How to get rid of mice?

[Rabid_Raccoon]

We have a bit of a mouse problem at our apartment. We saw the first one two weeks after we moved in (the begining of October), and managed to trap him and get him outside. We didn't see any more and figured it was an isolated incident. A week or two later, though, our cat found another one, and unfortunately he escaped under the stove. We pulled out the stove and found evidence of more mice, along with some in our closet, so we realized that it was a bigger problem than we thought.

We tried using live-traps (specifically designed for mice) but they were able to get in, eat the peanut butter we used as bait, and get back out again. So we switched to kill traps (it was getting cold too, and I figured they’d just freeze to death even if we were able to catch them and release them :( ). We found out the brand we bought was one-use, so we started buying a different brand after we ran out of those.

We caught one using the new traps, but then today we pulled them both out and saw that the peanut butter is gone, but there’s no mouse inside. So apparently they can get past the kill traps too! I'm assuming it's the lighter mice that can do this, since these trapped have worked before. Maybe the ones that weigh less just don't trigger it?

We found one trapped in the bathtub today >:[ So we know they’re still hanging around, probably even more so now that they can get free peanut butter. We have a cat, but he’s only killed one.

They haven’t been eating any of our food, so I think they live in the garage below and come up through the vents and such. They very well could be living in the walls, however I don't know what they've been eating if they are. The landlord has come over and plugged up some areas he thought they might be coming in through, but obviously it hasn’t worked.

Mice don’t creep me out in cages at the pet store and such, but these guys freak me out because they might have diseases, and sometimes I can hear them crawling around while I’m trying to sleep.

So basically, the mice seem to be able to get the peanut butter from live traps and kill traps without getting caught or harmed. If anyone has any advice on other ways to get rid of mice, please share!

[Ranger44]

Have you tried the sticky traps?

[vicklynn]

I use those sticky traps. Mice crawl on and dont crawl off!!! Put on a glove, toss in garbage and wala, gone.
My hubby hates mice but gets all mushy when he sees them trapped. Im like, oh he!! no, they are diseased creatures and they are leaving mice poo ALL over the place. BE GONE damn you nasty critters.

[Rabid_Raccoon]

My husband gets sad to see them trapped too. So do I, really, but I'm not going to risk him or I or the cat getting some disease.

Do the sticky traps just make them starve to death slowly, though? :( I don't know if I could use those... I might be too much of a sucker.

Edit to add: The traps we've used so far have all been snap traps, because I've thought they were the quickest and most "humane". I just wish they would work more!

[vicklynn]

Dont be a sucker. The mice get on the trap and they cant get off. They do die, how quickly, I dont know, and frankly I dont care. I hate those nasty things, no matter how cute they are. The are a walking disease, remember that.

[livaward]

I use the glue traps and they seems to work really well.....

Have you contacted your landlord and talk to him/her about the problem.....Mice can be a health hazzard

[WashingtonBay]

or... get more better cats :D

[Buckpoco]

I hate those sticky traps...they are beyond cruel! We use the sonic pest control for our tack room and don't get any mice since we hooked it up. My friend has cockroaches and mice in her apartment and the sonic keeps them out too.

[zoel_222]

I would never ever use sticky traps. That's a terrible, painful, slow way for an animal to die. My dad used to use them and it about killed me to see the poor things stuck like that. The worst is when their face gets stuck to it. It's so sad I can't stand it.

I'm with WB on the get more cats thing. I have 6 cats and I only get like 2 mice a year... but obviously that's not very practical in all situations. Wish there was a rent-a-barn-cat thing :D

I've also had luck with the bucket/can system. They jump into get the food and can't get back out and then you can release them somewhere outside (away from your house, like a few blocks away or at a park or woods or something) or you can fill the bucket with water so they drown when they jump in, which is not my favorite thing in the world, but it's one of the more humane ways.

Bucket trap:
http://whitetrashrepairs.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/1263.jpg
This is how we caught our class hamster when he escaped, minus the water.

