Mice on the Run?


  #1  
Old 12-07-12, 01:19 PM
J
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: usa
Posts: 1
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes on 0 Posts
Mice on the Run?

Had my hardwood floors refinished early Nov, saw some mouse droppings and the possible start of a nest behind my stove, but chose to believe they were bugs and dust. Oh how wrong I was. Fast forward three weeks, clear evidence of mice droppings in my pantry. I was on the phone to Orkin in ten minutes. And the battle begins...

Orkin man came out, plugged a large hole with steel wool where the air conditioning unit came into the foundation. Set glue traps in the garage, and two catch and release traps in the basement. First week, we noticed droppings in the pantry and caught four mice - three in the garage, one in the basement. Went to get my Christmas decorations out and had evidence on all of the rubbermaid totes. Sigh. We were long overdue for a clean out of the storage room, so we carried everything outside to be cleaned and cleaned up the droppings mess. Bought those electronic mouse repellents, plugged one into the garage, and one in the basement.

Few days go by, we're going on with life, not noticing droppings in the pantry, thinking maybe we're getting somewhere. Then I suddenly notice they have been five shelves UP in the pantry, grossed out - disposed of all boxes and bags. Open the dishwasher, they've been in there, opened the silverware drawer, more droppings! UGH. Honestly, don't know if these were new droppings or droppings we hadn't noticed before.

Now it's war. I placed dcon in my storage room and in the room in my basement that contains the sump pump. This room is directly under the Orkin "alleged" entry point outside - they have eaten 1 1/2 trays of Dcon.

We are in the clean up phase - opening every drawer and cabinet cleaning up droppings, figuring at this point, if I notice droppings again, then I'm going to know it's new droppings and we still have a problem. I got steel wool to plug the area where the garbage disposal goes through the back wall. I have bought mothballs for the garage, and peppermint oil for kitchen and bathroom drawers. It doesn't seem they have been anywhere but my basement and my kitchen. No signs in the 2nd floor upstairs - and I pray it stays that way!

Two questions - if they were in the dishwasher, is there an opening somewhere "under" The dishwasher they could still be getting to even if I plug the one under the sink???

And at what point can I start to assume maybe we've gotten rid of them. I am usually not a "girlie girl" but this has just terrified me to no end. As far as we can tell now, there are no new droppings, they aren't eating more of the Dcon and we haven't caught anymore.

I have a three month contract with Orkin, so we'll keep up the offensive for as long as necessary and I can leave traps in my storage room and garage forever, but I'd like to go back to livign in my basement eventually, and maybe feeling like I can eat in my own kitchen again.

Thoughts?
 
  #2  
Old 12-07-12, 03:14 PM
P
Group Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: NC, USA
Posts: 27,657
Received 2,153 Upvotes on 1,928 Posts
It sounds like you are getting a good handle on things. Most people make the mistake of thinking that catching one mouse in a trap is all it takes. At the first sign you need to go to DEFCON 2 which is throw every trick, trap & poison at them (DEFCON 1 would be burning down the house and moving to Antarctica).

Do you normally fully close your dishwasher or does it often sit ajar? A mouse in the space underneath the dishwasher is pretty easy to comprehend but actually inside the tub is a bit baffling though it depends a bit on what dishwasher you have. It's not important though. All it does is show how a mouse can find it's way through a really small hole if there is the scent of food on the other side.

You may have gotten rid of the mice currently in your home and that alone is quite a feat. Now you just need to get in the habit of keeping some vigilance. It's like living on a boat. The water is always out there. We live in the country and are faced with a invasion every fall when the temperatures drop and whenever a neighboring field is plowed.

I like to leave sticky tray rat traps out all the time. They work 24/7 and provide solid evidence of the pest you're dealing with.
 
  #3  
Old 12-08-12, 02:06 PM
P
Forum Topic Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,920
Received 110 Upvotes on 103 Posts
Yes-consistently keep traps, snap and glue, set. Even if no mice anymore, this way you can potentially catch them soon after entering. Place traps and bait blocks on top of basement foundation wall underneath the kitchen area. Make sure pets cannot access the bait blocks or glue traps. I don’t like the pellets as sometimes rodents will stash the pellets as is their instinct. If the eat the pellets it will work though.

Also set traps in attached garage if you have one. Bait in traps must be kept fresh-PilotDane’s advice on vigilance is good strategy-that’s what we do here, too. I’ve sealed everything I can find and it is better than before but occassionally one gets in.

Put rodenticide in outbuildings/sheds, etc. You can also purchase tamper-proof exterior bait stations for exterior house perimeter defense.

Check clothes dryer vent hose. If it vents close to the ground then the mice may enter inside the vent hose and chew holes in it to get in your laundry room.
 
 

Thread Tools
Search this Thread
 
Ask a Question
Question Title:
Description:
Your question will be posted in: