Mouse In the House

[The Glyphstone]

So, the house I'm living in has mice living somewhere in the walls, and they occasionally venture out into the room I rent to scavenge despite my best efforts to poison them/scare them away. The campaign to get rid of them is another story, but in the meantime, there is something I'm trying to figure out.

Aside from the inevitable mouse droppings, I keep finding these odd, dried things lying around that must be from the mice - they're usually about an inch a half long, thin, and remind me alternately of garlic cloves, shriveled orange slices, and those flat seed-pod things certain trees drop. What are they?

[Juggling Goth]

Might it be something they've eaten part of and then discarded?

... Also, given your title, are you sure you're not just trapped in a Lovecraft story?

[Adlan]

If they look like plant matter, it's possible that the mice are bringing food in from outside as a food stock.

Are they nesting in your space? See if you can find and block their access sites. I'm not a fan of poison, not just because of accidental deaths (we had a dog killed by a neighbour putting out poison in a way they are specifically not supposed to do), but also because the decomposing bodies can be in an inaccessible space, and thus, rot creating a very nasty odour.

I recommend the Classic Broke Back trap, used properly it gives a swift death, unlike poison or a glue trap, and live traps either kill the mouse by sending it to someone else's house, wild predation (house mice don't survive away from human settlements), or if you don't take the mouse far enough away, it'll return right back to yours.

You can set a trap along the places you think the mice will run, or you can bait them, with something like peanut butter or chocolate. They go for sweet over savoury stuff like the classic cheese.

[Juggling Goth]

Yeah, I don't really like killing anything, but spring traps strike me as the least worst option. It's all over fairly quickly for the rodent, plus you don't end up with decomposing bodies everywhere. We had a decomposing mouse stuck in the wall at work and it was rank. Stank the place out.

(I have two jobs, and both have mice, but in different environments. The outdoor job has more mice but less stink.)

[The Glyphstone]

My landlord's making the decision on the traps, I don't have a say there. I was just curious what the dried-up things were, since I know zilch about mice.

[kaomera]

Aside from the inevitable mouse droppings, I keep finding these odd, dried things lying around that must be from the mice - they're usually about an inch a half long, thin, and remind me alternately of garlic cloves, shriveled orange slices, and those flat seed-pod things certain trees drop. What are they?
Early-stage mouse larva that did not survive pupation.

[Riverdance]

Probably some type of plant matter from outside. Have you smelled them? I find that often makes it easier to ID stuff. If you post a picture I might be able to give you more.

[Yora]

Early-stage mouse larva that did not survive pupation.

No, you are thinking of bats.

[Traab]

Mice annoy the hell out of me. Every year I have to clear out the upstairs area of a new family of them. Broke back traps and peanut butter works every time. Last year I got NINE FREAKING MICE before they were all gone. All in the same space. Id place two traps in my attic crawl space at a choke point and every day id clear them out and reset the traps. Thank god mice are stupid. I wish I could tell you what that stuff is glyph, but damned if I know.

[Dr.Epic]

Mouse in the house - kill it with a blouse or your spouse.

[Traab]

Mouse in the house - kill it with a blouse or your spouse.

If you use your spouse, she may refer to you as a louse.

[TheThan]

I have experience in this sort of thing.

The best mouse trap I’ve ever seen is a standard run of the mill mouse trap with peanut butter smeared on the bait apparatus (usually a fake block of cheese). Just be sure to bait the trap before you set it, it’ll save your fingers. Place them in the walls (if you have access) and behind things you normally can’t get to. Look for mouse dropping trails, that’ll be a strong hint where they’re going. Mice like warm places, so clothes driers, water heaters and other such places are good areas to look for nests.

Always handle the vermin with gloves or a shovel if you can, they can carry tics and other assorted nasty’s. Don't worry about how the dang thing will feel, it'll die pretty much instantly.

[Juggling Goth]

Ah well, if your landlord's making the decision then it's moot.

I've never seen those things you talk about, though I've seen a lot of mouse poop and mice, so that makes me think they're something peculiar to your area that the mice are bringing in.

[Rawhide]

There's a mouse in da house (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZCPt6lSk3k).

[Rising Phoenix]

I recommend the Classic Broke Back trap, used properly it gives a swift death, unlike poison or a glue trap, and live traps either kill the mouse by sending it to someone else's house, wild predation (house mice don't survive away from human settlements), or if you don't take the mouse far enough away, it'll return right back to yours.


There are plenty of introduced House Mice living in the busy in Australia, well away from human settlements.

Another option to consider is cat urine. Mice generally won't go near cat urine unless they have toxoplasma.

[Starwulf]

I'd suggest two options that work very well together to your landlord. I know, because I use them myself(well, the exterminator that we have who comes up once a month uses this method, and we almost never see mice). Poison bait in the crawl spaces of your house, and in the areas you see them the most INSIDE the house, sticky pads. The poison bait will take care of most of them(like 95%), and the sticky pads will snare the random few that manage to make it inside(really, they are probably already dying from the poisoned bait).

Every month all of our poisoned bait is gone(yeah, I live in the middle of nowhere on top of a mountain, they seem to be attracted to us as we are the only house within a 2 mile radius in any direction), but we've only seen about 6 mice inside in the nearly 5 years we've lived here, and all of them have been caught by our sticky pads, which we just let them die in a box outside(always dead within a day, hence why we are pretty sure they were already dying by the poisoned bait).

