Evicting house mice

Question

I have been in this house about 9 years, I live near the edge of town, with a large lot next to me. Have had a few mice here and there,. This year, I have had a lot. I've been putting out traps and glue boards. In a week, I caught about 12. 3 BIG ones. Now I finally caught 1 in a glue trap and 1 in a kill trap, but pretty small. I vae started looking and sealing any holes I find with steel wool and caulking together. So am I beating this issue??

Answer 1

You will know if you're beating this issue when you find that the number of mice in your house decreases. However, if it takes time for that to happen, it could just be that the mice have moved on elsewhere.

However, finding and attempting to block their routes into your house is definitely worthwhile (you'll be blocking the path that cold air will take into your house in the winter, too, so that's a bonus).

You might also consider getting yourself a good "barn cat", as they've been known to be effective at stopping mice and rats.

Answer 2

This guy has a lot of stuff on traps. 5 gallon buckets with tipping lids seems to be effective. I have never had a massive infestation, Victor traps with peanut butter have worked for me.

Steel wool is good for plugging holes, mice won't eat through it.

Keep up with your car. Apparently, lots of cars are made now with plant-based insulation on the wiring and mice like it, the results can be catastrophic. I have seen people say that ultrasonic emitters can work at keeping mice away from cars but have no personal experience with it.

Answer 3

Finding and blocking entry paths is definitely worthwhile. I've been making some effort at that and it seems to be helping. I'm also finding fewer Little Brown Snakes in the basement; they're harmless but I'd rather they not get in and starve; I like them. (Alas, they're too small to eat mice.)

As far as traps go... people are undecided. There are a number of different trap designs in the market. Personally I consider glue traps inhumane for anything larger than an insect, but there are people who swear by them. There are no-kill trap designs, but they tend to be expensive or homebrew, and leave you with the problem of where to release the mice so they won't find their way back in; wildlife laws may limit that. Snap traps are actually pretty humane; peanut butter is the classic bait, but sometimes mice seem to avoid them; of course you do need to check and empty/reset them.

Personal opinion again, but I think outdoor poisoned bait is a Bad Idea unless you're dealing with a major health issue; I'd rather not risk poisoning the predators helping to keep the mouse population under control. I've had an exterminator set out bait in my basement only (to ensure pets and guests are kept away from it) with good success... but I'm already on a service contract with them so this service isn't costing me anything more. Still, I'm seriously considering stopping that and trying snap traps for a year or two.