# Info on one-upping field mice.



## Dancingdoe (Dec 13, 2015)

I live in MD/PA border area and got a decent fixer-upper house that is situated in the middle of a field. Prime mouse real estate. Long story short I've spent close to ten months mouse proofing. Still caught one last night in the basement where the oil tanks are kept.

Now for the questions... I was researching on mice and found a Caifornia exterminator say that mice are never found anywhere but ground level, but I know that's a load of bull in my case. Does anyone know the behaviour/lifecycle of field mice inside a home? Obviously that exterminator has some kind of friendly, behaved species of mice that he deals with exclusively.

As an end note, I do not believe in humane-trapping these suckers because I'm not even sure if the ones I'm catching were ever outside inhabitants. They could be a tenth or more generation resident. I'm using sticky traps, snaps, a catch master with sticky paper inside and a homemade 5-gal bucket trap.


----------



## COSunflower (Dec 4, 2006)

I live in a rural area too and we have 2 kinds of mice - one is the typical field type mouse and the other looks like a Gerbil. Last spring I caught 17 in a 2 week period!!! The best thing to do is NOT provide them with any type of food or bedding stuff. I have 2 cats and that still doesn't keep them from coming in. I've had them get into my closet where they could get behind bedding or clothing to tear up for a nest and even into drawers that I do NOT know how they managed to squeeze into and build a nest under table clothes etc. I have since put all pet food into metal garbage cans and nothing in my lower cabinents besides things in mouse proof containers - like glass and tin. So far, so good!!! I've put bedding etc. into plastic tubs instead of folded on the shelves in my closet. Also put linens in plastic boxes in my drawers. Trying to make things MOUSE UNFRIENDLY!!!!


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> I was researching on mice and found a California exterminator say that mice are never found anywhere but ground level


He's right if you consider "ground level" to be somewhere between Death Valley and 
Mt Everest. They pretty much *enter* a house from the local ground level though.


----------



## Pyrpup2016 (Sep 11, 2016)

I recently had a mouse invasion, and found the best traps are the black plastic ones I get at WM. Can't remember the brand, but they work well. Easy to set and easy to drop the body out. I had mice in my utensil drawers, in the washer/dryer, just everywhere. The cats got so used to them that they ignored them!! It was awful - I caught 10 in the top utensil drawer! I kept washing and finally just kept everything out on the counter! They finally have disappeared, but I keep the traps set. I can't use any poison, because my dogs eat all the ones I catch, out in the barn. It's a very old, poor construction house, and I can't find where they're getting in.


----------



## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

A rat terrier? Terriers are rodent killing machines. They do it for sport like beagles hunt rabbits and collies herd children. Some have more independent natures than others, but choose one type and go with it. I also understand that they are repelled by peppermint, so get some peppermint, put on cotton balls, and put around the perimeter of your house. It can make your cats sick, so be careful. And get the dog.


----------



## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

The larger gerbil think is a Norwegian roof rat so I was told. Yes mice rats can climb stairs thats just silly. I use mint. they dont seem to like it. That an a cat helps.


----------



## COSunflower (Dec 4, 2006)

I've used those black traps from Walmart too but found that they don't catch the little ones - they don't seem to weigh enough to set them off. I spray peppermint oil mixed with water in a spray bottle in my cabinents all the time to keep out the mice and spiders. Seems to work good!!! I put 10 drops of the oil in a 12 oz. bottle of warm water. Pyrpup - I caught 7 behind my crockpot last spring and even saw one poke it's head up from the eye of my stove one evening!!!!


----------



## Dancingdoe (Dec 13, 2015)

Thank you all for responding. I was afraid my post wouldn't get replies.



> He's right if you consider "ground level" to be somewhere between Death Valley and
> Mt Everest. They pretty much enter a house from the local ground level though.


Yes. This I agree with.



> I recently had a mouse invasion, and found the best traps are the black plastic ones I get at WM.


Thanks, I've heard some good things about it. I think they may be more effective because the "cover" of the upper side of the trap makes them feel safe. I have some good success with chewed up tootsie rolls on snaps that have been made hair-trigger sensitive.



