Want to know how to get rid of mice? Here’s our best list of techniques, everything from natural home remedies to store-bought live and kill traps.
In their proper context, I actually like mice. They’re admirable for their resiliency, hardiness, and resourcefulness. As fuzzy little mammals with squished-together facial features, they’re adorable to the point of absurdity. And heck, they even provided inspiration to a certain cartoonist named Walt for the main mascot of one my favorite places on the planet.
Note, however, that context is everything. There’s a strong line of demarcation between very cute and vermin, and that line is coterminous with the four walls of my house.
Read on for the full Curbly guide on how to get rid of mice!
Nobody likes to cohabitate with mice. But whether you care to admit it or not, your home most likely has had a rodent visitor at one point or another. Since the weather turned chilly, you can practically see mice families unloading their little U-hauls and setting up housekeeping in the nooks, crannies and hollows of our walls. As long as a mouse can get his head through an opening, he can wriggle the rest of his body right on through. Not only do you have to catch them, you also need to deter and block them from entering.
Why Mice Are a Problem
There’s nothing newsworthy about how to get rid of mice in your home. But why, exactly, are they so dangerous to have scurrying between your walls?
Here are handful of reasons they’re like little depth charges for your health:
1. Disease
Simply put, mice poop and pee. A lot. And they don’t hang out solo, so where one mouse decides to do its business, you can bet that many more will follow.
Direct contact with mouse droppings and urine can put you in contact with a whole slew of diseases like hantavirus—which at best, gives you flu like symptoms, and at worst, achieves its 38% mortality rate by filling your lungs with fluid (for some cheery off-hours reading, there’s a longer list of diseases at CDC.gov). What’s worse, it doesn’t take much rustling around to crush up dried droppings and send the dust airborne straight into your nostrils.
2. Parasites
Mice aren’t just bringing their toilets into your home, but also their parasites. Remember that little event called the Black Death that (conservative estimate) wiped out a quarter of the population of Europe in the Late Middle Ages? Yeah, that was a present from the fleas that rode the backs of rats. Rodent mites that give bedbug-style bites, ticks that carry Lyme disease, and more. It ain’t the Plague, but it ain’t pleasant either.
3. Damage
Here’s another thing mice do: they chew. Constantly, unceasingly, irrepressibly. In my research, I found there seems to be a bit of a debate on why they do it, whether because of sharpening their teeth or their search for nesting materials. Regardless, they macerate whatever comes in their path. In the wild, it’s totally cool; but in your home, it can cause troubles, particularly of the chewed-wires-causing-electrical-fires variety.
How to Get Rid of Mice
There’s a full spectrum of approaches toward dealing with how to get rid of mice that rises directly out of attitudes about animal welfare – from PETA on one end to pest control professional on the other. The purpose of this article isn’t to convince you of either side, but to provide you with the most effective techniques and let you decide which ones you feel most comfortable with when deciding how to get rid of mice in your own home.
1. Prevention
Keeping mice out of your home starts with minimizing their food sources. Mice will still show up uninvited to a spotless house, but a dirty kitchen is like leaving the door open, rolling out the red carpet and installing a fifty foot high sign stating MOUSE CONVENTION—ALL WELCOME—WE HAVE SNACKS in neon lettering.
On top of that, mice can squeeze into holes about the size of a dime, so make a careful inspection of your home’s exterior and patch up all potential entry points. Look around the foundation of your house, and block all little cracks and crevices. Try blocking the holes with green scrubber pads, and stick steel wool in mouse holes. They have a hard time (and some hefty dental bills) if they try to chew through it.
Just remember, prevention is a supplement, so don’t stress too hard about it. Mice are the colonists and homeowners are the redcoats. They’re small, scrappy, and sneaky; you’re big, slow, and blind. Their will to survive is greater than your will to push them away, and they’ll run circles around you like Wesley fighting Fezzik.
2. No-kill elimination
So you’ve decided to let those little sinkers see another sunrise, just one away from the boundaries of your property. Your main objective: trapping and removal.
You have two basic options here for how to get rid of mice:
- DIY — Aluminum can covered in peanut butter, suspended on a coat hanger over a five gallon bucket, and you’ve got yourself an effective mouse trap like this dude.
- Store-bought — If the above is a little too reminiscent of the relatives who have vehicles on cinder blocks in the yard and wear camo to weddings, check out Havahart small mammal traps. They’re inexpensive and come with good reviews.
