# Mice in the walls



## HoneyNut (Sep 20, 2020)

Does anyone have a successful strategy for mice in the walls?  I have tried and tried to prevent them, but have not had complete success.  Now the weather is getting cool and I hear them.  It makes me feel so helpless.  I don't understand why manufactured homes are not required to be sealed up sufficiently for human habitation.


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## dobielvr (Sep 20, 2020)

Start setting traps.  I have a lot of luck catching them in my garage.
4 so far.
I have to set bait for rats in my attic too.

Too many openings and big trees close to my roof.
These rascals love my house.......


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## fmdog44 (Sep 20, 2020)

When you set traps place the traps so they touch or very close to your walls because that is the paths they travel.


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## Pepper (Sep 20, 2020)

Get Cats.  Worked for me.


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## HoneyNut (Sep 20, 2020)

The mice aren't inside the house itself (not anymore - several handymen later) but they are getting inside the walls of the house.  I've put poison in the crawlspace under the house (probably need to put fresh now that I think of it) and inside the door to the plumbing by the tub in the bathroom.  I've paid handymen in the past to plug up holes around the house and try to exclude them with wire mesh and close-fitting crawlspace doors.  But they are somehow finding more ways under the house, then they go up into the inside of the walls.  I don't know how to find the little spaces they must be using to get under the house.  And the bottom of the house is covered by insulation and plastic (moisture barrier I think it is), so I have no idea where they sneak in.  I wonder if there is any practical way to figure it out?
Now that I think of it, years ago when the problem wasn't happening we had several barn cats and the crawlspace was accessible to the cats.  But, I don't want to go back to having barn cats because now I have a nice variety of bird-life outside, and I feel too old to mess with any barn chores, not even cats.  I feel so old, and I'm still 2 years away from full retirement age, but I am seriously thinking to retire a year early (next year, as soon as there is a covid-19 vaccine).


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## Irwin (Sep 20, 2020)

We had a bad mouse problem for a couple of years. Then some hawks and falcons moved into the neighborhood and poof! no more mouse problem! Snakes also eat them, but I think it's more the predentary birds that got them under control. They're also cool to watch. There are also a few cats roaming the neighborhood that probably eat mice.

Like others have said, maybe get a cat.


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## Repondering (Sep 20, 2020)

Lure them out of the walls with the promise of food.....peanut butter baited traps.  Get the "Jawz" brand, they're easy to set and put them next to the walls like fmdog says.....and close to where you hear them.  The aroma of the peanut butter is irresistable to rodents.


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## FastTrax (Sep 20, 2020)

HoneyNut said:


> Does anyone have a successful strategy for mice in the walls?  I have tried and tried to prevent them, but have not had complete success.  Now the weather is getting cool and I hear them.  It makes me feel so helpless.  I don't understand why manufactured homes are not required to be sealed up sufficiently for human habitation.





HoneyNut said:


> The mice aren't inside the house itself (not anymore - several handymen later) but they are getting inside the walls of the house.  I've put poison in the crawlspace under the house (probably need to put fresh now that I think of it) and inside the door to the plumbing by the tub in the bathroom.  I've paid handymen in the past to plug up holes around the house and try to exclude them with wire mesh and close-fitting crawlspace doors.  But they are somehow finding more ways under the house, then they go up into the inside of the walls.  I don't know how to find the little spaces they must be using to get under the house.  And the bottom of the house is covered by insulation and plastic (moisture barrier I think it is), so I have no idea where they sneak in.  I wonder if there is any practical way to figure it out?
> Now that I think of it, years ago when the problem wasn't happening we had several barn cats and the crawlspace was accessible to the cats.  But, I don't want to go back to having barn cats because now I have a nice variety of bird-life outside, and I feel too old to mess with any barn chores, not even cats.  I feel so old, and I'm still 2 years away from full retirement age, but I am seriously thinking to retire a year early (next year, as soon as there is a covid-19 vaccine).



www.terminix.com/blog/education/get-rid-of-mice-in-walls/

www.orkin.com/rodents/mouse-control/how-to-get-mice-out-of-house-walls

Don't waste your money on ultrasonic pest and rodent repellent gimmicks as the emitters are directional plus the maximum effective range at best is 15 feet even in optimal conditions and are unable to penetrate any surfaces which renders them completely useless if the mice are in the walls of your home. I hope this helped.


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## HoneyNut (Sep 28, 2020)

Thank you FastTrax, that is helpful information.