[natisha]

My Mom used the sticky stuff. The first mouse she caught she felt so bad for it that she spent a long time pulling it off but it did lose a toenail. She set it free & I'm sure it said, "Thanks, see you in the morning"
They could take a few days to die that way.
I use the white plastic snap traps in the barn, they work fast & you don't have to touch them. One of my dogs is handy too.

[Rie]

I saw a mouse in my room once, I made a modified bucket trap with an old fish tank, caught the little sucker in under 15 minutes. I made a ramp using a book and a towel, set a TP roll (just the cardboard) on the edge of the ramp and hanging halfway off the tank, put some peanut butter on the end away from the ramp. They climb up the ramp, go into the tube, tube falls into the tank, trapped mouse. Depending on the side of bucket or tank (You could use the tub too.) you can set multiple ones around the edge to catch more than one mouse at a time.

[Vegashorselady]

I'm a fan of the elctronic mouse trap. It takes 4 c batteries and kills them within seconds. You just dump the dead mouse out and flip the switch to reset it. I use it at the barn to keep the mice and rats out of my grain, it's killed one every night this week. It is well worth the $40, in my opinion.

[Rabid_Raccoon]

Thanks everybody! I'm getting some really good advice... I should have known to ask everyone sooner :p

I actually want to get another cat, mainly to keep our cat company (we lock him out of the bedroom at night and he meows, I think he gets lonely). There's an adorable orange striped one for adoption that I've had my eye on... but my husband doesn't like the idea of having to spend twice as much money on food, litter, vet bills, etc. :( He's probably right... He is the more practical of the two of us. :p

I've never heard of those bucket traps, but I think I'll talk to the hubby about setting one or two up. It seems like a really good idea.

I had also never heard of electric traps... can you get those at the hardware store with the other types? I don't remember seeing one.

[FredRock]

Glue traps!

Just make sure to throw them out in a closed conatiner/trash can. We found out the hard way that mice are cannibals. It was an eerie episode at the barn.

[AUEquine]

I'm not a fan of the sticky traps. Had one get only half stuck one time and drag it all over the house. You'd think it'd be easier to catch a mouse stuck to a big sticky paper... but it's not.
We had a mouse issue last year. They kept putting pecans in our boots, and apparently they made a nest in my long sleeve t-shirt drawer. Then when cold weather hit I found that half my shirts had been chewed up. I was out for blood then!
We just used the snap traps. I find it very odd that those aren't working. Which size are you using? They make some really tiny ones for the little critters.

[lacyloo]

I cant stand glue traps, saw my teacher toss a live mouse away and it died a miserable death in the heat...
Snap traps all the way!. Try all kinds of lures like peanut butter, pieces of marshmallows, cereal...EVERYTHING, you are bound to catch him.

[JackieB]

I can't imagine allowing an animal to die a slow death glued to a surface. It should at least be humane. Conventional (snap) traps with peanut butter on them work. They can't get the peanut butter off without setting off the trap.

Make sure all food is safely stored. That's what they come for. Then, keep the traps out and the problem should eventually go away.

[Petra]

My husband gets sad to see them trapped too. So do I, really, but I'm not going to risk him or I or the cat getting some disease.

Do the sticky traps just make them starve to death slowly, though? :( I don't know if I could use those... I might be too much of a sucker.

Edit to add: The traps we've used so far have all been snap traps, because I've thought they were the quickest and most "humane". I just wish they would work more!

I didn't read the whole thread,, so hopefully I'm not repeating what was already said.
The glue traps work well. I usually put a piece of cheese or dog food in the middle. It says they are baited, but for me they don't seem to work unless I put some food on them.

I cannot stand the mice suffer though. Nasty or not, they are live creatures and it is very sad to see them struggle. I always wrap it in several WalMart sacks and have my son or husband jump on it. It would take several days of suffering, before they would die.
Live traps don't work at all. I tried those first. I also use the snap ones, but I seem to feed more mice than kill. Some of them are gentle enough not to set them off. I don't mind those, because it's a fast death. I just wish they worked better.

BTW we get mice every year and no matter what I do they always come back. Nobody has gotten sick from them - ever. Our dogs eat them all the time. The only thing they caught in all those years was a tapeworm couple of years back.
Don't worry you can't catch the tapeworm, unless you decide to eat the mouse. ;)

[natisha]

Petra, just turn your snakes loose;)

[Petra]

Ha ha natisha, if they weren't expensive or venomous I really would.
Instead I found a big black rat snake outside and let it loose in the house while it was still warm. Unfortunately snakes hibernate in the winter around here and once they wake up, the mice leave. They only come here for the winter.

[Gem's Mom]

I was going to say get more cats lol I have an extra!!

But if you're renting tell your landlord, sounds like something he should have to deal with too. Like if they're in the crawlspace or whatever is below your apartment he should be taking care of the problem down there.

We set poison out in areas the cat can't get to. There's bait stations you can put out that will keep the cat out of the poison if you're worried about that. The kind we've bought in the past makes the mouse really thirsty before it dies so it wanders off to find water and dies there instead of keeling over in the wall and stinking up the house. And the amount of poison the mouse eats is not enough to harm a cat if it eats the dying/dead mouse later.

[cowgirlup@idaho]

We had a mouse just a few weeks ago. I think our cat brought it in to play with :doh: She caught it the first night and I picked her up with the mouse in her mouth, she groweled all the way to the door. In 2 minutes she was back inside (through the doggie door) with her mouse. She hunted and played for 3 days. I haven't seen a body, alive or dead yet. I'm hoping she completed the act.

[Vegashorselady]

I had also never heard of electric traps... can you get those at the hardware store with the other types? I don't remember seeing one.

Yup, Lowes and Home Depot sells them, they are right there were they sell all the poison and other traps. I think the brand is Vector or something like that. I love it, never fails to kill them and the light blinks to let you know there's a dead mouse or rat inside. You just pick up the trap, dump the dead rodent and push the button to reset the trap.

[YAorNEIGH]

Sticky traps are pretty much fool-proof, but they are extremely cruel. Mice can and do break legs and tear their skin off trying to escape. I had a couple mice in my house last month and that's what we ended up using, so I experienced it myself. It was gory...

There's no denying that they suffer on the sticky traps. Luckily, it's freezing cold out here, so I just put them outside where they freeze to death much more quickly than they would starve to death. I guess it depends on if you value morality more than getting the darn things out of your house! It's tough, lol. I beat myself up about using them, but...I didn't have much of a choice in the end because I was leaving the house for a month and didn't want them running rampant while I was gone.

Good luck!

[Petra]

Even freezing to death is slow death. It's way more humane to step on it. They die immediately.
If you wrap it up in a sack and jump on it, you will not see it or feel it under your foot. And the poor thing will not suffer.

[Remali]

Poison is an awful painful death for the mice, and just because your cats can't get at the poison, if the mice crawls off and then dies somewhere else, and then a cat or animal finds it and eats the mouse, that animal is also eating the poison...... Sticky traps, poison, all too horribly painful and cruel. The electric zapper sounds more humane.

[WashingtonBay]

I agree that poison is a bad scene with pets around, whether we think they can get to the poison directly or not. Mistakes happen and access only has to be brief. The poison is made to taste good.

And I don't think I could bear the sticky traps either. Have you all seen the scene from "Forget Paris"? One of the funniest movie scenes ever :D

YouTube - Forget Paris - Pidgeon Scene




What we've bought before are snap traps that have the bait all built in... you don't have to put anything on them, and you just use them once... they're cheap.

Still like the idea of another cat though...

[YAorNEIGH]

That electric one sounds great! Especially since it's reusable. I'm all about that. Thanks for sharing the info, folks :)

[Tiz]

There's some sort of sonic contraption that one of the guys at the track swears by. I don't know what it's called, but if it works with sound waves, or something like that. They just avoid it, so no dead bodies.