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Message |
    
Jackie Day
Citizen
Username: Zoesky1
Post Number: 55
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, August 3, 2003 - 10:12 am: |     |
OK, there is a mouse in my house.... a bold fellow who dashed across the bathroom floor last night as I was brushing my teeth! I've got a cat without claws and a dog who's afraid of his own shadow, so it's time to call in the exterminators. Can anyone recommend one who won't rip me off? I called one of the few in the book who answered the phone on a Sunday, an outfit called Emergency Pest Services, and was told it's $175 to exterminate mice with tamper-proof poison boxes, including finding the point of entry to the house and sealing it up. Is that expensive? I have no frame of reference, having never had mice before. I was thinking of calling major companies like Western Pest and Cavanaughs (I've seen their trucks around, and their Yellow Pages ads make them seem like chains) for comparison, but I don't have a lot of time to shop around....I want this little guy and his furry friends gone ASAP (I have two small children in the house). Thanks for any help. |
jgberkeley
Supporter
Username: Jgberkeley
Post Number: 3072
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, August 3, 2003 - 11:16 am: | |
Jackie,
A trip to Home Depot, and $15 in bait blocks, will solve this for you. |
Jackie Day
Citizen
Username: Zoesky1
Post Number: 56
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, August 3, 2003 - 12:06 pm: | |
Jgberkeley, I considered that, but I was worried my pets and children could somehow get access to D-Con or other regular pest bait. Do you know of a product that is completely sealed off and safe around little kids (I have a 3-year old and a 1-year old, both very curious)? |
Joan
Citizen
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 1830
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, August 3, 2003 - 4:52 pm: | |
Jackie:
How many mice have you seen? How often have you seen them? Are you finding large deposits of mouse droppings in your kitchen cabinets where you store your packaged dry goods?
Sometimes a mouse will enter your house through your door, if you leave the door open long enough. That doesn't necessarily mean that you have rodent chewed entries leading into/out of your house or the kind of rodent infestation problem that requires an exterminator.
Also, just because you cat doesn't have front claws doesn't mean that it won't chase after mice and play with them until they expire. I have had two declawed cats and both have made their share of rodent kills over the years.
In addition to whatever else you decide to do:
Try limiting food storage and consumption to the kitchen and the dining room.
Keep your pantry foods (cereal, cookies/crackers, munchies, flour/sugar/salt, pastas/rice, etc. in metal containers.
Don't put food out far in advance of meal/snack time.
Clean up immediately after meal time.
Keep your household garbage in a tightly-lidded metal container and take the garbage out as frequently as possible.
If the mouse(mice) doesn't find anything to eat, it(they) will go elsewhere or die of starvation. |
Jackie Day
Citizen
Username: Zoesky1
Post Number: 57
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, August 3, 2003 - 5:51 pm: | |
Joan, I haven't seen any droppings in my pantry, and have not seen any mice other than this one little guy. But what concerned me was that he was on the second floor in my master bathroom...he must have come up through the walls somehow. I honestly can't imagine how he got up there. When I spoke to the exterminator, he said for every one mouse you see, there are three more you don't see. Obviously he's trying to sell his services, but it seems plausible that there's a mouse nest somewhere in the house. I can't risk mice getting in my food, and with two little kids it's hard to control crumbs, snacks, etc. I also keep pet food in containers in the garage (attached), which is neat but not foolproof. I think I need to do something pretty proactive pretty soon. |
shoshannah
Citizen
Username: Shoshannah
Post Number: 187
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, August 3, 2003 - 6:16 pm: | |
We had this problem when we first moved in, and it turned out that the mice were attracted to a pile of leaves under our deck. They chose it as a nesting area and thus were in close proximity to our house. Make sure you don't have leaves or tight bushes close to your foundation. As far as sealing off the points of entry -- you can never seal off everything. They can enter through the tiniest hole that is practically invisible to the human eye. So don't go crazy with that. And if you see droppings, don't vacuum them. Put on gloves and wipe them away with a wet cloth. Then use a bleach-containing solution to wipe the area. |
