a mouse in the house
so, i found a dead field mouse in the middle of my kitchen floor yesterday.
um, yeah-not happy.
has this happened to anyone else?
how do you 'mouse proof' your kitchen and pantry?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
17 Comments:
When I moved into my house there were rodents in the kitchen. Step one: call an exterminator. Step two: open the cabinet under the sink and follow the pipe. There is probably a 1/4" between the pipe and the wall where it exits the kitchen. That is enough space for them to get in and is very likely where they are coming from. You will want to caulk that space, but not until AFTER your exterminator lays bait or traps (you don't want to trap them in the house). Check for any other places they may be able to get in and seal everything all gaps. Keep all food sealed in glass and plastic and don't leave dirty dishes in the sink.
If you are squeamish, get bait, not traps. Be careful with the bait, it contains anitcoagulants and can be absorbed through your skin. Let the exterminator deal with it and wear gloves if you have to move the bait boxes for some reason.
It's not a fun thing to deal with, but with an exterminator and a tube of calk you'll get your kitchen back in a few days. Then you can scrub every last item in the room. Have fun.
ProfessorChaos at 8:16PM on 07/29/09
Like the Prof said,but when I lived in NC we plugged up all the holes with plain steel wool.Kept them from chewing through it.
onepercent99 at 8:33PM on 07/29/09
We don't have rodent problems--inside or out. We do, however, have an infestation of 4 cats and 2 dogs (both rodent-hunting breeds).
beth1 at 8:54PM on 07/29/09
Air tight containers and some good mousers--three cats here. The neighbors have commented on how they also don't have moles, voles and rabbits digging up the yard or eating their plants thanks to our cats. I feel kind of bad...
dhorst at 9:07PM on 07/29/09
i live in the country, my dirt basement was a field mouse haven, i got 2 nice kittens who set up home down there and voila - the mice were gone in days.... just the scent of the cats drove them away.
pooch at 9:08PM on 07/29/09
Filling gaps is great but instead of caulk I would use expanding spray foam and extend the straw like attachment as far into each hole as possible. Steal wool is also helpfult but mice will chew through it over time. (Rats even chew through pipes) use the most course steel wool available and stuff it in before using the foam which will help lock it into place. (they will also tug it out if possible)
inkandsausages at 9:31PM on 07/29/09
I live in Brooklyn, nyc and last year for some reason we had a lot of mice in the house. My landlord got a cat to help but it didn't help me in my own apartment. So I went to Target and bought some glue traps. It worked like a charm. I caught 8 or 9 of them and haven't seen any since.
QueenAlli at 10:13PM on 07/29/09
Cats can be the complete solution--or not. It tends to depend upon the cat. I had one who liked mice even less than I did, plus another who remembered how to kill mice but not how to dispose of them. My present cat, Fuzzy, is a champion mouser. All cats are supposed to be hard-wired to do this, but not all of them are.
annien at 10:36PM on 07/29/09
I was specifically told not to use the expanding foam. If you have to have plumbing work done in that area, the foam makes it a lot more difficult, (and expensive), or so I'm told.
ProfessorChaos at 10:47PM on 07/29/09
airtight containers, snap traps
essay at 11:26PM on 07/29/09
Expanding foam is also toxic and damages your nervous system. I'd suggest wearing a respirator if you use it or just using caulk.
gingercookiewithlime at 7:17AM on 07/30/09
Last winter we were finding mouse droppings in the basement--we have a pantry down there where we keep surplus food items (cans of beans, boxes and bags of pasta). Luckily, they only tour open one bag of food (a bag of pasta--I guess it was an Italian mouse).
What worked best for us was just good old fashioned snap traps, baited with peanut butter. But, this might not be ideal in a kitchen!
italiagirl84 at 8:37AM on 07/30/09
i'm severely allergic to cats-if i wasn't, i'd be that weird catlady with 20 of them.
my landlord's taking care of the problem, but i'm still concerned about my pantry.
should i move everything into the refrigerator? what can't be refrigerated? how do i tell if it's gotten into any of my stuff already?
gastronomeg at 9:20AM on 07/30/09
There will be nickel-sized holes with clear chew marks around the edges if they have gotten into things. I had the most trouble with nuts, especially since I wasn't expecting mice to chew threw ziploc bags.
What worked for us was buying large storage bins to put all of our pantry food in that wasn't jarred or bottled. It's not a huge pain and makes a big diference! Good luck.
essay at 9:39AM on 07/30/09
Oh man the house I lived in before this one had mice and rats. I have a cat that patroled the kitchen (had to put his CHIPS outfit on him), he made sure that they moved out. But what also helped is not to keep the garbage or recycle bins under the sink.
pjracz10 at 10:59AM on 07/30/09
I keep everything in the refrigerator--and got a mouse in my LAUNDRY room. Unfortunately, food hygiene is no guarantee, although it does help. I have called an exterminator, not just for the mouse, but for other pests, and put down poison and glue traps. In my experience, the poison unfortunately was more effective.
The exterminator told me 'if the mouse can fit its head through an opening, the mouse will get in.'
HeartofGlass at 1:00PM on 07/30/09
I had mice in my apartment building recently. It's an old building so my guess is that they were around long before I was. We had them coming from a crack in the wall under the sink as well as from under our dishwasher. We've had our kitchen baited twice as well as the holes in the base board covered. We no longer have a problem but we have since had a dead mouse under the fridge (Not the best smell in the world...) and one under the kitchen table.
When I noticed there was a problem I put everything that was open (chips, snacks, etc.) in large plastic tupperware bins. Mice can chew through plastic and paper and if there is even the slightest opening they will find their way in. I watched a mouse get out of the storage closet next to the kitchen from under the door.
Just don't leave anything out on your counters, clean up spills when they happen, take out the trash as often as possible, and don't leave anything open in your pantry. Tupperware and storage bins will become your best friend. If there's a crumb on the floor somewhere, they will find it.
houdini_k at 11:34AM on 07/31/09