getting rid of mice in attic; DIY, or for the pros?

[Case]

We just moved into our new house a week ago, and last night I heard some activity in the attic; guessing it's a mouse.  I'm trying to figure out if I should try to do this myself or if it's better to get an exterminator early before damage is done.  We just moved in, and the last thing we want is house damage at this point.

I have identified a big hole in the front of the house which is a likely entry point.  I'm going to seal it with steel wool + Great Stuff, and maybe some concrete.  There may be more holes (actually, I guess the typical house has many holes).

If I succeeded in filling all the entry points, then I still need to get rid of the bastard(s).  I guess this means traps, and set up in such a way as to not injure our cat.

Any advice?  I'm happy to do this on my own if it's likely to succeed, but I do not want to waste time, since more more time might lead to more mess and maybe baby mice.

[FallenTimber]

Our house was built in 1885 and had a lot of mice. As in, if we set 15 traps, we'd catch 15 mice. We caught and killed over 80 over them.

Here's my advice:

1. Buy these on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Eaton-409BULK-Plastic-Mouse-Liquid/dp/B00DLKKYRU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1542065424&sr=8-3&keywords=mouse+traps+jawz
It's a 24 pack for $30. They work flawlessly, and much easier to set than the traditional Victor traps, which can be finicky. It's worth it to buy 24 of them... mice aren't at all deterred by seeing other mice stuck in the traps. In fact they seem more attracted to it.

2. While you wait for the traps to arrive, go around the house with a fine tooth comb and seal off any gaps. I use wood, 1/4" hardware cloth, caulk, or expanding foam, depending on the size of hole I'm filling.

3. Bait all 24 with peanut butter.

4. Wait for the sweet sound of traps going off all night long.

[big_owl]

We have same problem except I can NOT figure out how they get in the attic.  I've spent years combing over my entire exterior sealing up every god damned single place they could possibly get in but every fall we get a few of them up there.  At about 3am I can hear them crawling around on the drywall above my bed in the attic.  All I can figure is they climb up the stone façade of my house and find some entry point up on the roof somewhere. 

In any case, about this time of year (did it just this morning) I load up on victor traps and peanut butter and head into the attic for my ritual massacre.  I'll set about 5 or so traps at their hotspot and over the course of the week usually I'll kill a few. 

I keep on reloading the traps until I don't catch anymore for a week or two.  Usually then I'm good until the next year.  It's a real hassle to navigate the attic and I tried to pay a company to come do it for me but I don't think it's cost effective because none of them wanted the business.  I need to let a rat snake or two loose in the attic.

Unless you can figure out how they're getting in then they'll just come back, but clearly that's easier said than done sometimes.

If you're going to crawl around your attic be careful of the drywall.  Just walking around up there can cause screw pops and cracking, yet alone if you happened to put a foot through it!

[BudgetSlasher]

I might chime in with some more thoughts later (I'm going through something similar for the first time in this house after 5 years).

But, if there is any chance that it will get wet, do yourself a favor and replace the steel wool with copper wool. It doesn't rust or stain nearly as bad as steel wool does.

[kidmont]

Facing same type issue. Just thinking which option will be better rat poison or trap? I was reading this article today Best Rat Poison 2019(Do It Yourself & Avoid Expert Cost) and thinking to buy poison. What is your personal opinion?

[starbuck]

We just moved into our new house a week ago, and last night I heard some activity in the attic; guessing it's a mouse.  I'm trying to figure out if I should try to do this myself or if it's better to get an exterminator early before damage is done.  We just moved in, and the last thing we want is house damage at this point.

I have identified a big hole in the front of the house which is a likely entry point.  I'm going to seal it with steel wool + Great Stuff, and maybe some concrete.  There may be more holes (actually, I guess the typical house has many holes).

If I succeeded in filling all the entry points, then I still need to get rid of the bastard(s).  I guess this means traps, and set up in such a way as to not injure our cat.

Any advice?  I'm happy to do this on my own if it's likely to succeed, but I do not want to waste time, since more more time might lead to more mess and maybe baby mice.

Since you have a cat, I'd stay away from any poisons so it doesn't move up the food chain. This is also an issue for outdoor raptors, like owls and hawks, that may eat the mice after the mice have ingested the poison.

