This is embarrassing to admit but I have mice in the walls of my house.(so far only in the bathroom where we hear them) Wisconsin has been a "normal" winter and the mice have run for cover. They started out in my basement (typical), moved to my attic, where we caught them in both places. Now they are scratching between the walls and it is driving me NUTS! I have NO idea where they enter but I just know those varmints are laughing at me behind the security of the wall! Most likely come spring they will go back outside but I sure would like a little (no, ALOT) of revenge. Need your help !! Thanks

-- Pat (mikulptrc@aol.com), March 13, 2001

Answers

They are probally coming up from the basement along pipes .Get one of those metal box traps and put it in the basement. OR i can send you some cats .

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), March 13, 2001.

Get a can or two of the expanding foam. Then go into the basement and apply it around any holes where pipes so up to the upper levels. I had mice in my mobile home until I did this around the pipes for my sinks.

For mice out in my garage/shop where I store feed, to solve the problem I acquired two cats. No longer have mice, but not I have the care and feeding of two cats. I think traps would have been cheaper.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), March 13, 2001.

Pat,

I know how you feel. When we moved into this old house a couple of years ago, the place was a varitable mouse fortress. After having a few dozen brazen mice walk accross the floor right in front of me, I secured for myself a used cat. She has done an extremely remarkable job, hunting every single mouse down and now she has to do most of her hunting outside. We have not seen a single mouse for a few monthes, but when one unfortunite moves in, the cat is on them. No more mice in the walls, on the stairs, accross the floors, or leaving mouse "seeds" in my kitchen drawers. I would suggest getting at least a single cat, and let her (FEMALES ARE SUPERIOR MOUSERS) hunt in and out-of-doors for maximum efficiency.

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@Excite.com), March 13, 2001.

Everyone seems to be advising you to get a cat. I can't be around them....I'm very allergic to cats. I've had this problem with mice and with squirrels(rats with fluffy tails). Toss several packages of rat poison up in your attic. Plug up all holes you can find especially around pipes...I have the best luck with shoving steel wool in holes. They chew through just about anything else. After you have got rid of them toss some moth balls up in the attic to discourage them from coming back.

-- Amanda in Mo (aseley@townsqr.com), March 13, 2001.

Pat, sorry for your troubles. Ken and Amanda have the right idea, with foaming up around pipes, wires and conduit where they pass through the walls. Also check around the outside perimeter of your house: check exterior corner moulding, bend over and look up under the siding at those sort of places. Mice can jump STRAIGHT UP a height of 2 to 2 1/2 feet, and can compress-fit their skull through holes the diameter of a #2 pencil. They can easily fit under MOST doorsills. If a hole is smaller than 1/4", the foam should suffice. If larger, stuff the steel wool in there and foam it into place. For 2" or so holes, I usually clip out a little chunk of chicken wire (it's heavier duty, and will hold shape better) and roll it and crush it into the shape of the hole. USE LEATHER GLOVES or you'll poke a hole in yourself from the sharp wire. The foam will expand all through that wire. Mice LOVE to nest under refrigerators, because the motor keeps it nice and warm. Glue-type or peanut butter traps will work well in that area. Rutgers had a seminar, where they put two mice (male & female) in a plexiglas room with a pallet of grain. Then they monitored their activities. In 100 days time, they actually counted out 132 mice. The professor elaborated further, that in ONE YEAR, under IDEAL CONDITIONS, the population should exceed 15,000 mice. He reiterated that that is NOT fifteen HUNDRED, but fifteen THOUSAND! We had two baby goats, yesterday, for all our farm efforts. Those 15,000 mice make me wonder if we should be farming rodents for labs... Wonder what mice GO FOR at today's prices?... I should mention, that although rodenticides work well in most cases, there have been times when I've had to RIP OPEN A WALL, with claw hammer to remove the stinky things. (Sometimes a whole family!) xxxxxxx Good luck with yours.

-- The Action Dude (theactiondude@yahoo.com), March 13, 2001.

Action Dude:

Yes, people actually raise mice for sale to pet stores as snake feed. Either live or frozen in egg cartons. I'm not sure, but I think someone told me they were something like $6 per dozen retail.

At one time tame large brown Norwegian rats were fad pets.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), March 13, 2001.

We have them in our walls too. I'm alergic to them, and can smell them very strongly by some of the walls. we've had several stray cats come around to hunt the mice, but I wish the cats would go away! Why? Because the cats can't go into the walls, nooks and crannies after the mice. Weasels can, and we usually have weasels move into our house and barn every winter and they clean out the mice in a hurry. The weasels mind their own business, have never harmed us or any of the livestock, when the mice are all gone the weasels move out again. now that the cats are here I don't see the weasels anymore. We have tried traps,and mashed potato flakes(with some success), but the weasels were the best!

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 13, 2001.

Action Dude, We sell them for $1.49 each at our pet store. Wouldn't want to raise them though, they smell even under good conditions.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), March 13, 2001.

Don't be embarrassed as most old farmhouses have mice in the walls! We do! we had a mother have babies in the walls and all five babies played on my kitchen floor while Tippy the cat watched them. He has no hunting instincts. We used those disgusting sticky traps cause the babies slipped through the regular traps. Since, we keep traps in the basement, under the dishwasher and behind the stove. I hear them in the walls sometimes, but since we now have Brat the cat who hunts anything, they don't try to get in the house. Use any and all the above ideas because they aren't going away.

-- Ardie from WI (a6203@hotmail.com), March 13, 2001.

As long as you are careful not to touch the stuff, and put it where no pets or children can get it, use decon. It works, and if the mice do die inside the wall they won't smell because the stuff literally mummifies them. The only other solutions I know of personally are way to toxic for use inside a building.

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), March 13, 2001.

Thanks for all the great ideas !! I am going to check in the basement and see what kind of spaces there are with the plumbing. We have several traps already set but can't catch them all. I never heard about any expanding foam but will certainly look for it. But first I have to snow blow the second driveway so I can get hay in the barn. It NEVER fails, I always run out of hay when we have a snow storm!! thanks again, Pat

-- Pat (mikulptrc@aol.com), March 13, 2001.

The mice will seek water after being poisoned. So if you use Decon be prepared for finding a mouse floating in the toilet. I'll take the pleasure of hearing a trap snap over fishing a mouse out of the toilet in the middle of the night!

-- Barb (mbliss@net-port.com), March 13, 2001.

Everybody suggested cats and thats great and all but another thing to try is a little contraption that they sell usually in pest riddance area of stores. It plugs into the electrical outlet and makes a noised undetectable to a person but drives mice crazy. My mother took up bird breeding and we had 10 aviaries in our back yard. The mice found our place in no time with all that extra bird food. They didn't bother us until they moved indoors, thats when we bought those things. My mom has not seen a mouse since. Good Luck! kim

-- Kim Ames (kountrygirl27@aol.com), March 14, 2001.

rock wool makes a good packing to discourage rodents. rock wool is the insulation made from fiberglass that itches like heck when you get it on your skin. rodents hate to get it in their mouths. pack it liberally into the entry holes. it also keeps the cold wind out.

-- paul mccloud (vonmantik@yahoo.com), March 19, 2001.