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I've found three mice in my apartment in the past 6 weeks. Today, I started moving stuff to look for holes and found that: 1. My stove has some wiring in a twisty metal tube-like thing of about 3/4- of an inch in diameter that goes into a hole in the wall that isn't sealed, and that hole leaves like a 1/2-inch gap between the metal tube and the wall. Seems big enough for a mouse to slip through. 2. Behind my bed is an uncovered electrical outlet. The outlet works, it just doesn't have a cover, so there's a ton of space and you can easily see into the wall. Could mice get into through here? Will adding a plastic cover to the outlet prevent mice from getting in through it? And then standard steel wool for the stove hole?
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Dec 29, 2015 21:12
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| # ? May 2, 2024 01:51 |
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1) probably. mice can flatten their bodies to crazy positions and can basically fit through anything. 2) probably 3) sure
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Dec 29, 2015 22:21
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Small mice are amazing. I've seen them traverse gaps in the 3-4 millimeter range. 3/4 of an inch is easy.
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Dec 30, 2015 00:14
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That's not good news. When putting the cover over the outlet, I think I left a 2-4mm gap between the outlet plug and the opening of the cover, since the outlet sits too deeply within the wall to be flush with the cover. I thought I could pull it forward a bit, but it still kept getting pushed back into the wall when I tried to screw it, so I had to push it all the way in before it would stop moving... But then that means the cover isn't perfect. :/ Any idea how I can keep the outlet from getting away from my screw without pushing it all the way back?
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Dec 30, 2015 00:18
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EB Nulshit posted:That's not good news. When putting the cover over the outlet, I think I left a 2-4mm gap between the outlet plug and the opening of the cover, since the outlet sits too deeply within the wall to be flush with the cover. I thought I could pull it forward a bit, but it still kept getting pushed back into the wall when I tried to screw it, so I had to push it all the way in before it would stop moving... But then that means the cover isn't perfect. :/ I can't tell what's going on from this maybe take a picture. If it's what I'm guessing it is you could buy a larger sized cover and if you can get the screw to bite it should sit flush with the wall. Just go to a hardware store and look around.
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Dec 30, 2015 00:45
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Mice will just chew through your drywall if they want in, dude. Keep your kitchen clean and put traps everywhere, and you should be fine.
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Dec 30, 2015 00:52
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Mice will happen and trying to fill every gap is a losing battle. Get some simple mouse traps and bait them with peanut butter. Between killing the mice and keeping your poo poo clean your problem will go away.
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Dec 30, 2015 03:05
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Time to get a Cat OP
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Dec 30, 2015 11:58
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Raldikuk posted:Mice will happen and trying to fill every gap is a losing battle. Get some simple mouse traps and bait them with peanut butter. Between killing the mice and keeping your poo poo clean your problem will go away. I had a neighbor who went crazy with that expanding goo all over his house. Jamming that stuff in every corner in every room and even all over his roof. After two or three winters he finally seemed to seal up everything and stop the mice.
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Dec 31, 2015 00:00
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I had mice in an old apartment I rented. If you have to ask if a mouse can fit through a hole then the answer is yes. Mice can collapse their skeletons and fit through a hole smaller than a dime. The only proven way to keep mice away is to keep your house clean and not leave food and/or water out. If they can't find anything to eat or drink they will most likely move on to the next place that does. Or just stay in your walls.
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Dec 31, 2015 19:19
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Put steel wool in the holes (other than the electrical outlet) and get some traps.
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Dec 31, 2015 20:26
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I had mice last year who liked to hang out behind my fridge. Got rid of them through a combination of traps, ocd cleaning, peppermint oil and one of those gadgets that send out signals to deter them.
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Dec 31, 2015 20:35
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Cats were domesticated by the Egyptians for this exact application. Get yourself a kickass cat.
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Dec 31, 2015 23:57
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Tenacious J posted:Cats were domesticated by the Egyptians for this exact application. Get yourself a kickass cat. "Domesticated" is somewhat debatable. Also, some cats don't learn to hunt properly so they end up playing with prey instead of killing it. I'm sure there's ways around that, just know that it could be an issue.
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Jan 2, 2016 11:28
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Don't you rent? One of the great things about renting is having a landlord or super to do these things.