We always get a few mice in the attic during the early winter. A few manual traps and then it's resolved until the beginning of next winter. Honestly I just view a few mouse traps and peanut butter as part of our annual home maintenance. Apparently our cat is just for show.

[Travis]

Facing same type issue. Just thinking which option will be better rat poison or trap?

I'm a fan of the traps because it also forces you to go back and inspect/reset the traps and take the critter with you.  If you poison them they'll hide in a corner, die, and rot. 

I'll second the effectiveness of the linked traps and peanut butter.  One time I watched a rat get caught in a traditional wire spring trap and walk away with it still attached.

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

Even if the cat isn't a mouser, stick the dirty litterbox in the attic for a few days. Mice should depart fairly rapidly.

[BudgetSlasher]

Even if the cat isn't a mouser, stick the dirty litterbox in the attic for a few days. Mice should depart fairly rapidly.

Peppermint oil seems to work as well.

[Lulee]

Peppermint oil seems to work as well.

YMMV.  Some folks swear by peppermint oil.  My mom swears at it.  She put a bunch out one fall in the under eaves storage and had tons of mice.  She checked in the Spring and found on one side, the mice had gathered up all the cotton balls in a vase and lived in there with the smelly mice as evidenced by quite a pile of poo.

I say kill the little rat b*stards for invading your space.

[sol]

I'm currently dealing with this problem at a rental house.  I hired a pro, and have been picking his brain.

He said that around here we get mice in basements but it's usually rats in roofs.  You can tell which you have by the droppings.  They will climb any vegetation that is adjacent to the structure, and sometimes come in via your power lines if they run through adjacent trees.  If they can get on to your roof, they can always find a way in.  They want at least two access points to your crawl space, and will actively chew a second one if they only have one.  Once they're in, they leave a pheromone trail that will invite other rats to keep coming back if possible, because it's been marked as a safe space.

He said cut the vegetation back at least several feet, including any sort of climbing vines, to prevent roof access.  Also no trellis or decorative elements that they might climb.  You can seal any obvious holes with quarter inch wire mesh and PL adhesive, which dries hard enough they can't chew through it, but you'll never find them all because they like exits that are up under the facing boards where you can't see.  So you just trap them on your roof, inside and out, bait rat traps with peanut butter, and wait.  Rats are smart enough to avoid traps for a long while, but will get hungry eventually and be forced to them, if you've prevented then from getting off the roof.

Reset traps once per week for two months.  I was told that poisons are problematic because they will just die in your walls, and then you get maggots raining down from your light fixtures.  Want to see a gross video?

[Case]

I'm currently dealing with this problem at a rental house.  I hired a pro, and have been picking his brain.

He said that around here we get mice in basements but it's usually rats in roofs.  You can tell which you have by the droppings.  They will climb any vegetation that is adjacent to the structure, and sometimes come in via your power lines if they run through adjacent trees.  If they can get on to your roof, they can always find a way in.  They want at least two access points to your crawl space, and will actively chew a second one if they only have one.  Once they're in, they leave a pheromone trail that will invite other rats to keep coming back if possible, because it's been marked as a safe space.

He said cut the vegetation back at least several feet, including any sort of climbing vines, to prevent roof access.  Also no trellis or decorative elements that they might climb.  You can seal any obvious holes with quarter inch wire mesh and PL adhesive, which dries hard enough they can't chew through it, but you'll never find them all because they like exits that are up under the facing boards where you can't see.  So you just trap them on your roof, inside and out, bait rat traps with peanut butter, and wait.  Rats are smart enough to avoid traps for a long while, but will get hungry eventually and be forced to them, if you've prevented then from getting off the roof.

Reset traps once per week for two months.  I was told that poisons are problematic because they will just die in your walls, and then you get maggots raining down from your light fixtures.  Want to see a gross video?

The answer to your question is, 'yes!'.

So, about a month ago I found a dead mouse sandwiched in between the grill and the air-flow directing fins, on a hot air port/outlet.  The timing was concidental; it must have recently gotten stuck and died there.  There was a fresh-ish turd, and the corpse did not smell of decomposition (but, the turd definitely smelled of shit!).

It seems unlikely that there was just one mouse, but the mouse scratching sounds did end immediately after I sealed up the obvious holes on my exterior wall.  On the other hand, there was ~1.5 months in between when I sealed the holes and I found the dead mouse, so it was able to survive that long.  To my knowledge, it has not accessed any of my food supplies, and so either it has food it has brought in, or it was able to enter/exit the attic.  The latter seems more likely.

