Comments on How to Get Rid of Mice: The Definitive Guide to Get Rid of Mice

The First main reason WHY mice nest in and around ...

2012-02-08T22:56:38.412-05:00

The First main reason WHY mice nest in and around your car engine, is because the mice feel the warmth of the engine, from right after you arrived from somewhere and parked it for the night. The Best idea is that you can Plant some bait blocks under the hood somewhere, where they are Not near the engine. Like behind the window washer fluid container, or anywhere else where there is a pocket to tuck the bait in.

Without seeing the affected areas, it's hard t...

2012-01-29T19:05:10.679-05:00

Without seeing the affected areas, it's hard to give you specific advice, especially since you've had a professional come in and do an inspection and he wasn't able to help. A couple suggestions I have to offer you though...

... for one, you might want to consider a different exterminator this time around. You may have better luck with someone else's service.

My other suggestion is this ... the mouse have to be getting in from somewhere. You just need to identify where that somewhere is. Sometimes that's easier said than done, especially since mice can fit through a hole the size of your pinkie. If you can somehow identify that location though, I'd recommend setting a couple traps to hopefully get rid of the mice, and seal the hole! Look around any access points to your home (water pipes, electrical, cable, etc...), cracks in your foundation, even cracks higher up. Mice are incredibly good climbers.

The other thing I should say is that mice need food to live, and they need shelter. Right now your home must be providing both because otherwise the mice would not survive. Look for signs of mice near any types of food (this includes pet food that may be stored in the garage or other places). Mice don't need much food to survive, but they need to eat something, so eliminate the food source. Seal things in plastic containers.

If you take away either the food or the shelter (preferably both), they won't be able to survive.

Hope this helps!

Just heard scratching in our drop ceiling and i...

2012-01-27T23:51:08.678-05:00

Just heard scratching in our drop ceiling and i'm panicking. unfortunately the type of tiles we have are immovable. We had an exterminator out a couple of years ago when we heard mice and they told us there was no way to get at them there. now it seems whenever it gets cold they return, i thought we were going to make it through this winter without them but their definetely back. Please help!

Anonymous - A couple tips that might help... Whe...

2012-01-08T16:03:43.699-05:00

Anonymous -

A couple tips that might help...

When baiting the traps, make sure you're not putting too much bait on there. When using peanut butter, it should not be a big glob, but more of a smear. You just want to give the mice a scent of the bait, not a free meal.

The other thing is that the traps that you're using may not be the best. If the traps aren't triggering, then the mechanism may be too stiff. If they're trigger too quickly, that one do the job either because the mouse won't be in position yet. I'm not sure which way you're having problems, but in either case, it's usually down to the trap you're using. One of the best reviewed traps on amazon is the snap-e mouse trap. People seem to be reporting good success with them.

Hopefully that helps, and if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask away.

Good Luck!

I have been noticing mice on my house more since i...

2012-01-08T00:02:56.041-05:00

I have been noticing mice on my house more since it got cold outside. I have bought several of those snap traps and all the mice keep stealing the bait but not setting off the trap. I've tried peanut butter, chips, cerael and my husband even glued the chips to the trap and they still steal the food without setting the trap off ,so how do I catch them? I've been just waiting till my cat finially catches them, but they are so fast that its hard for my cat to catch them. And I'm afraid that the mice might make my cat sick if its a sick mouse. Help these mice are smarter than the traps.

Do you mean that the ceiling in your apartment is ...

2011-12-29T19:59:56.319-05:00

Do you mean that the ceiling in your apartment is the tiles that you can push up? Really, a mouse problem should fall on your landlord to handle. Let them know ASAP because the last thing they want is for the problem to spread throughout the building. If you have an unresponsive landlord, that's a different story entirely...

Since it sounds like you have access to the area, your best bet is to set a trap or two in the ceiling. Make sure to check the trap at least daily! The last thing you want is to catch a mouse and have it start to decompose... the smell is horrendous!

