How to Get Rid of Mice and Keep Them Out!
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If you build it, mice will come. Sooner or later, you’ll probably need to get rid of mice or rats. Fall is prime time for an increase in mice in your house, as they look for winter protection, but mice and rats can move in at any time. We share how to spot signs of mice, removing them, keeping them out, mouse repellents, and cleaning up the mess safely.
While small, mice and rats can cause big problems. They chew on everything, causing property damage and potential fire risks when they gnaw on electrical wiring and build tinder dry nests in dark corners.
Rodents can spread disease, on their own, through the parasites they carry (their fleas carried the Black Plague) or through their droppings (such as hantavirus).
Table of contents
Best Ways to Get Rid of Mice that Are Already in Your Home
Your four main options to eliminate mice infestations are cats, traps, poison or professional control services.
I’ve come to love my kitties, but it’s not practical for everyone to have a cat or cats in the house, and not all cats are good mousers. (I’ve had friends tell me about their cats who watch the mice run right past them.)
Traps
Basic wooden mouse traps are cheap and readily available, but don’t always work. A friend of mine was complaining recently that her mice kept stealing the bait but not getting caught in the trap.
I like Kness SNAP-E Mousetraps. These snap traps are much easier to set than the standard wooden traps, and work well for house mouse and deer mouse infestations.
I used them to clear out the mice that moved into the garage last winter to go after the poultry feed. We tried a couple other brands, but the SNAP-Es worked the best to get rid of mice.
My mom’s favorite bait was peanut butter, which they can’t grab and carry off. Others suggest tootsie rolls as another “stick tight” option. When you’re placing traps, try to put them along walls where you believe mice are moving. Block their path with a buffet of your choosing instead of letting them into your cupboards.
Two traps side by side are better than one, as they will have a tougher time escaping both (remember – mini rodent ninjas). Set the traps perpendicular to the wall (see photo above).
Glue traps/glue boards may work better for small mice such as the eastern deer mouse or white-footed mouse. They tend to set off the snap traps but avoid getting caught.
Humane traps are also available, but one site states that you need to take your mouse at least two miles away to make sure it will not return. I am not a mouse chauffeur, and I don’t think it’s right to share my mice with my neighbors.
Check traps daily, especially if you have a bad infestation. Empty and reset the traps as needed.
Bucket Mouse Trap
Another option that our readers brought to our attention is the rolling mouse trap. It uses a bar, a bucket and peanut butter. The advantage is that it resets itself. The rolling trap can catch multiple mice per night.
This can be a live trap or filled partly with water to kill the mice. One option is the PAWMATE Rolling Mouse Trap which has a wheel in the center for the peanut butter.
Poisons – Why I Don’t Recommend Them
Poisons do kill mice, but not immediately. The mice will crawl off and die somewhere and potentially smell really nasty, plus who wants mummified mice sitting around their house?
Poisons can also be a danger to children, pets, and wildlife that eat rodents. By using poison in an attempt to get rid of mice, you may make the problem worse. I don’t recommend them.
How to Tell if You Have Mice in Your House
It’s probably more common to see mouse droppings or mouse damage before you see the mice themselves, as they are nocturnal.
When I was a kid, the little buggers would drive me crazy at night running around up in the attic. Thankfully we didn’t get rats in the house, but they would sometimes show up in the outbuildings around the farm.
Identifying Droppings and Urine
Killum Pest Control offers an excellent online guide to interpreting rodent signs. Please visit their site for more information, but I’ll just share briefly their comments on dropping and urine identification.
Rodent (Mice and Rat) Droppings
Fresh droppings of feces usually are moist, soft, shiny and dark, but in a few days they become dry and hard. Old droppings are dull and grayish and crumble when pressed with a stick.
The roof rat’s droppings are up to 1/2 inch long, spindle shaped and curved in contrast to Norway rat droppings which are about the same length but comparatively blunt. Mouse feces are small, averaging about 1/8 inch long, and are pointed on both ends.
Rodent Urine
Dried rodent urine will fluoresce bluish white to yellowish white. Commercial black lights often are used to detect rodent urine, however observing fluorescence is not a guarantee that rodent urine is present.
Numerous items will fluoresce under a black light, including optical bleaches found in many detergents and lubricating oil. Of course, if there’s a glowing track of pee, odds are you have mouse movement.
Mice commonly mark their trails with urine (yes, I know, you probably didn’t really want to know that…) so that other mice can follow their tracks to food sources.
One source I read said that they produce 50-60 droppings per night – ewwww…
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Once you’ve found their way into your home, you need to block it, otherwise they be right back in via the pee track highway. They can climb, too – like mini rodent ninjas.
Rodent Food and Nests
You may also find food stashes and nests in out of the way corners. I remember finding a mouse nest in the back of a desk drawer in my room.
Gnawing damage is another dead giveaway. My mom had a cardboard box of old cooking magazines inside a wooden cabinet, and the mini rodent ninjas still found their way in and chewed the edges of the magazines.
How to Keep Mice Out of Your House and Garage
The best way to get rid of mice is to keep them out in the first place. To keep these critters out and keep your family safe and your goods protected, follow these simple steps.
1. Remove Food Sources
Bird food (grains), pet food and other edible odds and ends (even cardboard) that tend to pile up in garages are like mouse nirvana. Crumbs under the couch are a gourmet treat, and a cookie lost by toddler is a mouse family buffet.
Seal all food (for pets or humans) in solid containers, not just thin plastic food packaging. (Rats can and will chew through plastic bins, so be warned. You need to use metal containers to keep rats out.) Plastic garbage cans or Rubbermaid tubs for pantry storage will generally keep mice out.
Vacuum or sweep regularly. Gaps between appliances like stoves or refrigerators and cabinets can collect crumbs where they are difficult for you to clean, but handy for mice to dine.
Remember, if they can get their heads into a space, their bodies can get in, too.
2. Seal Openings
This is the probably the toughest but most effective way to keep mice out – seal entry points.
As I mentioned above, if a mouse can get its head though, the body can go through as well. The little pests only need about a ¼ inch (0.6 cm) wide opening. Check door sweeps and dryer vents, and any other wall perforations.
They can jump – up to 18 inches (I told you – mini rodent ninjas), travel upside down (you bet), and crawl along an electrical wire or pipes(piece of cake). If you can stick a #2 pencil through a hole, a mouse can probably use it to get into your home.
When you find cracks or holes, you want to seal them as tightly as possible. You should be able to find patching supplies at your local hardware store.
The Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management recommends: Steel wool, copper gauze (stuff-fit) or screen wire packed tightly into openings is a good temporary plug. Note: If you use steel wool, you may get rust stains.
For long-term or permanent repair, mix a quick-drying patching plaster or anchoring such as Fixall® into a wad of Stuf-it® before pushing the material into the hole, and smooth over the outside.
Holes 3 inches (8 cm) or more in diameter should be covered or backed with 1/4-inch (0.6-cm) woven/welded hardware cloth prior to filling with a good patching compound.
One of our readers had good results with GREAT STUFF Pestblock 12 oz Insulating Foam Sealant. They specifically include a bitter ingredient to make the foam unappetizing to pests. Caulk may also work for small holes.
3. Reduce Outside Habitat
If possible, reduce the amount of mouse habitat outside your home to reduce the number of mice inside your home.
Trim trees and shrubs away from the home. Clean up debris, trash cans, brush piles, and other hiding spots where mice may shelter. Keep your compost bin(s) as tidy as possible (opossums and rats like to raid the compost, too).
I saw one site recommend moving wood piles 100 feet from the house and raising them one foot off the ground. Obviously they don’t live in Wisconsin. The mice will have to stay in the wood pile – their nests make great tinder.
4. Set up Barricades with Kitty Litter and Peppermint Essential Oil
One of our readers shared her experience with this natural deterrent:
I used peppermint oil dropped on plain kitty litter. I put a small bag of litter (5lbs.) in a container from dollar store added 4 oz. Peppermint oil. Put lid on and shook it well. I left it over night.
Then I put about a tablespoon of the litter in a small piece of old sheet or cotton balls whatever you have lying around. tie it into a little bundle or sachet.
Place these around your house outside about every 2 feet and in garage and basement areas along walls. The scent lasts longer than spraying the oil and you don’t have to worry about woodwork.
Remember mice have a keen sense of smell, after all they can find a lost potato chip behind a cabinet. So even though the smell decreases it’s still working.
All I do is add a fresh drop of the peppermint oil to each little sachet every 6-12 months. Its been over two years since my mice disaster so it is working well for me.
Click here to buy 4 ounces of peppermint essential oil.
How to Safely Clean Up Mice and Mouse Droppings
Because of the risk of hantavirus and other illnesses, care should be taken when cleaning up mouse droppings/remains, especially in quantity and/or in enclosed areas. (Information adapted from Environment, Health and Safety Online.)
- Wear gloves, either rubber gloves or work gloves you can wash in hot water
- Spray the droppings first with 3% hydrogen peroxide, then with white vinegar. This will kill 99% of bacteria. A bleach water solution or disinfectant is also an option.
- Wipe up droppings with a paper towel, throw towel in garbage
- Clean area with disinfectant solution or hydrogen peroxide/vinegar combo
- Wash hands with soap and water before and after removing gloves
If dealing with large amounts of droppings, you may need to hire cleaning or pest control professionals. At the very least, please wear a face mask or respirator. Please be careful! Your county extension office may be able to provide more information on any known rodent related disease outbreaks in your area.
Treat nesting materials and dead mice similarly. Always wash hands thoroughly after touching contaminated materials.
If you can’t get rid of the mice yourself, consider an exterminator or professional pest control company. Rodents can carry serious diseases and cause a lot of damage.
You may also find these other posts from our Green Home Series useful:
- How to Get Rid of Ants Naturally
- The Ultimate Guide to Natural Pest Control in the Garden
- Natural Mosquito Repellents That Work
- 9 Tips to Get Rid of Fruit Flies, Plus the Best Homemade Fruit Fly Trap
- Natural Spider Repellents – 8 Ways to Get Rid of Spiders
Last updated in 2023.
This will trick the cautious rodents about traps. At the beginning of using a introductory trap for mice, lock the trap open and let them go in there and eat some food. They will think it is a food container. After setting it up that way check it out for a few days. When the food is gone then add more food a few times. THEN unlock the food contained trap. OR at first put just a little bit of mouse food there on the floor and next to the trap. They are cautious to not eat food in the trap if they saw another mouse get trapped, yes!
Get 1 cat.. leave it ouside.. and let in the garage every now and then..
3 cats, inside/outside, and every once in a while a mouse or two still sneaks in.
We don’t have a cat but our next door neighbor’s cat will catch anything that moves… If he can get to it. He is indoor/outdoor and comes into our yard, also has a cat friend that visits and we still have some mice right now. Oh, and we have an owl that is always hanging out in our backyard. I think these mice are super sneaky and trap wise.
There are a lot of responses here but thought I’d add as I saw a lot of tootsie roll comments. We cut up a small piece of panty hose and tie it to the metal loop on the trap then cover in peanut butter. No stolen food and gets them every time.
I had not heard of that one. Thanks for sharing, Jonathon.
Laurie, your knowledge and advice are awesome. I have a new thought I’d appreciate info on, please.
We do not have evidence of mice in our living space, but they are in our walls and the space between the ceiling and the second floor. We hear them scampering. It’s a cape cod style house with dormers and inaccessible attic triangles. We’ve had Critter Control do their thing – set traps, seal up cracks & holes, install screens behind the crawl space openings, and set poison boxes. We still hear mice.
