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There is no need to kill or even capture them if you block their path. Firstly, get a can of spray foam. The kind used for sealing cracks, holes, or anywhere that has drafts. Seel the space under the molding with it. Secondly, pull your stove out from the wall and check the opening that facilitates the gas conduit or whatever its called. The hole usually has more space than needed and this is a favorite entryway for rodents. Take some steel wool and stuff it in the hole. Mice cannot chew through it. Look for any other holes and seal.
I have battling some small mice getting into the building for a couple years now...and you can't win, at least not in NYC. I keep the basement baited with poison, and it is always eaten or nibbled on. I have caught several small mice...no rats thankfully. You can't keep them out no matter what you do...they find a way in. Having a cat is the best/easiest way to keep them under control/out. Other than that..you just have to stay on top of it.
I've done almost everything humanly possible to kill the rodents that were getting into my place. I have no qualms about killing those as you put it "cute little mouse" yuk! Excuse the language but kill the little mofos!
They are nasty disease carrying property destroying constant clean-up making surges of the earth. Ain't nothing cute about that. I hate them. I wish I could let loose some snakes on their butts if the snakes wouldn't then become a problem.
When I first moved in they used my apartment repeatedly. Their most active times were at dawn and late at night when I turned off the lights. I could hear them climbing on my pots and pans underneath the sink until I moved them.
After catching some via the old fashioned spring traps and sealing holes around the apartment I mistakenly thought the problem solved. I even bought a battery operated electrified trap. They just got smarter. Droppings were left in places I hardly would look or get to. Usually you can discover their path by the greasy dirt they leave behind, like around corners of your woodwork. Mine was a very small space between the sink and wall which they used as a path to get under the stove to keep warm (I found evidence of this when I saw the insulation of the stove down in the broiler area).
Follow Moth's advice. Look for holes everywhere, high and low, anything jutting from the wall and next to it and under it. Use a mirror for hard to see places. I found they were still getting in with holes right underneath the edges of shelves in the closets. I used foam in some places and a combo of steel wool and plaster in others to make sure they didn't try to chew through the plaster without a painful mouthful of steel wool to discourage them chewing altogether to get in again.
Ohiogirl, they're probably not hanging out in your apartment. I doubt they want to see what's on tv. lol They're coming for what they can eat or gnaw on. When you see them passing behind places like your dresser they're only using it for cover in order to get from point A to point B in order to dodge you and get to the prize or back out. It's amazing how these things work, but I watched a program on a study about them. They put two different foods in a maze in two different directions and released one mouse. It went to the more favorable food then returned to the other mouse. The other mouse smelled the snout of the 1st mouse and took the same path leading to the more favorable food. They showed how mice able to transmit to each other within the nest the safest path of where to find food where the other mice never have been!
Oh, and they don't always have to use your front door to get in and out. There's some hole(s) in your apartment you haven't discovered yet, trust me.
I'm not really concerned. But he is a cute mouse and I am sad to see him meet his end by either poison, sticky, or smashing.
Get over it. They're not "cute" as you put it. They're vermin, and should be treated as such. Definitely get an exterminator involved ASAP. As a last resort, you should get a cat, which will certainly take care of the issue.
I can't understand why some people think mouse are cute in any sort
of way. They are disgusting! Even the cartoon mouse are not cute,
I always wanted Tom the cat to kill that SOB Jerry the mouse when I
was a kid.
My family used to live in an old apartment building in Ridgewood, and
we have a big mouse problem. After we killed them off (usually around
6-7) There would be another group coming in 2-3 months. They always
come back in waves. There were just too many holes and cracks to
shut them out of this old building.
I remember putting a pepsi can in one of the holes near the kitchen
corner one time, only to discover they chew through the aluminum
can 2-3 weeks later. I hate them with a passion! Kill them all!
and make bizarre noises when i run from one. but when there are other people present who are scared of them, I will act brave and unruffled. go figure!
If you are squeamish about a little blood and do not want to use a Victor Mouse trap to snap the little varmint's neck, I suggest a swimming lesson:
Get a five gallon plastic bucket,
drill a hole on each side of the bucket about 3 inches down from the top rim,
get a wooden dowl or small steel rod, (length = diameter of bucket + 3 inches)
get an empty beer or soda can,
punch a hole in the bottom of the can,
from outside of bucket, slide wooden dowl or rod through one hole in the bucket, through the empty can, then through the hole on opposite side of bucket,
position can in the center of the bucket,
smear a little peanut butter on the can,
add 1-2 gallons of water to the bucket,
lay a narrow board from the floor against the rim of the bucket to provide a ramp for the furry disease-ridden critter, ( use a bit of tape to secure the board at the rim of the bucket).
Result - the varmint will walk up the ramp to find his way to the captivating scent of peanut butter, take a gander at the lump of peanut butter just inches away, scurry across the rod like a skilled circus tight-rope walker, then jump on the can which will spin, resulting in a wet rodent which suddenly finds himself in a very precarious situation with no means of escape.
disclaimer - this swimming lesson is not endorsed by the YMCA or PETA...
Last edited by varmintblaster; 08-21-2010 at 03:18 PM..
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I skeeve them
