There is evidence of ALOT of mice in our apartment. When my DH moved here last November, he saw a mouse, I caught 3 this past February but now the traps aren't catching any no matter where we place them but the problem appears to be worse. We don't leave food out, etc. and my DH is gone all day and only comes home to sleep. I want to get this under control and I don't think the landlord will invest in professional extermination. So--I am thinking of resorting to poison. But I am worried what would happen if our kittens or cat eventually find a dead mouse and play with it. As for the traps, is there something herbal that will attract the mice to the traps? Peanut butter is not working! As a way to drive them away in the future, do any of you know if those things that plug into the wall and send frequencies throughout the house really work? I am desperate to get these critters under control and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to add that I don't want to simply keep them away from our living area, but I want to completely eliminate them from inside the walls, etc.
I'd get two cats. They'd be fine there all day while your husband is gone. He can feed them when he comes home "to sleep". And with two, they would play with each other, so they wouldn't get bored. I don't think dog pee would attract them, but really don't know.
One compromise which is also a bit of work but more final is to go over all the nooks and crannies of your apartment and spray foam any place with the smallest hole. Check every baseboard, every place a cabinet meets a wall, especially where pipes and wiring meets a wall and plug it with some pieces of a metal pot scrubber then a bit of spray foam. They won't chew through the sharp metal. If they try the toxic foam will kill them. This is more permanent then either poison or cats and will create a barrier to the mice so they can't get in in the first place. It's what we did in our house to prevent them coming upstairs before we managed to find where they were coming into the basement.
blocking the entry ways is a great idea. The poison ( and mice killed by it) is harmful if eaten. On the plus side if you still have a few weeks before you move in you could have them gone before you get all settled. Once they die they dry up and don't stink if they are inaccessible. Last fall we resorted to glue traps. Gross but effective. Mice also like chocolate alot if you're baiting traps.
we have had much lluck with the sticky traps, set several of them right along the edge of walls or foot boards of cubbords. If you put out poison blocks put them in corners and behind the fridge and stove. try to find out where they are coming in and block it, we were getting them when they were coming in a cat door the people before us put in we had to cover it up with a steele plate (DH works in a machine shop and thats what he had access too) we hear a thud on the other side now and then.
There was a mice infestation at my sister's apartment. The holes were filled and the area was exterminated. The problem was that they came back soon after because the other apartments were not treated. All the mice went to the other apartments for a while and then headed back to her apartment. Still, the problem wasn't as bad as before.
Kyzg, be sure to check out the thread for Ohio people! I know you're moving out of state, but you might want to check it out for us who are staying!
