Author Topic: Mice in the Walls  (Read 2159 times)

Ben

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Mice in the Walls
« on: November 18, 2021, 10:54:28 AM »
So this is a problem I never ran into in CA, but I guess it's pretty common in "real Winter" areas of the country. I've got at least one mouse inside my walls. Heard him scratching around last night when I got up to let Steve out.

I knew this could be an issue and had previously done what I thought was a thorough inspection around the outside of the house, making sure any areas where electric outlets are, the dryer vent, HVAC points, etc. were closed off, mostly using spray foam insulation. Obviously I missed something (maybe he got through the vinyl siding somewhere?). I guess all  they need is a dime-sized hole. I did a very thorough check inside the house this morning and saw no droppings or other evidence of a mouse actually inside the house, nor any entry points to the inside of the house, so he seems confined to inside the walls.

Anyways, any tips for how to get him (or them) outa there, dead or alive (preferably dead)?
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cordex

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2021, 11:10:23 AM »
When we bought our new house we tore out a couple of walls.  In one of them we found dozens of mouse skeletons and one from a rat, plus a couple recently dead mice that were well and truly overwhelming the air freshener that the seller had installed.  I guess they could get in through a bulkhead on one side of the wall but then fell down into the space between studs and could never get out.  After tearing out that wall and removing the bulkhead over the cabinets from the rest of the kitchen we haven't had another, but if we hadn't been planning on tearing that out I hate to think how we would have solved that.

Do you know which walls they are in?

Brad Johnson

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2021, 11:20:00 AM »
At the old house I spent almost twenty years backed up to a field. Fall always brought lots of mice looking to nest for winter. Best for me were a couple of old fashioned Victor traps in the attic. Bait with bits of raw bacon. The bacon can be pushed into the trigger claw enough that it's hard to remove. Any gnawing or nibbling by Sir Mickey should result in enough force to spring the trap. It was nothing to catch eight or ten a year. I would start putting traps out around mid October and check them weekly until mid-December. Sometimes I didn't have to wait. More than once I would set a trap, close the attic hatch, and hear a SNAP! before I even got out of the garage.

I used peanut butter with ho-hum results until I discovered the bacon method. Mice would come to traps baited with peanut butter, sure, but it wasn't unusual to find one licked clean and unsprung.

Brad
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WLJ

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2021, 11:22:10 AM »
Get
A
Cat

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Ben

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #4 on: November 18, 2021, 11:34:54 AM »

Do you know which walls they are in?

It looks like they are currently in the wall between the laundry room and a small hall. The laundry room shares a wall with the garage, so I'm wondering if they came in through the garage? I keep a couple of glue traps in the garage most all year, but haven't seen any caught mice in a couple of months.

The attic access is pretty much in the opposite end of the house from where I'm hearing them, so I'm unsure if they would migrate to the other side of the house for a baited trap or not, or if I want to even introduce them to the other parts of the house. There is an access panel in my master bedroom to the jacuzzi tub in the master bath. The former owner left a couple of poison traps there which I saw after I moved in. That's a good bit closer to where I'm hearing them, so it probably wouldn't hurt to put a trap there.

As for cats, I asked Barney if he wanted me to toss him in the attic to look for mice, and he told me to *expletive deleted*ck off.  =D
"I'm a foolish old man that has been drawn into a wild goose chase by a harpy in trousers and a nincompoop."

Brad Johnson

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #5 on: November 18, 2021, 11:47:11 AM »
Sounds like a good excuse to put a stair hatch in the garage. They're cheap and installation is pretty straight forward if you're reasonably handy with a screwdriver.

Brad
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Bogie

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #6 on: November 18, 2021, 11:58:49 AM »
Mice and rats cannot burp.
 
First heard that when I was on the farms, and then confirmed it with the vets at the labs.
 
And they LOVE them some coca-cola. The real stuff, not diet.
 
They'll crawl off somewhere to croak. Mice basically mummify - the rats, etc., would smell.
 
The regular snap traps work pretty well. I tried a roller on a bucket, and despite how great the videos said they are, no dice.
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French G.

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #7 on: November 18, 2021, 12:01:37 PM »
I just open the attic and toss in some poison bait. One night one was carrying on in the wall and I couldn’t sleep. Went to the attic and poured a fair amount of ammonia on the insulation approximately above the wall. All quiet on the western front. Steel wool is great for plugging holes.
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WLJ

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #8 on: November 18, 2021, 12:02:59 PM »

As for cats, I asked Barney if he wanted me to toss him in the attic to look for mice, and he told me to *expletive deleted*ck off.  =D

Well we now know who's the boss of that house :rofl:
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Ben

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #9 on: November 18, 2021, 12:08:25 PM »
Sounds like a good excuse to put a stair hatch in the garage. They're cheap and installation is pretty straight forward if you're reasonably handy with a screwdriver.