(For my money, I like the look of the Havaharts, but I gotta say I’m intrigued by the peanut butter bucket.)
Just make sure you check your traps at least once daily, because mice have to eat constantly; otherwise, you’re better off intentionally going for option #3. Also, once you’ve trapped your mouse, be sure to drop it off somewhere really far away from houses—like, drive it somewhere—or it’s just going to pop right back in.
3. Humane extermination
If making a small dent in the world mouse population doesn’t bother you, let’s talk about the most humane way of dispatching your unwanted house guests. The main idea here is a quick kill—minimizing stress and avoiding suffering.
That means NO glue traps. These cause a stressed-out mouse to struggle against the trap and eventually starve or suffocate to death, all while you have to listen to their tiny little screams of pain as they struggle to escape. It’s agonizing and horrible. Just don’t do it.
Additionally, avoid using poison when you ask yourself how get rid of mice. Why? Not because it doesn’t work, but because it does. Here’s what will happen: mouse ingests poison, mouse returns to home in the wall, mouse dies there, mouse rots there and your entire home smells like death in a way that you cannot eradicate.
Here are two better alternatives:
- Snap traps—these old standbys are actually extremely effective because they quickly snap the mouse’s neck just like your Great-Grandma took out chickens. Just make sure they’re set correctly or they won’t be effective.
- Rodent zapper — For a little more money, you can buy a small box that gives mice and rats a quick, lethal electric shock that instantly stops their hearts. Afterward you can simply tip the trap and dispose of them.
How to Get Rid of Mice: Out-of-the-Box Ways
Here are a few bonus methods for ridding your home of rodents. We haven’t tested these out, so approach these methods with an open mind:
- Place trays of used kitty litter around the outside of the house where you think they could enter. Cats and mice are mortal enemies, after all. The smell will send them back to their cabin in the woods
- Dried snake poo (REALLY? Yuk.): This method ideally works like the kitty litter. You can obtain this from a reptile center, zoo or pet store.
- Drive them crazy and drive them away using an electronic beeping unit.
- And finally: Get a cat! It really is an efficient way to keep mice at bay. Adopt a cat and make a difference today!
Photo: Shutterstock / Pakhnyushchy
I bought those electrical devices at a time when I had no sign of mice..just wanted to prevent them from coming in. Well, either coincidence or it worked…for about 2 years, until lately I got invaded..so I thought, either they really don’t work or they just lose whatever they suppose to do as any other device…so I hesitate in buying them again…Now, everyone says plug holes …yeah, try that in an old home…also, we live in a house that are attached to neighbors…a row of houses…if one gets them, we all get them eventually…also my neighbor cause their kids are getting older, demand solitary bedrooms, they are knocking down walls and making cubicles and freeing the mice into our home.
I had an infestation from hell, mouse poop on the counters every morning, I had to bleach them everyday, I used to live trap them, sometimes I would get 4-5 in a night, usually babies. I finally bot mouse posion in a box, they eat it from the box, I put one under the kitchen sink, it worked!! Finally no more droppings! Only draw back, they would go under the dishwasher to die, and when it went on dry cycle or just got hot, it would unleash the smell of the dead mice, you could smell it even more when you opened the Dishwasher Door, and I mean, yuk, yuk yuk!! These mice laugh at peppermint, and I had sweetener in a drawer, they ate it. So for our house, nightmare over, good luck to all.
Plug in repellers work they go nuts spinning in circles then die
I have mice that get in the laundry room from the woods behind us.i also have 2 kittens and a full grown cat strictly indoor and I tell ya, they may get in but they don’t get past the laundry room without being detected and caught by 1 of them !
I tried a live trap for a while. It worked great at first, but then they seemed to learn how to get out. Short of a cat, the classic snap trap seems the best way. It kills them quickly and effectively.
And aspartame does turn into formaldehyde, but not in large enough amounts to be toxic. Apple juice would be more effective in that regard.
i would also suggest to go to the hunting section in your local sports store and purchase fox urine. It comes in a small apray bottle and a couple of squirts here and there. We haven’t seen mice nor Norway rats since.
I found by setting some traps out away from the house , instead of inviting them near the house helps. I catch alot near my wood pile. I use a pale 1/3 filled with water, then pour some sunflower seeds in te pale.Them make a ramp over to the top of the pale, they will go in after the seeds and drown.
Instant potato flakes left near water will lure rodents to eat their fill of dried potatoes and then get a drink of water. When the potatoe flakes expand it causes a stomach rupture and dies. If you have a cat or dog who will go after the rodent there is no harm to your pet.