I am intrigued by the idea of driving them out from the inside using mint oil. The thought is to punch tiny holes in the walls and ceiling and give a good spray of mint oil, or a solution, into those spaces. If we were to do that all over, then seal the holes, could that make the whole house unfriendly enough to their little noses to keep them out? I’m sure we’d have to repeat every fall, but I’d love to drive them out!
Any advice along these lines would be appreciated. Thanks!
I give it a firm “maybe”, but the odds are not in your favor. It’d be tough to get enough mint out to drive out the mice without fumigating yourselves at the same time (just because something is natural, doesn’t mean it can’t be dangerous if used incorrectly). I’m guessing you have a stick built home with rolled (or other) insulation between the studs, so it would be really challenging to get good coverage inside the walls themselves. Blocking access points with the pest resistant spray foam in combination with the mint to try and herd them towards traps might increase the odds of success.
I know it’s been a long long time (found old link in mailbox). Hope you’ve found solution to your mice problem. Mine seems to go on and on and is currently driving me nuts. They keep me awake all night. I get a snooze with my morning coffee and that’s about it. I saw a posting by someone who said they bought coyote pee at walmart, that they put it around the outside of their place and the mice stay away. I know people pee can help keep deer away and I’ve personally used my own to keep a bear and neighborhood cat away long ago. I’m going to set up a pole bucket today and consider the pee option.
My best method is a rolling log bucket. Its pet and kid friendly. We have recently had an infestation in our community of rats and voles. So.e nights I catch up to 5 or 6 at a time in 2 buckets.
Has anyone had luck with mothballs? My brother’s mechanic recommended this when he found evidence in the engine compartment after his car had been sitting for several months.
I have heard of them being used, but they are fairly toxic, so I’d be careful with placement.
Mice are a major problem for me. Have been for over 35 years. I’ve tried everything I’ve ever read about. Still my best solution besides patience and the current no hanta in this area deal is first off, spring the money and get your furnace ducts cleaned. Mice love warm places. Essential oils are only good while they are fresh. The smell of mint nauseated me. Freshly ground clove didn’t seem to keep them away like I read, but it did really help remove the odor after one died from poison or of their pee smell- which is how their scout tells the new mice where to go. It’s a myth that they only run along walls. They will go anywhere and can climb up in places you would never think they could get to. I swear sometimes they can walk upside down. They seem to be able to climb walls. People talk about 1/4 inch openings. I say less. The babes just out of the nest are super tiny and get into places you’d never think of.
I have gone back to the traditional old wooden traps after trying many others. The trick with them upon setting is to make sure the wire that slips under the catch is free and clear to allow the bar to spring down on them. It’s easy to get it tangled or into the hole instead of free and clear. I use NEW traps. I believe they can release pheromones when they die. If they die quick enough, perhaps not, but I’ve never caught near as many in old traps as fresh, new traps. I’m poor and always wanted to reuse. Now, when it comes to mice I spare no expense. I use commercial strength poison – I get it from a farmer because it’s not legal to buy without license where I live. I also always try to use the kind that dries the mice up. Sometimes if they get enough poison to die but not dry up they rot. It’s the kind of smell you can identify quickly if you know it. One took me 3 1/2 days to find – UP on the 3rd shelf in the closet at the very back of a shelving case, under the bottom shawl which my best friend knit with yarn she grew. The smell lingers.
A product I found helped a lot but I can no longer find. It it a spray disinfectant, no chemicals, made with the oil of thyme. The other is my new find: freshly ground cloves – not old stuff from a bulk bin. It’s pricey but really takes the smell away. Sprinkled, the clove smell will last a day or two – your house smells like you’ve been baking – and when it’s smell goes so does the mouse odor. I’ve tried sprinkling it all around the rooms when the wildfires were happening. Summer isn’t usually time for mice but they were wicked and relentless trying to get away from the smoke. I’m not sure that it helped a lot and after a time I worried about it staining carpet and things. A friend suggested borax. I still had troubles but it wasn’t convenient to have it sprinkled all over everywhere all the time. It might deter them. Borax is great 50:50 with white sugar for getting rid of silver fish! Mice run across my living room in the evening. I bought sticky pads and line up a whole bunch across the hallway entry at night. Sometimes I forget and walk on them. NOT. I put them and traps near the wall next to the furnace. They can crawl out from somewhere. I can hear and smell them in the wall sometimes. They also like water so I set a trap and poison near the opening to the back of the bathroom waterlines. There’s an expanding foam that has a vermin repellent. I know it works. I removed the steel wool that blocked an area and filled it with foam. For the next 5 nights I could hear them trying to gnaw their way through 1″ plywood cupboards and floor. They were MAD but gave up.