candy
Citizen
Username: Candy
Post Number: 74
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, August 3, 2003 - 6:16 pm: | |
Seems like the attached garage may be a clue here... What about trying those sticky traps? Of course put them where the children cannot reach them. Under the fridge and stove is one of the favorite places for the mice to run. We have often had a stray mouse or two, and the traps have worked for us. Put a chocolate chip in the middle... they love chocolate. You may not be "infested" Worth a try before calling an exterminator who may be very expensive. |
Jackie Day
Citizen
Username: Zoesky1
Post Number: 58
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, August 3, 2003 - 7:31 pm: | |
You're not going to believe this. After not being sighted since last night in the bathroom, my mouse suddenly just jumped up on top of the TV in my bedroom, right in front of me as I was watching it! (My bedroom's adjacent to the bathroom, so I guess that's how he got here). It was unbelievable how bold he was. He sat there a moment while I freaked, my cat and dog bolted, and then he scrambled back down and went under the TV, a space of about 3/4 inch...I could see his shape under there. I am starting to get upset. This thing is in my BEDROOM. I'm a single mom and there's no "man in the house" to catch this thing. I tried to trap him with a small plastic basket and a piece of cardboard, but he's too fast and he can jump. He leaped from the TV about 2 feet and ran under my bedside table. About 10 minutes later he showed up again (unless this was a friend of his) in my home office. I walked in on him and, get this, he was PLAYING with my cat! My cat is a silly old cat who's never caught a mouse in his life, and has no front claws. I saw the cat batting him around but the mouse didn't run away until I came in on him and freaked again. Now I think he's under a credenza. This is unbelievable! |
jgberkeley
Supporter
Username: Jgberkeley
Post Number: 3073
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, August 3, 2003 - 9:38 pm: | |
Jackie,
Yes, I use a product that is about as safe as you can get. I have a few packages. I sent you a Private line. Call me and we can talk.
Jg |
Jackie Day
Citizen
Username: Zoesky1
Post Number: 59
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 5, 2003 - 9:58 am: | |
Jgberkeley, I never got the privateline! Could be because I recently changed my email address. Anyway, I did go get some "bait bars" as well as conventional mouse poison, and put that down. I made sure to put a bunch of it in the garage near the pet food as well as inside. No sighting of the mouse since Sunday, although my cat was crouching expectantly for quite some time in front of the oven last night. I think we'll be OK. Thanks for the suggestions. |
algebra2
Citizen
Username: Algebra2
Post Number: 1127
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 5, 2003 - 12:11 pm: | |
Trust me, having a "man in the house" does nothing to get rid of mice! My husband is terrified of bugs and mice, I am the killer in the family. I have used an exterminator named Charlie fro A. Eastern Pest Control -- he is very reasonable and nice. A bit chatty -- but in a good way. |
cannuck
Citizen
Username: Cannuck
Post Number: 24
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 5, 2003 - 12:59 pm: | |
Notwithstanding the unpleasantness of your run-in with your furry friend, I would caution against going with an exterminator until you know you have a problem. We came across a mouse (or he came across us) in the bathroom a few months ago. The next time we saw him in a room we set a few traps in that room, closed the door and waited for a snap. Since then, no sightings. We keep a few hidden traps loaded in the basement on an ongoing basis (we figured that's how they were getting in). I would set some traps and see how many you get to see if you have a problem, then call an exterminator if necessary. |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 1680
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 5, 2003 - 1:43 pm: | |
Jackie-
Please get rid of the poison right away. You may have a "silly old cat", but if it catches the mouse & takes a bite, your cat will die from eating a poisoned mouse.
Cats will not kill mice right away; they will play with them before they kill them. The reason the mouse got up and ran away when you walked in on it's "play date" with your cat is simple: the cat had stunned it & your disrupting kitty's fun gave the mouse time to recover & run. Had you not interrupted, the cat almost surely would have killed it.