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Jan 2, 2016 17:54
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AlbieQuirky posted:Don't you rent? One of the great things about renting is having a landlord or super to do these things. "Here's some mousetraps, I'll get to the rest of it later".
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Jan 2, 2016 18:37
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LogisticEarth posted:"Here's some mousetraps, I'll get to the rest of it later".
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Jan 2, 2016 21:27
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AlbieQuirky posted:Don't you rent? One of the great things about renting is having a landlord or super to do these things. I've never bothered with this. I find that putting a bit of poison in the wall cavities myself far outweighs the inconvenience of having to call the landlord and tidy everything up in preparation for his visit. I do sort-of unofficially do all of the pest-control where I work, which lets me steal industrial quantities of anticoagulants. Having a greatly reduced sense of smell also helps, because decomposing rodents in the loft space smell terrible (or so I'm told). Seriously, find where the mice or rats are moving, and leave some poison there. Make sure they have no other sources of food, and that your pets can't get at it. Check the poison regularly to see if the mice are taking it, and keep on checking it once the initial infestation has gone. If you keep your bait station stocked, you ensure that any future visitors have already signed their own death warrants by the time you notice them.
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Jan 2, 2016 23:34
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Soylent Yellow posted:I've never bothered with this. I find that putting a bit of poison in the wall cavities myself far outweighs the inconvenience of having to call the landlord and tidy everything up in preparation for his visit. I do sort-of unofficially do all of the pest-control where I work, which lets me steal industrial quantities of anticoagulants. Having a greatly reduced sense of smell also helps, because decomposing rodents in the loft space smell terrible (or so I'm told). this is absurdly grim. Have a heart, will ya?
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Jan 4, 2016 20:19
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Poison's not a great idea for residential use due to the risk of a dead mouse in the wall stinking up the joint. Get traps. If you're rich there are these kick rear end electrical ones that zap the mouse with a minimum of mess. Also be clean.
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Jan 6, 2016 20:51
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P-Mack posted:Poison's not a great idea for residential use due to the risk of a dead mouse in the wall stinking up the joint. Get traps. If you're rich there are these kick rear end electrical ones that zap the mouse with a minimum of mess. Also be clean. Yeah. It probably sucks to have a proper sense of smell. For the electric ones, you really do need to be rich. Making a mouse ride the lightning uses up a whole heap of D cells.
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Jan 6, 2016 23:46
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Soylent Yellow posted:Yeah. It probably sucks to have a proper sense of smell. For the electric ones, you really do need to be rich. Making a mouse ride the lightning uses up a whole heap of D cells. for the budget conscious, just sprinkle little piles of seeds directly on top of the wires leading to any non-critical outlets
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Jan 8, 2016 03:55
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Tenacious J posted:Cats were domesticated by the Egyptians for this exact application. Get yourself a kickass cat. How do you rid the apartment of the cat when the mice are gone?
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Jan 9, 2016 02:36
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chemosh6969 posted:How do you rid the apartment of the cat when the mice are gone? A snake.
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Jan 9, 2016 18:50
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I too keep poison out, have done it for years. I've never had a dead mouse in a wall. Proper poison dehydrates the vermin so they leave the house looking for water and die outside. Also, the amount of poison in a mouses system will not hurt a cat if it finds it. If you prefer not to kill animals, you can throw moth balls in backs of cupboards and above ceiling tiles etc. Mice hate them. Then go enjoy a burger in peace, knowing that you don't kill animals. Note, close proximity to moth balls for extended times can cause headaches. RE OP question, any hole you can fit a pen or pencil through is large enough for a small mouse to get through.
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Jan 10, 2016 04:18
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Frozen Horse posted:A snake. But then what about getting rid of the snake when the cat's gone? And don't snakes eat mice? Why aren't we starting with some snakes?
