Author Topic: MICE!  (Read 1378 times)

Jon Bon

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MICE!
« on: October 29, 2018, 12:01:37 PM »
Every year when the weather starts to turn I get furry friends in a few houses I have. Every year I spend $300 bucks or so for a treatment. Guy shows up and spreads a little poison to kill the buggers. Total time about 15 mins.  This year I just bought some poison at lowes and placed it myself, it might have been $5.  I have also learned that most tenants tend to view the treatment as a piece of mind issue, they assume the professional will do a good job.

Is this a good idea? Or I am setting myself up for a bad infestation?


nereo

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Re: MICE!
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2018, 01:54:09 PM »
Poison will only kill a subset of the mice which get inside.   It's treating the symptoms, and not the cause. Plus, you wind up with dead mice behind your walls slowly mummifying away.

Figure out what's attracting the mice into your units in the first place. Eliminate as many points of entry as possible with caulk and spray foam (mice can fit into any crack big enough to poke a standard pencil through).  Cut brush back around your foundation and secure anything that can become mouse food (trash cans, pet food, recycling).

Jon Bon

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Re: MICE!
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2018, 02:33:49 PM »
Poison will only kill a subset of the mice which get inside.   It's treating the symptoms, and not the cause. Plus, you wind up with dead mice behind your walls slowly mummifying away.

Figure out what's attracting the mice into your units in the first place. Eliminate as many points of entry as possible with caulk and spray foam (mice can fit into any crack big enough to poke a standard pencil through).  Cut brush back around your foundation and secure anything that can become mouse food (trash cans, pet food, recycling).

Yeah 2 years ago I crawled in the nightmarish crawl space and under the deck hitting cracks with pest block, did not really seam to have an effect. Old house, field stone foundation.  The deck attached to the house is probably how they are getting in, but not really pulling that off either of course.

I guess I will just see how this goes, I feel mice are probably the easiest thing to get rid of.

nereo

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Re: MICE!
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2018, 03:52:13 PM »
Poison will only kill a subset of the mice which get inside.   It's treating the symptoms, and not the cause. Plus, you wind up with dead mice behind your walls slowly mummifying away.

Figure out what's attracting the mice into your units in the first place. Eliminate as many points of entry as possible with caulk and spray foam (mice can fit into any crack big enough to poke a standard pencil through).  Cut brush back around your foundation and secure anything that can become mouse food (trash cans, pet food, recycling).

Yeah 2 years ago I crawled in the nightmarish crawl space and under the deck hitting cracks with pest block, did not really seam to have an effect. Old house, field stone foundation.  The deck attached to the house is probably how they are getting in, but not really pulling that off either of course.

I guess I will just see how this goes, I feel mice are probably the easiest thing to get rid of.

in that case its probably a never ending battle.  I lived in a similar structure and plugging holes was a seasonal chore.  You'll never be rid of them, especially if the grounds around the house support mice as well (in a single year two mice can give rise to 60 mice; in two years that number can grow to over a thousand.) - but you can limit their entry points and knock their numbers back periodically

Cats were my solution - the indoor/outdoor variety from the SPCA.  Probably not a viable option for a rental though.


diapasoun

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Re: MICE!
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2018, 03:57:06 PM »
Poison will only kill a subset of the mice which get inside.   It's treating the symptoms, and not the cause. Plus, you wind up with dead mice behind your walls slowly mummifying away.

Figure out what's attracting the mice into your units in the first place. Eliminate as many points of entry as possible with caulk and spray foam (mice can fit into any crack big enough to poke a standard pencil through).  Cut brush back around your foundation and secure anything that can become mouse food (trash cans, pet food, recycling).

This. We had rats and mice in the rental I live in (an 1880s Victorian that had the sub-floor exposed while the landlord was working on the front steps... ack). What worked was eliminating points of entry (the exterminator we had used steel wool to stuff some holes around the foundation instead of caulk/form, since rats and mice won't usually chew on steel wool to re-open the hole). Look around your foundation, and your roof as well; if you see little smudge marks you're definitely seeing an entry point. If you have roof access point, you may need to check about cutting tree branches, blocking wires, etc in addition to eliminating entry points.

Once we had that dealt with, trapping the mice and such was easy. We used regular traps, not poison, as we didn't want to deal with the mummified mice issue + we had a cat (plus it's friendlier to neighborhood cats, owls, and other creatures that may try to finish off a poisoned mouse). We haven't had mice in months.

It sounds like your foundation may be a bit trickier than ours. However, persistence will pay off -- even just reducing the number of entry points will likely make it easier on you in the long run, and I suspect your renters will appreciate your hard effort, too.

Jon Bon

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Re: MICE!
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2018, 04:00:01 PM »
Poison will only kill a subset of the mice which get inside.   It's treating the symptoms, and not the cause. Plus, you wind up with dead mice behind your walls slowly mummifying away.

Figure out what's attracting the mice into your units in the first place. Eliminate as many points of entry as possible with caulk and spray foam (mice can fit into any crack big enough to poke a standard pencil through).  Cut brush back around your foundation and secure anything that can become mouse food (trash cans, pet food, recycling).

Yeah 2 years ago I crawled in the nightmarish crawl space and under the deck hitting cracks with pest block, did not really seam to have an effect. Old house, field stone foundation.  The deck attached to the house is probably how they are getting in, but not really pulling that off either of course.

I guess I will just see how this goes, I feel mice are probably the easiest thing to get rid of.

in that case its probably a never ending battle.  I lived in a similar structure and plugging holes was a seasonal chore.  You'll never be rid of them, especially if the grounds around the house support mice as well (in a single year two mice can give rise to 60 mice; in two years that number can grow to over a thousand.) - but you can limit their entry points and knock their numbers back periodically

Cats were my solution - the indoor/outdoor variety from the SPCA.  Probably not a viable option for a rental though.

Yeah one side does have a cat, and they are terrified of mice on that side, so that is something I guess?

Listing something like this: Nice 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment, very cat friendly. So friendly it comes with a Maine coon cat. Goes by the name Mouseslayer. Serious inquiries only.



tralfamadorian

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Re: MICE!
« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2018, 05:04:21 PM »
Cats were my solution - the indoor/outdoor variety from the SPCA.  Probably not a viable option for a rental though.

I actually have a rental with a persistent seasonal mouse issue. I started advertising as pet friendly but restricted to <20lbs due to size of property (it is tiny) and voila! Almost all the applicants had a cat.