How to Get Rid of Mice in Your House

Mice in My House!

Have you ever had a house guest that you just couldn’t get rid of?  We did recently.  The problem was that this guest was actually a real pest, and we got a crash course in how to get rid of mice in your house.

We figured out that we had a mouse problem when we found a hole chewed into the bottom of a bag of dog food that was sitting on the floor.  Finding holes chewed through boxes and bags containing food is usually a pretty good sign that you’ve got mice living with you.  Another common sign is mouse droppings (Yuck!).  If you suspect you have mice, you can sprinkle a little bit of flour around the area you think they’ve been visiting, and then check for paw prints.  We didn’t go that far.  Seeing further evidence of their existence would have just freaked everyone out a little bit.

Now, my first instinct would normally be to put down a traditional mouse trap.  You know the kind I mean.  A small slab of wood with a spring loaded mouse smasher attached.  We couldn’t go that route though because we have two dogs who are instantly attracted to anything that resembles, or smells like, food (including mouse bait).  We would have had two dogs with swollen noses long before we actually managed to catch a mouse.  We needed a safer way to get rid of mice.

How to Catch a Mouse

Since we couldn’t just go with the el cheapo Victor mouse traps because of the dogs, we had to get creative.  We actually were going to have to figure out how to catch a mouse without resorting to methods that could hurt the dogs.  That left us a few choices that I had never really considered before.  Honestly, I still like the efficiency of the old traps, but when you’ve got pets or small children around, you do have to be careful.  We headed off to the hardware store just down the road, and got a quick lesson in the latest methods for getting rid of mice.

The first thing the hardware store guy suggested was getting a cat.  Well, we’re about at our pet threshold right now, so that was out.  After I explained that, the nice gentleman with the red vest on, I think his name was Harold, began to show off his arsenal of “humane mouse traps”.  Some were more humane than others.

Sticky Mouse Traps

These traps get put down in the areas where mice make their nightly rounds.  When they try to scamper across these traps, they get stuck on the sticky surface.  

I don’t know who thought of these, but I don’t believe that they really thought the whole thing through.  When I asked Harold what you did after the mouse got stuck, he just replied, “Kill it!”  That didn’t seem like an attractive option.  Having to deal with an angry/terrified mouse, is not something any of us is interested in doing.  I think these were invented by a lazy cat.

Ultrasonic Mouse Repellents

These are the things that you plug in to the wall.  They are supposed to produce ultrasonic sounds that drive the mice batty (haha).  I guess I have a problem trusting that these actually are doing anything.  Besides, I wanted visible results (a captured mouse).  These might be nice to put up when everything is mouse free, as a preventative measure, but I’ve seen a lot of so/so reviews of these, so we passed on these electronic rodent repellers, and continued down the aisle with Harold.

Electronic Mouse Traps

Next we came to the electronic mouse traps.  These are not, by any means, the same as the repellents.  You should really check out the video!  These are traps that lure the mouse into the “death chamber” and then dispatch it with an electric jolt.  They use the term “humane” in the description of these, but that doesn’t mean that the mouse gets to leave in same condition that it entered.  It just means that it is “dispatched” efficiently.  One good feature of these is that they can handle rats too, just in case you were wrong about what was raiding your food supplies.  I was actually OK with the idea of trying these, but the thought of one of the dogs doing something stupid interfered again, and we moved along.

Finally… The Smart Mouse Trap

By the time we reached the “Mice Cube”, I was about ready to just buy anything, and I think Harold was starting to run out of patience with us.  I liked the name of this trap, it didn’t look like the dogs could get hurt by it, and it wasn’t expensive.  We had a winner!   This did turn out to be one of the cheaper alternatives, and it did work.  We followed the instructions, caught a mouse two days in a row, and that was the end of our mouse adventure.  This is a simple little trap that lures mice in and then slams the door shut behind them.  You find the mouse still alive and kicking (as long as you don’t forget to check the trap).  At that point, you can take it someplace away from your home and set it free.  The dogs can’t get into the trap, or hurt themselves with it, and it catches mice.  Now, if you think you might have a rat, be aware that these larger rodents might just steal the bait, wait for you, and then throw the butter dish sized trap (2″x2″x 5.75″) at your head.

The Final Analysis

If it wasn’t for the dogs, I still would probably go with the old fashioned spring traps.  You have to have the stomach for it though.  They can be messy, and if the trap manages to just injure the mouse, you have to finish the job, which is not pleasant.  That’s why my next choice would have been the electronic trap that zaps the critters.  We went totally humane though, and I suppose the walk to the woods to set the mice free didn’t do me any harm.  I entertained myself along the way by thinking of funny scenarios that involved me putting the mouse somewhere besides the woods, but the little angel on my other shoulder won out in the end.

By the way, when you place these traps, you want to put them up along the walls where the mice will come across them during their regular travels.  You should also ignore the bit about using cheese.  Try a cracker or something else with peanut butter smeared on it instead.  Someone told me that years ago, and it seems to be true.  Apparently peanut butter is the natural prey of mice in the wild or something.

How to Get Rid of Mice Naturally

Besides making sure that every possible point of entry to your home is sealed, there are some other things you can do to keep the mice away.  Keep clutter away from your house.  Have you ever seen the show Hoarders?  Don’t let your house get that way on the inside or outside.  If you have a wood pile for a fireplace, move it away from your house too.  I have a friend who swears that peppermint oil has saved him from the horrors of mouse infestation.  Apparently peppermint oil is something like Kryptonite to mice.  It offends their sensitive sniffers.  My friend puts it near all of the doors in his house.  Sure, it smells like a candy factory, but there are worse things.  This is even supposed to work when you have mice hiding in your attic or the walls where they can be hard to find.  Some people like to use poison in those instances, but when you use that, you run a serious risk of having dead mice rotting inside the wall.  No thanks.

Tags: best bait for mice, best mousetrap, electronic mouse traps, how to catch mice, humane mouse traps, mice in the house

Category: Life at Home