> I can't use any poison, because my dogs eat all the ones I catch, out in the barn.


I've seen a recipe for quick-setting concrete mixed with oats/raisins or whatever they rodents will eat. I'm assuming if dogs eat the kills the cement will just be rocks inside the mouse/rat? I have dogs as well and haven't used poison for the same reason.



> It's a very old, poor construction house, and I can't find where they're getting in.


If you have oil heaters, look under the heading baseboards. Ours was a log cabin built in the late 1700s-early 1800s, then renovated twice and left to die in the field. It was renovated again in the 1970's and inhabited since then. If you need tips I can try and help.



> A rat terrier? Terriers are rodent killing machines.


We've thought of a small terrier, but I also have a Rottweiler and a boerboel. I'm afraid they would become terrier killing machines.



> The larger gerbil think is a Norwegian roof rat so I was told. Yes mice rats can climb stairs thats just silly. I use mint. they dont seem to like it. That an a cat helps.


That makes me want to vomit. I saw a mouse-sized rodent that looked like it swallowed a golf ball run through my room the other day. I hope it was pregnant rather than a rat (although I hope it wasn't pregnant at the same time)... It left scat everywhere even though the scat was slightly larger than usual mouse scat. I heard rats use the potty? Anyone know if that's true?



> I spray peppermint oil mixed with water in a spray bottle in my cabinents all the time to keep out the mice and spiders.


If you have the inclination and this is the house you're going to live in for a good while, I would go buy some clear silicone II and putty every joint inside your cabinets. Do it only after bleaching the insides of the cabinets first. Mice leave behind trails that future mice can find and follow, just like all the sheep that follow the first off the cliff (bad for when they get in, good for when you're killing them). If you're only dealing with mice, fill holes smaller than a quarter with 000 steel wool, using a small screwdriver to shove it in tightly. The wool should be packed in. Then cover the steel wool with the silicone as well. If rats could be an issue, then any hole larger than a dime should be sealed with steel flashing (found in roofing dept at home improvement store... LOWES is generally cheaper). You can get the flashing in a roll if there's a lot of work, or in the L-shape. I've always nailed mine down with black tacks (can't remember the exact name) and then siliconed the edges to keep out smell. I've been contemplating using liquid nails. The only thing that is rat proof is steel. So I've heard. Make sure you also buy tin snips to cut to size.



> Pyrpup - I caught 7 behind my crockpot last spring and even saw one poke it's head up from the eye of my stove one evening!!!!


If you can, drag the stove out... They might be making babies back there. We found (vomit) three or four separate nests behind ours. A good tip I came across is to put snaps in the sliding drawer under the oven.


----------



## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

I have been putting up with them for over 16 years now. My conclusion is that you will always have them coming in. Even if you block your house up so they can't come in, if they can chew a hole somewhere else, they will. Your exterminator is nuts, we have them come in through our roof! I have 3 cats that go in and out and when they are outside, they kill quite a bit of them. But we still have them come inside to places where the cats would never be able to get them anyway. We killed at least 10 on my KITCHEN STOVE!! Yuck! Made me sick, but we had to set a trap (the wood kind) on the stove and not even an hour later, I heard it go off. Set it again, and a bit later, it went off again. Keep having to set traps there as much as I hate it. Have to sanitize my stove and the whole area daily now. 

Sometimes we have killed a large number and then don't have any for a couple of years (Thank you Lord!), then a new family moves in. Pet dishes on the floor or other places will attract them. We found a huge amount of cat food in our ceiling when my husband was remodeling the house. He took the old ceiling down and the food fell out! When my husband cut down some trees in our yard, they had mouse beds inside the hollowed areas. The beds included the pink insulation they must have hauled out of our house to the yard. Good luck and if you find a good way to rid your house of them, let me know.


----------



## Waiting Falcon (Nov 25, 2010)

I use Irish Spring soap as it seems make for fairly quick scentless death. I still have a creature that carries , the blue pellets that I put under the cabinets 3 years ago. Now it has carried a piece of the I.S. soap. I have found the pellets on the bedspread in the spare bedroom.
But I seem to have less than I did. The cat is very good about catching mice in the house and out .


----------