If checking the traps in the ceiling frequently sounds like an annoyance, there is a pretty nifty design that can simplify that for you. It's called the Agrizap Rat Zapper. It's an electronic trap that delivers a fatal shock to the mouse when it enters it. The neat thing about this trap is that it has an extension called the rat zapper tail that lights up when there's a mouse in the chamber. You can put the trap up in the ceiling, while running the tail to a place that you can easily check. When a mouse is caught, it lights up and you can empty the trap. If you haven't caught a mouse yet, there's no need to check the trap frequently because the light will tell you. I think it's pretty cool and could work well for the drop down ceiling tiles that you describe.

In any case, whatever trap you set, I recommend using peanut butter as the bait. Don't put too much on there. Just enough to get the scent and attract the mice.

That's about all there is to it.

Good luck!

so we have a tile roofing where you can push up ea...

2011-12-29T00:23:25.175-05:00

so we have a tile roofing where you can push up each tile, we have been hearing running through our roof the past month or so, we live in a 3 room (bedroom, living room, kitchen) apartment, what is the best way to eliminate this problem?

That's always a tough question to answer... ho...

2011-12-07T21:41:45.093-05:00

That's always a tough question to answer... how do you know when you've actually gotten rid of all the mice? Unfortunately the answer is you stop catching them and there no longer any signs of mice. You'll have to check thoroughly throughout your home for signs of mice. Just because you don't see them in your kitchen doesn't mean they're not hiding in your walls, or in your garage. You'll have to set traps out all around, and then hope that you get rid of them all.

You're taking the right steps. Just make sure you take some of the preventative actions I describe on this site to make sure that once you get rid of them, they're gone for good.

Good luck!

We have no mouse poop anywhere and yesterday at 7a...

2011-12-06T17:27:23.519-05:00

We have no mouse poop anywhere and yesterday at 7am we found a mouse alive in the bathroom it ran then about 230 pm one crawled in the living room I caugt it and killed it. So we think it came from our finished basement sp we looked found no mouse poop down there. Then my husband moved the ceiling tilesand found a dead one and tons of poop plus a nest. We gpt rid of the mouse and neat and r going to kill the poop tonite. Im freaking out, I a clean freak. we set sticky traps last night up there. Im hoping this is it. Im just not sure where they came from. The nest was at the oposite end of the poop. How dp I know if thats it. I also have an attached car garage.

Anonymous - If you believe the issue is getting t...

2011-11-10T20:08:08.660-05:00

Anonymous -

If you believe the issue is getting too serious to handle on your own, I'd recommend calling an exterminator. If you're still willing to go the do-it-yourself way of getting rid of mice, I have a couple more suggestions.

First, you need to seal up all food sources. Leave nothing open or accessible. A cardboard box or bag is not good enough. It needs to be sealed in a plastic container, something mice cannot chew threw.

Second, it sounds like you're using traps, but perhaps not the right bait. Are you using peanut butter? If not, start using that... they're not avoiding the traps, you've just been unsuccessful at luring them into the traps.

Third, trap placement is important, as is the number of mouse traps you set. One or two is not enough. You need around six per room. Place them near their food source. Have you figured out where they're coming from? Place traps there. If it looks like they may be coming from outside, seal that entrance.

Finally, if you don't know where they're coming from, try spreading flour on the floor. When mice walk across it, they will leave tracks. This should help you sort out their routes. When you figure that out, put traps there as well.

Hopefully this helps, and good luck!

We have sticky traps and snap traps and they are t...

2011-11-10T03:09:05.685-05:00

We have sticky traps and snap traps and they are totally avoiding all of the traps they don't walk along the sides of the walls they run in the middle of the floor we don't have the cash to get the electronic traps we really need them out we have two small children one just starting to crawl and mouse poo every where help Please

It is not uncommon to have mice in your car. I...

2011-09-18T00:03:19.686-04:00

It is not uncommon to have mice in your car. I've been meaning to write an article about this for a while. One of the primary reasons they go there is because after you have driven around and park in the garage (or wherever), the engine is still warm. On cooler days, this is very attractive to mice.