Just be warned, if you have small animals, keep the sticky pads in areas where they can't access. About a month ago, our oldest daughter decided to chase our inside/outside cat down the hallway and into our bedroom, where it got into the corner where the pad was, and got it attached to it's stomach and front right paw. Was a real pain trying to get it off, it was quite pissed about it, and lost about 15% of it's fur on it's underside.

[The Succubus]

I have been having rodent problems on and off since I moved in but I guess that's par for the course when you live in a block of flats in the middle of London. The pest control guy I brought put poison bat down everywhere which seemed to help although I did have one major recurrence a couple of weeks back (I think it might have been a rat, rather than a mouse :smalleek:).

I use an electric mouse zapper baited with chocolate and then tip the contents of the trap into the bin when it has done its job. No need handle them, thankfully. :smallyuk:

[Spiryt]

I bought little nifty trap that baits mouse in with food, and when mouse chews it, gravity causes entrance to shut.

I've caught the mouse, stared at bugger for a while, and then released it in the grove.

[Asta Kask]

There are plenty of introduced House Mice living in the busy in Australia, well away from human settlements.

Another option to consider is cat urine. Mice generally won't go near cat urine unless they have toxoplasma.

Or rat urine. I can add that rats make excellent pets.

My guess is that the things are either for food or for bedding.

[Yora]

I think the most important part is to find out how the mouse got in. When we had mice, it was usually because we always left the door open when we were in the backyard during summer. But if they get in the walls, there might be an opening from the outside in which case catching it and setting it outside won't really solve the problem.

[Traab]

I miss having 3 cats so much. The mice didnt show up for some odd reason, until after they all died. Too bad cat hair makes me swell up and die.

[The Succubus]

I do have to wonder though, in a slightly off-topic manner, does The Glyphstone have Cthonic mice in his underwater lair, or the standard, non-soul-devouring version?

[razark]

About a month ago, our oldest daughter decided to chase our inside/outside cat down the hallway and into our bedroom, where it got into the corner where the pad was, and got it attached to it's stomach and front right paw. Was a real pain trying to get it off, it was quite pissed about it, and lost about 15% of it's fur on it's underside.

Vegetable oil works very well to get the trap glue off. Not sure how well it would go with the cat, but it worked perfectly on my kid. Of course, the next step would be figuring out how to deal with a ticked-off, oiled-up cat. :smalleek:

Perhaps leaving the glue on it would be better.

[Arminius]

+1 for peanutbutter baited mousetraps.

[Traab]

+1 for peanutbutter baited mousetraps.

Not too much though, or else they can lick the stuff off without setting off the traps. Its the same reason why, when I used cheese I would smash the cheese into the trigger, not balance a piece on it. I lost several bits of bait before I learned that lesson. Slap on enough peanut butter to let the scent spread and lure the mouse in. They dont need a meal.

[Kneenibble]

So, the house I'm living in has mice living somewhere in the walls, and they occasionally venture out into the room I rent to scavenge despite my best efforts to poison them/scare them away. The campaign to get rid of them is another story, but in the meantime, there is something I'm trying to figure out.

Aside from the inevitable mouse droppings, I keep finding these odd, dried things lying around that must be from the mice - they're usually about an inch a half long, thin, and remind me alternately of garlic cloves, shriveled orange slices, and those flat seed-pod things certain trees drop. What are they?

I have seen those bitty-bits from mice in my house too. I suspect they are the orts of their incessant gnawing habits, practiced upon building material, but who knows.

Even as a non-violent vegetarian, there is no question in my mind that house mice should be slain as expediently as possible. No less than I would slay a guinea worm nested in my flesh, or dispel the wracked vestiges of a lingering ghost who grumbled under my bed.

[Juggling Goth]

I do have to wonder though, in a slightly off-topic manner, does The Glyphstone have Cthonic mice in his underwater lair, or the standard, non-soul-devouring version?

He has The Mice in the Walls (http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/rw.asp)

[Asta Kask]

One of my favorite stories.

You need to get a cat. Or two.

[TheThan]

Not too much though, or else they can lick the stuff off without setting off the traps. Its the same reason why, when I used cheese I would smash the cheese into the trigger, not balance a piece on it. I lost several bits of bait before I learned that lesson. Slap on enough peanut butter to let the scent spread and lure the mouse in. They dont need a meal.

yeah, you've got to smother it on thinly. don't just slap a glob of the stuff on. The mouse traps we've used have hair triggers so sneezing in the general vicinity of them makes them trigger.

Another good solution is a really good mouser. A good cat or two will kill them and keep the rest away. my grandparents had the most badass cat in the world. This cat would not only kill mice, but rattlesnakes as well. Unfortunately, the cat got gotten by my uncle's dog, which discovered a taste for cats (small cat vs large dog). He sold the dog after that incident.

[The Succubus]

He has The Mice in the Walls (http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/rw.asp)

Someone get that Goth an internet cookie, stat!

[Adlan]

There are plenty of introduced House Mice living in the busy in Australia, well away from human settlements.

Another option to consider is cat urine. Mice generally won't go near cat urine unless they have toxoplasma.

Quite true, but in an environment with their sister species, wood mice, and natural predators, they don't last. My bad for not being precise enough.

The Cat urine is a very good idea, if you can put up with the smell of cat urine.