The War Against Mice: Update

We've had some great success against our mouse problem recently, and I wanted to share what has worked for us.

I started with peppermint oil, which did drive the mice away, but we also noticed that peppermint oil has to be refreshed frequently otherwise they quickly return.  Sometimes they even steal the once-peppermint scented cotten balls for nesting material.  I've since added Bounce sheets and kill traps. 

I don't like killing mice, but it is, bottom line, the best way to reduce the population.  In just five days we've caught two mice and one mole between two traps.  That doesn't seem like a lot of mice, but I suspect these were the main foragers for the colony.  The mole mystifies us. We do have a mole problem in the yard, but we didn't expect to see one in the house.  It actually survived, managing only to get a leg caught.  Joe let it go near the well house.

The Bounce sheets work wonderfully at keeping the mice away.  The box I bought was particularly "stinky" (i.e. extra fragrant -- why would anyone use this stuff on their clothes?), and I only noticed at home that it was ranked "4 out of 5" levels of fragrance.  (You mean there's a Bounce sheet that is one level stinkier?  Dear god.)  Perfect for mice.  Now my kitchen smells like Bounce. 

I put Bounce sheets in non-food related areas -- the drawers with my candles (which the mice had been chewing), under the sink where they pass through on their way to other areas, the drawer with various kitchen appliance manuals and warranties, etc.  I didn't want to use the artificially scented  sheets near anything used for food, so I spritz with diluted peppermint oil where I have pots and pans, utensils, and food prep surfaces.

I've noticed a significant reduction in mouse droppings and other mouse evidence in all areas where they've been a problem in the past.  I haven't found any mouse droppings at all in drawers that contain Bounce sheets or refreshed peppermint oil.  Unprotected areas are places where we've put a trap -- we're trying to draw them out and attrack them to the food bait in the kill traps -- yet even these areas are showing only a stray mouse dropping or two.  Wherever the mice are these days, it's not the kitchen.

Comments

[Camilla]

Havahart brand live traps do work well, especially if you have an individual who's wary of spring traps.

I had good luck (in a rental situation) with sealing the cracks at the backs of cupboards with spray foam sealant. The stuff smells nasty (and don't get it on your hands), but if you have a heating pipe or something that's going through an awkwardly cut hole, it does the trick. I know you can't seal a whole house, but you certainly can keep mice out of cupboards that way. (Gobs of steel wool is a more traditional choice for plugging holes, if you have big ones.)

My experience with kill traps is that they work within hours if you put them in the right place (against walls, on existing mouse paths), and if they don't work quickly, you got them placed wrong. The live traps are slower, but less finicky about placement - I've had them work weeks or months after I've set them.

mice are tasty

the best thing to use for mice is the electronic plugs for mice. we live on a revine and have battled this for years.. and i must say since we got the plug in for mice our prayers have been answered.

[Kitchen Chick]

I'm afraid I haven't tried roast mouse. Seems like it'd be too much work for too little return.

We've tried two different kinds of the plug-in electronic gadgets. They provided only a very temporary disruption to the mice's habits. Someone told me that mice can acclimatize to the noise, and mice in urban/suburban areas are already surrounded by all sorts of subsonic noise and vibrations all day long and acclimatize even faster. Anyway, they haven't worked for us, but if they work for you, great! On a slightly different note, my mom says that her home has been largely insect-free since she started using one.

[erica vagans]

This isn't really helpful advice, but Joe's suggestion that the mice might be hiding food in the piano reminded me of something that happened when I was a kid.

My parents had a piano that they had gotten from my mother's parents, and it was never terribly in tune, so we didn't think much of the fact that it didn't sound as clear as it perhaps might.

Well, one day my mother got it into her head to take each piano key out and clean it individually (don't ask), and what did she find? Peanuts. Half a paper grocery bag full of them.

She said she remembered her mother yelling at her father because he had eaten most of a bag of peanuts twenty-some years earlier, and he claimed not to have. Since they lived in the middle of farm fields and always had mice in the house, there you go.