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## debodun (Sep 28, 2020)

I get mice indoors several times a year. I can only tell because of the droppings they leave. I don't like traps that kill, so I developed my "never-fail" (almost) tilt trap - works just like walking the plank. Place bait (peanut butter) at the end of a 4 by 7 inch piece of cardboard and suspend it over a deep waste can so it just balances on the edge of a counter. Can must be at least 3 feet tall or the critters can jump out. The mice walk out to get the PB and their weight tips the plank and they fall in the can. One time I caught 2 at once. Then I take the waste can and the passengers for a nice ride out in the country. It's catch and release. Then I have to come home and Clorox the kitchen.


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## MickaC (Sep 28, 2020)

On the farm, when we went out of pigs, no longer had warm places for outside hunter cats.
That's when the problem started.......BIG TIME.
Mice can get in through the smallest of spaces.
Set up mouse traps every nite, with peanut butter, caught them nightly, had a hard time keeping up.
So
I started a expensive project.
Everything in storage downstairs went into containers.
In closets upstairs, except for clothes, went into containers.
I almost exploded when i went to pull out clean towels, sheets etc., out of hallway closets, filled with mouse crap !!!!!!!!
Checked daily for mouse crap where i couldn't put stuff in containers.
Finally convinced my spouse at the time, to go and fill anywhere on the outside of the house, basement walls that they could get in......would never be 100%, but should help.
Good thing he wasn't paid for the job, made a big mess with caulking and foam, and quit too soon.
The house wasn't old style, was a bungalow, but that doesn't really matter anyway, mice like warm places.
The mice problem didn't seem to bother him.....just kept telling me my imagination was going wild.
Mice chewed the wire on my curio cabinet in two......who knows what other wires they chewed.
We did have stray cats outside which i'm sure helped, but no warm place for them in the winter.

That's my terrible story.   I HATE MICE.


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## Keesha (Sep 28, 2020)




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## FastTrax (Sep 28, 2020)

Keesha said:


> View attachment 124880



Hey Keesha is that baby mice on mommy's head?


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## Keesha (Sep 28, 2020)

FastTrax said:


> Hey Keesha is that baby mice on mommy's head?


Huh?


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## FastTrax (Sep 28, 2020)

debodun said:


> I get mice indoors several times a year. I can only tell because of the droppings they leave. I don't like traps that kill, so I developed my "never-fail" (almost) tilt trap - works just like walking the plank. Place bait (peanut butter) at the end of a 4 by 7 inch piece of cardboard and suspend it over a deep waste can so it just balances on the edge of a counter. Can must be at least 3 feet tall or the critters can jump out. The mice walk out to get the PB and their weight tips the plank and they fall in the can. One time I caught 2 at once. Then I take the waste can and the passengers for a nice ride out in the country. It's catch and release. Then I have to come home and Clorox the kitchen.
> 
> View attachment 124849



Ha ha ha, lol. Mickey and Minnie look mad as Hell, lol.


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## FastTrax (Sep 28, 2020)

Keesha said:


> Huh?



The mouse, what's on it's back?


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## Keesha (Sep 28, 2020)

FastTrax said:


> The mouse, what's on it's back?


A wall!


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## AnnieA (Sep 28, 2020)

FastTrax said:


> The mouse, what's on it's back?



I think it's frayed bits of wall above its back.


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## bingo (Sep 28, 2020)

Poison...


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## Aneeda72 (Sep 28, 2020)

The problem with poison is you might poison neighbors cat or dogs or children.  Traps, use traps.


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## FastTrax (Sep 28, 2020)

Keesha said:


> A wall!





AnnieA said:


> I think it's frayed bits of wall above its back.



Gotcha. Time to get some new glasses.


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## FastTrax (Sep 28, 2020)

Aneeda72 said:


> The problem with poison is you might poison neighbors cat or dogs or children.  Traps, use traps.



Also yourself if you're taking Warfarin.


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## Don M. (Sep 28, 2020)

Every Fall and Winter, since we moved to the countryside, I have to contend with mice.  I've tried various means of control, but found that the simplest and most effective means is to spot a half dozen basic traps, baited with cheese, in the basement.  Those pests find their way in by squeezing under the garage door weatherstripping...I suspect....looking for warmth.  So, any day now, I will place the traps, and if it is a normal year, I will probably squash a half dozen, or more.


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## kburra (Sep 28, 2020)

Thie worked for me>

Drill a small hole in the wall a few inches above your floor. Drill the same size hold in a cardboard box. Place a food-scented trap inside the box and cover the box with cellophane.

