Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Eeeek!
On Sunday, we discovered that mice have recently invaded our pantry! After dumping probably a third of the food that was in there and cleaning it up, we set a trap with some peanut butter. We also sealed up all the holes we could find in the pantry. Yesterday we checked the trap, and all the peanut butter had been licked off, but the trap was still set!
Then I did some exploring to figure out where else they could be coming in from. DH found a poop inside the dishwasher, which he had just run. That led to me finding poops under the kitchen sink.
I reset two traps, one in the pantry, and one under the sink -- this time smearing on the peanut butter better, and adding a chunk of candy to add some "heft" that I hoped a mouse might try to drag off, setting the trap.
And, what do you know... when I checked this morning the one under the sink had been munched on (although most of the candy and peanut butter are still there)!
Can anyone suggest traps/bait that are more effective for crafty/clever mice? I used peanut butter in my old condo, and caught 6 mice in 2 days... but those were easy compared to these critters!
Re: Eeeek!
This is gross but we bought the sticky traps that they get stuck too. We caught on it in our garage. It was gross because you could hear it trying to get off.
I'm not sure if i would recomend those in your pantry or under sick though.
My boss has used some that she got at Ace hardware store. It is one that they can climb into but can't get out of. Put some kind of food in there and they go try to get it but then they get trapped. She said it works good, and I don't think you can see them, but you would know if they got caught.
Ugh...we always get a few in the garage this time of year...I hate rodents! A few things that have worked for us:
Buy bigger traps - specifically the ones for rats not just mice
There are also these claw type traps that seem to work a little better than the regular mousetraps.
I hope this helps...we are right there with you!
I highly recommend a humane/house-type mouse trap. We got ours at Home Depot. It's basically a plastic box that they have to enter completely to even get to the "treat"...once they enter, they can't get back out. They stay alive in there, and can very easily be released and you can reuse the traps. We've trapped several mice in ours, and keep the trap in the garage for when we need to use it again (our problem is our cats brining them in, rather than them getting in themselves). Good luck.
Ours looks sort of like this. They enter through that hole on the bottom right hand side and you place the PB in the back of the actual box...so when they enter, they have to go all the way in (even to lick just a little bit off), and then they can't get back out. I think we paid about $9 for it, but again, we've used it several times and still have it.
But, the one thing I can maybe say is that I remember reading somewhere another person having a similar problem and when they eventually called in a mouse exterminator person he used BIG traps and that is what worked.
The blog entry is below and they discovered they had rats/it was why the traps weren't working. If you must trap them in a unhumane way, please don't use traps that just get them stuck or aren't strong enough to kill them but just break bones etc (with many, this is the case). You'll just wind up having to kill it yourself after it's been tortured/in pain for hours
I've read some awful things... So I'd highly recommend doing some research.
http://www.whitewaxflower.com/2010/10/i-smell-rat.html
Women don't want to hear what men think,
women want to hear what they think, in a deeper voice
Where do you release them? I've heard the problem with them is that the mice can come back if you don't get them far enough away. I certainly don't want that!
I feel a little bad for them too... except that they carry disease, and destroy our food. If they want to frolic outside I'm happy to let them be.
Unfortunately... DH has left this one up to me. According to him I "have more experience catching mice", so I'm "the expert" (since he's never experienced this issue before). Sigh... thank God I'm not afraid of them!
I think you need to be sure that you're sealing up and securing any area that they can get in so that they can't get in anymore. I don't think releasing one or two mice back outside to where there are likely hundreds of mice is going to make their chances of returning any more or less likely. If there are mice around your house, and you have a way in for them, they'll find it, whether or not you kill them off as they find their way in, kwim?
For example, let's say there are 500 mice that live in a 10 mile radius of your house. One found his way into your house. If you kill him, there are 499 mice that live in a 10 mile radius of your house. Are you less concerned now about mice getting into your house because there are "only" 499 and you've managed to kill the one? I'm just saying - killing the mice in your house won't help your problem. You need to find where they're getting in and seal that up. Good luck!! I do know it's super frustrating.
Another effective mouse trap/mouse keeper-away = cat
Is that an option for you guys?
i've had GREAT success w/ these traps and peanut butter .. you just toss the whole thing into the trash.
i HATE HATE HATE insects and rodents in my house ... i just want them OUT !!
How do those work? Do they kill the mouse? Or are you throwing away the trap with a live mouse inside?
you set the trap, twist it (it's spring loaded) and when the mouse enters it, it springs shut killing it. i've never opened one up to see HOW exactly it kills them but the fact that it does the job and leaves no mess for me to see is plenty for me.
The sticky traps work, but are nasty and you have to be there, as I have heard that mice will chew off their feet to get out.
We bought one at Rite Aid that is like a tunnel that they can't get out of that you bait with peanut butter. It can hold 4 and you can choose to release them or let them go. they were about 20 bucks.
If my DH pulled that I'd nod at him, set humane traps, wait until the mice had been caught, then tell him the traps were full and ready for him. I, the expert, have caught them, now YOU drive 10 miles or whatever and release them. While you're doing that, I'll be busy using my expertise to find and seal any holes to prevent future mice. :P
Any complaint with that and obviously he's just being a wimp about it!
But, as PP said, the important thing is to prevent them from getting in again. If you don't find all the spots and completely seal, then the trap is just acting as a temporary solution.
Women don't want to hear what men think,
women want to hear what they think, in a deeper voice