How To Get Rid Of Mice: Tell Us Your Horror Stories
Flickr photo by dimodi
No one ever wants to admit that they have ever had a mouse problem...yet everyone has a mouse (or worse, rat) horror story. And since now is the time that mice will start migrating into your (or "your friend's") home in order to stay cozy through the cold months, we think it's high time we've addressed the issue. We'll be posting the top expert-tested solutions for getting rid of mice on Friday. Until then, let's do a little "mental cleaning" by sharing our worst mouse/rat horror stories.
To get you started, here's one from a best-selling author and a bunch from the Stylelist/Stylelist Home staff. Want to share yours? Simply click "Add a slide" with a pic of where the sighting took place...or share with us in the comments section. And if you want to get really fancy, contribute your story via twitter with the tag #MouseOfHorrors
Share away!
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This comment has not yet been postedUsing Traps catching the litte mice alive'I was able to feed my always hungry snakes..Untill one mouse had to have made a deal with them''To bust them out by eating a hole to freedom for all of them .And he did''it must have taken the mouse at least two to three minutes to eat a hole in a screen with two hungry snakes no less then a foot away pushing aside there hunger for freedom in the hills as where I had caught them'' Pics and story are pending 'and hope will be shared on this web site soon''from a1wildart
My dad gets mice & voles a lot since his house is surrounded by woods, we use live traps there, baited with chocolate or peanut butter. Then he takes them to a near-by park and lets them go.
I had Tupperware containers that have gnaw marks on the lids from the mice trying to get them open. They chewed the gasket on the 'fridge door, they tried to eat my shoes. My cat threatened to leave me. Nothing was safe.
One evening I hear these noises coming from the kitchen. I walked in and turned on the light and found all these mice on top of the 'fridge flinging themselves into the air trying to land in this hanging wire basket where I stored onions and other produce. I had it hung in the middle of the room thinking it was safe from the mice. How wrong I was. I was amazed to find out mice would even eat onions and garlic.
I moved, broke the lease. It was one of the best apartments I ever lived in, but just couldn't take it any longer. I was so sick of finding mice stuck in glue traps with their feet chewed off and still alive. Thankfully, I never had a problem like that again.
One of my present dogs used to hunt for mice. It was an obsession. He would patrol the house day and night for days after the first mouse showed up, until the last one was gone. When this happened, the last mouse had been gone, as far as I was aware, for at least 5 days or so, as he wasn't spending nearly 24/7 looking for them, so I was shocked when he walked up to me, apparently just to get his chin rubbed, and after I rubbed it for a couple of seconds, he opens his mouth and spits a still living mouse into my hand. It was all chewed up, and was gasping for breath. I instantly dropped it, and he dove on it, and grabbed it, and picked his head up and looked at me, with the tail hanging out of his mouth, twitching. And then it kind of slowly disappeared as he swallowed it, alive. Gross.
25 years ago, my Pit Bull mix puppy came to me, with a "gift" for me, as he often did. Usually, the gift was a rock or a stick or something. This time, I put my hand out, and he dropped a soaking wet with slobber dead mouse into my hand. I tossed the mouse across the room, where one of my other dogs grabbed it and instantly swallowed it!
Well, the maintenance guy went thru 3 no-kill traps. The smart little guy would remove the food, but not get caught.
Finally, they used a glue trap. I don't recommend it, go to an exterminator instead and get a good trap. It's very cruel, I wouldn't do it again.
Turned out it was a mole.
I found out later the maintenance guy did just that, thought it was dead and threw in the trash. To me it looked alive.
2 days later, the ball was back again in my glove compartment. I figured the dealer forgot to replace some part and the insulation kept falling in.
Back at the dealer, the service reps looked in the glove compartment quizzically, and said, "That's not car insulation, it's house insulation".
Being slow on the uptake, I asked "How did it get in there?"
The reps emptied the glove compartment and said "These are mouse droppings". (Ewwww!)
Cost me $150 to replace the filter the mouse had burrowed through, to create a nest of insulation and keep warm.
We had an "80 Corvette, always a problem of some sort. Upon one of it's long stays on the driveway, we noticed our white cat sitting, staring, at the car door. I sat on the steps watching him. Then, seeing him still staring, I went over to the car and noticed these tiny feet dangling below the door. The cat looked at me, and back at the feet, then back at me, and back again to those tiny feet. I decided to investigate and see who's tiny feet these were and why were they in my Corvette!
I opened the door, holding the cat back to find baby mice nestled, but now falling to the ground. The cat was beside himself, but I couldn't do anything. So I decided to unceremoniously dump the rest, close the door and take the cat in the house. I'm sure they did not return as the cat was standing watch for days.
The mice also removed all of the firewall. In summer, I can't tell you how hot the ride was, because of no firewall. The Vette did not last long...
I just found a gnawed restaurant menu yesterday, I'm hoping it's from the past. I'm keeping my eye out for balls of insulation in my glove compartment!
I took a bunch of horticultural sand and sealed off the stairs so they couldn't get in anymore and then bought pretty much every type of trap/poison to get rid of them.
Best 2 devices hands down are
1)An electronic trap made by victor i think .Long black box that you smear peanut butter inside at 1 end and add 4 batteries to.
The mice go in the other end and get electrocuted on the way to the prize..A light comes on to tell you the thing went off.
Works great and you just dump the mouse w/o even having to look at it.
2)A black snap trap again made by victor. You put peanut butter under a little cupped lid and pull back the hammer to set it.When they try to lift the lid to get the prize they get snapped.
3)Honourable mention goes to the sticky plates as i got a couple with them but they don't die usually so you have to kill them.
The cheaper snap traps didn't work as the mice can get the prize off the plate w/o it going off.
disingrating due to age. but the dropping in my enginge soon clewed me in. i placed packets,
traps etc. then it moved tomy trunk. eek! i finally got it when it had dined on a litte blue
packet and ended up dazed in the well of my winshield wipers! asfor the cellar family,
i finally hired professional help for $300 before i put the house and mice up for sale.