I live by 3 corn fields and it sucks we have the glue traps but they have caught onto them
peanut butter on a trap with a pinch of flour on it will get everyone of them quickly
Use a glue trap. To get them off easily put a little cooking oil on the trap when releasing them. They will slide right off with a little help from a spoon and run off into the sunset.
I have one heck of a mouser cat, he puts a new headless mouse in his food bowl every day! Try using peppermint essential oil in a wallflower that you can buy from bath and body works, if you just use a cotton balls they dry out too quick.
The bigger problem with poison, imo, is that if it kills the rodents and another animal–such as a hawk or owl–eats the poisoned rodent, you’ve now poisoned the predator, too. I’ve got 3 cats and have never had a mouse or rat problem. I’d prefer to keep them around than poison.
I have got just 1 mouse in my house, it doesn’t like chocolate or peanut butter or biscuits or anything … How can I get rid of it pls, its driving me nuts
Help! I have had one in my car for a little over a week. I haven’t seen it yet, only the dropping in the morning. I tried the sticky traps but I don’t know if it is too little that it doesn’t stick or just smart enough to not go on them. I’ve been driving at night with my lights on inside so it hopefully won’t come out. I even had our pest control guy try to help me but he couldn’t find it.
I have tried the plug ins and they do not work. I have tried traps, all kinds. I have tried poison, steel wool, oil, peanut butter, basically all the ways that these people have done and none have worked. I had a cat and he never caught a mouse, just walked past it like it wasnt there. I think mice are immune to anything that I try or they are the smartest animal I have come across.
Have you seen the mouse or you just think you have one from the damage you find ? I went to a farm store, got the kind that takes batteries and put a small piece of cheese in the trap , dead mouse.
I use the TomTom brand traps, look like big black clips. I put peanut butter on them and they are reallllly easy to set, just push down. Then I put them where I have seen an actual mouse or sign that one had traveled that way and it doesn’t take long …. SNAP! Gocha! Take it out the door and drop it’s dead ass in the flower bed, free fertilizer! I have been putting peppermint oil on gauze pads and placing them on the ends of my kitchen counters. If they have been moved I know 1. Need more oil & 2. a mouse is in the area and traps replace the gauze until it’s caught. I tried bait but finding the stinky dead mouse got to be a pain, especially when they die under your appliances or in the walls. I live way out in the country, surrounded by field after field of crops. When they start the harvest, here come the mice, cold weather, mice, planting, mice. We had cats in the barn but the coyotes got them. Now if only the coyotes would catch all the mice I would be tickled to death!
I have found that the black sticky traps don’t work,they walk right off. If you can find the white ones they work.
I was in the hospital when the mice invaded. I had to put all my food in the fridge, except canned goods they got in my bedrooms and everywhere. I had to throw away all the bedding and a lot of other things. They are horrible creatures. Living in the country doesn’t help either. I have had to put poison under my home which I hate but no animals can get in, but I worry about other animals if they get a hold of the poisoned mice. What other natural things can I do?
Put out bay leaves in and around all the nooks and crannies they frequent. Similar principle as the peppermint oil, strong smell deters them.
Sticky traps are cruel, as one or two of you mention you use,… How would you feel if you were stuck and couldn’t move… Also, think about what you would do if you find the mouse alive and stuck on the trap, would you just let it die, or would you try to pull it off the trap, potentially ripping off its legs to put it back in the wild? Personally I’ll try the peppermint oil, and probably keep using the snap traps – it’s a quick death, unlike glue traps. Also, poison could hurt other creatures like cats, owls, dogs, etc if they eat the poisoned mice.
The reason I tried the sticky traps was because they can be released by pouring oil on thee trap. I just got a catch and release trap that I will try. I keep telling this little critter he picked the right car. I don’t want to kill him just relocate to a VERY remote location.
I have 2 Yorkies.. last mouse in my house left pretty farn quick! If a Yorkie gets ahold of one they’ll shake it to death and then disembowel them! They were bred to kill rodents!
Glue traps are a quick death when brain them with a hammer.
Help!we have chickens and now have a big mouse problem I tryed to catch one today but did not get it,we have a lot more!HOW DO I GET RID OF THEM!!!!!
HELP we have chickens and now have a big mouse problem.HOW DO I GET RID OF THEM!!!
