E-DEMOCRACY | The dumbest mice in Minneapolis

From: liz martin Date: Oct 17 13:23 UTC

In the past week and a half our cat has killed 4 mice in the house. Do we have the dumbest mice in mpls hanging out in our yard or what? I’ve never had a mouse problem like this before maybe 1 or 2 at the most every couple of years. Is anyone else having a huge mouse problem? I don’t think we really need an exterminator since our cat takes care of the problem fairly quickly but does anyone know how you can find out how they’re getting in the house in the first place? I’d really love to seal up the crack or hole or whatever.

Thanks! Liz

From: Wendy McNiff Date: Oct 17 14:30 UTC

We are having a huge mice problem at our house. Every couple-three years we have an issue, but never this many. We’ve caught two live and at least 4 dead mice. Our dog is not a good mouser! She runs and hides from them so not at all helpful.

We used to have an exterminator come out. He told us that any place that you have even a dime size opening, the mice will get in. If you find holes, he recommended that you stuff copper wire/mess or steel wool in the hole, then the expanding foam insulation and then cover it with whatever your wall covering is.

We found that putting out the traps ourselves is just as effective as having an exterminator and much less costly. I’ve read that moth balls and peppermint essential oil on cotton balls are supposed to be good repellents. I’m going to give them a try this weekend.

From: Kyle Werremeyer Date: Oct 17 15:02 UTC

I’d like to second the steel wool and expanding foam solution. You can trap and kill mice all day, but until you stop them getting into your house the problem will never end.

An exterminator once told me that the best time to find out where mice are getting into your house is to go out at the first snowfall, and look for their tracks. Mice will continue to go in and our of your house until it gets very, very cold outside.

He also said that you’d might be surprised where the mice are entering your house – small holes in the foundation are certainly an issue, but many times mice enter house through open door and windows, and specifically doors and windows that are not snug. That was the secret for me, replacing my back door and then keeping it closed.

From: Bob Friedman Robert M. Friedman Date: Oct 17 16:00 UTC

Actually this thread could be called the “smartest” mice…. Also look for attic holes, under protected corners where roof lines come together. They can enter your attic and work their way down inside walls or follow plumbing pipes going to the roof.

From: Bob Friedman Robert M. Friedman Date: Oct 17 16:08 UTC

Here is one more tip. Not so much for mice but for larger animals. I used to have an older flap type dryer vent, close to the ground coming out a window. The flap inside the cover built up lint and stopped closing all the way. It was open enough that one November day, a rabbit thought it was a nice warm place to explore. Head first it went. Not a happy ending. Fortunately I had Service Plus, so the expense of taking apart my dryer was covered. This rabbit had four UN-lucky feet.

From: Jane Graves Date: 03:02 UTC

I have seen a definite population boom as well. I had one mouse several years ago, then nothing until about 1 month ago. I have killed 6 mice in traps in the past month, and I know there is at least one more still hanging around. I don’t know what they’re eating, since I have moved all my food to cabinets they can’t/don’t seem to be able to access and/or put it in hard plastic, tightly-sealed containers. I was hoping they’d starve and/or decide to move to someplace with more food, but I might have to do something. I’m going to be interested to see if they are still entering (following the other writer’s advice about looking for tracks in the snow). Maybe coyotes are killing the stray cats who used to kill the mice before they got into our houses.

Jane

See thread here.