[jo]

Ahhhhh mice. Every year we have a few move in. I usually notice the droppings around my flour sifter first, then I'll notice things on the counter strangely dragged under the grates on my Thermador range.
One night I was having a dinner party and I had the oven on for quite awhile at a high temp. Suddenly I noticed smoke streaming up the back and a burning smell yet the oven was empty and had been recently cleaned. The next day we took the front kick plate off the oven and found dog kibble. We feed our dog dry food and since she is a grazer there is always kibble in her dish. We proceeded to dismantle the entire two ovens part by part and vacuunmed up pounds(!) of dog food. Another time we moved the kitchen bookcase to a new location and tucked under it, hidden behind the toe kick which wrapped around three sides yet not the back, was a mountain of kibble. Since then we have learned to be vigilant when we know we have a mouse.
We used to use the friendly capture traps and drive them to the park to release them until one day we had a mouse who was too large to fit in the trap!
Finally we found these new traps that are spring loaded yet has a plastic box built around it so the only sight you see in the morning is a tail poking out. I still make husband empty them *shudder*. Peanut butter is THE thing to use. It NEVER fails. I catch them the first night after I notice them.
Good luck with your mouse eradication project.

[Kitchen Chick]

Jo: I sympathize. I'd like to think I've found all of the mice's hoards of cat kibble, but I wouldn't be surprised someday to discover yet another hidden pile. We just caught another mouse this morning -- nearly 5 days since our last catch. So they're still around even if I'm not seeing the widespread evidence of a month or two ago.

[Raquel's Box of Chocolate]

I can't remember where I saw the article but it was on an organic site which asked the question: As an animal lover and environment protector what should I do about my mice problem? The best solution, the article said, was to use kill traps. If mice are caught and let go, the will come back and if they are let go in a wild area far away, they will most likely be eaten by larger animals, killed by larger mice that are territorial or starve. Mice are also dirty and left in the house can spread nasty germs around. The article said that kill traps are the most humane way to kill them because it is instant so there isn't much chance the mouse will be in any pain.
I felt better after reading this because I felt so bad about the poor little mice we had caught so far this winter (5 in the last 3 months!) We have found that peanut butter is the best thing to put on the trap.
Hope this helps!
Raquel

[John]

my experience: mice were overrunning my weld shop ... i used about 30-40 ml of lab grade (not the gift shop variety) peppermint oil direct distributed randomly throughout a 900-1000 square foot area with a syringe. applied mostly around in dog food area where the mice congregated and BOOM! they have vacated the premises (all 6000 square feet). they are GONE! unbelievable!

[Matthew]

Had a recurrance of mice in my house recently and as an occasional user was looking around.

will try the peppermint oil and the bounce. Thanks

[mickey]

Thanks for the bounce tip, I hadn't heard that one. My Grandparents always used mothballs, apparently mice don't care for that scent, either. I had used them in the attic with some success, however my family loudly protested that all of the Christmas decorations stuck like mothballs (which I didn't mind because it took me back to Grandmas) I will try the Bounce next. Good Luck.

[Nathan Thomas]

These all sound like good tips, I have mice, it seems like, off and on, in my older 1978 14 X 80 Trailer House. Is Peppermint oil readily available? Also, will any kind of the Bounce strips work? I've used mothballs and that has helped but my mom thinks that I will be poisoned from mothballs. As for traps it seems like they are so-so, I'm fortunate enough to have a cat and he hunts them down and I have an old Electrolux vacuum cleaner, and it seems to really be effective at catching the mice--After sucking them up into the bag, I pull out the bag and whack it with an old shoe, and that pretty much does the mice in. I am willing to try anything, to get rid of the mice, thank-you all, for your tips.

[Tricia]

Nathan, you should be able to get peppermint oil at a natural foods store or something catering to the 'aromatherapy' crowd. People also use essential oils for various crafts, like candle or soap making, potpourri, etc.

[Lisa]

This morning, after 3 days away from home, I found a BUNCH of plastic bags with little holes chewed in them! This is a lot of money to throw away. Would it possibly be OK to eat the food, as long as it's boiled first? (beans and lentils)

[Sylvike]

The bounce sounds like a great idea - I wonder how long does it last though? Do you have to replace them every week? Month?