After almost 3 weeks in my car, I caught the little critter. (Catch and release trap surrounded by glue traps). He is now happily seeking a new home in a huge field with abandoned barn closeby. Just a little vegetable oil released the sticky.
my cat kills the mice..but the problem with that is she eats the head and leaves the bloody butt…sso I tried the peppermint oil on the cotton balls and so far havent had another mouse around. Besides, my cat is fat enough
We used dry instant potato flakes with a bowl of water outside. Mice eat the flakes, go out for a drink then instant potatoes do what instant potatoes do. This is safe if you have cats that will now have meat and potatoes and you will have a mouse free area.
Were you get peppermint oil
I have 2 hens and now I got rats..try to feed them a mixture of flour+ baking soda+ sugar with no results. Glue-traps, they walk out with them, poison while we were gone [with the cats with us]…There is even a visiting tom cat, but they are still here. Do I have to burn down the whole place?
I’ve been using 50% jiffy cornbread mix and 50%baking soda. I put it in small containers along walls and in cupboards where suspected rodents travel. Seems to be working well.
Also tried the 50/50 mix with bacon grease and it seems to work even better!
I buy the peppermint oil at Wellington fragrance. You are not treating them for a disease, so what you need is the fragrance, it is a lot cheaper.
Thanks
I put a plate of borax under the sink in our winter cabin.. When we went back in the spring it was the first time in 15 years there were no droppings.
We used to have chickens. The feed attracts the mice. You have to put the feed in a steel container. We used steel trash cans to put the bags in. The mice will chew through a plastic one. You also have to watch the feed mess the chickens make too.
Peppermint oil, ammonia, sticky traps ( the spendy ones the only that work) and feed bait called rodent side ( dehydration to death)and I don’t want to hear some whine bag boohooing about cruelty to nasty rats/mice. 27 gone in 5 days
coke or pepsi in a plastic lid, placed where you have seen them. They like the sweet stuff, can’t belch. Swell Up, can‘t breathe so they go outside hoping for air, die outside. works good.
The mint really does work!!! I buy peppermint tea bags and just put them in the area where I have had a problem. It has been 2 years now with no mice. Also pine cleaner-store brand, not PineSol. I took everything out of my cabinets and wiped the shelves down with pine cleaner in water, wiped off all of the cans and put a few peppermint tea bags in the cabinets. They need to be replaced when the smell gets weak. Also I have used Listerene Vanilla Mint in a spray bottle with water. I keep the spray bottle in my basement and spray mist my pantry monthly. Very successful!!!
Just looking at these article pics creep me out.
I agree the glue traps and feeding them something to kill them is cruel. Why not just prevent them? I dislike them just as much the next person they have ruined many decorations for the holidays getting even in my plastic tubs but we recently tried dryer sheets, I just bought the off brand. We put in my camper just laid them out on the bed, my brand new Tommy Hilfiger towels I bought and left out and I didn’t check on it for several months but no mice. I laid a few fresh out and left the box open they cannot stand the smell it worked and cruelty free!!!
we live like 6 feet from a corn field and we go to town and get these log bars and yes it kills them and off they go with them, and it works because they love them things so they take them back to there nest and everyone eats this bar and bye,bye, they are gross, i cant stand them things.
Will this work on rats too?
Problem with poison is other things find them ,eat them , die also. Cat’s well my 3 are as old as me havent got a chance, They let me know we had a mouse, as all 3 started sleeping in the kitchen. So I use glue traps and peanut butter, hammers are easy.
I had mice and rats in the walls. We tried many methods.the steel wool.traps. Peppermint oil. I even had 6 cats. One good mouser. But when the suckered are on your wall that’s unacceptable. They also like quiet. So I counteracted it by playing music. Sounds silly but I placed my boom box. Yes I just said boom box aka radio. I put several in the my kitchen cupboards and blared rap music and heavy metal music at night. Shut the cupboard doors and blared music. It worked I had no more noises. I always bang ceilings..walls if I heard noises. Let them know I knew they were there. You look like a fool cussing out the ceiling or wall. But those lil suckered know not to mess with me. Yes the cats are helpful. But I don’t like mice and would prefer my cats NOT eat them.
I have had mouse problems for years! It’s disgusting and it doesn’t matter how or what I do! I’m now going to try the peppermint! I’ll see if it works!
Chickens are excellent mousers
Can’t get a cat when you’re allergic! :”( we’ve tried all these things other than a cat or kitty litter. But everyone in my house is allergic. My house is spotless idk why we can’t get rid of them. 🙁
Another preventive is to keep the grass mowed and the shrubbery around the house trimmed way down. Better yet, don’t plant shrubbery around the house and dig up any shrubbery that is already there. I trimmed mine way down and got rid of some and haven’t seen a mouse in months.
