Summary:
When you find evidence of a mouse or mice, it's time to take action. Here's some information that will help you catch these rodent pests in no time.
It's fairly natural to think your entire house is infested with mice when you discover your first mouse hiding in your pantry. When that little fellow jumps off the shelf and runs across your foot you feel totally violated. What nerve that mouse has fouling your fresh, clean shelves. Sort of makes you want to clear out the entire house and start over fresh.
Before you back up the dump truck to your back door however, let's understand how a mouse is likely to operate should one gain entry to your fortress. We know mice have poor eyesight and are somewhat timid in new surroundings. So, let's assume it has not gained the confidence to travel much more than fifteen to twenty-five feet from its nest.
That small radius is about all that mouse really needs to satisfy its need to explore during its entire lifetime.
Armed with that information you need to discover where that mouse might be nesting. So, what does a mouse nest look like?
Look for a tight little pile of torn up paper and cellophane, string, cotton and other miscellaneous bits and pieces of stuff. It should also have lots of little mouse droppings mixed in, a sure sign of a mouse home.
Once you locate the nesting materials you will know exactly where to lay out your mouse traps and how many traps to put out.
We suggest purchasing a couple dozen small mouse snap traps and placing them out all along the walls of the entire room where the nest or fresh droppings were found. Be sure to place the traps directly flush against the baseboards. Mice normally like to travel along walls to “feel” their way around a room.
There is no reason to place traps in every room when you understand the size of the roaming territory of the average mouse. This little bit of information will most like result in a fast catch and problem resolution.
Comments
Lauren
24 Sep 2009, 10:18
For the first time I saw a mouse a few nights ago in my house. It ran all
over the place as my husband tried to catch it to no avail. We
immediately got mouse traps and filled them with chunky peanut butter. The
traps have gone untouched so I thought maybe it had left the house, until
last night where I am certain that I heard it in my vent. I have noticed a
lot of insulation floating to the tops of our vents. Are they nesting in my
vent? Please help me out here. I can't even sleep anymore.
Catherine
20 Oct 2009, 20:08
I live in a typical 4-bed semi. Today the childminder saw a small mouse in
the living room while it was quiet and the little ones were sleeping
upstairs. Tonight, I saw a small mouse in my bedroom but it ran out before
i could corner. Bearing in mind what you said about a mouse not straying to
far from its nest- does this mean that the mouse in the bedroom is one of
many? Or is it the same mouse? I have 4 young kids and I'm terrified that
it may come into contact with them. What to do? Wire mesh over the external
vents, poison, traps? Help?
alisha
26 Oct 2009, 13:28
my house has mice again. everytime this year i get them but not like i have
now. they are so nasty and i dont even want to stay in my home over them.
i live out in the country in an older home. and they are in every room of
my house. usually they are only found in one or two rooms. but now i can
say i have seen mice in every room and seen droppings. I want to sell this
place and get out of here. i cant describe the way i feel right now. i was
sitting on the couch heard something making noise under my butt and a mouse
just plops up beside me, on the couch. later that night it crawled up next
to my husbands head, wtf! i clean, disinfect, use steam mop on floors. i
cant even clean fast enough, the droppings are everywhere. i dont see mice
during the day though. i have tons of clutter, boxes in closets, 10
toyboxes in the play room. up until last wk they never could get into my
cuboards but they now have entered those! super news! i hate mice and i
need help i have tried everything. i have caught 6 in the last wk on sticky
traps! i am renting a storage facility and removing clutter this weekend!
please help w advice i cant live like this
Miranda
05 Nov 2009, 13:55
I live in a double wide manufactured home and it's located near a ditch and
a field in a poor neighborhood(i.e. where everyone doesn't mow and has
junk). We keep having mice come in to the stove and even make their way to
the rooms but they seem to come in through the heating system and I don't
know how to get to the area to clean where I suspect their nest is. I
caught 7 mice so far. When I turn on the heat I can smell their feces and
urine. Does that mean I have to replace the ducts or can they be cleaned
and disinfected?
Ask the Exterminator
05 Nov 2009, 14:25
You MUST post your questions in the proper location. Read the bold, red
notice!
Kristen
08 Nov 2009, 23:02
for the past week, at night when im laying in my bed i've heard scratching
noises coming from under my dresser and my closet. i have not seen any mice
or evidence that there could be mice.
i am so scared! do you think these noises could be mice? and should i put
traps out?
Leanne
10 Nov 2009, 11:47
I've had a lot of success with snap traps if I use a hunk of Slim Jim as
bait. The little buggers have to give it a good tug to get it off & that
sets off the trap.
kiarra mack
11 Nov 2009, 13:25
well i just moved into a nu house. so far I caught 4 mice with a sticky
trap...we gotta big prob! I hear them in the wall at night.....we need an
exterminator asap!
