Who wants some mice?

[diputs]

I seem to have plenty of them.

I could not figure out why my birds were freaking out at night. Then I saw 1 mouse in the cage stealing food. This was last week.

I have caught 11 mice since then. Today I found where they were living and breeding.

I have the typical (?) stack of cardboard boxes in the corner. Moved in 2 years ago, NYC apartment, no idea where to put the stuff, can't bear to throw it away, etc... The bottom box had handles to carry the box. Apparently the mice thought there was a sign over the hole that said, "Home, Sweet, Home!"

So now the box is on a table outside, and I am debating whether I should try to salvage anything or just throw everything away. I am afraid to reach in the box and have a mouse jump out at me!

[lynn]

:shock: :-?

um....no thanks!

[lynn]

Oh, this reminds me of a story from a friend. They went on vacation for a month and a mouse must've sneaked by accident. By the time they got back, their place was full of tiny mice - she caught 50 of them in a month :shock:!!!

Mice reproduce really fast, disputs, i think it's time to look for exterminators!! That is, if the mice haven't chewed up the yellow pages!!

[diputs]

I was catching 2 a day. NOw it is down to one. I hope I caught it fast enough. I have traps everywhere.

[pygmalion]

Oh, this reminds me of a story from a friend. They went on vacation for a month and a mouse must've sneaked by accident. By the time they got back, their place was full of tiny mice - she caught 50 of them in a month :shock:!!!

Mice reproduce really fast, disputs, i think it's time to look for exterminators!! That is, if the mice haven't chewed up the yellow pages!!

Yeah. The exterminators have a name for it -- can't remember the term. Basically, they reproduce until they are consuming all the available food and water in their localized environment. *shudder*

On the idea of calling the exterminator, I'll say this. I had mice take up residence in my walls this past fall. I freaked out and called the exterminator right away. And the exterminator did exactly what I'd have done, on my own. He put down sticky traps in likely traffic patterns and put down poison in likely eating places. The other stuff I still had to do myself -- plug any possible entry points on the outside of my house. Make sure any and all foods were sealed so they'd be inaccessible. And I went to Walmart and bought ultrasonic rodent repellent units for each room. A couple months after the exterminator came, some workmen found the mouse breeding area (outside the house -- under the air conditioner slab,) broke up the nest and got rid of the mice. I didn't ask how. :lol:

If I had to isolate the one thing that seems to have made a difference, it's the ultrasonic repellents. (2/$15 available at Walmart) They're kind of a pain, because they have to be totally unobstructed and cover a pretty limited number of square feet. But I noticed a decided lack of mouse noise the very same night I installed those babies. Still haven't seen a single mouse on any of the traps or smelled that awful decaying-mouse smell. And, best of all, I haven't seen or heard any evidence of mice in months.

My $0.02. :cool:

[lynn]

I was catching 2 a day. NOw it is down to one. I hope I caught it fast enough. I have traps everywhere.

hope you don't fall for the traps yourself :raisebro: !!! Some mice are really smart, they fall for it once and they won't fall for it again - makes it more difficult to catch them!

[pygmalion]

I should add, though, that I'm pretty sure I heard the mice within days of their coming into my house. It was right after a cold snap, and they just happened to decide to nest in my bedroom wall. Otherwise, it might've been weeks or months 'til I found them and, obviously, they'd have been a lot harder to get rid of. :?

[diputs]

I got something called the mouse mover from Sharper Image. It is an ultrasonic type thing.

There is also a glue trap right next to it.

The glue trap is in the spot where I have caught the most mice.

Basically the electronic device has done nothing to deter the mice, and they keep getting caught in the same glue trap.

I have put steel wool in the huge holes I found in both my radiators. I am hoping this will deter them.

[pygmalion]

lol. That's why you need to go to the bargain spots. lol. Just kidding. I don't remember the brand name of the thingies I got, but I'll check, next time I'm at Walmart. :cool:

The problem with the ultrasonic things is that they don't work unless they are totally unobstructed -- without even a curtain in front of them. No furniture. No fabric. No trash can. No nothing. And they cover -- can't remember exactly -- maybe 150 square feet. Something like that. :? Most of the rooms in my house are more than 150 square feet. So I had to find two or more unobstructed outlets in every room of my house. Grr. But it worked. No mice.

