Mice in attic

sooz19 · 10-17-2011, 02:50 PM

This might be a little wordy...but I figured I would try to give as much detail on what we've done already to help with a response.

Approx a month ago, my husband and I determined that we had mice in our attic and basement (found only a couple droppings in the basement but quite a bit more in the attic and that night heard noises in the attic). That same day we got a whole bunch of snap traps and set them in the attic and basement. Within the next 24 hours - we caught one in the basement and two in the attic. We also had a professional exterminator come the next day - he walked us through proper sealing of any holes/cracks that could possibly be entry points (which we promptly sealed up that afternoon) and added more glue and snap traps. Since then we have caught a total of 8 mice and it doesn't sound like there is any more activity in the attic. It has been about 2 weeks since we have caught anything (the peanut butter baited traps appear untouched) and we have still not seen any inkling that they were anywhere else in the house.

We have started the clean-up of the droppings (as part of the securing of the primarily the attic - we have already removed all the clutter and disposed of some dropping "covered" insulation). However, we don't want to redo everything if there is still a mouse problem and would have to do it again later.

So the question is...how do you know if you have gotten them all?

*added information - we have a 1920s frame built home, full basement - half poured concrete foundtation/finished, other half stone foundation/unfinished. The exterminator stated that except for a couple of spots (which were promptly sealed with steel wool, expanding sealer and/or caulk) - our home was actually really secure.

Blondesense · 10-17-2011, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sooz19

So the question is...how do you know if you have gotten them all?

You don't. You just need to keep diligent about checking any areas you have seen activity in the past. Even if you did get them all, this is the time of year more of their family will try to move in.
We live in a rural area and this is an ongoing battle for us.

PAbugman · 10-18-2011, 07:54 PM

Always keep some snap traps set with fresh bait to catch them as they get in, if they do continue getting in. Another option is to buy multi-catch live traps for mice-more user friendly and can be left go longer without checking, in the event that your attic is hard to get into. Look for the Tin-Cat brand-they make wind-up traps but I don’t like them-they also make a passive non-mechanical trap that employs a ramp and counter balance way of trapping. The mechanical ones break to easily.

sooz19 · 10-19-2011, 10:18 AM

We definitely plan on keeping traps set year round now...and are checking them every other day or so (unless we think we hear something at night - which usually turns out to be rain or something outside). So far nothing new has been caught and there don't appear to be any new holes/entry points.

I just hate the thought that there could possibly be a few stubborn ones that are avoiding our traps and still hanging out up there.

liquidvw · 10-19-2011, 03:49 PM

The 5 gallon bucket mouse trap works good. If you attic gets below freezing use RV anti freeze instead of water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jezQKOl5q-w

autx790 · 10-25-2011, 12:03 PM

you gotta eliminate the entry points. Even if you kill them all, more will come back. I had a bad rat problem when i moved into my house. I put up 1/4" hardware cloth all along the openings to my crawlspace and they were gone after that. I think i left it open durning the day for any to get out and then closed it by evening. I know they go out for food at night. I dont think rats like to scale buildings so if you seal up near the ground, trim back bushes, etc, you'll probably get rid of the problem. Squirrels do like to scale buildings and if there are openings up top, they could start coming in. I had that problem to fix after the rats. Tried the electronic noise box that the guy at HD assured me would work. It did nothing but freak them out and make them huddle in a ball in the corner. Even though the entry hole was right next to them. I returned it.

sooz19 · 10-26-2011, 12:18 PM

That was the first thing we did after finding out we had them in the house (seal everything up that is). We do checks every couple of days to make sure there are no new holes and everythign is still secure.

But almost another 10 days with seemingly no activity - traps are all still set and baited (peanut butter still there), no noises at night and no new droppings from what we can tell but this is a challenge to determine for sure in the attic as we are still cleaning out all the old insulation.

sooz19 · 11-07-2011, 02:35 PM

Well, our exterminator came again on Friday...and proceeded to find one mouse in a sticky trap in the basement. So, he and my husband walked through the unfinished portion again and found a few more airways to plug to be on the safe side (which was done a few short hours later). From what he said though, he thinks that this most recent one was just that...one. He didn't see signs of any more.

And we just finished sterlizing the attic...all the mouse urine and feces have been removed along with bags and bags of yucky insulation. So now it will be really easy to tell if there is any new activity up there or not.

Here's hoping that they have learned that they are not welcome at our house.

ChrisDIY · 11-15-2011, 11:06 PM

Will be making a 5 gallon bucket trap tomorrow.

Snav · 11-15-2011, 11:21 PM

Yeah- I'll do the 5-gall trap, too . . . I've just lived with them for years b/c my husband doesn't want to poison the mice (fearing the cat will eat them and fall ill) and glue-traps et al just don't work for *all* of them.