Mice in my cieling

[a70eliminator]

First time in 25yrs I have mice, I heard what sounded like a squirrel that got above the cieling in my living room one day, I heard it again a couple days later so my wife bought some mouse traps at the grocery store, I set 3 traps upstairs with some cheese for bait and got nothing but continued to hear the noises in the ceiling.
Yesterday I worked on removing some ceiling tiles to get access, I set a trap and an hour later bam! got one, I took him outside away from the house and let go outside, I set the trap and later that night another one! This morning I had another one! 3 mouses and I still hear scratching so there's at least one more, I'm waiting to hear the squeeking, these traps are not killers just kinda grab them, I wouldn't think these guys are finding their way back in? I'm letting them go clear in the back yard away from the house.
I really want to get the cieling back together there's cold air comming out but these mice gotta go. How many more can there be?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Mice in my cieling

they are breeding. bunch of traps.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Mice in my cieling

This morning I had another one! 3 mouses and I still hear scratching so there's at least one more, I'm waiting to hear the squeeking, these traps are not killers just kinda grab them, I wouldn't think these guys are finding their way back in? I'm letting them go clear in the back yard away from the house.
I really want to get the cieling back together there's cold air comming out but these mice gotta go. How many more can there be?

Who knows how many more are up there. I find peanutbutter works the best. I show no mercy. I use the "kill them instantly" traps. They'll find their way back in your house like a duck goes back to the same pond every spring. During the colder months they'll find anyway possible to get into the warmth of a home. They can flatten their bodies and crawl in spaces you thought were impossible. My big problem is my attached garage. Those little critters were climbing up a 9' wall that had 2" styrofoam. Once they were in the ceiling of the garage they just crawled over to the house.

 

[eaglejim]

Re: Mice in my cieling

The only good mouse is a dead one,agree with wimusky show no mercy they will keep coming back unless you are willing to drive across the county

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: Mice in my cieling

The only good mouse is a dead one,agree with wimusky show no mercy they will keep coming back unless you are willing to drive across the county

Just for fun, spray paint one of the little guys before you let him loose. You may see little Red or Blue back beore too long.

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: Mice in my cieling

The best way to do mass mouse control is a bucket,wire and peanut butter.
Put the wire across the bucket tight and dab the peanut butter on the middle. Make a good ramp up to the top of the bucket and there you go. Best trap ever.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Mice in my cieling

these are my best traps.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Mice in my cieling

Yes lol I have a couple of those too, an orange tabby and a ragamuffin both of them are so domesticated and lazy that a mouse could snuggle up and sleep right on top of them.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: Mice in my cieling

They love peanut butter. So do squirrels. I've got squirrel problems at the cabin. They keep coming back. As for mice, I've even put a bucket down with water in it and a ramp going to it. They for some reason, jump in the water and drown.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Mice in my cieling

Quick mouse story.
I just came in from pulling a dead string of lites off the house.(Of course, I plug them in inside the house and they work just fine!) While on the ladder, I heard a chirp, squeek. Look down and see my Lab hovering over what I thought was a small bird. I yell "no". She backs off, crap, it's a mouse(I really meant to say, "good dog"). She backs off, the mouse dives under the snow, I run over and "stomp" in the area I last saw the mouse. Got it!! Kicked it to the dog who looked sad because I just yelled at her. Told her, "ok". Tail wagged and she grabbed the mouse, went out to the driveway, dropped it and walked away. She also likes to nail those gophers that screw up the lawn in the summer...... Good Dog..

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: Mice in my cieling

Here's another quick mouse story.

Hickory Dickory Dock
Two mice ran up the clock
The clock struck one,
And the other got away with minor injuries.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Mice in my cieling

lol, never heard that one.

 

[piper_chuck]

Re: Mice in my cieling

It's very difficult to get rid of mice with traps alone. Even if you can trap them all, if you do not find and fix the hole(s) they entered through, they will be back. My past experiences with mice required a combination of traps, bait, and some sleuthing to determine where the little suckers were entering the house.

 

[puddle jumper]

Re: Mice in my cieling

Here's another quick mouse story.

Hickory Dickory Dock
Two mice ran up the clock
The clock struck one,
And the other got away with minor injuries.

ya I like that one

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Mice in my cieling

Just for fun, spray paint one of the little guys before you let him loose. You may see little Red or Blue back beore too long.

I like that idea!

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Mice in my cieling

It's very difficult to get rid of mice with traps alone. Even if you can trap them all, if you do not find and fix the hole(s) they entered through, they will be back. My past experiences with mice required a combination of traps, bait, and some sleuthing to determine where the little suckers were entering the house.

I agree. Until you figure out where they are getting in, they will be back. Its also best to find that out quickly, because once they start to breed, you'll think rabbits are slackers.

I had a problem with them right after Hurricane Katrina. Like many houses in this part of the world, mine is raised on cinder block piers. The force of the winds actually moved the house just a little, and opened up a small crack in the floor of my pantry, which had been an added porch at one time. The porch pulled away from the main part of the house ever so slightly, but that was just enough for the little buggers. I trapped them for a couple of weeks with humane traps and put them out in the woods behind the house.

It didn't take long to figure out that they were coming right back in. To make things worse, there were a lot more of them due to breeding. Enough was enough, so I put out a bunch of glue traps. Glue traps are not at all humane, but they work and it came down to health issues with mouse droppings in the kitchen, so I used them anyway. BTW, mice tend to run along the baseboards of your walls at night, so that's where you want to put the traps.

At any rate, after finding the gap and plugging it, I began to notice an immediate decline in the population, as the traps caught them. I eventually got rid of them all and haven't had a problem since.



???

 

[Jeep Man]

Re: Mice in my cieling

For the first time in 30 years, we got mice. In the fall, I saw one climbing the stucco siding. I dealt with that one and thought no more of it, until I started seeing signs in the house. I laid down a trap and got one, then another, then another. the count was up to 14 when I changed tactics. I found a mouse poison that dehydrates the little varmints, therefore no smell if I don't find the body. Within a week, no more mice. I found a hole in the bathroom fan vent. I guess that was their way in. No more mice.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Mice in my cieling

I found a mouse poison that dehydrates the little varmints, therefore no smell if I don't find the body. Within a week, no more mice. I found a hole in the bathroom fan vent. I guess that was their way in. No more mice.

That's the problem with DECON. It works very well, but they end up dying in the house. You don't know they're dead until you start smelling the stench. If you can't find them, if they died in a wall, the house will stink until the little guys dry up. The mice will also hide the DECON around the house like it was food. I believe the DECON starts to dehydrate them, then they look for water and after they drink, their guts basically blow.

What's this "mouse poison" that you're using?

 

[lowkee]

Re: Mice in my cieling

I always wonder if the mouse i just let loose is the mouse I'll catch two months from now. We just rid ourselves of possibly the last mouse in our wall. I always use PB because it attracts them very well. Well this family of mice was somehow further up on the evolutionary ladder. Every trap I set (3 at once) had no PB left, yet none were triggered. I kept burying the PB further and further back into the traps, and finally got one. The other one must have been retarded.. I heard him under the fridge and started pulling the fridge away from the wall when I heard "tha-thunk!" .. He ran straight into the compressor fan .. Saved me the trouble.

I still don't know how the second 'wave' of mice got in, as I foamed and sealed up the original spot. Marking the released ones is tempting.. I use "The better mouse trap" traps, btw. The kind that snap shut, but normally not enough to kill.

The ramp and bucket idea sounds interesting, as one trapped itself in our tall kitchen garbage once, even without anything in it.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Mice in my cieling

they will eat thru the foam. finally had to use an epoxy wood filler.