I USE FAB. SOFTNER AROUND MY GARAGE ON SLELFS AND BY DOORS NO MICE IN MY GARAGE LAST YEAR I USED STORE BRAND MY HARDWARE MAN TOLD ME ABOUT USEING THEM
I like sticky traps they make good hood ornmments
Cthu, no don’t burn ur house Down! I got 2 dogs and 2 cats, I got 3 mouse hunters. We have them now, last year we had none.
I had a cat and all he did was bring them in and play with them. I have those electronic devices in every room, I have traps, live traps, and poison under my trailer. I have steel wool in every hole I can find and now I am trying the peppermint oil. I hope something works. I am so tired of cleaning up their mess. I can’t sleep because I have nightmares about them running over me in bed. YUUUUUKKKKKK!!!!
As for mice, an exterminator told me go ahead and poison them and if they die in the house/walls, it won’t smell. Why? Because mice have no bones, only cartilege (that’s why they can get into such tiny places – it’s all flexible). The smell from dead animals comes from the bone marrow. So you don’t want rats dying in your house. A different exterminator did my FIL’s house for rats and used outside bait stations. They’re plastic boxes, almost a foot wide, with a couple of holes in them, baited with green blocks of poisoned foods that rats like. They eat their fill, then take pieces back to the nest (rarely inside a house, but outside somewhere: hollow tree, shed, garage, doghouse, etc.). The whole gang eats and they do dehydrate in less than a week, and their smell stays away from you and your house. Poison and traps are the only way to get rid of rats since they can gnaw through ANYthing, even concrete!
I just moved into a rented house (in-law apt.). Lady has rodent problem but she is elderly and doesn’t care and doesn’t hear them like I do-I’m downstairs and they are in the walls and ceiling!
So, a multi-pronged approach is best:
1) Rodents hate the smell of amonia; soak rags or cotton balls and leave where the mice congregate.
2) I use peppermint oil diluted in water and spray everywhere; this deters spiders mostly-didn’t know mice don’t like it either. Plus it smells good (better than amonia).
3) The plug-in electrical devices don’t work b/c they only emit a single high- pitched tone that humans can’t hear. There’s a device that is battery operated and emits several different tones so the vermin can’t adapt to it. I’ve only seen this sold at Hammacher & Schlemmer (worth a try for $30).
4) Most important to block access to foundation by plugging up holes that rodents get into. Maybe try a pet snake instead of cat. Not all cats are mousers and most snakes love to eat mice; that’ll deter/get rid of them for sure. Of course, when the mice are gone you’ll still have to buy live ones at the pet store to keep your snake fed.
5) If you do a catch & release trap, make sure you take the varmits at least 100′ (or yards?, I don’t remember) away from your property or they will find their way back.
Happy mousing!
I have an old house with a rock foundation so I get field mice every fall. I use the live traps and make my son drive the mice off into the woods. I have an indoor cat but all he does is play with them and then takes them into other parts of the house and lets them go! Just the other day, I watched my neighbor’s cat chase a mouse up the sidewalk across from my house. She would catch it, fling it around, let it run, and then play with it somemore. It was pretty funny but then the cat lost interest and just let the darn mouse go. Last I saw it, it was running across the road straigt for my house! I should have let the Labs out because they are pretty good mousers………
Mice are extremely dirty and annoying to have in your home, but please consider using alternatives to poison. Poison does not usually work right away and the mice go outside where they are consumed by predators such as birds of prey who then die. I have seen firsthand what it can do to owls and they die a horrible and painful death.
I have a recipe that really works, my family has used it for years. You take equal Parts of FLOUR, SUGAR, CEMENT mix it all in a ziploc baggie and put it under your house of anywhere you suspect they are getting in at. put in a pie pan or something they cant chew. They empty it over night. NO SMELL and I dont think any other bird or anything can eat hardened cement. We used it at the barn for River Rats I wish I could put this in the stores beside of Decon nothing like a dead rat stinky.
Make a trap w/ 5 gal bucket. Drill holes near top of bucket and ends of soda can. Grease inside bucket and add few inches of water. Thread rod through bucket with can centered. Put PB on can. Make cardboard/wood ramp to rod. Mice try to get PB and fall into bucket. Don’t use water if want to release.