The occasional mouse will indeed get in the house. Most of the time, the scent of a cat keeps them away. It's usually babies who come in & sometimes a mother looking for the stray.
We get mice once in awhile (3 cat house). When the cats are thru playing soccer with the poor thing, I usually scoop them up in a box & let them free outside. If I don't get there in time, I'm scraping mice parts off the floor with a dust pan. |
bobk
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 3266
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 5, 2003 - 1:46 pm: | |
Cannuck brings up a good method of mouse removal; the good old fashion guillotine trap. Even with kids in the house it shouldn't be all that difficult to find locations for these traps where the rug rats are unlikely to give them a try.
If that doesn't work, may I suggest a 12 gauge shotgun loaded with number 8 shot, although you have to be careful about collateral damage. 
|
Kalara
Citizen
Username: Kalara
Post Number: 9
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 6, 2003 - 10:05 pm: | |
Cats don't kill their prey with their claws so much as with their teeth. Give kitty some time and the mouse problem will likely go away.
We usually have a couple of mice come in the cold weather and our elderly feline keeps them at bay just fine. I never see droppings but sometimes I find a bedraggled, cat-spitty mouse corpse in the basement. Yucky, but better then poison and the cat's the hitman so I don't feel guilty. |
Jackie Day
Citizen
Username: Zoesky1
Post Number: 64
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 7, 2003 - 11:26 am: | |
Can an old cat who's never been in contact with mice before (and has never been an outdoor cat in his entire life) still kill a mouse? Is it that instinctive? My kitty doesn't even kill insects. He just watches them with interest and sniffs them. |
Brett
Citizen
Username: Bmalibashksa
Post Number: 31
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 7, 2003 - 11:36 am: | |
Old cats tend to bore mice to death.
We used to have a lot of people drop off unwanted cats at our farm. They turned into mousers after a few days. They may have learned it from the other cats, but it seems pretty fast to learn something. |
Kalara
Citizen
Username: Kalara
Post Number: 11
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 7, 2003 - 10:29 pm: | |
Jackie,
Oh dear, it's a bad sign if the cat doesn't even kill bugs.
How long is your cat's tail? Long tails = good mousers.
Good luck |
Jackie Day
Citizen
Username: Zoesky1
Post Number: 67
Registered: 6-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 7, 2003 - 10:41 pm: | |
Kalara, that's funny. He actually has a pretty long tail. Just no killer instinct, I guess!
Actually, to wrap this thread up, I found a dead mouse just outside my garage tonight. I wonder if it's the same one. It's possible he could have taken the poison and gone outside. Or maybe this is just all a coincidence. Not sure what is going on. But I have not seen ANY evidence of mice since Sunday now....no droppings, and certainly no mouse.
So the crisis seems to have passed. Thanks, all, for your suggestions. At least I didn't pay some exterminator $175. |
jgberkeley
Supporter
Username: Jgberkeley
Post Number: 3079
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, August 8, 2003 - 10:17 am: | |
Jackie,
That is exactly what the mouse baits do.
BTW, even if eaten by your cat, the mouse does not contain enough of anything to hurt the cat.
Ask your vet. |
botulismo
Citizen
Username: Botulismo
Post Number: 85
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Friday, August 8, 2003 - 2:19 pm: | |
If you do have a mouse problem, you can try the good old country method.
Fill a 5 gallon bucket up about 1/3 to 1/2 way with water. Take a metal clothes hanger and cut the long straight piece off. Run it through the center of a pop or beer can so that the can is in the center. Cut a small notch on opposite sides of the top of the bucket to set the hanger in. Make sure the can can spin somewhat freely. Put a liberal ring of peanut butter around the can. Turn off the lights and wait for the fun to begin.
