When the weather gets cold, the mice look for somewhere nice. That means warm and cozy. Small cracks or places where pipes enter the home are highways for migration. Even though mice look chubby, once their hair is wet or pressed down, they can squeeze through the smallest holes.
You can inspect and seal holes. Some folks use spray foam, but this product has attractants. The mice will chew through it. Wood is also chewed to make large holes for entry. If you leave a door open, they will find a way to get in. Once in the house, they will find food sources and begin to do damage.
Mice will eat about anything. They will even feast on each other. Flour, cereal, dog food, and plastic bags having goodies are on their menu. Mice are amazing at climbing, jumping, and finding ways to get into your pantry and create problems. Mice carry diseases. They also chew wiring and plastic water lines.
Their poop is evidence of where they have been. If you think you see evidence of one mouse, you can bet there are a dozen. Look for where they bed and reproduce. This is where you place a trap or bait station. Travel routes are usually along walls, corners, and edges.
They also chew up paper and plastics. Plastic grocery bags have starch, to help them decompose. The starch is also tasty for mice. In warmer months, snakes can help control the mice population. Where you have mice, you will eventually have snakes. Deal with the mice now so there will not be a snake problem later.
In my home, the mice enter through the garage. Each year they chew through the garage door floor gasket, by the outside corner. It’s a small hole but it’s enough. Once inside, they leave their evidence around my workbench. Once I see their evidence, I inspect and repair the entry hole. This year the gasket was untouched. The mice may have entered when the door was open.
Normally, a spring trap loaded with peanut butter does the trick. Once the mouse takes a lick, the trap springs shut, and the mouse is dispatched.
This year, the mouse traps are being defeated by stealthy mice. They manage to lick off the peanut butter without setting off the trap. Even new traps are being licked clean. If I barely touch the traps, they go off and scare the crap out of me. I have placed peanut butter in different amounts and locations without success. Perhaps these new mice have evolved into mutant hybrid mice with long tongues.
Now I know that some folks hate to kill these furry little critters. That will all change when you have a fire, water leaks, or health issues caused by mice.
I just bought some Super Spring traps. These black box traps are also sensitive. I placed a dab of peanut butter on the bull’s eye as directed. This morning, the bait was gone and only a few mouse droppings were left! That’s how the new Mutant Mice give you the “bird”.
I have had luck using Sticky Traps. If anything touches them, they are stuck. This includes my wife. She hates them. Some states ban these traps as being inhumane. You can fold the flat cardboard traps into a tunnel that the mice can enter and be stuck and disposed of. Place them along a wall or create a narrow space where the mouse can only go through the trap. Otherwise, they will leap over the traps. Sticky traps will also catch a lot of insects that you did not know lived in your home. Dog and cat noses will also stick well to the mouse pads.
Without management, mice will also chew on electric wires and get into areas where they can spread diseases and contaminate foods.
To get rid of mice, you have several choices.
Traps Clean if used and place in a place that requires the mice to pass over them. Peanut butter works well, sometimes.
Sticky traps Place away from other pets and in entry /exit spots. If a mouse touches this pad, they are stuck. Sometimes they drag the pad away.
Poisons Poisons/ baits are designed to kill mice without harming other critters. The problem is that after they die from the poison, their corpses stink for a month.
Water Traps You can find all kinds of water trap ideas on YouTube. The mice climb a ramp and walk out to a bait site that spins. They fall into the bucket and drown.
Steel Wool This fabric is the best for stuffing into holes or around pipe highways entering a cabinet. If the mice try to eat through, the steel wool will kill them.
Now that I have been able to remove some mice with sticky traps, the mice seem to have migrated into the utility room. Last night they were chasing and chewing on the drywall. I placed a sticky trap and a bait station where the evidence appeared.
There are no limits on mice. Bucks and does are legal and you do not need to tag these furry vermin.
Mice Be Gone, Please!
Montana Grant
