There's a mouse in my kitchen, and it's mocking me.

[withm]

One of our clients had extensive damage from mice. Here's the portion of his bill that covered the repair. Mice ate the insulation and wiring throughout his house. You might think twice about choosing to live with mice. And yes, it was a large house. A very large house.


Rodent Damage Demo & Repair, Electrical Inspection $73,000
Remove lights, ceiling fans, switch & receptacle covers, HVAC grills & registers, closet shelving, baseboard, casing, paneling, drywall and insulation from the areas listed below. Inspect wires for missing insulation. Any wiring repairs required will be priced after inspection. Reinstall insulation. Install and finish drywall. Reinstall casing, baseboard and paneling. Stain trim and paneling. Paint drywall. Reinstall HVAC grills & registers, closet shelving ,receptacle covers, lights and ceiling fans.

[Biciclista]

One of our clients had extensive damage from mice. Here's the portion of his bill that covered the repair. Mice ate the insulation and wiring throughout his house. You might think twice about choosing to live with mice. And yes, it was a large house. A very large house.


Rodent Damage Demo & Repair, Electrical Inspection $73,000
Remove lights, ceiling fans, switch & receptacle covers, HVAC grills & registers, closet shelving, baseboard, casing, paneling, drywall and insulation from the areas listed below. Inspect wires for missing insulation. Any wiring repairs required will be priced after inspection. Reinstall insulation. Install and finish drywall. Reinstall casing, baseboard and paneling. Stain trim and paneling. Paint drywall. Reinstall HVAC grills & registers, closet shelving ,receptacle covers, lights and ceiling fans.

wow, cats are a lot cheaper.

[oxysback]

I work in the pest control industry. Kalidurga is right, the only way to make sure more don't come in is to seal up the entryways. The usual suspects are crawl space vents with holes in the mesh, wiring coming out of your house that has a hole bigger than the wire, and garage doors that are missing the seal from the bottom. You can usually tell where they're getting in from their droppings. A cheap, temporary fix is steel wool. Push some in any holes that are suspect.

[Cataboo]

Hrm. I didn't think of leaving the mouse attached to the glue trap and just waiting for him to die.

I did the... erm... if I rip him off and let him go however many miles from here... he'll have lost so much hair & skin that he'll probably die (it was winter...)... Not to mention I didn't know how weak he was from flopping on that thing from however long.

Then did the... erm, I could stick him in the freezer, but then I'd have a dead mouse in the freezer. Eww. I could drown him in a bucket, but then I'd have dead mouse contaminated bucket, and since I was in an apartment, I couldn't really go hose it out. Eww. I could smash him with a hammer, but then I'd have a bloody hammer. Eww.

Finally, I stuck him in a few plastic bags, and stuck him behind my car wheel and backed up. Fastest most humane least eww way to get rid of a mouse that I could think of... But then I tossed all the other glue traps I had.

As for living with them... mice spread the plague and carry hantavirus. I tried to avoid disease carriers. Eww.

And cats.... never really cared from them, and am just allergic enough I don't get near so it doesn't get worse. Eww.

[OakLeaf]

There's no sealing most homes against mice without some major rebuilding. They can get in through soffit and attic vents unless very fine mesh was installed when the place was built. They can get in through the gaps between siding and foundation. All they need is 1/4".

[channlluv]

He was still alive and enjoying the warm confines of my stove top this morning - I lifted the lid where the burners are to look underneath to where the pilot lights are because the chewsticks hadn't moved overnight, and I figured I'd find his little body there and I wanted to move it before I started cooking breakfast.

Ninja Mouse was there waiting for me. I had both hands full of stove top and couldn't react. He looked up at me and then walked amazingly calmly to the back of the stove and climbed up into what must be a hollow section on the top back of the unit. For crying out loud.

DH went and bought the snap traps and set one there in the stove top. Oh yay. Mouse innards...well, there's so much poop in there I can't cook in it anyway until it's vacuumed and bleached. Yuck.

And yes, we have a cat. Her name is Duchess. Let's just say she's not much of a mouser.

I also live in the desert southwest where hanta virus is present, so I'm acutely aware of possible health issues. I hope he doesn't go into the wall to die. Or into some part of the stove I can't take apart. Geez.

So far I've only seen the one mouse. I think he may be a rogue ninja mouse looking for shelter.

Roxy

[OakLeaf]

I never had a cat (as an adult), but my neighbors did, and all they did was chase the mice into my walls. Made the mouse problem worse, as far as I'm concerned. I can't see how it would be any different if the cat was actually in the house... it still can't get into the walls and cupboards where the mice go.

[Cataboo]

I never had a cat (as an adult), but my neighbors did, and all they did was chase the mice into my walls. Made the mouse problem worse, as far as I'm concerned. I can't see how it would be any different if the cat was actually in the house... it still can't get into the walls and cupboards where the mice go.

Tom was never that good at catching Jerry.