Don’t do the “catch and release” thing. You are just giving your problem to someone (or at least, somewhere) else.
Rodents don’t just eat people food. They love the coating on electrical wire, and will go after that without getting into your food supplies. I just had a washer fixed due to a rat eating the wires, and I am really worried about the knob and tube in the wall, because I’ve heard a mouse or rat scampering there. They have plenty to eat outside, they come in for the wires.
I’ll try some of these solutions, but in the foothills where I live, it’s tough. At least mice aren’t as bad as mountain lions!
We have two cats and there are still mice in the house
I’ve had glue traps end up with just a patch of hair left on them, so there’s a bald mouse with a heck of a Brazilian wax job running around somewhere. The battery operated zapper traps by D-con seems to work well if baited with the right yummy mouse delicacies.
I have 6 cats I love them but when it comes to catching mice in my house they are 100% worthless they love to watch them just not willing to get up and do anything about them lol
I have tried all these methods to get rid of mice without using poisons. Befoe I got through I had mice everywhere. I had to put my food in plastic cotainers or on top of the freezer (the only place they could not get). We have a cat who, at first would kill them. Then he decided it was more fun just to play with them. I finally had to resort to poison. I would put it every place that the cat or the dogs could not get to . In just a short time they were all dead. They do leave an odor until they completely decompose. Our house did not smell very inviting for awhile, but we no longer have any mice. I only keep one open container of poison in the houe now and have not had a problem since.
Glue traps work great. On the very first night, I caught 2 mice and 2 large dogs in one trap. They had a chaotic six legged race around the house.
Conventional spring loaded traps are still the best. They are cheap so you need not use them more than once. Just throw them out with the dead mouse. A small amount of Tootsie Roll softened and affixed to the trigger works the best.
Two easy ways of killing the rats.
1) cut into small pieces of sanitary napkin. Soak them in mix of sugar and coconut oil for two minutes. Place these pieces around all the places where rates enter. They eat this.the napkin pieces will become big due to moisture inside rat stomach and hence they will die.
2) cut a dead rat into small pieces. Mix this with equal amount of jaggery. Keep this in a tight closed container for 10 days. When you open you will not get bad odour but a thick solution like honey. Add water to this solution with ration of 95% water and 5% solution. Spray this around the entry of rats. They will ran away.
Bowl of pop is great!! They can’t burp and they don’t smell when they die. Also sticks of gums!
Ive tried spring traps and they were not working. One night i left my crockpot out soaking. The next morning there were two dead mice in it. Eeeewe gross! But it gave me an idea, I put a very deep large bowl on my counter and filled it 3/4 of the way with water. In under one week I have caught five this way! Works like a charm!
A tip about cats and mice: to get a good mouser you need to get a cat or kitten raise with its momma that’s been exposed to live mice. A mother cat, if allowed, will bring live bait to her litter to teach it to hunt. A cat raised inside for example may have the instinct to chase, play, stalk but may not know to kill. The best mouses come from barn cats. Adopt a former barn cat or kitten. It will appreciate it’s inside life (and are easy to litter train) but also kill and likely eat* mice when they find them. *and other reason to not use poison.
I got one! use a trap with old potato fry and stick it on the bite part!! It goes for it and..snap!! I did it and got 4 this past day in my house of bulit in 1870!!
I just did!!! put a french fry on a trap and it goes and trap snaps!!
I purchased a 76 year-old home last Spring. During the summer I stuffed steel wool in holes/gaps around the exterior of the home, followed by sealant. The same was done inside the home, and in a thorough manner.
In the garage there is a wooden patch on a wall that was not fitted properly that I didn’t get around to repairing this summer. Two and one half weeks ago, I found mouse droppings under my kitchen sink. The ill-fitting patch feeds into the kitchen wall.
Two weeks ago, I placed “balsam fir” bags under the cabinets in the kitchen (and sprayed water and peppermint oil) to deter the mice. On the garage side, I purchased a live catch mouse trap with a clear cover. I used glue boards on the interior of the trap. I smudged some peanut butter on the edge of the glue board to lure the little guys in. To my surprise, overnight there were several mice inside of the trap. Six to be exact!
Since this first episode, my live catch trap has been checked each morning. For two days, there was one mouse per morning. On the third morning there was a mole (must have wandered in from the yard). Since then, there has only been one other mouse. All of the mice (and the mole) caught on the glue boards have been dead in the mornings.