Secure the box against the wall, so the two holes are lined up. Replace bait traps inside the cardboard box as needed until all mice are gone. Once the mouse infestation is gone for good, patch the drywall.


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## Phoenix (Sep 29, 2020)

If you have a cat and it eats mice be sure to give the cat wormer.  The mice give cats worms.  For us the rats and mice were living in the engine compartments of our cars.  Putting traps and poison in there just attracted them. They were very good at getting the peanut butter off without springing the traps.  They started chewing up parts of the car engines.  We open the hoods a little and block them open when they are in the yard.  That way the critters don't want to  hide or build nests there.  Oh, and we took off the big black cover thingy over the engine - can't remember what it's called, so they couldn't hide under it.  Our mechanic suggested these things after we had umpteen repairs because of the critters.  They worked.  Oh, and add moth balls in the engine compartment.  They hate the smell of moth balls.


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## dobielvr (Sep 29, 2020)

That's the problem I have too.
The mice and rats will eat the cheese or peanut butter, but the trap wont go off!

It's like we're playing a game, and keep losing lol


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## Phoenix (Sep 29, 2020)

dobielvr said:


> That's the problem I have too.
> The mice and rats will eat the cheese or peanut butter, but the trap wont go off!
> 
> It's like we're playing a game, and keep losing lol


For them this is earning a living.  They take food where they can find it.  They are clever critters.


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## PamfromTx (Sep 29, 2020)

Ugggh, I dislike mice and am terrified of them.


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## kburra (Sep 29, 2020)

Phoenix said:


> For them this is earning a living.  They take food where they can find it.  They are clever critters.


If Traps not working use bait when baiting though use Gloves, mainly because they smell human contact, used this method when had bush rats in the roof.


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## FastTrax (Sep 29, 2020)

pamelasmithwick said:


> Ugggh, I dislike mice and am terrified of them.View attachment 125140



OMG that is too funny, lololol.


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## Camper6 (Sep 30, 2020)

If you want to find out where in the wall the mice are bring in a dog.  Their sense of hearing is much more acute than humans.
I found that out in our office.  Someone brought their dog in.  He immediately went to the wall and barked.  You can then check for openings where they might have come in.  If you do find a hole, plug it with steel wool.  They can't chew through it.


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## Camper6 (Sep 30, 2020)

Phoenix said:


> For them this is earning a living.  They take food where they can find it.  They are clever critters.


I remember a home made trap back in the good old days.

You get a container and fill it with water.
Then you get a stick and fasten it to the container so the mice can climb it and then get in.  But you have to rig it so it works like a teeter totter. They get in but they can't get out and drown.
I worked in a building where they had grain sampling.  Plenty of mice.

The humidifiers always had dead mice.  That was o.k. It worked like a trap except it was my job to dump them.  Everyone else was too squeamish.


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## Phoenix (Sep 30, 2020)

pamelasmithwick said:


> Ugggh, I dislike mice and am terrified of them.View attachment 125140


Mice will not hurt you...except they get into dirty things and pee in places you don't want them to pee.  I had one run across my barefoot once when I was a kid.  In some ways they are like naked squirrels.  Both of those critters messed with my cars.  One squirrel stored grain in my pickup, a whole bunch of it.  Mice stored a lot of grain in my mother's sewing machine cabinet in the spare bedroom.


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## gennie (Sep 30, 2020)

FYI - poisoned mice or rats eat it an go home to die.  If home is inside your walls, you will have a smelly house. 

 I don't have either but I do have a large black snake that considers my yard his home.  We have an agreement.  He does not bother me and I don't bother him.


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## pip48 (Sep 30, 2020)

HoneyNut said:


> Does anyone have a successful strategy for mice in the walls?  I have tried and tried to prevent them, but have not had complete success.  Now the weather is getting cool and I hear them.  It makes me feel so helpless.  I don't understand why manufactured homes are not required to be sealed up sufficiently for human habitation.


I use mouse traps, and it has been very effective. I also live in a mobile home, but I believe that they get in through heating ducts that are not being used.  I have never had them in the walls, they are usually in the house, looking for food.


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## Camper6 (Sep 30, 2020)

gennie said:


> FYI - poisoned mice or rats eat it an go home to die.  If home is inside your walls, you will have a smelly house.
> 
> I don't have either but I do have a large black snake that considers my yard his home.  We have an agreement.  He does not bother me and I don't bother him.


If you use poison make sure you have a pail of water around and access to it.  They run for water when poisoned because it affects their digestive system.
What a terrible odor from any animal that decomposes.


