How do I know if mice are gone?

[Brian Elfert]

I just finished an extensive renovation of a foreclosed house. I know it had mice problems based on all the droppings under the cabinets when removed. I thought the mice problem was gone since I haven't seen any evidence of mice during the renovation. I moved in just over a week ago and left a half eaten bag of chips out Friday night. It was shredded by a mouse by morning. I bought and put out some snap and glue traps. Sunday morning I had two mice caught. No more mice caught last night.

How do I know I don't still have more mice? Are any remaining ones now smart enough to avoid getting caught? I am thinking about leaving some food out and see if it gets disturbed. (The house has all new siding, windows, doors, and sofitts/eaves so should be no more holes.)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Brian,

I think your idea is the right one. Leave a baited trap or some food out to determine if there are any more mice.

Look around any entry way into the house for possible entrances for more mice. Any hole 1/2" or large can be used by those little contortionists! I once saw a video of mice entering an area and it was amazing how small a hole through which they could squeeze!

Check for any openings around gas pipes, a/c lines....make sure they are well sealed.

[Brian Deakin]

Brian,

I think your idea is the right one. Leave a baited trap or some food out to determine if there are any more mice.

Look around any entry way into the house for possible entrances for more mice. Any hole 1/2" or large can be used by those little contortionists! I once saw a video of mice entering an area and it was amazing how small a hole through which they could squeeze!

Check for any openings around gas pipes, a/c lines....make sure they are well sealed.


In my garage I place a potato or apple on the floor and and view it over a period of time to see if it is nibbled

(Best to place it on a small plate I had an apple that was not nibbled but rotted over time and marked the workbench in the garden shed)


regards Brian

[Brian Elfert]

I still have the traps out baited with peanut butter. They just haven't caught any more mice after the first night. Do I need to wash the one spring type trap to get the smell of a dead mouse off of it?

[ray hampton]

If you wash the trap to remove a smell BUT washing it will add a new smell

[David Weaver]

I put out d con rabbit food pellet sized stuff. If the mice are around, it disappears. When it disappears, the problem sort of solves itself as long as they don't die in a windowsill right next to your toilet (yeah, personal experience from growing up in an old house - happened several times).

When we moved into our house, there were mouse droppings and tunnels through rock wool insulation, a lot of tunnels. I put out d con rabbit pellet stuff and it disappeared fast for about a week. I change it every couple of years just to see if anything will eat it, but ever since then, it doesn't disappear with any frequency and there have been no mouse droppings.

The only reason I bring that up as opposed to a non-toxic bait is that with a toxic bait, they don't have time to get smart to it (if they can do such a thing with a peanut butter bait).

[Brian Elfert]

If you wash the trap to remove a smell BUT washing it will add a new smell

Correct, but I figure a mouse might be hesitant to go near bait in a trap if there is smell of a dead mouse. Any smell from washing probably wouldn't deter a mouse.

[Jerome Stanek]

I've never had a problem with a trap that has caught a mouse. I sometimes would get a new mouse in the same trap 3 or 4 times in a month in my shop.

[Jason Roehl]

Just leave the baited traps out for a couple weeks. Also, try to minimize any food left out, as they may go for that instead of the traps. It's just that time of year when the outdoors mice have decided they would prefer the warm indoors.

Or get a cat.

[ray hampton]

I've never had a problem with a trap that has caught a mouse. I sometimes would get a new mouse in the same trap 3 or 4 times in a month in my shop.

I use glue traps to catch mice and I would catch more than one in a trap the same night

[Rich Engelhardt]

Any hole 1/2" or large can be used by those little contortionists!
1/4" actually...
If a #2 pencil can fit in the opening, a mouse can get through it.

(I picked up a bit about mice and rats when I worked for Orkin for a short time.)
Anyhow - lack of sign usually indicates a lack of infestation.
Usually.

I've had great success with the ultrasonic plug in devices. Bugs and mice don't seem to like them at all.
YMMV with them.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Its a trick question, short of gutting the house down to the framing and staring over, you will never completely win the battle. Figure out how they can get into the house, then remove all their food, and you will eventually mostly win.

[Larry Frank]

The mice are never really gone as they keep coming from the outside. I always keep some traps baited in places where I have caught them before. I never clean the traps just dump the dead ones out. I also use peanut butter.

Just keep after them......forever.

[max taylor]

Dcon all the way. not only kills them but they leave voluntarily looking for water. it dehydrates them. max

[Mark Patoka]

I've never washed my snap traps and the mice keep coming back for more. :) It sounds like you have the mice taken care of that were in the house but you will get more, it's just a matter of time. I leave snap traps setup in my finished basement where I know they like to run and I'll catch a few of them every year, especially in winter when they move in. I also have some traps in my storage shed as they like to move in there but that's also next to the woods. I also found a small snake in my shed this summer so he knows where the food source likes to live also. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), he got caught up in some garden netting and strangled himself otherwise I never would've known he was in there.

[Kevin Godshall]

There are 2 kinds of people: People that have mice, and people that are in denial. You can put a hurting on your current herd, but the next one is ready to come in next fall. It's a perpetual fight.

Mice are rodents and follow the same procedures as squirrels. They hoard and store food, almost like clockwork on the squirrel's schedule. And, herein lies a potential problem:

My wife cannot stand the smell of a dead, decaying mouse (one that has died eating poison), therefore, I now trap constantly and in perpetuity. The problem with most poison? They hoard it and store it. The next batch that moves in, eventually finds it and eats some of it. Plus, you find it everywhere during a remodel and sometimes in places that you don't access too much (winter shoes, storage areas, etc).

One good bait is TomCat- you tie the poison securely and force the buggers to eat it right there. Still have the dead smell though later.

Doing all trapping now with peanut butter, and nope, don't clean the traps off after a kill. Leave all the blood and peanut butter residue and get it ready for the next.

When the weather is decent, I pitch the carcasses over the bank. When it's too cold or snowy........ pop em right into the woodstove.

Been doing this a long time. Will be doing it until I die. Just the nature of the beast.

[ken masoumi]

If I ever need to deal with mice I will give "bucket mouse trap" (https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=bucket%20mouse%20trap)a try:
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[Jerry Bruette]

I used some bucket traps at my old cabin and they were effective but got pretty nasty and stinky if you can't empty them real often. At the new cabin I use PVC bait stations. Google it and make your own for real cheap. I also moved the bait stations outside, no sense inviting them indoors to kill them. Tomcat is somewhat effective but I found Jaguar,from the same company, to be much more effective.
You can make the bait stations tall enough to hold 5 or 6 chunks and you shouldn't have to rebait very often.

[Jason Roehl]

If I ever need to deal with mice I will give "bucket mouse trap" (https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=bucket%20mouse%20trap)a try:
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You don't even need the rod/soda bottle portion of that trap. My dad used to trap mice with a bucket. Just give them a ramp to get up to the rim of the bucket, and put some bird seed in the bottom of the bucket. They'll jump in for the food. My dad would use a 2x4 for a ramp, which was then handy for encouraging the mice to assume room temperature when it came time to empty the trap.

[Brian Elfert]

I haven't killed any more mice since I killed two Saturday night, nor have I seen any additional mouse droppings. I am hoping the problem is gone for good. I bought this house three months ago as a foreclosure. There were quite a few places a mouse could have gotten into the house at that point. The rear door had no threshold and had a 2" gap underneath. Everything on the outside of the house has been replaced in the past three months so there should be no more holes for mice to get in.

My last house was a new house built in 2001 and I never had any mice in that house that I know of. Since it was new there were no holes for mice to get in.

I hope the mice are gone, but I won't be surprised to see more mice eventually.