This weekend I will do my best to seal off the cabinets and the access to the inner walls of the kitchen. Then I will need to remove the garage wall patch, clean the area out, and repatch the wall. I feel very confident that all of the mice in the garage/kitchen wall are “gone”.
I would recommend live catch traps. You can use them with or without glue boards.
I tried the peppermint oil thing in 3 of my kitchen drawers. May have worked for a little while, but when I went to open a drawer the other night I saw a tail scurrrying the other way and discovered that my pastry brush was in tatters. I am going to re-soak the cotton balls in peppermint oil, but am going to have to break down and get some live catch traps. I don’t like having mice, but can’t stand to kill anything. The last mouse trap we had set, I just happened to be in the room when it snapped and the mouse starting squeaking and it nearly killed me to listen to that.
OMG! Just get a have-a-heart trap and release it up in the woods or something. How disgusting can you be to feed a mouse cement or use a glue or snap trap? Good for you having to listen to it writhing in pain. I hope you have nightmares for eternity. If owls die a horrible death; what do you think happens to the mouse? Life? Death? Pain and suffering? Humanity? You choose death, pain, and suffering? I can tell where you’re going when you die a painful death.
Well Rosie if you would supply your home address, I’d be more than happy to drop them off at your house. Then you can mouse sit them for me and problem solved
To encourage your cats to kill feed them raw liver a few times a week and cut back a bit on their kibble.. instinct will take over again..
Moth balls around the outside of your house and in holes where they come in works great!
I lived on a canal and across a driveway from an unkept blueberry farm which had an open field that got cut once a yr.I’m sure you can figure the problems I had when the field got cut! I tried mothballs which kept snakes away which resulted in an even larger rodent problem! The pure peppermint oil which I bought online from louannaoils.com worked great and the house smelled wonderful as an added benefit. The trick is to put 2-3 drops on the smaller cotton balls and add more oil when the scent begins to fade(about once a month)and you can just use the original cotten(if you can find where you placed them, I used them about a foot apart).place them in storage areas on counters,drawers,and behind appliances,as well as sheltered areas outside(but in places where children and pets can not reach them.I haven’t had any further problems since,they just went away.
I think the electronic devices work best. We used to have mice in the walls every fall. Since getting the devices three years ago I haven’t had any mice.
Question with the peppermint oil.. Won’t this attract ants..?
Have 3 cats that will kill any mice in house. All 3 got as kittens
Lye with dog food, they love dog food. The lye dissolves their body and you never even know it. Till you clean the bones. Fast too.
I guess we have smarter mice in Canada. They avoided the traps after an astonishingly short time. We found warfarin got rid of the mice already in the house and steel wool in the brick and soffit ventilation holes kept them out. Replace as it rusts. When we first moved to the country we used humane traps and changed to kill traps as we got tired of the pests. It’s true: familiarity breeds contempt.
thank you for all good comments; i had mice droppings in the cubboard under the kitchen sink cubboard where i keep my household cleaning stuff; it was when i went into the cubboard to take out the washing powder i notice mice dropping i then cleard out the cubboard to see whats the black/brown looking like rice gran was i scoop it up then realise it was mice droppings ; after bleaching and scrubbing the cubboard i notice few hole running from washing machine pipe and undercubboard water pipe i went to the DIY store and got some wire wool and filler and blocked up the hole i then notice all along the kitchen cubboard doors there was gaps all along the cubbord i filled all the gaps under the cubboard door and not seen any since, i also got a packet of moth balls and drop some of it behind the kichen cubbord where i couldnt reach to block out… and no sign of mice since. …i will be trying the peppermint oil and peppermint tea bagand put it around the house just in case… thanks for all your helpfull tips…
I enjoy killing rodents and recording their death
We have mice in our home. We have 2 pit/lab mixes that make GREAT mouse catchers. They kill them without injuring them or making the mouse bleed all over. We have the traps around with Frittos (they seem to like those). If you have guinea pigs (or other rodents in your home)…i recommend NOT getting the one that makes noise because it actually puts them under stress.
Mice come into homes through access. If you have never had mice before, then something has moved, shifted, or broken down and allowed them entrace.
Mice like chocolate and peanut butter and if you put this into a tall bucket, trash bin, they will get in & won’t be able to get out. Then take the bucket to a farm field or wooded area away from your home.