They will nest inside your sofa if they can. They will get into pretty well everywhere. If you wear wool gloves, don’t put your best ones back in the drawer if you have worn them. They seek out anything that has the slighted hint of food or flesh. Same as moths. NEVER put worn things, especially woolens in cupboard or drawers. [I now have lots of hooks and basket for hats and one for gloves] Mice will steal the part of the chocolate bar you didn’t eat. Put it in a jar. They don’t like eating glass. THink! The tiny bits of flour that spill on the side of jar or canister are, or can be, a full meal to a little mouse. I sprung the extra money and bought a little bottle of mouse bait. I love it! Baits dry up and mice won’t eat things. You can rebait with this stuff without touching or resetting the trap if you are careful. If you are buying poison, be sure you are getting real poison. The brand I was using switched to processed corn husks. I didn’t know poison had been banned for home use. The company told me it will kill mice IF they eat EXCLUSIVELY on it for a minimum of 7 days. They told me to be sure the mice stayed indoors. In the meantime – TWO years – I was about to burn my place down they got so bad.
Check unsuspecting areas. I discovered they were able to get into the bathroom along the toilet water line. The open space as only about 1/8th inch. I foamed it. A year later the foam shrunk and fell out. Unless it’s the only option, forget the steel wool I have had them chew it out. How much wood they ate and how much steel I’ll never know but they were able to remove it in several areas. Check where water and power lines come in = like near the breakers or fuse box. Tiny holes are all they need.
So, aside from attempts to keep things clean which isn’t possible in the real world – or mine at any rate. Ducts, entryways, tiny spaces. Try to keep them out. I use a combo of poison, traps, sticky pads. Oh, the foam can dry up and needs to be checked periodically. I use mostly old fashion NEW traps, SOME brands of sticky pads are junk. With some the mice get away and leave a bunch of fur – maybe they go away bleeding???), and real, commercial strength POISON. If you have the vertical space, bucket traps work good but need to be checked regularly. We (myself and farm friend) find we like the poison that comes in the little bags. She told me they like to think they are getting into things and I think she’s right. I get better results with it than with blocks of the same type of poison. Good luck everyone. May you have a vermin free season.
Thanks for sharing your experience, as awful as it has been.
probably should have edited it what I wrote. didn’t realize I’d rant on so – sometimes thoughts just start flowing …. anyhoot, hope it’s help to someone. It grosses me out to think I’ve learned to tolerate and live with them. they disgust me. someday I hope to leave them behind. any solutions for pigeons?
Cheers
No worries. I do try to be a little less graphic in the post itself for the more squeamish readers, but if someone takes time to read the comments, they’re looking for more detailed info, and mice are messy. Even with living in a concrete house, we still usually get a couple each year. This year we have a bumper crop of walnuts drying all over the place, so two snuck in and thought it was an all you can eat buffet. The cats got one, and we trapped the other. One was bold as brass, walking into the bathroom while we were still up to go drink the water out of the bottom of the shower. (That’s the one the cats got.)
I added a note about your suggestion to use the pest deterrent foam sealant to the post.
Where are the pigeons causing problems? That would help determine strategies to reduce the problem. I know they use netting to keep them from roosting in some places, movement triggered noise makers, fake owls or other predator bird kites or mounts that provide a profile high up that they fear. Cats will chase them if they can reach them, as will some dogs. Some folks consider them a delicacy to eat, if you’re allowed to hunt them in your area.