We're bringing in an exterminator next week because we have to find the hole and plug it up. This is the first mouse we've ever had in 12 years of living in our house, but it's *ancient* (1912), so I'm sure there are plenty of ways for them to get in.

Thank you again for the Bounce idea!

[Judy]

Can you tell me where to buy peppermint oil? And how often do you have to change the bounce sheets? Thank You.

[Kitchen Chick]

Judy & Sylvike: I change the bounce sheets when they lose most of their smell.

I got peppermint oil at a local food co-op. You can also find it on the internet. This place lists a number of different sources at the bottom of the page: http://www.ehow.com/buy_10738_peppermint-oil.html

Lisa: I wouldn't eat food that was contaminated by mice. Mouse droppings can carry a number of diseases, and I don't know if cooking will destroy all the virus.

[Judy]

Thank you very much.
Judy

[Amy]

For trailer houses, can you put this peppermint oil and bounce under the house? What about in the winter time? We live in the north.

[Julie]

I have caught 3 in the last 6 hours. Does that mean I have an investation? I'm so embaressed. I had these little individual peanut butter things in a drawer and they ate it up, with droppings everywhere. My husband and I were fed up, so we went to the store to find traps. We had mice at our other house but droppings were on the counter and now we have just our drawers effected. It bothers me to kill these little critters but the ones we killed decided to eat our traps at like 10pm. They have some nerve.

[kwgal]

I've just arrived at my trailer in early spring and have mouse droppings everywhere. What I'm wondering about is if they'll leave once I come into the trailer? Any info would be appreciated.

[Bridget]

Well, a few months back my husband and I had a terrible mouse problem. We tried the snap traps, but the mice just seemed to outsmart them. We tried the sonic mouse drive-awayers (you know the ones you plug into the wall and they are suppose to keep mice out) well that didnt work, in fact they seemed to get worse! We also tried the smelly bounce sheet idea but the mice seemed to like the taste of the awful smelling sheets.
The toaster served as a good killer but was useless after we roasted one of them and it smelled like burning flesh (not a god option if you don't like that smell or have a nice new toaster, ours was pretty old). We found that the best solution was the glue traps that took care of the mice and we haven't had a problem since.

[Renee]

I have herculean mice. I put out trays of mouse poison pellets and the next am they are empty. I put out glue traps, and they GET OFF! Hair ALL over them and poop and (something else,) then big sections plucked off. I have managed for a few to stick. (2-3) They're driving me nuts. The exterminator said they hoard the pellets and to buy blocks. (He wanted to charge $125 for enough traps to supposedly manage 200 mice but had no interest in blocking entry points, so I didn't hire him) So, I put out the blocks. 6 hours later I wake up and find each 1 1/2 inch block spread into dust. All over the counter, in the back of the drawer, in the cupboard. It's a huge mess. I'm disgusted.

These aren't ordinary house mice. These are the cute deer mice from the woods here in Vermont. I wouldn't mind at ALL if they'd just STAY outside. I'm going to get some peppermint oil and Bounce sheets. Which is the smelliest? (This might also actually solve another problem too, a lingering dog smell from the previous owner.)

[Renee]

Oh, and I'm amazed (I yelped) when the lady said she sucked 'em up in the electrolux. I've got a Kirby, but I think chasing them at 3 am would be out of my league. Just how many of the little buggers did she have?
And the toaster?! How did you set that trap? Doesn't it default to off?
Come on!? you're pulling my leg!

[steve bradshaw]

I have found that my homemade mouse traps are great. I took a pail and put a threaded rod through the top. On the rod I put a pop can. (try to imagine a log rolling contest) The can spins on the threaded rod. Then I put peanut butter on the can to attract the mouse. In the pail I put some anti freeze. What happens is, the mouse will go to eat the peanut butter, roll off the can and into the anti freeze where he drowns. The anti freeze won't freeze over the winter and it preserves the mouse carcass. In the spring I just empty out the pail of mice. This works folks.