Thanks for all the help I can’t stand hearing them in the walls and I live across the street from agricultural area it’s mice rates gopher since my chow passed she used to cat h them they are coming like crazy I have little dogs they just eat their food . It has been a nightmare we have one that died in the walls smells won’t leave we don’t use that room any ideas ?
we have 4 cats, the mouse didnt mind, just sat there with them, till I told the little daschund dog, “go get him! ” and she did, the cats just ignored it
as far as using the decon traps they do not die in your walls they eat it then leave in search for water and never come back.I used this method when I had them in my attic with blown insulation and it worked like a charm!
We use magic tree car air fresheners, mice hate the smell. Started putting them under car bonnet after expensive repairs from pesky mice chewing pipes and wires. Now use them in the kitchen where they come in behind the boiler.
I use plaster of paris with bird seed and a little bacon grease mixed in it so they will eat it and when they go to water their stomachs set up and they die. It doesn’t hurt dogs if they die in the back yard. It is good to use in the chicken coop too that is you have to put it where the chickens can’t get into it.
My favorite comment here is the “My dogs kill the mice without injuring them”. hahahahhaahahahahahahaa!
Rosie, if you live with a ton of mice and find mice poops in everything, you would feel differently.
Rosie … sorry I disagree. Never, would I use the glue traps, but mice are a health threat and a huge pest!! Releasing mice outside alive just allows them to re-enter your home
I bought the plug in things and haven’t seen a mouse or any sign of them in 5 years! They really work!
I have 2 cat. The only time I get mice in the house is when one of them very generously brings them home, live. My hubby and I spend hours catching them, much to the cats’ entertainment.
I just buy rat poison cubes and throw them.under the shed. No other domestic critter can get to them. Might not be the “natural” way, but it is for us!
I tried the peppermint oil cotton balls… Put them in a drawer with sentimental t shirts. That was the only drawer the mice went to in the dresser. Chewed up shirts… That’s what I have.
If you have problems with mice or rats chewing up wiring in your car or else where, I’ve heard that tying bounce dryer sheets in areas deters them and they leave your wiring alone.
The peppermint does not attract ants. It isn’t sweet. I have put it around the house, only deters mice til it dries. My minature pinschers have caught one each, and a chihuahua 1. But certainly wasn’t enough. Used to have a cat that would catch one then take it to the bathtub and bat it around til it died. The fill holes really helps, but if your house is as old as mine, you never know.
I have 2 cats that hunt and catch mice constantly. Fortunately, unless the cats bring me a present still alive, I don’t have any in the house. I have been brought several varieties, field mice, shrews, deer mice, voles, gophers and some cute little tiny ones with huge ears and big Bambi eyes……In the barn tack room, the cats can’t get in there, I use D-Con and traps. I really hate mice, especially when they run across your feet or over you hand when you reach in a feed bin.
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There is a product, No Mouse in the House, that delivers the peppermint oil scent continuously for six months. It uses a reservoir and wicking system and uses 100% pure peppermint oil. Solves the drying out problem and the units are pretty cool looking, too.
What if your problem is not mice trying to get in but cats that BRING them in?
NOTHING BETTER THAN A CAT.IF THEY SMELL CAT,THEY WILL STAY AWAY!!!
I have tried many methods such as poison, ordinary traps and using cats and none worked in the long run. The mic found a way to avoid the poison and traps.
A friend introduced me to electric traps and they seem to be working. I have killed more mice in a span of a week. Hoping to eliminate them completely. Here is a list of my favorite electric mouse traps bit.ly/2hR9Abp
Tried many ways to kill mice under our mobile home that get up into our walls. Then read that when setting snap traps one should attach bait (I use a pecan nut with the flat bottoms) and attach it to trap with a glue gun. (Cheap from craft store). Did this and found 6 out of 7 traps with dead mice in them within a couple days. I think that they have to work harder at sneaking the bait out this way and that’s why this works so well. Best results yet. Poison did nothing. Good luck.
Well I live by a field and OMG the mice have ruined things in my home you’d think they pay the mortgage. I tried peppermint oil but honestly, they get used to it. I’m now using aspertym and they are eating it. But, I’m mixing it with minimal peanut butter. As soon as I see it’s gone I put more out. If this don’t work I’m gonna try the instant mashed potatoes. I am seeing less and less mice but, I won’t stop until they’re GONE. IT LITERALLY MAKES ME SICK TO THINK HOW MOUSE FECES AND URINE CAN MAKE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND PETS SICK AND POSSIBLY DIE. THEY’VE GOTTA GO. THE WAR AGAINST MICE … UGGH GOOD LUCK TO ALL