Louisville Restaurants Forum

So apparently we have mice in our house. We found droppings in our kitchen last night. I'm horrified/disgusted and want to take care of the problem ASAP. My husband and I are from Texas and mice aren't really a problem there. So, we don't really know how to proceed. We have 2 large dogs, so getting a cat isn't an option, ha. We called a few pest control companies but it sounds like they just come out and set traps for you and/or set poisonous bait. Should we just set our own traps or leave it to the professionals?

Sara, I can't offer much help from personal experience. I'm sure our cats would enjoy a few such fun toys, but happily, that hasn't become an issue.

I hope others can offer you more direct experience-based advice, but meanwhile, I googled and found this one fairly comprehensive page, which is published by Illinois state government and might be more trustworthy than a company that's trying to sell rodent-protection services.

http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/pchousemouse.htm

We had an infestation last year due to clear cutting of a nearby area that apparently was their home and an previously unknown opening in our foundation. Like the link Robin posted said, seal up the holes. Look around your foundation, doors and windows for openings. Pick traps or bait, whichever you are comfortable with, to put around where the dogs cannot get them. Then a thorough cleaning of the areas you found evidence and everything around them. I used PineSol, I read they do not like the smell. I also put cottonballs soaked with peppermint oil in the cabinets. Apparently they do not like that smell either and it smells better than PineSol. They did go away, but you have to be vigilant. Good luck!

Thank you both for the helpful information! I've calmed down since the initial discovery (threats of burning the house down were thrown out there, ha ha) and I think we at least have some direction now.

Thought I'd share a bit of an update...

My husband, forever a softie, went to Horton's and bought several "humane" traps (the mouse is captured and then you release it back into nature) and set them out yesterday afternoon. He then left to teach a class. Around 6 or 7 last night I started hearing a bunch of racket under the sink. I figured a mouse had gotten into the trap and, in an effort to escape, was moving the trap around causing it to bump into the items we have stored under there. It went on for 2 or 3 hours. Finally, my husband got home and I begged him to at least take the trap outside and he can release the mouse in the morning (away from our house). He agreed. He went into the kitchen, opened the cabinets under the sink to retrieve the trap and said, "Uh-oh." I asked what was going on and he said the mouse ATE THROUGH THE PLASTIC trap and had escaped! Sigh. There were shards of plastic all over the bottom of the cabinet and there was a huge hole in the trap.

So, now we'll move on to plan B...no more "Mr. Nice Guy."

Get the plastic snap traps.. bait them with Peanut butter and maybe a little birdseed on top. Put them next to walls , in cabinets etc. Wherever you think the mice are prowling. Check them daily and keep rebaiting them, go around the foundation and doors and seal up any dime sized holes. You can stuff holes with steel wool and it will keep them from getting in. You can lay out Decon, which will kill them but they will die in the walls sometimes and stink for months, plus its poisonous to the dogs. Traps are better. They always try to get inside as the weather cools off.

Gary Guss wrote:Get the plastic snap traps.. bait them with Peanut butter and maybe a little birdseed on top. Put them next to walls , in cabinets etc. Wherever you think the mice are prowling. Check them daily and keep rebaiting them, go around the foundation and doors and seal up any dime sized holes. You can stuff holes with steel wool and it will keep them from getting in. You can lay out Decon, which will kill them but they will die in the walls sometimes and stink for months, plus its poisonous to the dogs. Traps are better. They always try to get inside as the weather cools off.

Check for space around any pipes coming into the house as well. You would be amazed how little room it takes for a wee mouse to make it in. We had one make it up from our cellar by coming up through the tiny space around a pipe for our washing machine water supply. We stuffed steel wool around the pipes and haven't seen another mouse. But, let me tell you, that was a gloriously happy day for our indoor cat.