[mike]

I find that gasoline works on mice. You need to pour the gas down their throats, the mice will then run around in a circle for about 5 minutes and drop dead....right after they run out of gas

[Joe, Kitchen Chick's Husband]

In the spring I just empty out the pail of mice. This works folks.

I'm torn here.

On the one hand, I feel that any idea that makes it necessary to use the phrase "pail of mice" is worthy of respect and admiration.

On the other hand, I have to remind people -- DO NOT USE THIS METHOD IF YOU HAVE PETS, BECAUSE THEY WILL DRINK THE ANTIFREEZE AND DIE IN AGONY. It's deadly poison, but it smells great to cats and dogs, and will kill them painfully.

[Steve Bradshaw]

Thanks Mike, yes I forgot to mention, I do the pail of antifreeze in my trailer, not at home where the pets are. Indeed the antifreeze is deadly for pets so I concur with Mike in saying please keep out of reach of pets. You can always put a note on the pail "for mice use only" but that's only if your pets are well educated in reading n writting.

[jacki brown]

Oven stinks like mouse when turned on... Just pullled it away from the wall and cleaned everything possible and still an icky smell....

Any advice???

Thanks.

[Annie]

Another good remedy is to mix some dry cement powder with flour and leave it in small containers where you know the mice are visiting. They will eat the mixture and then look for water. Once they drink the water the cement will harden in their stomachs and they will die. I know it may sound cruel but I actually got this from a natural remedies book and if you are as revolted by mice as I am then you will try it.

[ManicMouse-acide Mane]

Has this problem continued to be resolved using the peppermint oil and dryer sheets?

[Kitchen Chick]

Mice seem to develop a tolerance for dryer sheets. I still use them, but they aren't my only line of defense. I have not noticed a tolerance for peppermint oil, but I also find it tedious to keep refreshing the oil. Again, another good short term solution to chase them out of an area, but needs to be paired with more permanent solution to get rid of them.

[Dylan]

Try a 5 gallon bucket with peanut butter in the bottom of it, and about 1 or 2 inches around the rim of the bucket. Put a piece of wood as a ladder for the mice to go to the top of the bucket. They will be drawn to the PB and fall into the bucket when they try to eat it; then you can release them far away from your house or dispose of them how you like!

[Monsado]

Please disregard the cruel comments -- like gasoline in the throat and drowning them in anti-freeze. Use the deterrents and spring traps if you have to -- don't make them suffer!

[kate]

The five gallon pail idea and the pail/soda can can be combined, also instead of antifreeze if you put about six inches of plain water in a non freezing area, the mice will be caught and drown in the water without the hazards to pets, children or the environment. Does anyone have a solution to repelling mice from the air intake areas of a car? I have to keep vacuuming/replacing the filters in my toyota carolla which is getting expensive.

[Celia Bolton]

To the poster with mice in the Toyota Corolla - have you found a solution? I just found a mouse and nest in the trunk of my car. Fortunately, I was away from home and the critter jumped out, but I don't know where it came from, of course, and don't want any more.

[Rebecca]

I had to take my Corolla to the mechanic to have a nest removed from behind the front console, under the dashboard, behind the radio /AC controls. It still stank for a while. Critter dragged insulation into the hole.

I have a baby and a mouse problem. Will try peppermint or maybe cement and flour trick. Peanut butter on snap traps and rod and bucket traps has been completely ignored. (Although hanging garlic near their area seemed to reduce the poop. Not sure.) Thanks for the posts.

[Rebecca]

To be specific, I have a mouse problem, and a baby. The baby is not a problem. Well, not in the way the mice are anyway.

[electric mouse traps]

We have had mice for the last 3 years, tried all different things and never got rid of them. Tried an electronic RAT trap and it works a treat. Killed one a night for about 2 weeks - think they have all gone now!

[Josh]

Do the sheets need to be "Bouce" brand or will Downey, etc. do the trick?

[hampers]

Theres 2 ways of dealing with mice, stop them getting into the house, or keep killing them when they do. The easiest is to keep killing them, but then you will never be truely rid of them. Making sure the house is sealed up correctly outside should help more than putting bounce sheets around.