About the poison packets, it’s funny how everyone has their own experience. When we moved into this house and I pulled out the stove to clean, I found several of those unopened, unchewed bait packets in a pack rat’s nest. Haha!
I have in the past had luck with the yellow bars of poison bait. I think they were eagle brand. I’m trying to avoid poisoned dead mice in my walls this time but may have to resort to it…
Oh and I caught the rat in an old fashioned wooden snap trap. Had several more set and never saw or heard signs of another rat. So maybe we just had the one, or they moved away… Now we have mice. Smart mice.
Clearing old mail and came across this… I’m still fighting the battle. Locals said the wildfire smoke was bringing them inside for the past 2 summers but no nearby fires yet this year. I’ve reverted back to snap traps because they weren’t taking the poison like they used to. Although the toxic ingredient is supposed to be the same they are nibbling the packets far less often since the brand changed. The rancher who supplies me said they quit making the hot pink stuff that worked so well. Perhaps due to farm kids thinking otherwise? I am assuming the filler is different and doesn’t attract them the same as the old green pellet and the pink. Can’t say for certain as they don’t tell you what else is in it. They keep changing what’s available, where and how you can get it. They do like to chew things though. They ate the shoulder out of my best tie dye tee shirt. I’d used some natural ingredient sunscreen. Guess they smelled the oils and decided to dine on it instead of the bait and traps. I am going to look into the various pee options.
This reads like a horror short story at times. Also, good advice!
Many years ago there were rats in our apartment I set traps that costs $1. each baited with different sandwich meat or cheese. When the exterminator finally came he asked what I used I told him he said “why didn’t you just make them a sandwich?” He instructed me to nail rat trap on the wall and bait with cotton and sugar syrup. Rats are stronger and will pull away from a flat trap or take it with them *.* Just sharing…we moved so I’m not sure how they handled it. Here at my new home there are mice in the garage..I’m going to try the peppermint method you speak of.
Lots of good tips here Laurie. There are cheap and easy ways to solve the issue of getting rid of mice.
Do Victor rat traps work well also? My garage has both
The standard wooden Victor traps should work, they’re just a little harder to set. Rat traps, especially the wooden ones, likely won’t work for mice.
I’ve been dealing with mice in the garage and house all winter. I’d trap a bunch of them with the peanut butter and wooden traps, although a lot of times I had to re-bait the traps. Then a month or two would go by and I’d see no mice around. Then they would reappear in a trap or two. My friend informed me that they will be back because a new litter of mice will be showing up every few weeks. I’m going to try the tootsie rolls, and be more careful with the big bag of sunflower seeds I had on my deck for the birds next winter. It’s going into a garbage can. I just had a couple of old traps that were sitting catch mice again. So, it’s on to war with the new bunch of mice. You need to be vigilant! I tried peppermint oil on cotton balls, to no avail, and lavender air freshener in the car, but still they came into the car. An exterminator said they run in your heat ducts, so put traps into them, too. I’m going to try the cat litter/peppermint oil method next. Hadn’t tried that before.
It’s frustrating how determined they can be, but you’re absolutely right that you need to stay vigilant. Free food and cozy home are far too tempting to small critters with such a strong survival instinct.
I had a mouse in my garage that I named Super Mouse. I tried the spring loaded mousetrap, peppermint oil spray and baggies, sticky paper and better grade plastic mouse traps and the contraption that you plug in that is supposed to hurt the mouse’s ears. I was not successful with any of these products, even after spending a good $65 or so. Finally, I read that the electric shock mouse/rat traps were second to none. I bought one and it was about $45 dollars (Victor electronic mouse trap) and I took it home and put the batteries in and baited it with some peanut butter and turned it on and placed in my garage. I also took one of my Nest cameras and placed it a few feet from the trap to see what I was up against. As soon as it got good and dark in the garage, I got notification from my Nest camera that their was movement detected. I watched the video and saw this mouse take a good 20 minutes or so totally checking out the new mouse trap, without committing to it. Finally the mouse entered the trap and their was a quick one to two second zap and that was it, the mouse was gone. I went into the garage and turned the trap off and dropped the mouse into a plastic bag and disposed of it.