[RhumbaWaltz]

Good luck! I'm in NYC too and (knock on wood) have only had one dead mouse to deal with. It's a little annoying to pay ridiculous NYC rents only to have mice infestations! One piece of advice: make sure you never leave any food out - I keep everything in the refrigerator- and clean up crumbs.

[diputs]

The problem was the bird food.

The electric thing I have is completely unobstructed, pointing towards the corner where the mice used to be.

I have 60 days to return it. If I catch another mouse I am going to take a picture and return the mouse with the device.

[pygmalion]

Ugh! Yeah. Living with mice is so awful. :( Blech. The house I grew up in got them every winter -- an old, drafty house with lots of nooks and crannies for mice to sneak in. *shudder*

And yeah -- I blocked the holes in my house's bricks with something very similar to steel wool. No problems since November. :cool:

[pygmalion]

The problem was the bird food.

The electric thing I have is completely unobstructed, pointing towards the corner where the mice used to be.

I have 60 days to return it. If I catch another mouse I am going to take a picture and return the mouse with the device.

I wondered about the positioning, but now I understand. Pretty smart/devious. :lol:

[diputs]

City mice seem to be different than country mice.

Wait, wasn't that a movie?

[pygmalion]

How about suburban mice? :lol: Somebody needs to write a new book. :wink:

I guess my take, as much as I hate to say it, diputs, is that the mice in your apartment may already have a pretty strong foothold. No matter what approach you take, IMO, it may take a while before the little vermin are gone. :( Blleeeccch! :evil:

[SDsalsaguy]

The electric thing I have is completely unobstructed, pointing towards the corner where the mice used to be.

I have 60 days to return it. If I catch another mouse I am going to take a picture and return the mouse with the device. :lol: :lol: Love it, love it, love it!!! :lol: :lol:

Just please make sure to also take a picture of the clerk accepting your return!

[lynn]

maybe you'll get a credit for the mouse :lol:!!!

[pygmalion]

Oh yeah, incidentally, the ultrasonic thingies I got advertise that they are on randomly rotating frequencies, so the rodents can't get used to them. Not sure that makes a difference, but I figured I'd mention it.

[lynn]

hmm, i wonder the ultrasonic thing you guys are talking about is similar to the one I saw on spiders/roaches? It too mentioned rotating ultrasonic waves that gets rid of the unwanted pests.

[pygmalion]

I think the concept is similar, but the frequencies are chosen to be particularly uncomfortable for a specific species.

[lynn]

frankly, i would prefer that humans are the only living beings in my home!

[pygmalion]

Agreed. Anything with a brain (however small) I don't want in my house -- unless it's in a fishbowl, where I can monitor its behavior. :lol:

[delamusica]

I guess my take, as much as I hate to say it, diputs, is that the mice in your apartment may already have a pretty strong foothold. No matter what approach you take, IMO, it may take a while before the little vermin are gone. :( Blleeeccch! :evil:

Especially since they're probably not just in your apartment, but others in your building as well. Do you know if your neighbors are having mouse problems?

[pygmalion]

Good point. I had that problem once. My downstairs neighbors moved out, and suddenly, I developed an unforeseen cockroach problem in my apartment. Grrr. It took me a whole lot of fumigating and a cross-country move to get rid of that one. :(

[fascination]

I hate the smell of dead mice...we live in the woods and they sneak into the basement and die in the vent by my computer...disgusting smell

[Twilight_Elena]

Holly molly, I hate pests. We've only had mice once when we first moved in, but we took care of it and all was well. Hadn't had a pest problem since.

Twilight Elena

[lynn]

so, diputs, how's your mice problem??

[Sagitta]

frankly, i would prefer that humans are the only living beings in my home!What about pets, like dog, or cat, or bird or fish?