Mice in rental apartment: what to do? (New York, York: apartments, how much)

[famresident]

I have seen mice running in our rental apartment. There are also small bugs running in the kitchen sink. We have asked the landlord for pest control service. They asked someone to put some powder poison in the kitchen. There are four dead mice found so far, but there are still mice and bugs running around every now and then.

What else could we possibly ask the landlord to do? Are mice and bugs commonly seen in Brooklyn apartments?

[allygory]

Mice and bugs are everywhere. And there are many many more of them than there are of us.
They are common to many residences if they are not kept out.

Keeping them out is the first order of business. I don't know what your landlord is required to do but what you can ask them to do is fill any holes in your apartment and hire professional extermination services on a repeat basis until the problem is solved.

You can also look for holes to plug (around radiators and baseboards are a good start), and also consider getting something to block 'drafts' under the door to the hallway or outside. those draft blockers often keep pests out. There are some over the counter pest control sprays that are useful for bugs that you can administer yourself as well. Ask at home depot or the hardware store for the good stuff.

Making your home less attractive to mice can be helpful. Food that comes in cardboard boxes should be transered to rubbermaid type tubs, or put in the fridge. Don't leave food on the counter, or in drawers in easily accessible packaging. If you see something they've been snacking on, or 'droppings' concentrated in one place do your best to remove temptation. (this is not a comment on yhour housekeeping, most of us don't double wrap our cereal until uninvited guests force our hands

As for the bugs in the sink its hard to know what to do about them without knowing what they are. Many insects are attracted to moisture (silverfish come to mind) so drying the sink after use may be helpful.

Poisioning mice is a very bad idea because you have no control over where they die. When they die in the walls it takes a while for the smell to die down. Try regular traps or, if all else fails, a cat.

[mgt04]

Yup allygory summed it up...especially in urban areas.

Step 1 to isolate mice and bigs out is like allygory said...plug up all points of penetration into your apartment. Also keep your apartment clean.

Step 2: For mice, lay down sticky traps in corners where they may still be able to get in. When you catch one you can just throwaway the sticky trap. Also buy peppermint oil. Soak a cotton ball in the oil and drop it on the floor near possible holes where they can get in. This will deter the mice from entering your unit...they can't stand the strong smell. Every week and a half or so, change out the cotton ball and do it again with a fresh one. It may get annoying for you to keep doing this but its way better than the alternative. And it really does work.

For roaches, lay down boric acid. Get a bottle that has it so it "sprays" out in dust form. Again put it near all possible points where roaches may get in. Also put it around all the edges and corners of your apartment. I'm not gonna lie, you may still get cockroaches but they will usually be near death or dying if they've passed through the boric acid. They'll come out even in the light desperate for water.

After doing all this I will pretty much guarantee you that you will see a much lower frequency of these pests than you are now.

[SHEPNYC]

You now have New York City Pets!

Enjoy!

[SeventhFloor]

mice hate peppermint oil. put a few drops on a cotton ball and dab around all open holes before you plug them up, and the corners.

[famresident]

Thanks for all the replies and useful info! I just did not know how much I could bug the landlord before getting kicked out of the apt so I need to get a feeling how others deal with such issues. The peppermind method sounds great and I may well give it a try by myself. Thanks again!