[szmaine]

I bought a log roll trap at my local hardware store this fall and used it next to the foundation where I thought they were coming in. Worked better than hoped for if you are ok with drowning them....
Mine was only $10 buy you could also try to diy one, google has many examples, but also check eBay or amazon

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rolling-log-mouse-trap-the-original-not-copies-using-our-pic-or-our-TM-name-/222483287750

[BudgetSlasher]

I bought a log roll trap at my local hardware store this fall and used it next to the foundation where I thought they were coming in. Worked better than hoped for if you are ok with drowning them....
Mine was only $10 buy you could also try to diy one, google has many examples, but also check eBay or amazon

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rolling-log-mouse-trap-the-original-not-copies-using-our-pic-or-our-TM-name-/222483287750

for Attic spaces i have been told to us rv anti-freeze instead of water. Not really an environmental issue for disposal, does not freeze, and act as a preservative if the trap goes un check for some time. 

[pressure9pa]

Not sure if this is helpful to the OP, but I found this to be an effective way to deal with large quantities of mice when my garage was invaded during our move-in.

5 gallon bucket mouse trap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2NX394mktc


I made a variation of this using PVC pipe in place of the jar and a wooden dowel rod in place of the wire.  I spread the peanut butter so there was always a line of it on top, no matter how the pvc spun.  The obvious advantage is that it allows for multiple catches in one night, and is completely safe if pets are nearby. 

[Aegishjalmur]

I used these. Much cheaper than the tomcat brand that you usually see in stores.

https://www.amazon.com/Catchmaster-75M-Insect-Boards-75-Pack/dp/B005IMZ9TC/ref=asc_df_B005IMZ9TC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198092304429&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12553647851081527206&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1022494&hvtargid=pla-377952970495&psc=1

They worked pretty well, just put around any suspected paths they use. I didn't bother folding upto get the largest surface area. Not hazardous to your pets either though you may have the fun of chasing down ba cat with one stuck to them if they try to eat the mouse off of it. I would still prefer that to the mice though.....

[habanero]

Facing same type issue. Just thinking which option will be better rat poison or trap? I was reading this article today Best Rat Poison 2019(Do It Yourself & Avoid Expert Cost) and thinking to buy poison. What is your personal opinion?

Trap. If you use poison you run the risk of the fucker having time to get somewhere inside your wall before it dies where it will stay and eventually start to stink. A lot. And hard to pinpoint where. Different country, different customs, but where I live the pros are categorical on dont ever use poison for said reason. With traps you can also know when the problem is solved.

For bait go with peanut butter.

[Thriftybugger]

My two cents is you have to find out how they’re getting in. In my case it was a small space either side of the garage door they got into the garage then they got in to the house via the inside of the garage little buggers! I was a bit of a pussy and use live traps I think I caught  at least 10 of them and took them for a little drive into the hills and released them.

[Turnbull]

Facing same type issue. Just thinking which option will be better rat poison or trap? I was reading this article today Best Rat Poison 2019(Do It Yourself & Avoid Expert Cost) and thinking to buy poison. What is your personal opinion?

As a licensed falconer, I'm asking you to not use poison. As someone else in the thread has said, poisoned mice get eaten by raptors that proceed to die from the poison.

[NaN]

I'm dealing with mice in my home right now as well. It has a crawl space entrance that is not sealed very well. That is a high priority. A pro gave the previous owner a three year "warranty". He seemed pretty knowledgeable about holes and where mice can get in and was super attentive. He  sealed up quite a few spots for free. But the last thing he did was add the poison bait bars on a hanger near the crawl space entrance. He said the mice would eat it, get "really thirsty", and then exit the crawl space to go find water. After seeing the five bait bars gone in 1.5 weeks we started noticing sounds of mice in parts of the wall. I found also some green mouse droppings underneath a built in drawer set in the closet. I bought this "humane" trap and already caught one mouse which I relocated a mile away.  I have caught two mice with the standard victor trap. I am pretty sure these mice are new and I think they came in after the bait bars were added.
So there is a pro in my area who uses bait bars. I guess he doesn't mind it. Did it really get the mice out? I am not sure. I would probably want to stay clear of the poison. I've heard it is a moment of last resort. The traps can work.