The Perils of a Basement Studio . . .

mel · 05-25-2010, 03:38 PM

Originally posted by philbaum

Ah Mel,

We went through the grass seed syndrone as well. I had a coupla bags in the garage and it took me several weeks after we found the first mouse in one of our upstairs bedrooms, before i finally found their nest in the garage, dug into the dirt around a utility access. I filled it in with concrete.

It was perhaps 2 or 3 months before i got rid of the last one. It was a toss up as to whether my wife and I were going to abandon the house to the mice or we were going to win. I just used the old spring traps because they were the cheapest.

A guy at work told me that if you see one mouse, there are 20 more around the house. He was totally wrong. The last one i killed was #34.

There is nothing cute about mice - you have to make up your mind that this is all about war. For those who think of them as cute, cleaning up the mouse droppings and pee that start to appear around the house will quickly change your mind.

Like some have reported, i would occasionally see 2 greedy mice in a trap at the same time. I didn't like to touch them very much eitiher, so often would throw them out with the trap in the garbage and buy new traps.

They very likely have a den in your house somewhere, eventually you will find it and eliminate it. The garage, if you have one, is probably the number one suspect area. As far as i know, they like to nest in the ground.

I don't think you want to poison them with things like DECON. They tend to eat, feel sick and crawl away into areas you cannot reach. The smell afterwards is tremendous. Much better to use a trap that you have access to.

Good luck and keep on trapping.

Thanks for the advice. I DID find one nest. It was in my lighting bag.

r0ckstarr · 05-26-2010, 05:10 PM

A can of spray paint and a cigarette lighter usually does the job.

lithos · 05-27-2010, 09:51 AM

You Tube

Food for thought. I think this was out at Moree.

What they don't show in that video is the flamethrowers.

PeterAM · 05-27-2010, 12:20 PM

Mice (and rats) can squeeze through spaces that you would never think they could get through. Every few years or so I get some in the house and the only thing that gets rid of them is the stuff that the pro exterminators use; they claim that it causes them to exit after they eat it, in an attempt to get fresh air and then die outside. Don't know if that's true, but it seems to work. Cold and wet will cause them to come in.

There is an ultrasonic noise gizmo that supposedly chases them out, but I have no idea how well they work. When I had a cat or two, I would find half a mouse somewhere (actually worse than a whole one in a trap) or the cat would play with one until it beat it to death.

falconeye · 05-27-2010, 12:58 PM

Originally posted by mel

I wish I wasn't allergic to cats or I'd have one of those be down there all the time.

Haha.
I live in the city but my office (a house) is all rural half way to the mountains. Because I don't live there we have no cat. But the neighbor's cat Luna comes regularly to visit us and once inside, exhaustively inspects all corners with special emphasis on the cellar and heating installation. We never had mice.

What I cannot say for my city housing. I once had mice and needed to construct my own super-sensitive trap because the commercial ones always were void of bait and mouse the next morning

Once I caught the mother it was easy to catch the infants too. But this mother animal was surprisingly hard to catch. Much harder than in a rural place I guess

Side note ...

I carried mice to the park in a bucket to let'em free. Since they tried to jump out, I started to rotate the bucket so centrifugal force would keep'em in. Once in the park, I reversed the bucket and expected them to run away immediately. Nothing! After a couple of minutes only the started moving slowly, then more quickly, turning left and right with a vague heading towards the next tree. Obviously completely disoriented after the rotation. Would have made for a great movie scene

Class A · 05-29-2010, 03:54 AM

Presuming you don't want to carry the mice out in a bucket, you might want to try the Rat Zapper. Works for mice too. In contrast to the snap traps its a clean affair and you don't have to touch the mice.

05-27-2010, 12:58 PM	#50
falconeye Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Munich, Alps, Germany Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,871	Originally posted by mel I wish I wasn't allergic to cats or I'd have one of those be down there all the time. Haha. I live in the city but my office (a house) is all rural half way to the mountains. Because I don't live there we have no cat. But the neighbor's cat Luna comes regularly to visit us and once inside, exhaustively inspects all corners with special emphasis on the cellar and heating installation. We never had mice. What I cannot say for my city housing. I once had mice and needed to construct my own super-sensitive trap because the commercial ones always were void of bait and mouse the next morning Once I caught the mother it was easy to catch the infants too. But this mother animal was surprisingly hard to catch. Much harder than in a rural place I guess Side note ... I carried mice to the park in a bucket to let'em free. Since they tried to jump out, I started to rotate the bucket so centrifugal force would keep'em in. Once in the park, I reversed the bucket and expected them to run away immediately. Nothing! After a couple of minutes only the started moving slowly, then more quickly, turning left and right with a vague heading towards the next tree. Obviously completely disoriented after the rotation. Would have made for a great movie scene Last edited by falconeye; 05-27-2010 at 01:13 PM.

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05-25-2010, 03:38 PM	#46
mel Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Virginia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,531 Original Poster	Originally posted by philbaum Ah Mel, We went through the grass seed syndrone as well. I had a coupla bags in the garage and it took me several weeks after we found the first mouse in one of our upstairs bedrooms, before i finally found their nest in the garage, dug into the dirt around a utility access. I filled it in with concrete. It was perhaps 2 or 3 months before i got rid of the last one. It was a toss up as to whether my wife and I were going to abandon the house to the mice or we were going to win. I just used the old spring traps because they were the cheapest. A guy at work told me that if you see one mouse, there are 20 more around the house. He was totally wrong. The last one i killed was #34. There is nothing cute about mice - you have to make up your mind that this is all about war. For those who think of them as cute, cleaning up the mouse droppings and pee that start to appear around the house will quickly change your mind. Like some have reported, i would occasionally see 2 greedy mice in a trap at the same time. I didn't like to touch them very much eitiher, so often would throw them out with the trap in the garbage and buy new traps. They very likely have a den in your house somewhere, eventually you will find it and eliminate it. The garage, if you have one, is probably the number one suspect area. As far as i know, they like to nest in the ground. I don't think you want to poison them with things like DECON. They tend to eat, feel sick and crawl away into areas you cannot reach. The smell afterwards is tremendous. Much better to use a trap that you have access to. Good luck and keep on trapping. Thanks for the advice. I DID find one nest. It was in my lighting bag.

05-26-2010, 05:10 PM	#47
r0ckstarr Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Texas Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,507	A can of spray paint and a cigarette lighter usually does the job.

05-27-2010, 12:20 PM	#49
PeterAM Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Litchfield, CT Posts: 539	Mice (and rats) can squeeze through spaces that you would never think they could get through. Every few years or so I get some in the house and the only thing that gets rid of them is the stuff that the pro exterminators use; they claim that it causes them to exit after they eat it, in an attempt to get fresh air and then die outside. Don't know if that's true, but it seems to work. Cold and wet will cause them to come in. There is an ultrasonic noise gizmo that supposedly chases them out, but I have no idea how well they work. When I had a cat or two, I would find half a mouse somewhere (actually worse than a whole one in a trap) or the cat would play with one until it beat it to death.

05-29-2010, 03:54 AM	#51
Class A Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 11,251	Presuming you don't want to carry the mice out in a bucket, you might want to try the Rat Zapper. Works for mice too. In contrast to the snap traps its a clean affair and you don't have to touch the mice.