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## Phoenix (Sep 30, 2020)

gennie said:


> FYI - poisoned mice or rats eat it an go home to die.  If home is inside your walls, you will have a smelly house.
> 
> I don't have either but I do have a large black snake that considers my yard his home.  We have an agreement.  He does not bother me and I don't bother him.


We had a rat who ate the poison we put in the engine compartment of the car.  He died there.  One of his fellow rats ate part of him and then died himself.  Right there.  The carcusses dried there.  It was hard to get off of the car.


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## Camper6 (Sep 30, 2020)

We decry everything but all creatures good or bad for humans have to eat to survive.


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## Camper6 (Sep 30, 2020)

I saw a program on television.  It was a documentary from England.

It was about dogs.  On a farm, they bring in these dogs called rat terriers.  It's unbelievable when they turn over the hay piles what these dogs do to the rats.  They just snap their neck and go to the next one. That's what they were bred for.  That instinct doesn't leave.

*Top 10 Rat-Hunting Dogs*

*Rat Terrier*.
*Cairn Terrier*.
*Yorkshire Terrier*.
Norfolk Terrier.
*Jack Russell Terrier*.
*West Highland White Terrier*.
Dachshund.
*Miniature Schnauzer*.
Your dog may be cute but still a killer.


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## Phoenix (Sep 30, 2020)

Camper6 said:


> We decry everything but all creatures good or bad for humans have to eat to survive.


Agreed.  Good or bad is a value judgement on our part.  Everything we eat was once alive.  It had/has as much right to live as we do.


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## Camper6 (Sep 30, 2020)

dobielvr said:


> That's the problem I have too.
> The mice and rats will eat the cheese or peanut butter, but the trap wont go off!
> 
> It's like we're playing a game, and keep losing lol


The spring is too loose. You have to tighten it so it snaps on your finger when you're setting it down.


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## dobielvr (Sep 30, 2020)

Camper6 said:


> The spring is too loose. You have to tighten it so it snaps on your finger when you're setting it down.



Ok..but i think it's pretty tight ...i've had it snap back at me once already.  And i wear gloves too, so they dont smell me.


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## Phoenix (Sep 30, 2020)

Camper6 said:


> The spring is too loose. You have to tighten it so it snaps on your finger when you're setting it down.


How do you do that?


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## Camper6 (Oct 1, 2020)

Phoenix said:


> How do you do that?


Phoenix. It was a joke. We all have experienced that.


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## PamfromTx (Oct 1, 2020)




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## Phoenix (Oct 1, 2020)

Phoenix said:


> How do you do that?


Well, it does make sense that one could do it.  There is an apparatus there.


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## Camper6 (Oct 1, 2020)

Seriously now. You just have to bend the wire down that goes into the loop so that it's more sensitive and snaps easier.


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## Phoenix (Oct 1, 2020)

Camper6 said:


> Seriously now. You just have to bend the wire down that goes into the loop so that it's more sensitive and snaps easier.


Not going to bite this time.  The mice don't.  I know how to run a trap.


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## Ellen Marie (Oct 7, 2020)

I don't do mice.... rephrase that.   I don't do rodents in any form.    I can count on one hand the mice I have had in my house over the last 60 years..... mice can climb about anything.... I went looking for a google for mobile homes.... and I found this..... 

https://www.mobilehomesell.com/get-rid-of-rodents/   now... I liked....

*CHASE THEM AWAY WITH DIATOMACEOUS EARTH*
Diatomaceous earth is a white powder, made from the skeletons of microscopic water-dwelling organisms. These organisms live in rivers, streams, lakes, and other bodies of water. They’re called diatoms.

Because of its high absorbency, combining diatomaceous earth with essential oils is a great way to repel rodents. These critters can’t stand the smell of peppermint or lemon citrus essential oils. Combined with diatomaceous earth, you’ve created a rodent repellent that’s natural and safe for humans.


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## Ellen Marie (Oct 7, 2020)

I can't even bare to look at these pictures.


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## PamfromTx (Oct 7, 2020)




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## PamfromTx (Oct 7, 2020)




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## FastTrax (Oct 8, 2020)

pamelasmithwick said:


> View attachment 126811


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## needshave (Oct 8, 2020)

I have a warehouse, where mice seem to be able to get under the bottom door seal of the garage door. I normally get one to two a year. I use the claw type mouse catcher, plastic and bait it with peanut butter mixed with caramel coffee syrup. Not much caramel, so as to make it runny but just enough to give it an inviting scent. It has never failed me, I think....they may be just too fat and immobile that I don't see them.