[Kimmy]

FYI for anyone that has a stinky oven due to mice. About 5 years ago we had this horrible smell coming from our oven, we had no clue what it was for awhile. I knew we had a few mice, but it took me awhile to make the connection. We looked behind the oven and did find some droppings. Cleaned it out and thought it would be fixed. NOT! Eventually we thought to look inside the stove, under the top of the stove. Didn't know what was inside a stove, it's insulation and guess what, it was completely full of mice droppings. It was so gross it made me sick. We even found multiple nests and some dead mice. We thew out the stove (even though it was only two years old) there was no way I was using that again. So if you smell "mice" when you turn on you stove/oven you need to check inside the stove because it is probably completely infested.

[Katie]

Hi everyone. There's a critter of somesort in the ceiling/walls of my older trailer house, in Michigan. It squeaks, digs, and runs around a lot. Is mice or something else?? I thought it might be a squirrell cause it sounded "big" but I was told that squirrells don't squeak?? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

[Noko]

For the mice in the oven/stove also take apart the part under the oven. We recently pulled our oven away from the wall and found the mousehole at the bottom of the wall. I cleaned out the entire area back there (people don't seem to think they can do this stuff - previous tenants let so much stuff drop down the side of the stove) and the oven but couldn't pull apart the bottom of the oven like I wanted to. My husband saw a mouse the other night and proceeded to drop the refrigerator on it - It was SUPER effective! But now I think it's family is back with a vengeance and I am disgusted by my kitchen. Does Peppermint oil really work for mice? I know insects are repelled by it. Would peppermint tea be as effective, and I know vinegar is a natural antibacterial, could I use it to deter them or would they like it?

[Mouse Control]

I had a problem with mice for months; I tried many different methods to getting rid of them from setting mouse traps around my house to using sprays that are meant to stop mice from entering your property. They all worked for a short amount of time but I had to keep on spending money and replacing traps and sprays so in the end I called a pest controller who visited me the next day and got rid of all of the mice in my house and told me what to do to prevent them coming back. This was a few months back and I haven't seen them since.

[Filip]

What did they tell you to do?

[Natural MouseRepellent]

War Against Mice is a warning that we are facing a big problem regarding to such rodents. I do agree with this title as I live in an unfriendly environment where mice become my enemy. I have written my and some people's experience in repelling this rodent naturally at http://www.naturalmouserepellent.com.Hopefully such writting help us to get rid of mice.

[April]

A mouse has died somewhere behind my counters or in the wall where it is not accessable to me. The smell is horrible. Will it eventually dry up and not smell anymore? I cannot get to where it is.

[Rebecca]

I just found this doing a Google search. Thank you for the suggestions! I am off to try them. We get a few mice each fall but this year they are chewing up the glue and plastic traps. I do not want to use poison even in the basement and attic where they are currently and the metal traps are slowly working but rather gross. I rather just prevent them from entering.

[eli]

has any body heard anythings about mustard?
I heard it couse the mouse doenst come arround

[justin]

I have recently noticed mice in my home. I keep a clean house, so I'm having a hard time understanding why they're here. Apparently, a nieghbor has had them, too recently. In 5 days, I've Caught 4 mice by using glue traps. Now I've put down poison ( I have no pets). I'm just waiting to see how much further I'll have to take this...any other tips????

[spring]

I had one mouse last year but this year was a game changer. My job had a flea infestation and it just went downhill from there. I used poison last year and left bags down from then on in key places. I killed 4 on glue traps and I dont know how many with the poison bags. I don't know how they ate getting in, but i've plugged a lot of wholes. I havent seen droppings in a week but i'm still tramatized. They cut holes in my carpet and I'm.joping the ppmint oil will be a good deterent for any.comimg back. I used steel wool to plug the bigger hidden holes but needed something for the nano holes in the corners of my halls. I love ppmint oil and have a huge bottle of it. Also I have a corolla too is this a problem with the manuf of the car? They ate every crumb of a poison bag in the garage

[spring]

Also, mothballs didnt work for me. And I have 20 of those sonic things plugged in. i'll be getting bounce sheets to try..i have the.off brand and apparently that wasnt enough.