Brad

The garage ceiling is the floor for the upstairs bonus room, so that might be a hatch to nowhere.  =D
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K Frame

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #10 on: November 18, 2021, 12:13:13 PM »
If you've got one, you've got a BUNCH more.
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Ben

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #11 on: November 18, 2021, 12:14:22 PM »
I actually just now heard the little bastard again while sitting in my office. My office is at the other side of the small hall from the laundry room. This could get annoying. Maybe I'll just take the French suggestion and toss some poison in the attic and that access hatch and hope for the best.
"I'm a foolish old man that has been drawn into a wild goose chase by a harpy in trousers and a nincompoop."

RocketMan

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #12 on: November 18, 2021, 12:14:41 PM »
Detcord and fire.  It's the only way to be sure about getting rid of mice.
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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #13 on: November 18, 2021, 12:16:10 PM »
As for cats, I asked Barney if he wanted me to toss him in the attic to look for mice, and he told me to *expletive deleted*ck off.  =D

The standard cat response to pretty  much everything.
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MechAg94

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #14 on: November 18, 2021, 12:43:35 PM »
Do you bait the sticky traps? 

I haven't used it, but I understand the poison baits can be just tossed around now.  I would do that immediately as a start.  Traps after that. 

I replaced a shelving unit and cleaned up my garage last Spring.  Found a rat nest under the low shelf in the garage.  The rats were gone.  I thought I smelled something that Winter.  Bought a new shelf that has a wire shelf instead of particle board.  I need to replace my other two shelves also.  It took some time to clean up all the trash they left behind.
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WLJ

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #15 on: November 18, 2021, 12:52:19 PM »
With poison your walls are going to have a bunch of dead mice in them and with winter coming up airing out the smell may be a problem.
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K Frame

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #16 on: November 18, 2021, 12:52:54 PM »
I absolutely will not, under any circumstances, allow sticky traps to be used in my home.

When I had mice I told the exterminator that and he still put several out. I very politely blew up at him and made him remove them all and replace them with snap traps.
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lee n. field

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #17 on: November 18, 2021, 01:41:17 PM »
Another cat or two.

We've got 3 in the house now.  Mostly worthless and lazy, but haven't seen a mouse inside for a bunch of years. 
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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #18 on: November 18, 2021, 01:57:05 PM »
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

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lee n. field

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Ben

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #20 on: November 18, 2021, 02:16:40 PM »
With poison your walls are going to have a bunch of dead mice in them and with winter coming up airing out the smell may be a problem.

I might try one of the repellents first to see if I can drive them away.
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charby

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #21 on: November 18, 2021, 02:33:21 PM »
Iowa- 88% more livable that the rest of the US

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BobR

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #22 on: November 18, 2021, 03:26:07 PM »
I absolutely will not, under any circumstances, allow sticky traps to be used in my home.

When I had mice I told the exterminator that and he still put several out. I very politely blew up at him and made him remove them all and replace them with snap traps.

The last time I saw a (fake) sticky trap used was outside a Lowes. It was about 4'x6' and had a scantly clad girl wearing mouse ears lying on it and making the most god awful screaming noises. I offered to get her a burger because lying there in the cold screaming she needed to keep her strength up. Who knew those PETA types were so anti-beef eating. :)

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Ben

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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #23 on: November 18, 2021, 03:34:45 PM »
Baited snap traps, tin cat traps along the interior walls (house and garage) and bait stations outside. This is standard rodent control by pest control companies.

Tin cat https://www.amazon.com/iTrap-Multi-Catch-Clear-Humane-Repeater/dp/B00BLOMGY2/ref=asc_df_B00BLOMGY2/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198059943785&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15840716437550534332&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9017973&hvtargid=pla-514039277952&psc=1

I have already been doing traps in the garage and shop, running along the baseboards. Up until now, I've caught maybe a couple a year in the garage and a half dozen a year at most in the shop.

I have zero indication that mice are making it into the house proper, but at this point just for "better safe than sorry" I guess I will put a couple of traps in the house, maybe in the laundry room and just outside of it.

I did just do one of my most hated jobs and poke around the crawlspace. I saw mouse droppings near the hatch to it, which happens to be in the laundry room. I can't tell how old they are, but I guess I'll place a couple of traps down there as well. After seeing the droppings, I did a doublecheck of the laundry room, but cannot see any areas where they might enter into the house. I can see where they might get through the insulation in the crawlspace and maybe find their way into a wall while not having access to the interior of the house.

I have had zero mouse problems in the house up until now, so they've got to have some place they are gaining entry that I just can't find. I'm told they can get in through roof vents some times.
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Re: Mice in the Walls
« Reply #24 on: November 18, 2021, 03:41:00 PM »
poison. where the cats/dogs can't get it

 

 ""annoying" does not cover how bad it can get.

 use everything in the mice killing world you can.

 poison seemed to work the best for me, but there use everything.


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