter as bait. Get a cat if you can.
Cat
If you rent, your landlord can hire an exterminator. Our landlord had to and i havent seen a mouse since.
I used to walk with the pest control at my previous job. They use glue boards, snap traps, copper wire to plug holes (mice can’t chew through it easily). A little trick they did was putting the snap traps in dog food for a few days before putting them out. If you can fit a pen through a hole then the mouse can fit. Also - mice are creatures of habit. They run along walls, if you have a real issue you’ll see rub marks. I’ve been told they don’t typically leave more than 30 from the nest. Hopefully some of that helps!
Yes it does! Thank you
I used Ford’s Hometown Service. It was pricey but worth it. I also no longer leave food anywhere outside of the fridge. Once I’ve opened a container, it goes in the fridge. I tried the sonic repellent & peppermint oil that others mentioned. The professionals were the most effective.
They come from anywhere and everywhere. If you aren't sure how to find the holes outside, hire pest control
I hired a professional because I just started getting annoyed after my own traps failed. It's World War Mouse at my house so I'm hoping they just leave. But yeah its winter, they seek warmth. At least they're mice and not city rats. Could always be worst.
How did the professional go? Did they help?
1 week in. I’ve noticed less mice activity. Haven’t heard any in the walls. There’s been some poop but definitely less then before. Hopefully it gets better in the next couple weeks.
snap traps and poison
Impressive_Bike863 t1_j4ns5kk wrote
You should get a cat if the landlord allows it .