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## fuzzybuddy (Oct 23, 2020)

I think you should get a professional exterminator. Yeah, it's going to cost you. But you just don't have mice, you have mice plus their droppings, and urine. I don't mean to frighten you, but if you had mice for a while, you be amazed at the amount of fecal and urine matter accumulating in your home.


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## Butterfly (Oct 23, 2020)

Don M. said:


> Every Fall and Winter, since we moved to the countryside, I have to contend with mice.  I've tried various means of control, but found that the simplest and most effective means is to spot a half dozen basic traps, baited with cheese, in the basement.  Those pests find their way in by squeezing under the garage door weatherstripping...I suspect....looking for warmth.  So, any day now, I will place the traps, and if it is a normal year, I will probably squash a half dozen, or more.



My approach also, except that I bait the traps with peanut butter.  I catch more with that than with cheese, and the mice aren't able to steal the bait.  I've already squashed 3.


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## FastTrax (Oct 23, 2020)




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## OneEyedDiva (Nov 4, 2020)

bingo said:


> Poison...


If she poisons them and they die in the wall and start stinking, how's she going to get them out?  I went on vacation and came back to a funny smell. At first it was faint, next day stronger and I realized a dead mouse was in here somewhere. I followed the smell which seemed to be along the baseboard in the living room where my computer and T.V. are.  Nothing.  Then it got stronger and seemed to be coming from the closet in the our studio room which part is adjacent to the hallway leading from the living room, part to the living room baseboard I first suspected.  Nothing! Finally I called my son and he was able to come the next day. The odor had really gotten strong. Turns out the little critter had gotten trapped beneath the baseboard and died, not along the wall but along the studio window. Odor wafting through the house from dead mice in the walls would not be pleasant. Thank God I've only had mice get in here three times in the 49 years I've lived here.


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## bingo (Nov 4, 2020)

OneEyedDiva said:


> If she poisons them and they die in the wall and start stinking, how's she going to get them out?  I went on vacation and came back to a funny smell. At first it was faint, next day stronger and I realized a dead mouse was in here somewhere. I followed the smell which seemed to be along the baseboard in the living room where my computer and T.V. are.  Nothing.  Then it got stronger and seemed to be coming from the closet in the our studio room which part is adjacent to the hallway leading from the living room, part to the living room baseboard I first suspected.  Nothing! Finally I called my son and he was able to come the next day. The odor had really gotten strong. Turns out the little critter had gotten trapped beneath the baseboard and died, not along the wall but along the studio window. Odor wafting through the house from dead mice in the walls would not be pleasant. Thank God I've only had mice get in here three times in the 49 years I've lived here.


yeah....its bad....not as bad as a fire caused by their gnawing  electric wiring


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## Mat (Nov 24, 2020)

I have no idea if it works, but I read that peppermint syrup or liquid is a winner getting rid of the pest.  It makes them deathly ill and they pack their bags and find a new home.  So maybe setting out peppermint candies might work, I don't think the ants would like it either.  It's worth a try. The best offense would be a cat who has nothing better to do than wait for them to come out at night.  They can do terrible damage to everything in the house, the electrical cords, walls, cabinets etc.  There is no place they cannot go, except the bathtub !, if they make the mistake of going for water in the tub they cannot get out.


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## C'est Moi (Nov 25, 2020)

Mat said:


> I have no idea if it works, but I read that peppermint syrup or liquid is a winner getting rid of the pest.  It makes them deathly ill and they pack their bags and find a new home.  So maybe setting out peppermint candies might work, I don't think the ants would like it either.  It's worth a try. The best offense would be a cat who has nothing better to do than wait for them to come out at night.  They can do terrible damage to everything in the house, the electrical cords, walls, cabinets etc.  There is no place they cannot go, except the bathtub !, if they make the mistake of going for water in the tub they cannot get out.



I believe it's peppermint oil, which has a strong scent (and probably wouldn't work anyhow.)  I wouldn't be setting out candy in hopes of running them off.


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## Pinky (Nov 26, 2020)

Mice apparently are repelled by Irish Spring soap, so I've heard.


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## Don M. (Nov 26, 2020)

I got our first mouse this year, yesterday.  My wife saw a mouse scampering across the kitchen floor, and she said it went under the dishwasher.  So, I put a trap, baited with cheese, right next to the dishwasher, and within 10 minutes, we heard a "snap".  That took care of that one, and I re-baited the trap, and put it in the same location....nothing there this morning, so hopefully that is it for now.  If its a typical Winter, I will probably "eliminate" a half dozen of these pests in coming weeks.


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