Exterminating question...... mice

[LwnmwnMan2]

Just wondering. If I call an exterminator, do they have a small "camera" where they can drill a 1/2" hole or whatever in a wall and look inside, something like a plumber can do with pipes??

I've got something chewing in an inside wall, right next to my bed.

Of course it only chews from 1 am to 6 am, and as soon as you start moving around, it stops.

I've got it narrowed down to about a 4' x 4' area, but if an exterminator is going to want to take out part of the wall, I can do that just as easily.

I'm hoping they can "peek" inside where a little spackle will take care of any damage to the sheetrock????

[sparcebag]

Probably wont do any good,if it got in there I'm sure it knows the way out,them buggers can fit through tiny cracks,gaps what not,Decon,traps your best bet! I've got that chewing also,I have woods,fields around me I've traped em tried Decon I catch lots, and the decon disappears! But the chewing goes on!

[Ryan_V]

most pest control companies don't have cameras. if it sounds like chewing/scratching, probably a bat, which is just a mouse with wings anyway. You won't hear mice for the most part. you need to try and find where they are coming in and seal it off when they are out. look at your siding/soffits and look for a small gap with a "brown streak".........that's their entrance. once they are in the frame work of your house, they have miles of framing, pipes, electrical.....to follow. good luck!!

[LwnmwnMan2]

A follow up as to why I believe it's mice.

Last winter we were over-run. At one point, while my wife was in Hawaii, I had a mouse run over my face while laying in bed.

I would be downstairs and see them run along the walls, or in my office and they would run up my leg.

Anyways, we put sticky traps on the floor across all the doorways in the basement.

We narrowed it down to 2 rooms that they were coming in (direction of travel on the sticky trap), and searched high and low for holes. The one room we've gotten sealed off, no more mice there. The other is a crawl space under the foyer of the house, a split level.

It's in this crawl space that we caught the most, some days 3 in a day, for a total of 33 in about 6 weeks last winter.

I thought we had it pretty well sealed off, but there's a spot, which is pretty much below where I can hear the sound where there was a pretty big hole, which I filled in from the inside, but there's a deck in the corner of the house outside, and I can't get to the bottom of the siding, to check underneath, to see if there's a hole somewhere along / on that bottom board.

The sticky traps were nice, because we could isolate where they were coming from, but they don't work very well outside, they catch everything.

Funny thing is now, they must know I'm really trying to get rid of them, because I haven't heard them now for 2 nights.

[sparcebag]

Ya its most likly a mouse!All rodents have teeth that always are growing, gnawing is there way to control that growth.I cant stop mine been tryin for..since2000! If you find a way other than Decon or traps please let me know!!

[LwnmwnMan2]

I've got some commercial grade traps I'm going to set out tonight. Got them where I get my chemicals for lawns / turf / ornamentals.

Supposedly the same things that commercial places set out, so we'll give it a try.

We've gone all spring / summer now without catching any mice in the sticky traps, so I've got all the holes sealed off on the inside, just got to keep them from getting into the wall, wherever that is.......

Plus I'll know for sure this fall / winter when they start looking for warm places again, see if they get back into the bouse.

[IFallsRon]

In our first house, you could hear them in the cold air ducts. I don't know where they came from but I probably wacked two dozen in the garage with P&P, er, Prestone and Peanut butter. I use the same mixture in the house, but I put a trap inside a lunch bag and put them along the walls in the basement. When I get one, the wife and kids don't have a cow; I just fold up the bag and toss it in the trash. Traps keep them from croaking in the walls and stinking up the place until they dry out.

I've heard that if you play WCCO it drives them away.

[Borch]

Use the blocks in a bait station. You'll find the stuff in most farm implement stores. Mice will grab all the Decon pellets and hoard it away. The blocks they need to chew and eat on the spot. Much more effective. When you see aquablue droppings it's dead mouse walking.

If you have a hole the diameter of a sharpie marker a mouse can get through it. Stuff the hole with brass or copper shavings. Steel wool works but doesn't last long due to the rust issues.

Good Luck!

[minneman]

An exterminator may not have a camera but should have a flashlite with a beam that eluminates the urine trail they leave wherever they go. shinning this around the house after dark should lite up the areas that they are entering..if they are in areas you can get to.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Quote:

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Use the blocks in a bait station. You'll find the stuff in most farm implement stores. Mice will grab all the Decon pellets and hoard it away. The blocks they need to chew and eat on the spot. Much more effective. When you see aquablue droppings it's dead mouse walking.

If you have a hole the diameter of a sharpie marker a mouse can get through it. Stuff the hole with brass or copper shavings. Steel wool works but doesn't last long due to the rust issues.

Good Luck!

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The blocks / bait station deal is what I've got now, which is what I'm going to try.

We have no more signs of them actually in the living spaces.

We used to have droppings quite a few places, which my wife was not very happy about.

We're going on day 4 now without hearing any chewing. Either they're gone, or they got a hole big enough to be able to move onto a different part of the wall that we no longer hear.

[Valv]

I live in the country too and mice are always a problem. Best method is lots of female cats, they keep the place "clean", toms are worthless, they just play with them.

I too set lots of traps yearly but last year we had one dying in our bedroom closet wall, it got trapped and could not escape, Needless to say I had to tear down a complete wall section to get to it, and it was not pretty, the smell soaked up into clothes etc. Be very careful using poison, if they die inside you are in for a lot of smell, and a lot of work.

I wish there was a repellent we can apply outside the house to keep them away.

[Dave]

If you'd expect an exterminator to pop a small hole in your wall for "a look", just pop a hole yourself and set a trap on the outside. You should nab 'em shortly

[jps]

There is a mouse repellant, used on airplanes. Not sure of the name. Mouse off or something like that. Comes in a spray can, found a some farm stores. jps

[Eric Wettschreck]

Go out to a local dairy farm and get a cat. Nothing gets rid of mice better than a big mean farm cat that hasn't been fed.

When the mice are gone just get rid of the cat.

[Valv]

Quote:

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Go out to a local dairy farm and get a cat. Nothing gets rid of mice better than a big mean farm cat that hasn't been fed.

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Last time I did that 6 moths ago I ended up with a ringworm infested, little kitty with other diseases, spent $ 130.00 at vet, and still returned cat where I've got it since I didn't want to take a chance with my kids and grandkids.

Be very sure of where you get it, a local shelter will have them all fixed up and with all the shots.