Sorta-FRC: Mice. In my kitchen. Ruining my New Year's Eve.

E

erininny

Well-known member
Possibly because I've been up since 2:30 am, when I heard a mouse scuttle across our bedroom floor, I got into a verbal sparring match with our super this afternoon about the respective virtues of cream cheese versus peanut butter as mousetrap bait. I offered peanut butter, which reputedly has the best results, but the super was the one setting the traps, and he swears by cream cheese. I don't care; I just want my kitchen and my life back.

And I thought there couldn't be anything worse than an eight-hour transatlantic flight with a toddler! Lo, the very next day, BAM. Mice. No doubt because I--through an enormous lack of judgment--left a wrapped chocolate bar* on the kitchen table before we left for our trip (over two weeks ago).

Please, anyone who's had mice, tell me this will end in a matter of days. I've gone through God knows how many Clorox Handiwipes, and, multiplied by a factor of ten of that, of Kleenex.

Happy New Year...

*For the record, Godiva dark chocolate. I hate you, mice.

 
Peppermint Oil. Put a few drops on a cotton ball and tuck it wherever you think they are entering

and passing through. Use as many as you think you may need.

It has to be the essential oil and it is very potent. Your eyes may burn a little at first, but console yourself that the mice' eyes hurt much more. It lasts for several months even though you won't smell it after the first couple days.

I had a recent infestation and we caught a few with traps, but the peppermint oil put an end to it.

 
Yep - good 100% oil.

To be called pure, oils only have to have 10% of the oil it is billing itself as and the labeling is often misleading. I use doTERRA and Young Living are also good. But unless you have a friend that sells them, you would have to order and wait but it's worth keeping around. I use essential oils so much that I became an independent consultant (not that I really sell them, I haven't sold a single bottle) but my husband is now sold on them especially the new OnGuard + gel caplets.

But back to the subject, we found raw bacon worked best to catch them. They also make these traps that are more enclosed that you can put out and then you throw the whole thing away. Think they are made by Terro that makes the ant bait stuff that works so good.

It took us a while to get rid of them and don't feel bad, they will find and get into anything. It wasn't just you leaving that chocolate bar out while you were gone. They were probably there before that, you just hadn't seen them and they might have decided since there was no one there, it was a pretty safe place to be for a while.

We found a bunch of penetrations that our contractors had left over the years and we sealed them all like you wouldn't believe. Foam in place insulation and caulking work great. But they would disappear under a cabinet squeezing between the bottom of the cabinet and floor in a crack barely big enough to slide a piece of paper in.

 
I've bought it at Whole Foods in the aromatherapy section. Don't ask, but it works for rats too.

 
Thanks, Joe; I was wondering if that kind was ok. Little reluctant to do it in a house with a baby,

though, but maybe the eye-stinging phase only lasts a day or two...?

 
Thank you. Raw, right? Also, if anyone's had success w/ a particular kind of trap, please

let me know!

 
Advice: get more traps because. . .

Around here we like "Victor" traps. When we use them we use lots. Always, some traps will get cleaned of without catching anything, but then there are the "killer" traps that always catch something, and will always be the ones to catch something, even though those other traps get cleaned out. I guess them mousies get used to eating from the "no-kill" traps and then try to feast from the "killers" and get caught!

It seems to me that when I examine the Killer traps, they are always more hair trigger and will just about spring shut when I breath on them--and that is why they are soooo good.

Another tip: Don't put a whole lot of bait on the trap--ya want them little beggars to have to work at getting a snack. The more they work, the more chance the trap has of catching them. Also rotate positions of the traps at least just a little every time you set them out. Seems to help.

 
REC: MarilynFL treats (AKA PB-Bacon-cheezers mouse bait):

Beware! this is delicious and habit forming:

Mouse bait:
2 T Peanut Butter (smooth is best)
1T real Bacon Bits
Cheese of choice (optional)
Mix PB and Bacon; zap in microwave a few seconds to warm, mix well and cool. Place in a small jar in the fridge to store.
Baitin' mouse trap: Place a dab on the trap's trigger, making sure to get it under the hook. Do not leave too much excess hanging around.
For gourmet garnish, that is sure to please any hungry, foodie-type mouse, sprinkle with a few thin strands of grated cheese of your choice (If you ask the mice they will help you here) or dab a smidge of crumbled parmesan on the bait.

MarilynFL treat:
Mix and follow procedures as above, but skip the mouse traps. Place snack mix on fave cracker of your choice (If you ask MarilynFL, she will help you here), or give jar to Marilyn to clean out on her own. I personally prefer the "clean out on her own" version when I make this snack mix for myself!

 
I don't think there is any way to adjust. . .

the sensitivity. But, mark any one that catches a mouse, because it will most likely catch one again.

When you set the trigger, make sure your fingers are out of the way and set it so it is barely held down--and be really careful when you set it out, bait side towards the wall, for the night, so you don't bump it and set it off!

 
Never have an empty trap again--this is sure fire!

Take a raisin, anchor it to to little spike, spread peanut butter on top, then set--by the time they lick the PB then try to remove rasin-BAM!

Good luck!

 
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