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Jan 11, 2016 17:15
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Soylent Yellow posted:Yeah. It probably sucks to have a proper sense of smell. For the electric ones, you really do need to be rich. Making a mouse ride the lightning uses up a whole heap of D cells. My gf's mother's house sits next to a little lake. A few years ago the city decided to dredge it. This somehow caused all the mice that lived in the brush surrounding it to freak out and flee to the joining houses. People were seeing like dozens of mice in their houses and basements. The neighbor set six traps and caught six mice one night. I got sick of this and decided to build a loving 120v mouse-zapper out of some copper sheeting, wires, and a breaker from work. Thankfully I came to my senses and abandoned it after the first prototype. What I did build was a version of a death-bucket. It worked very well, but is pretty gross and I guess drowning is a kinda bad way to go. But we were way beyond traps and had dumb/smart dogs so poison was hard to use effectively. Also, very excited to find this while looking for a death-bucket link: 
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Jan 11, 2016 17:35
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bongwizzard posted:My gf's mother's house sits next to a little lake. A few years ago the city decided to dredge it. This somehow caused all the mice that lived in the brush surrounding it to freak out and flee to the joining houses. People were seeing like dozens of mice in their houses and basements. The neighbor set six traps and caught six mice one night. A friend of mine did the 'death bucket' while living in a former soviet republic. The apartment complex was terribly infested and the fellow tenants were happy for his ingenuity. His design was a bit simpler. He just poured a few inches of peanut oil on the bottom of the bucket and made a ramp. Peanut oil is like crack to mice, apparently they jump in and drown in it. Perhaps it's a bit more humane since they die happy.
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Jan 11, 2016 17:53
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Human male equivalent is nuzzling into a huge pair of boobs. Rubbing and squeezing them. Until they engulf you and you can't breathe anymore. What a way to go.
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Jan 11, 2016 19:20
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bongwizzard posted:But we were way beyond traps and had dumb/smart dogs so poison was hard to use effectively. That's why the best type of bait to use is the wax block variety. If you put it in a tamper-resistant bait station, the little bastards can't drag it all over the place for your pets to get to. If you do get an accidental poisoning, just be sure to take your pet to get some vitamin k injections. Standard rodenticides take a few days to take effect and are pretty easy to treat, unless you're some crazy redneck using strychnine or something similar. These are the kind of people who buy ultrasonic pest repellers. I've seen mice walk straight past one before. Soylent Yellow fucked around with this message at 20:12 on Jan 11, 2016 |
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Jan 11, 2016 20:09
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I have nothing against mice on my 10 acres but within a 10-20 foot radius of the house, I aim for loving Mouschwitz with bait traps, inside and out. One question about deer mice: Assuming mouse poop is rife with hantavirus, what would it take to be exposed, dangerously or otherwise? I have no evidence that our deer mice have hantavirus but if my wife sees a few pellets of turds in the corner of the basement and freaks out treating it like its a spent nuclear rod generally getting all  . My assumption is that unless I'm kneeling and inhaling nose directly over it and/or licking at it, it's not a tremendous deal and just shopvac it up.
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Jan 11, 2016 21:10
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Cheesus posted:I have nothing against mice on my 10 acres but within a 10-20 foot radius of the house, I aim for loving Mouschwitz with bait traps, inside and out. So long as you aren't eating it, rubbing it over your body, or bathing in it, you're fine. Just clean it up.
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Jan 11, 2016 21:30
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Cheesus posted:I have no evidence that our deer mice have hantavirus but if my wife sees a few pellets of turds in the corner of the basement and freaks out treating it like its a spent nuclear rod generally getting all  .
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Jan 12, 2016 09:31
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Soylent Yellow posted:So long as you aren't eating it, rubbing it over your body, or bathing in it, you're fine. Just clean it up. If there's cans of soda, wash the part that's touching your mouth even if you don't see a turd right there. In general, you should be washing things like that in general but people are dumb.
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Jan 12, 2016 17:11
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When I found mousepoop I sprayed it with a chlorox spray and then letit sit for a couple minutes before wiping it up with a paper towel. Also wore an N95 mask and a pair of rubber gloves. It's really not hard.
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Jan 12, 2016 17:49
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| # ? May 2, 2024 01:51 |
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If you can fit a pencil into a hole then a mouse can get through. Currently have one running around inside my ceiling, lifted floorboards yesterday and laid down cardboard covered in a special very sticky glue designed to trap roaches/mice/rats. Then i sealed up as many gaps as possible with wirewool and squirted in expanding foam to fix it in place.... no noise from it today so i'm hoping it bit the dust. I had put down poison a few weeks ago but that only made it move about very slowly for a week and then it got better, they do develop immunity to some poisons.
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Jan 12, 2016 19:37
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