I wish I had tried this electronic mouse trap the first time and saved my money. It does exactly what it is supposed to without any bait disappearing. A+ for sure.
Glad you found a solution that worked for you. Those traps got mixed reviews on Amazon, but it seems likely that some people weren’t using them correctly.
We had a mouse infestation recently. We panicked and while trying to act quickly and remove insulation from the crawl space walls we disturbed their nest. They scurried everywhere and over 2 weeks we chased them around every room and 3 levels of the house. They went places and chewed on things they might never have got to if we hadn’t stirred up their nest. So my advice is lay your traps and poison around the nest and in the room they are found in and don’t start the clean up till you feel you have got the problem under control. Traps are good and we had great luck with a borrowed cat and 5 gallons buckets with a bit of grain or food in them so they drop down in and can’t crawl back out.
Follow up
I used plain, unscented clay cat litter. Cheap clay litter. Don’t use the scoopable, clumping, or odor trapping litter. I think I bought it at the dollar store, Dollar General. Little five pound bag and yes I added the full 4oz. bottle of peppermint oil. I put it into a sealed container for 24 hours so all of the litter absorbed the oil fragrance. Then I just cut squares of an old sheet, any kind of thin material, they were probably 4 inches by 4 inches, added a spoonful of the litter to the square and tied it into a little bundle. I will tell you the peppermint litter is strong smelling so you may want to do it outside or well ventilated room. At first your garage will smell like peppermint gum but the smell fades, to us, but not to the mice.
Really check outside for any openings to figure out how they are getting in. We determined our mice got in through an old dryer vent to the outside. Previous owner made one of my upstairs bedrooms into a laundry room. They didn’t remove the dryer ductwork when laundry room was moved back downstairs. Even though there was a cover on the old vent outside it wasn’t flush with outside wall the mice managed to squeeze through this small space into old vent and right into my basement and garage. Needless to say that vent was sealed up tight. If they can get their head to fit they can get into building.
Make sure if you have bird seed, dog/cat food, bulk food keep it in a sealable hard container like Tupperware, metal bin (like you get from popcorn at Christmas), glass anything they can’t chew through.
I keep all of my bagged items, like sugar, flour, rice, in a large plastic pantry cupboard, it has two doors and three shelves inside. I bought it at Lowes, or Home Depot. They didn’t get into any of my boxed or bagged pantry items because it was safely in this “cupboard”. It has been worth every penny.
Hope this helps
be aware its not just food that attract mice.. rodents are weird and will eat the sulpher ends of matches. they eat just about anything.. we keep our ’emergency’ matches & candles in glass jars tp prevent them attracting/getting to them.
Cardboard, papers, like you said – just about anything.
When I was a child we had a fire that started in a kitchen cabinet where mom stored matches. A mouse chewed on the matches and a fire started. Mom put it out with buckets of water, but what a scare. I’m 68 years old now, and I still remember it. After that mom stored the matches in a sealed mason jar.
I’ve heard of plenty of problems with mice in the kitchen, but never any that involved matches. I wonder if it was after the minerals, or what else may have prompted the chewing?
Thanks for sharing your story.
I had a mouse problem two years ago that was just terrible. They were tricky critters. What finally worked for killing them with the traps was the tootsie rolls. Peanut butter, jelly, dog, cat food they stole everything off the traps except the tootsie rolls.
After they were gone the clean up began. I am a nurse and work in infectious disease. The main concern is HantaVirus. It infects humans by breathing it in. So as CDC recommends you want to make sure you don’t stir up dust. I used bleach water in a spray bottle wet the area before cleaning up. Wear gloves and if you have lung problems like asthma wear a mask. If you are immunosuppressed or compromised please consider having someone else clean up the droppings to further protect yourself.