If you have mice in your car already, there's a couple things you can do.

Mice are looking for a two things primarily: food and shelter. First thing you can do is move your car. It'll be inconvenient for a while, but try parking it elsewhere ... maybe at the end of the driveway or if possible, on the side of the street. The further you can park from where it is now, the better. Mice will tend to stay in a localized area, so if you move the car from this area, they at least won't be in your car any more.

Next thing you have to do is eliminate their source of food. Clean the area thoroughly. Make sure all food is packaged in sealable plastic containers (especially dog food). If your car is dirty, clean it thoroughly. Don't leave any food in your car... ever. All you're doing is creating mouse paradise... nice warm shelter and a good source of food.

Draw them out using bait and traps. My favorite traps are the Snap-E Mouse Traps. The best bait to use is peanut butter. The traps are easy to bait and set. Not only that, but they are effective, and it's easy to dispose of the mice when you catch them.

In the end, whether the mouse is in your car or the house, the tips on this site should help you get rid of the mice.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Any tips for getting mice out of my car engine? W...

2011-09-17T22:37:04.805-04:00

Any tips for getting mice out of my car engine? Will moth balls do damage to my engine parts? A mouse just chewed through a wire in my husband's car to the tune of about $200 to replace. Would love any feedback.

The size of the poop tells me it's mice poop. ...

2011-08-01T00:30:54.719-04:00

The size of the poop tells me it's mice poop. About3/8" long and 1/8" diameter. However, there is absolutely no food out there (unfinished apartment over detached garage, no kitchen yet). And no food nearby. Closest food is inside house, which would be about 100 feet of travel for them. So, could it be a rat? What would trap a rat?

Hi, so I combined two things. I took some of the g...

2011-04-09T23:21:33.468-04:00

Hi, so I combined two things. I took some of the green blocks and covered them is peanut butter. I then threw them into some places in our furnace room where there is small access to the ceiling. After about a week, all the footsteps are gone!! Now I just need to figure out where the access point is. We are planning on drywalling our attached garage and have started putting our garbage outside instead of in the garage.

Thanks for the help!!

You really need to try and identify their access p...

2011-03-11T19:02:07.476-05:00

You really need to try and identify their access point. When you hear the footsteps in the ceiling, try to trace in which direction they are heading. Mice can find a hole in the wall or around pipes, and they will climb up. They could even be passing through the ventilation system. If you can open up a vent, you might want to try placing a couple traps there to see if you can lure them in that direction.

One thing to keep in mind... the ultrasonic mice repellents lose their effectiveness the farther away they are. As the sound gets absorbed by various objects in the home, it's not as loud, and consequently not effective. For a mouse in the walls, the effectiveness of the ultrasonic trap is lessened even further since it has to pass through the drywall (just like it's harder to hear someone when they're talking from another room in the house). For mice in the walls, you may want to consider a different solution: Pest Offense Electronic Pest Repeller. This actually sends electronic impulses through your home wiring (which is run through your walls). This may be what you need to drive mice from within your ceiling. Depending on the size of your home, it may require that you get a couple of them, as the further you get from the device, the less effective it will be. It says that one unit is good for one floor of an average size home. You'll want to make sure your entire home is covered. You want to force mice out, not move to a different room.

Ultimately, the mice need food to survive, so they're going to have to come out to find it eventually (either that or they'll die, in which case you have dead mouse smell to worry about). You just have to be certain that the mice aren't coming and going as they please through some hidden access point. That's when you'll have real problems and risk a full fledged infestation.

Also make sure you're using peanut butter on at least some of the traps. Perhaps some cereal on others... bait variety is good.

It's also good to use various types of traps... try some snap traps, try some live catch traps, and try some electronic mouse traps. What may be effective against one mice, may not work so well against another.

Finally, if the problem persists, you may need to call in a professional exterminator. He may recommend busting through the drywall and patching it back up, so be prepared for that. Of course you'll want to use that as a last resort... When it comes down to it... the mice are getting in and out somewhere - you just need to find out where that is.

