Mice in the Walls - HELP!

[Harmon]

Traps.

Also their are ultra sonic things you can get to keep mice out of your house (not sure if they work <shrug>) that might be worth trying (to drive them from the walls at the least).

Don't bother with spraying poison (doesn't work).

Taring open your walls without killing them all won't work. You have to kill all of them before you start on that.

 

[Zander]

Einan,

Are you absolutely sure it's an animal? Have you seen rodents in your house? Do you have evidence of the kind described by Dr. Awkward above?

If not, it might not be an animal at all. Suprisingly, it may be that there's air trapped in your pipes. Air trapped in your water/heating pipes can sound just like something scratching the inside of the wall, usually in one particular spot. To get rid of the air, try bleeding your radiators. If that doesn't work, you'll need a plumber to get rid of the trapped air at the boiler.

Hope that helps.

 

[Rel]

What you need, is a shotgun.


Edit: Also, some spackle.

 

[Xath]

I lived in a house for 9 years which was frequently habitated by rats and mice. Our neighborhood had a rat-sized underground cavern system which spanned for blocks. It was futile trying to get rid of them.

However, you can keep them out of your house. Wherever you find an opening, before you re-cover and re-paint, plug the hole with steel wool. If your house is made out of dry-wall, there's no way a mouse is "stuck" there. They can eat their way through it. They can't eat their way through steel wool.

Also, judging by the amount of rodent bodies we found when we renovated and tore down walls and ceilings, dead rodents don't really stink up a place. However, they are flammible and a fire hazard. Live ones too. Sometimes they bite through electrical wires, they get shocked with voltage, and catch on fire. That does smell really bad, and also has the unfortunate side effect of catching your house on fire. And if you live in a row-house, it may also set your entire block on fire.

What you need to do is set traps on the outside of your house, and plug the holes inside your house with steel wool. Make sure you check EVERYWHERE for holes. If you have an unfinished basement, that's a key point of entry. Also, check all of your kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Mice can chew through those too and get easy access to your kitchen.

If you have children, do NOT use rat poison. It's too easy for something to happen to your little one.

That's all I can think of now...

Oh, you'll know for sure you have a mouse if you find pellets in your house. Otherwise it could be the pipes, like Zander said.

 

[Umbran]

My cat recently taught me that she does not, in fact, want to catch and EAT the mouse so much as she wants to catch and PLAY with the mouse. *shakes head* Mighty hunters, indeed!

If her tummy is full of that wonderful cat food you put out every day, what incentive does she have to eat the critter?

Plus, you don't want her to eat the critter. Eating wild prey is the number one way for her to get parasitic infections. And de-worming the little kitty wouldn't be pleasing for either of you

 

[Rel]

If you consider the shotgun/spackle approach to be too radical for you, you could try this:

Many home owners have a half used bag of quick drying cement sitting in the shed or garage. If you don't, go buy the smallest bag they've got.

Get a bowl and put in a mixture of about half cement and half sugar and place it somewhere the cats can't get it but the mice can (inside any closets or drawers where you find droppings is a good bet).

Nearby place a small bowl of water.

 

[Desdichado]

Plus, you don't want her to eat the critter. Eating wild prey is the number one way for her to get parasitic infections. And de-worming the little kitty wouldn't be pleasing for either of you

But it's arguably the whole point of being a cat (or owning one, although probably not anymore) in the first place.

 

[Einan]

Thanks for the suggestions, folks! So far I'm going the poison/cut off their entry route. And I'm 96% sure it's a rat. We found some droppings about an inch long behind our washer. Of course, if I don't post for a while, see Joshua Dyal's post above.

Me and Brown Jenkins down by the schoolyard...

 

[kenobi65]

Also their are ultra sonic things you can get to keep mice out of your house (not sure if they work <shrug>) that might be worth trying (to drive them from the walls at the least).

Everything I've ever read says that the sonic doohickies don't do squat, other than make the manufacturer wealthy.

I had a mouse in the wall of my dorm room in college. I found a hole in the wall (that the pipe for the radiator passed through) that he was gnawing on to widen, apparently in a bid to enter the room. I shoved an empty soda can against the hole...and the mouse started to gnaw on the soda can (very loudly). I then poured a sample bottle of Grey Flannel cologne into the hole. The mouse fled into the neighbor's dorm room, where he promptly devoured a bag of popcorn.

 

[Jdvn1]

What you need, is a shotgun.


Edit: Also, some spackle.

This method gets my vote.