P.s. Try to keep the dog out of the area. If you got mouse problems, you may hear the can move a few times during the night, followed by a small splash and high pitch screetching. Beats cow tipping any Saturday night. |
botulismo
Citizen
Username: Botulismo
Post Number: 86
Registered: 7-2001
| | Posted on Friday, August 8, 2003 - 2:21 pm: | |
Oops! Forgot to add that it is cheap, environmentally safe and animal friendly (except to the mice - of course). |
susan1014
Citizen
Username: Susan1014
Post Number: 36
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 8:41 pm: | |
I'm late to the discussion, but tried a variety of traps before discovering one that actually works -- I believe it is by D-Con(?). It comes in a yellow box and costs $2-3 each.
It is a well engineered snap trap, easy to set, in an enclosed box, so that when it gets the mouse, only the tail sticks out. I had no luck with cheap snap traps, or live catch traps, but this type of trap has done the job for me twice now. |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 1686
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 3:04 pm: | |
George- I beg to differ on the poisoned mouse, no-harm theory. I was with a friend when she had to put her 6 year-old cat to sleep after chewing the heck out of a poisoned mouse. Our exterminator also would not spray under our addition (where we have a mouse family living) because of our cats. |
Brett
Citizen
Username: Bmalibashksa
Post Number: 37
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 3:35 pm: | |
http://members.tripod.com/~therexcatsite/catfacts1.htm
Mouse poison (such as Decon) can cause a toxic poisoning of a cat if the cat eats part or all of a poisoned mouse.
http://www.vetinfo.com/ctoxin.html#Mouse%20Poison
With the newer mouse poisons it is possible for a cat to get a toxic dose
by eating mice poisoned with the mouse poison. I am not sure how high the
risk is but there have been reports of this occurring so there is at least
some risk.
Mike Richards, DVM
These sites agree with greenetree, but growing up on a farm I doubt that a cat would eat the mouse unless it was an extremely hungry house cat. Animals usually head for the weakest prey but don’t go after physically sick prey. The cats also have to get to the mouse and eat it before the mouse dies, I know for a fact cats don’t eat dead animals.
I’m not a DVM but I play one on message boards.
|
Iaowks Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 372
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 7:40 pm: | |
I'm sure cats eat dead animals. Otherwise, what is the meat they eat, according to the cat food labels?
This is not an endorsement of mouse poison for people with cats. I have a cat and would therefore not set down mouse poison. I might or might not have mice. I know that I do have racoons, however, which we can discuss in another thread.
Tom Reingold
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Brett
Citizen
Username: Bmalibashksa
Post Number: 40
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 8:27 pm: | |
That's like saying you will eat meat out of a dead cow on the road because it's steak. An amimal laying dead on the floor is not the same as a processed food handed to an animal in a bowl.
You have a cat, Hand it a dead fish, watch, nothing happens. Now that you have one dead fish on the ground toss in one that's still kicking (I don't know where you're going to get a live fish), the cat will eat it.
I don't even like cats, but I do know a lot about animals. |
Brett
Citizen
Username: Bmalibashksa
Post Number: 41
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 8:29 pm: | |
That's like saying you will eat meat out of a dead cow on the road because it's steak. An animal laying dead on the floor is not the same as a processed food handed to an animal in a bowl.
You have a cat, Hand it a dead fish, watch, nothing happens. Now that you have one dead fish on the ground toss in one that's still kicking (I don't know where you're going to get a live fish), the cat will eat it.
I don't even like cats, but I do know a lot about animals. |
Iaowks Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 373
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 10:46 pm: | |
OK, you have a point. I guess cats don't eat dead whole animals, but they like processed meat. But why? Because it's easy to chew?
Sorry for my driftage. Don't bother answering the question.
Tom Reingold
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tourne
Citizen
Username: Tourne
Post Number: 180
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 10:49 pm: | |
Gee whiz..What is with you Home Depot poison buffs? For everybody on this thread--go to www.pesticide.org/rats.pdf for the poop on Mickey.
PS. I heard that Home Depot pretty much rights off the death of folks intermittently clobbered by falling toilet bowls as a cost of doing business?! |
tourne
Citizen
Username: Tourne
Post Number: 181
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 10:57 pm: | |
"writes off" of course..... time for bed. |
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