Mouse Problems - The Little Furry Kind

[EvilSpirit]

Friends bought a 100+year old farmhouse as a fixer-upper. They found out too late, as in they were well into renovations that the house had a mouse infestation problem. Of course, when the fields surrounding the house were harvested, you could literally watch the mice leave the fields. Trying to find other solutions for them than the usual. They have made sure that all food is properly stored, taken trash out as soon as it's generated, kept tables/counters clean, etc. It's not a cleanliness issue. As to the house, they have tried to eliminate all entrance points as well as possible, but it is a 100 year old structure, with the usual footing damage, cracks, etc. When they pulled a floor up for repair they found multiple old nests that they destroyed, but they are sure there are more. They have even seen evidence of the varmits re-opening repaired spots in the concrete, so they are putting steel wool into the grout when they patch areas now. As to the elimination of them - mechanical traps, sticky traps, and electronic units have been used, with limited success. They've resulted to chemical methods, knowing they will probably end up with the mice dying and causing smells later. So they have basically followed Mice Removal 101's textbook to the letter, with limited results. So is there any PROVEN results that they have missed? Thanks for any proven methods, since they are becoming quite frustrated with their failure to cure the problem.

[randyincctx]

You didn't mention if they had tried cats?.....If not;I suggest they go to a local shelter,and adopt at least 2 or 3 cats.
They have been proven to work for 1,000s of years,and no dead mice (or rats!) left in the walls,or floors like with poisons/baits.

[EvilSpirit]

One of their sons is allergic to cats :-( Also, cats are funny when it comes to mice - they consider them as TOYS. Seen many times the cat that was gotten to protect the garage or barn actually would catch them outside to building, bring them inside to play, and then the mouse would get away when the cat got bored - SERIOUSLY.

The cat at my sisters house will get mad when she buys it the wrong cat food. It will ignore the food left on the porch (outside cat), and go kill mice and leave them on the front steps until it gets food to it's liking - then the dead mice stop.

[quicksilverdon]

Get D-Con in block form, not the pellets.
It's a poison that works - I live in a rural area, and field mice come in soon as it gets cold.
Put them all around the perimeter.

[EvilSpirit]

Funny you mention that - we just talked tonight about them putting the poison outside the house in the areas mice are likely to nest, hoping that they will die outside. I will pass it on to them about the blocks, since I think they are using pellet style in the house now.

[randyincctx]

Originally Posted by EvilSpirit

As to the elimination of them - mechanical traps, sticky traps, and electronic units have been used, with limited success.

You can use the most expensive traps made,but if your using the wrong bait.....They will always have limited success.

[quicksilverdon]

Originally Posted by EvilSpirit

Funny you mention that - we just talked tonight about them putting the poison outside the house in the areas mice are likely to nest, hoping that they will die outside. I will pass it on to them about the blocks, since I think they are using pellet style in the house now.

I find the little rats haul the pellets away, and I'll find stashes of the pellets - the blocks they have to chew...

Unfortunately, they will die wherever...

[Busted_PT]

Originally Posted by randyincctx

You can use the most expensive traps made,but if your using the wrong bait.....They will always have limited success.

peanut butter!

Traps eliminate the crawling off and dieing in a bad place.

[EvilSpirit]

Peanut butter is usually the bait of choice, since you can get it to stick to the trigger. When I had mice at the place I used to live I'd wrap a rubber band around the trigger to make it harder for the mouse to get all the P/B off the trigger, and that eliminated the empty traps with the bait eaten. These traps were the ones that look like big plastic clothes pins, and the triggers were too slick for the P/B to stick to. It helps sometimes to used double sided tape to stick a trap to a piece of small square of cardboard - that way they can't reach the floor to walk away with the trap.

[EvilSpirit]

Originally Posted by quicksilverdon

I find the little rats haul the pellets away, and I'll find stashes of the pellets - the blocks they have to chew...

Unfortunately, they will die wherever...

Yes, they have found empty trays of the pellets.

Just hoping that the outside ones will stay and die outside.