How I have kept them out. I used peppermint oil dropped on plain kitty litter. I put a small bag of litter (5lbs.) in a container from dollar store added 4 oz. Peppermint oil. Put lid on and shook it well. I left it over night. Then I put about a tablespoon of the litter in a small piece of old sheet or cloth whatever you have lying around. tie it into a little bundle or sachet. Place these around your house outside about every 2 feet and in garage and basement areas along walls. Lasts longer than spraying the oil and you don’t have to worry about woodwork. Remember mice have a keen sense of smell, after all they can find a lost potato chip behind a cabinet. So even though the smell decreases its still working. All I do is add a fresh drop of the peppermint oil to each little sachet every 6-12 months. Its been over two years since my mice disaster so it is working well for me.
Good luck
Thanks for sharing your experience. Thankfully our infestations have never been that bad, but your advice could be a real help to those with bad mouse infestations.
I love this idea! What kind of Kitty litter did you use? In you mixture did you use all 4 oz of the peppermint oil? Thx!
Oh goodness I discovered mice had been living in my garage for a long time, probably a year and had made a nest in a bag of flour which they emptied. They also moved an entire bag of grass seed from the bag to 1 foot away in a storage cabinet.
I freaked and put 6 bait stations out. These were emptied in a week. I also found droppings under my kitchen sink and in a drawer. I took everything out of the garage and SWEPT it .there is carpet on the floor and I used my vaccum! Oh nooo. Do I have to tho it away? There were thousands of droppings. How do I disinfect the carpet?
I’m still fighting them. Sabine in my kitchen and he went under the electric eye on the stovetop. This house is not level, cracks everywhere, I am also a renter. I’m so upset !
I’d look for an enzyme based cleaner for the carpet, such as BUBBAS, Super Strength Commercial Enzyme Cleaner-Pet Odor Eliminator. That will address the feces/urine better than a simple odor or stain remover. It’s also good for hard surfaces, too. Be sure to wear a dust mask when you’re dealing with large quantities of dried feces/dust. Clean or replace whatever filter you have on your vacuum and wash the rest of the vacuum as best as you are able.
I’m scared of cleaning up the droppings. There is a lot (like A LOT) under my fridge and this area on my basement steps. How can I safely go about this as I’m freaking out!
From the CDC website, “Cleaning Up After Rodents“:
A mask is also a good idea. Filtering the droppings, bleach etc , from being inhaled is always a good idea.
In post “If dealing with large amounts of droppings, you may need professional help. At the very least, please wear a face mask or respirator.”
It’s interesting to know that you will probably see mouse droppings and damage before actually seeing the mouse. Thanks for the tips for identifying droppings and things. I think I would rather have mice than rats.
Thanks for all the helpful info. I’ve lived in my two story condo for 10 years with no mice problems EVER. I have 3 cats that wander the entire condo except for the laundry room in the basement due to access to the crawl space above the finished room in the basement, which contains wiring and such. Months ago, I left a bag of old cat food in the laundry room and forgot about it. I started hearing noises in the ceiling of the finished room in the basement and confirmed it was not the cats making the noises. I then realized/found/removed that bag of cat food aka Miller’s Diner to many mice. Oh what a mistake I have made!!! I grabbed some traps and have literally caught 10 mice in 3 days. When I get home this evening, I will likely have 4 more. Its alittle overwhelming to say the least! They just keep coming!! I’ve never seen any mice/droppings on the main or second floors but that’s probably because that’s where the cats are. My plan next is to use a black light to find their urine trail and hopefully the entry point; fill any holes found; clean/disinfect like crazy; apply peppermint oil/spray; keep trapping/disinfecting/spraying; and possibly purchase ultrasonic mouse repeller, if necessary. Geez. My concern is what if they are coming from my neighbor’s condo into the crawl space that I can’t get to? Hopefully now that the food is gone, the vanishing of the urine trail and the added peppermint smell will be enough to keep them at bay. As long as they keep coming, I’m going to keep trapping them. Good grief, what have I gotten myself into… life lessons… gotta love them
Good luck. Hopefully the combination of tactics will work.