Submitted by notme6197 t3_z34jd7 in massachusetts
Is anyone else suddenly inundated with mice? For us it started before the cold weather even set in. We live in the woods so having mice isn’t anything new but it seems like this year there’s a lot of mice and they are everywhere. I made some comment about mice to the kids in my classroom and they all went crazy talking about all the mice in their homes as well.
I’m on the line of middlesex and Worcester county
This... The first advice I give to anyone moving into the city is to get a cat. Well worth all the things they knock off counters.
I thought 2021 was a masting year for many/most oak trees. This usually follows with a population increase in rodents, chipmunks, etc the following year.
Anyways, I have a somewhat older home, and used to have mice problems. Now about every few years in the summer I go around the foundation and do an old timers trick, which is to stuff steel wool around the rim joist of the house paying close attention to any small cracks etc. seems to have stopped the mice. Ymmv
I had a mice prob so I called a pest control place and they wanted $1600 to stuff that wool in all crevices. They said it was too dangerous & complicated to do myself. LOL such a ripoff.
Last year was a crazy year for us. I haven't been home to know this year yet. I call an exterminator every so often, twice in the last year. They come seal up any holes the mice make and put bait stations around the house. It's very effective.
Get a cat or two
I have a cat and I still have mice.
You’d probably have more w/out a cat. Nothing is 100%.
I’ve thought about it but me and 2 of the kids are really allergic to cats. I’ve looked in the hypoallergenic breeds and they want a ton of money for them
You could ask shelters if they have any hypoallergenic cats available for adoption or buy one and think of it as a 10+ year mouse prevention investment. Best of luck!
During one of the warm days we had this month I had the windows open and could hear mice squeaking in the bushes and rustling in the leaves all night. I had a squirrel try to get into my house today. I wonder if this is a sign that it's going to be a really bad winter. I really hope not.
how do you diffentirate btw mice squeaking and wind?
My cat. She was going crazy at the window.
My cat wishes we had mice, she would love to chase them.
But the better easy set plastic traps and use peanut butter as bait. usually work for me at this time of year.
I’ve been battling them since moving into a new place in September. It’s awful
Yes. My wife and I lived in the middle apartment of a triple decker in medford, terribly maintained. Never had a mouse or a rat in the house though you saw them around the streets. I work in restaurants. During the pandemic so many places closed shop they ran wild looking for food. I would ride my bike home and see them zipping around everywhere. We just moved to an old farmhouse in North Attleboro and man, ive never see anything like it.
Since 2020 it has been a little worse. I chalk it up to Wife's cat passed, and the neighbor at the end of street started to raise Chickens,etc.
We saw a lot less Squirrels this year so that might also have something to do with it also.
I added steel wool to any places they might get in from, the block foundation (cinder block) holes will be next, And a better tighter seal at bulkhead door.
I use a 5gallon bucket drill 2 holes at top (1/4" if that from top) so a dowel can roll in the holes at bucket top but not roll off bucket like just laying it on top of bucket it might., a ramp to get to the dowel and peanut butter on dowel, water in bucket, with a slightly smaller bucket in the 5 gallon , with holes 1/8" drilled in the bottom of the smaller bucket. and one is in basement, one in garage. If a mouse get in, they go for the peanut butter, the dowel spins, and they go for a swim, and come to an untimely end, remove dowel and lift out smaller bucket with the "catch" let water drain out, and send the Catch to the trash barrel. put bucket back, put dowel back and reload with peanut butter. At first had to clean out buckets once a week, now maybe once every 3 weeks (garage) and off and on, in house. Seems after a lot of rain, the house one would have a few catches. but that is about it.
Haven't seen, or heard, any yet. But I know they're there. I have three cats. So it's only a matter of time before they start catch and destroy games. My hens will occasionally get one of two as well when the buggers get into the coop. I have a neighbor that feeds the birds off the porch right next to my driveway. So I have to make sure to start and drive my cars frequently. Although I might try peppermint oil on a few cotton balls. under the seats and in the glove box etc this winter when I am not driving them as often. I heard this can work to keep them away.
The peppermint oil doesn’t work
It is best to just make friends with them. They actually can be excellent company! 😀👍🏼🐀
Yes! Discovered their presence on the second floor bathroom closet. Ruined my day. Ick.
Got to order more traps from Amazon.
Check Amazon, lowes etc. for the ultrasonic plug in. Works pretty good. I run two in my house and plug in/ un plug in every few days.
Certified Scam
Is that safe for pets tho?
Those things never work.
SeasonalBlackout t1_ixjx3vw wrote
I live in a duplex and my landlady on the other side has had a bunch of mice. She said she's catching 2 or 3 a day.
I have a cat and his favorite thing to do is slowly decapitate mice, so I don't have any mice.