[aromatherapy oils]

Cool I didn't know peppermint works as a mice repellant too!

[Shawn St Germaine]

I like the dryer sheets. I use them in my camper and in the spring no signs of mice. I just make sure to change them out ever so often, when i cant smell them any more. But worked all winter long for the camper.

[Booker]

It might be a Corolla thing. Had the same problem and it cost me a lot of money to get them to remove all the rat droppings. Rats had chewed through the air-conditioning filter sponge and made a home there. It's disgusting.

Currently my house is being infested by mice and rats and it's horrible. Nothing works. The traps and ignored and they seem to be able to get the bait from the glue traps as well.

Will try the peppermint oil with fingers crossed.

(We dont have Bounce sheets where I live).

Read somewhere about hot sauce spray home remedy. Mix some hot sauce in water and spray around the rat trails. Anyone knows if this works?

Will try anything now.

Thanks for the tips.

[Tiffany]

I won't use glue traps anymore due to one running away with it. I was trying to be as humane as possible with these mice but they don't play nice back. I have been searching for the hole to stuff in steel wool since we only get two a season/eight a year but I fear finding pinkies (so gross!!).

I am going to give the peppermint oil a try. Hot sauce and vinegar do not work (though hot sauce deters rabbits in your garden and vinegar with dishsoap kills fruit flies). I use "smelly" snuggle dryer sheets and that didn't work either (as well as any at my moms house).

Finding their way in seems key. Just i am sure its under the house and being pregnant I cant fit!! Hubby keeps putting it off. Thanks for your tips.

[Kathryn Harris]

Hello friends...here's my experience: the mice have used the aluminum foil as a back scratcher, got high on the peppermint oil, danced to the tune of the high-frequency buzzer thingy, and took a nap on the dryer sheet. I even put a couple of Altoids in the drawer, thinking the peppermint would be pungent enough to keep them away...they took them for dessert. Put some black pepper in the drawer, thinking this would help...it didn't. Too bad those round "kills instantly" traps are so expensive! Any other suggestions? I know they will implode if they eat an Alka-Seltzer, but I don't want dead mice in my walls or stove.

[Christy]

We had a fire in the field behind our house last summer and I think all the mice evacuated into our house. When we first noticed my dad went and set more then a dozen kill traps using cotto salami and caught nine or ten mice over night. The weeks following brought the end to over a dozen more. Its months later and we are still hearing them and finding their droppings everywhere. I am getting peppermint oil tomorrow and making some reusable satchel with cottonballs and cloth tomorrow.

[Sherri]

This really is to Nathan Thomas' post and anyone else that is fighting mice problems where other animals (your pets especially) are around. Just a reminder to use animal friendly solutions because the mice might not be all you kill!! Also remember the solution you choose doesn't only effect the one location where you put it. If you put something outside around the house that is lethal, there could be rain or water run off that is now spread into the yard where your dog does his business or the neighbor's cat comes through the yard, its now on their paws and what dog or cat do you know that doesn't lick their paws! It probably wouldn't kill them, but it could sure make them sick. And mice can drag certain things from areas your dog and cat wouldn't get to, right into where they can. Just something to think about because I know having a mice problem is bad, but is it really worth risking your pet especially when there are so many safer answers! Good luck everyone ... Oh and to whomever posted about the live traps my mother and I put out a sticky trap when I was in high school and by the next morning the mouse had drug it down the hall and bumped it into the baseboards all night where he was almost free but with no hair on one side. Needless to say my mom and I wouldn't go down the hall and I was late for school. On the way there mom and I both looked at each other and said "I thought I heard tapping on the walls last night but every time I got up it stopped!" We still laugh about that today!

[Keith Walden]

Anyone ever use the commercial " mouse hotel" thing just a square box with bait (permanent maybe)that will house about 20 or 30. I think they fall into an area through a trap door that closes and seals off the smell. See them on the outside of commercial buildings. They might be more for rats but would think they might work inside to especially in a basement garage or workshop area. Probably get kicked around in the kitchen. Maybe get some PB smell in there somehow and or rub some dirt on them make them smell more natural.

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