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Post Info TOPIC: ugh, we have a mouse! how do i kill it?
scarlett


Marc Jacobs

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ugh, we have a mouse! how do i kill it?
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so we have a mouse...blechhh. my FH has set mouse traps, and i swear to god, i saw the mouse jump OVER one of the traps tonight. how do mice know that can kill them?!

i first saw it a few weeks ago. i was sitting on the couch watching "30 rock" when it ran across the floor, and i screamed like a 12 year old girl. and ever since i've been afraid of the part of the living room where i first saw it, and tonight that's where i saw it again. and i have seriously not gotten up from the couch since because i don't want to run into it. i swear i'm not a wimp usually but rodents really give me the heebie jeebies! FH is now home and stomping around threating the mouse with a violent, bloody death but of course it won't come out now.

anyway -- any tips for mouse assassination, besides the regular snap traps? we have them baited with peanut butter.

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ejc423


Coach

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Get a cat?

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rosie_the_riveter


Gucci

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Hmm....I was watching "Dirty Jobs" once and I believe Mike Rowe and the girl he was helping catch mice put down some sticky strips with some food so when the mice go for the food they get stuck. I'd imagine you could find these sticky strips at Walmart?   I'm getting the willys just thinking about it. Hope you catch him soon.

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Cortney1982


Chanel

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Maybe it doesn't like peanut butter!  We had a mouse a few weeks ago.  This is no joke, but less than 5 minutes of putting the trap out with a piece of cheese on it we got it!  Poor thing... cry

And then there was one more.  We put poison out which I don't like because it'll crawl somewhere you can't figure out or reach and then you get a nice decomposing scent. bleh



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D


Hermes

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why do you have to kill it? I use humane traps and just let it outside. humane mouse traps are available at places like Lowes or Home Depot, and it's a little plastic box you put some peanut butter in, the mouse goes in for the peanut butter and a trap door shuts on them. You then take the box outside, slide back the cover and let it free. I have never had a mouse come back in the house after, either. I've had a mouse in the house like 3 times out of the 10 years I've lived here.

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relrel


Marc Jacobs

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We had a huge problem at our old apartment last winter with mice. A seriously bad problem that involved them rooting through my bookbags for crumbs from breakfast shoved in there. We used glue traps because even though I hated the mice I didn't want them killed. The only problem with glue traps is that 1. you have to have somebody who is willing to pull them off the glue traps and then dispose of them outside far away from the house and 2. you have to know where the mice are getting in and out of the house so that you can put the glue trap right there. I would really really advocate against poison- not really for any environmental reasons though. I just can't stomach the thought of a mouse dying somewhere in your house (behind the baseboards, under the floor) and then not being able to find it! 

The first thing I would actually do is go through your food pantry/storage and make sure everything is sealed tight with glass or really thick plastic and if it isn't then put it in the refridgerator. It might seem like it's too high for them to jump but nope...they are sneaky sneaky bastards.   Good luck!

ETA: Wanted to add that you should also try to remove any water that might be left around the kitchen after dishes or cooking as well. Removing standing water (even tiny tiny drops) will also make your house less inviting for mice and roaches as well. The water thing is actually more important than food for most uninvited house guests.

-- Edited by relrel at 09:41, 2007-04-07

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erin


Chanel

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we had a mice problem because there was a DUMPSTER in front of our house after the house across the street had a fire (which i can only assume was their meth lab)...

anyhow, i bought these "humane kill" traps, that zap the mice in seconds. they were expensive (20$ each, i bought two) but well worth it in my opinion.

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ejc423


Coach

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You're in NYC, right?  We had one in our apt, but I'm pretty sure my cat scared it away.  Other people in our building had way more problems with them.  But I don't really think you should get a cat just to scare the mice. . .

I have heard that oil of peppermint repels them.  If you mix some oil of peppermint with water and spray it around your baseboards and then soak cottonballs with the oil and put them in your corners and cabinets, it will help keep the mice from coming in.  It doesn't poison them, they just can't stand the smell.

Good luck.



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blink


Coach

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Cortney1982 wrote:

And then there was one more.  We put poison out which I don't like because it'll crawl somewhere you can't figure out or reach and then you get a nice decomposing scent. bleh


Argh, this happened to us a few weeks ago.  I should have used traps instead, my regular pest guy was at our house anyway to combat a re-occurring carpenter ant problem and he just threw around some poison blocks in my garage.  Within two days they were eaten up, and two weeks later, I smelled something in my wall.  GROSS...and it still hasn't gone away.

I just read some advice in Real Simple magazine about traps and outsmarting the rodent.  Try leaving the traps out "un-set" with food in them for a little while to get the critter used to trusting the trap.  Then set it and catch them off guard.



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scarlett


Marc Jacobs

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thanks for the advice, all!

i do live in nyc.  we'd rather have a dog than a cat, but maybe i can borrow a friend's cat for a few days. :)

i'd rather kill it as opposed to trapping it and letting it loose outside because there is enough of a rodent problem in nyc as it is.




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wetbandit42


Marc Jacobs

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Don't use those sticky things! My dad used one a while ago, only the mouse didn't die on it, and my brother had to take it outside and kill it. cry It made my want to cry, it was so sad.

They basically die of starvation on those, I think. I read somewhere that regular traps are the most humane if you're going to be killing them.

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