Removing dead mice?

October 6, 2005 9:04 PM

DeadMouseFilter: I noticed a lot of dead mice in the drop ceiling in my apartment. What's the best way to get rid of them before they go zombie?

Two cables enter, one cable leaves. I lifted up a ceiling tile, to find where the second cable is run to, and saw 4 dead mice before I even turned my head (three in the same glue trap, one that appears to have died of shock, right in front of them).

I imagine there are more, but didn't have the wherewithall to explore further.

---

Is a pair of rubber gloves, a breath mask, a trash bag, and a weekend afternoon a good solution?

My friends (who still keep coming back to my house, god bless 'em) keep screaming, "hantavirus." And sure, I'd rather not contract an acute respitory illness, but what's the real risk here (in Boston, MA)? What else should I be worried about?

Should I just get a professional (or get my landlord to get a professional) to do it right?

What if they rise from the dead? What's the best way to battle an army of reanimated zombie mice?


Any suggestions helpful.

posted by ThePants to Health & Fitness (10 answers total)

yes, your proposed solution sounds good to me.

the virus of which you speak does not survive for more than a couple of days after the mice have stopped moving.

you might also look around for signs of any still-living mice.

zombie mice can be lured away with flute music in e minor.
posted by sfenders at 9:24 PM on October 6, 2005

I live in hantavirus country :) Your plan sounds good - main thing is to not kick up any dust. Spray cleanser or use damp paper towels for any clean up. Follow with bleach solution. And if there's one mouse (or 4) well, they begin breeding at only 6 weeks - so keep the traps out.

The flute only works on rats.
posted by LadyBonita at 11:25 PM on October 6, 2005

I'm going to get the 'overkill' award for this thread, but here goes anyway because it's not:

Wear a respirator with HEPA cartridges instead of a simple face mask, which doesn't protect from particulate matter at all. You can get a half- or full-face respirator with replaceable cartridges ($$$$) or one of the smaller disposable units without replaceable cartridges that look similar to those worn in hospitals ($$). Both types are reusable - handy for mowing lawns or anything where you are exposed to dust, but the cheaper ones don't last as long by design. Industry workers use the more expensive respirators; they simply change the cartridge type depending on the job they're doing. (You can also let a screaming friend wear it if he/she is skeptical about your cleaning abilities. ;-)

For your situation, be sure you buy a unit that says 'HEPA' on the box. Respirators sold for paint fumes are not effective unless the label also says HEPA - they won't protect you from dust or the droppings you'll be cleaning. You can get respirators at Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. Try them on if at all possible:

a) make certain it fits before you buy, especially if you choose one of the $$$$ cartridge respirators, and
b) be sure you don't have any respiratory difficulty while wearing it in a clean environment. There are people with asthma and other lung problems who have trouble moving air in and out of a respirator - especially the cartridge respirators - so you need to know how much effort it takes you to breathe while wearing one. If you have trouble breathing while trying on a respirator, you should see your doctor for a checkup before you buy.

How do I know? I've given more than 2,000 respirator fit tests and pulmonary function tests to all shapes and sizes of men and women. This respirator business may seem like overkill, but it's really the safest way to clean any kind of bird or rodent droppings, and it's a small price to pay for your safety.
posted by lambchop1 at 2:18 AM on October 7, 2005

You're renting an apartment that came with a colony of dead mice in the ceiling? Above and beyond the call, IMO. Call the landlord and have him either do it himself or hire someone. Eck.

Try a tin whistle to lead the zombies away.
posted by desuetude at 5:57 AM on October 7, 2005

I'd call the landlord, just because ew, and because surely this is something the landlord ought to deal with.

For zombie mice, all you need is a zombie cat. You don't even need to find a zombie cat--you can make your own. Just bring a regular cat home, let the zombie mice bite him, and then watch the looks on their faces as he rises up and they realize that they have created their own doom! Bwahahahahahaha...
posted by hilatron at 6:10 AM on October 7, 2005

Seconding what desuetude said. Why would you want to do this yourself, when you have the luxury of a landlord? Or do you like zombie mice? Call the landlord!
posted by mimi at 6:12 AM on October 7, 2005

Make sure you are in an effected region before you panic. Also, here are a few choice quotes from this CDC page.

• Through July 6, 2005, a total of 396 cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome have been reported in the United States. The case count started when the disease was first recognized in May 1993.
• Thirty-six percent of all reported cases have resulted in death.
• About three-quarters of patients with HPS have been residents of rural areas.

So, you know, make of that what you will...
posted by Chuckles at 7:47 AM on October 7, 2005

lambchop1 has some good advice there, if you end up doing it yourself.

It's worth knowing that respirators are considered ineffective if you have facial hair because they can't seat properly against the face.
IANAn Industrial Hygienist. I knew a guy who had to mow his own lawn, in spite of overwhelming allergies, and didn't want to lose the beard. He packed the beard full of KY Jelly under the seal. The theory was, the particles would get stuck in it and not make it into the mask. We thought about Vaseline, it's just harder to wash out. (When you see bands doing 50's rock with 9 pounds of hair grease? It's not grease, it's KY.)
Disclaimer: This is an unapproved use of an OSHA approved product, and is not legal in a work environment, in any way, shape or form. It will do nothing against volatiles, it's a particle only kludge. Do this at your own risk, or find a volunteer with no facial hair.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 8:26 AM on October 7, 2005

Also useful are hepa filter bags for shop vacuums. Along with a resperator and misting stuff down that is what I've used to clean up droppings. The filter bags are pretty expensive but nice extra insurance that one has got everything out of crooks and cranies.
posted by Mitheral at 10:00 AM on October 7, 2005

Quite a while back, I worked for a property management company in Boston. The company was not into paying for extraneous stuff, buy when one of our tenants had a dead rat in the ceiling and our maintenance did not deal with it directly, they gave them a free month of rent and cleaned up the ceiling.
Please call the managers and have them deal with it. And if they don't, and you are in a city with inspection services, call them and pay your rent to escrow until the problem is solved.
posted by sophie at 6:13 PM on October 7, 2005