questions → what to do when you have mice in your walls?

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What to do when you have mice in your walls?

Feb 10, 2012 3:55 PM

So since it's been colder out, I have been hearing intermittent scratching coming from one general wall area of my house, a wall that backs to my garage. I'm assuming it's mice due to the weather and having mice every so often over the years. So what can I do to rid them of the scratching?

I don't want to call an exterminator and I don't want to destroy my house/walls looking for them. To add to the issue, that part of the garage is hard to get to and has lots of stuff in the way.

I have put down a thing of mouse poison, as far as I could reach at the time, about a month ago. Last I checked no activity, but that was a couple of weeks ago. So what should I do?

jsoko jsoko

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Put a cat in your wall?

cengland0 cengland0
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@cengland0: I like the idea... but I'm allergic to cats.

jsoko jsoko
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I set out snap traps baited with peanut butter, then check them every morning. They stay out until a couple of weeks have gone by with no mice in the traps. If you have one mouse, you have a whole family of mice. If you use poison, and they eat it, you will have dead mice decaying in you walls.

adadavis adadavis
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I don't know that you have a good answer. You need to call someone who will take care of the problem, whether or not they are "exterminators." Vermin in your walls means their feces and family are there, too.

chronosquall14 chronosquall14
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Are you sure it's mice? We had a similar situation/sound and it turned out to be Starlings...they will gnaw/tear a hole in the craziest places and try to nest. Ours managed to pull a board loose from the soffit and crawled in...the noise drove us NUTS until we figured out what it was.

jimeezlady jimeezlady
vote-for6vote-against

Or squirrels.

I used to think that squirrels were only likely in attics (ie. at the tops of buildings) as this was my experience (and that of my gf) but at work we've had squirrels in interior first floor walls twice.

baqui63 baqui63
vote-for2vote-against

@jimeezlady: No, I'm not sure... just from past experiences of finding mice, I'm assuming that it's mice. [Looking up Starlings...]

[Edit] I don't think I have ever even seen a Starling before... However, they are/were in Michigan (where I live). I concluded from an old bounty on starlings and crows from a long time ago, that hasn't been revoked... yet.

jsoko jsoko
vote-for4vote-against

Once you have gotten rid of them, do look for how they got in in the first place! I have screened covers on all of my roof vents. Since I don't have a fireplace of heating unit inside, I don't have a chimney; but when I lived up north, I had a cap on that too (professionally installed).

klozitshoper klozitshoper
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http://deals.woot.com/questions/details/61b74e14-818d-4b80-be43-d8283ed0a9d8/whats-the-quickest-way-to-catch-a-mouse-or-mice#17

http://deals.woot.com/questions/details/8f190276-b317-4d04-9c6a-e07f55e44f5c/what-is-the-best-way-to-get-rid-of-mice-from-your-house#22

several good thoughts

moosezilla moosezilla
vote-for2vote-against

Try the Rat Zapper. It's about $30 bucks, and easyt to use. It takes care of them quickly, and easilly. And no messy cleanup.

houndlax houndlax
vote-for2vote-against

@houndlax: I've tried a several different versions of the electrocution trap. It seems like a good idea, but I never caught anything with one. They all malfunctioned and got trashed.

nortonsark nortonsark
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step it and catch it

potapple potapple
vote-for2vote-against

Burn their house down.

Wait, what?

matt1976 matt1976
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Ratzapper has been great. Used 5-6 times times and still going well.
HAd luck when I bait with a reeses cup. If you want to ensure "good contact" place a damp towel in front of the trap...
Perhaps you have REALLY smart mice?!

houndlax houndlax

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