Good luck, and hope this helps! Come back and let us know what ends up working for you...

we use the green blocks all over the house against...

2011-03-11T16:15:29.736-05:00

we use the green blocks all over the house against the walls. Probably a total of 20 traps altogether. I also have one of these sound emitters in the basement as well. i have no way of getting the traps in the ceiling since it is a drywalled ceiling. My only hope at this point is that it comes down and finds one of the traps.

Any other suggestions?

Not likely... mice don't go away on their own....

2011-03-10T20:14:06.128-05:00

Not likely... mice don't go away on their own. As a matter of fact, if you ignore the problem it is likely that it will actually worsen. The more time mice have, the more time they have to reproduce... if you know anything about mice, they don't have one or two babies. We're talking on the order of a dozen or more. Then a small mouse problem that is containable turns into a full fledged infestation requiring professional help.

If you believe you have mice, you need to immediately take steps to eliminate them. Check out some of the suggestions on this site and go get yourself some mouse traps!

Good Luck!

it sounds like we have mice in the ceiling of our ...

2011-03-10T17:44:07.019-05:00

it sounds like we have mice in the ceiling of our basement but have not found any droppings anywhere in the house where there may be a food source. Will they just die in time?

I posted the previous comment because it brings up...

2011-03-03T19:48:55.301-05:00

I posted the previous comment because it brings up a good point, even though the first half is partially untrue. While poison does indeed work by dehydrating mice, it is not possible to dehydrate a dead carcass so quickly that it will not emanate any fould stench in the process. The decomposition process may be slightly accelerated, but the threat of smelling a dead mouse after using mouse poison is not just a possibility, it's a very good probability. If you find yourself talking to a mouse exterminator trying to sell you on poison that is guaranteed to not leave you with the smell of rotting mice, you should find a new exterminator... OR better yet, get him to put that into writing with a money back guarantee. If you get him to do that, let me know how it works out for you.

The other half of the comment, the fact that poison is dangerous to pets, is absolutely true. If you have pets (or even small children), don't use mouse poison. There is the possibility that they might get into it and eat it, or as Anonymous pointed out above, a pet may catch a dying mouse and ingest the poison second hand. Either scenario is not a good one.

A mouse that dies from poison does not smell. The...

2011-03-02T18:09:02.822-05:00

A mouse that dies from poison does not smell. The poison causes it to quickly dehydrate. However, the danger to pets as the mouse searches for water while dehydrating is very real.

Thanks for visiting. Your best bet is to actual...

2010-10-30T19:35:14.477-04:00

Thanks for visiting.

Your best bet is to actually seal off any access to your home as soon as possible. Then set traps to catch any mice that remain. If you leave the access point open, it may invite other mice to come in. The mice that are there aren't going to leave, especially if they've already made a nest in your home. Mice don't tend to stray very far from their nest. Once they've planted themselves, they will stay nearby unless their habitat becomes inhospitable (traps, mouse prevention techniques, remove the food source, or they die). Sealing off the hole may prevent them from getting to their food source, and if they're out and about, may prevent them from coming back. If they're already there, you'll have laid out a few traps to ensure that their home isn't so welcoming. Also, and this is most important, eliminate the food source! They can't survive if they can't find food!

I have found where mice are getting into my garage...

2010-10-23T12:33:50.237-04:00

I have found where mice are getting into my garage. Before I seal the access, how can I be sure all mice are out of the garage. I certainly don't want to seal them in.

We have had traps and poison for our infestation. ...

2010-02-08T12:45:27.001-05:00

We have had traps and poison for our infestation. Both have been successful as we caught a few in the traps and poison has been taken. Also we no longer hear any mice. HOWEVER! We have not been able to use the part of our house where most of the mice were for four weeks because of the most disgusting putrid smell. We were told poison is best way as traps only kill the adults, not the babies, but we weren't told about the smell. Its foul.