Mouse in my house, what to do :(
August 26, 2019 6:45 AM Subscribe
Late last night, I watched a mouse crawl into my house. I called my super and he was like, "Just put out some traps." But that would only kill the existing mouse/mice and wouldn't solve the problem going forward. What should I agitate for to try and solve this problem for good?
- I live in NYC, in Park Slope, in case tenant rights vary between boroughs or neighborhoods.
- I live on the ground floor of an old building (100+ years old).
- I heard a continuous scratching noise from my backyard (I thought it was a burglar at first), then saw a mouse pop through a hole on that wall. So there's at least one in my house, could be more. I have blocked the hole with something heavy.
- I've lived in this apartment for 6 months. I had one other mouse sighting when I first moved in, but nothing since that I'm aware of.
- Rent is due soon (on Sept 1); can I use that to get my landlord/super to take action more quickly? (like, mention withholding rent until they get an expert to come in and inspect?)
- What exactly should I ask for? Is it realistic to have someone do an assessment of all the places a mouse could get in, and then figure out how to mitigate? [Or will there always just be tons of entrance points?] Is this kind of person called an exterminator or something else?
- I live in NYC, in Park Slope, in case tenant rights vary between boroughs or neighborhoods.
- I live on the ground floor of an old building (100+ years old).
- I heard a continuous scratching noise from my backyard (I thought it was a burglar at first), then saw a mouse pop through a hole on that wall. So there's at least one in my house, could be more. I have blocked the hole with something heavy.
- I've lived in this apartment for 6 months. I had one other mouse sighting when I first moved in, but nothing since that I'm aware of.
- Rent is due soon (on Sept 1); can I use that to get my landlord/super to take action more quickly? (like, mention withholding rent until they get an expert to come in and inspect?)
- What exactly should I ask for? Is it realistic to have someone do an assessment of all the places a mouse could get in, and then figure out how to mitigate? [Or will there always just be tons of entrance points?] Is this kind of person called an exterminator or something else?
Best answer: That kind of person is indeed an exterminator. And your building may already have a monthly visit with an exterminator scheduled; my building does, anyway, where once a month someone checks all the tenants to ask about pest activity and then offers a quick-fix solution (if we see bugs they spray insecticide, if we've seen mice they offer traps, etc.). This also lets the landlord know what's going on in the building proper, and if there are repeated signs of a problem they may step up.
Your putting something heavy in front of the hole is a good start, but for a more permanent solution, try stuffing the hole with steel wool and then covering it with duct tape and then putting something heavy in front of it. If it's been six months and this is the first mouse you've seen, you're not doing that bad, actually, especially since you live on the ground floor.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:55 AM on August 26, 2019 [11 favorites]
Your putting something heavy in front of the hole is a good start, but for a more permanent solution, try stuffing the hole with steel wool and then covering it with duct tape and then putting something heavy in front of it. If it's been six months and this is the first mouse you've seen, you're not doing that bad, actually, especially since you live on the ground floor.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:55 AM on August 26, 2019 [11 favorites]
In the meantime, you could use steel wool to stuff in that whole, until it gets addressed properly. I did that in my kitchen, using steel wool, pulled apart, and stuffed into the openings around my kitchen pipes (where they were coming up from the dirt basement). I also have plastered over any drywall holes, when I first moved into this place, with spackle (stuffing them first with paper and/or laying a piece of mesh over it, if they were large).
Do not use spray foam, as they can chew thru that (unless you stuff it first w/steel wool, then spray foam on top of that, being aware that the foam expands. I once had a landlord who used spray foam, and we still got mice (and garter snakes!).
I use the closed traps. They make a variety, but just so I don't have to see it. Have caught live mice by plunking a bucket on top of them, and using a piece of heavy cardboard, slid underneath, to carry them outside (like you can catch a wasp with cup on a wall and do the same). That doesn't do much, if their entry paths are still open, tho'.
I did the steel wool thing last Thanksgiving (when a mouse popped out via the back of the stove onto my stovetop, they were starting to get into the back of my stove, which you DON'T want, as they can nest in the insulation and ruin it). I filled any and every crevice I could think of, in addition to the area around the kitchen pipes. Go along with a flashlight and if you can see into it, they will be able to get through. Perhaps it's not fair, but if you are going to be involved in a long and drawn out battle with a slumlord, at least you can get some temporary relief for yourself in the meantime. Steel wool really works!
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 7:08 AM on August 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
Do not use spray foam, as they can chew thru that (unless you stuff it first w/steel wool, then spray foam on top of that, being aware that the foam expands. I once had a landlord who used spray foam, and we still got mice (and garter snakes!).
I use the closed traps. They make a variety, but just so I don't have to see it. Have caught live mice by plunking a bucket on top of them, and using a piece of heavy cardboard, slid underneath, to carry them outside (like you can catch a wasp with cup on a wall and do the same). That doesn't do much, if their entry paths are still open, tho'.
I did the steel wool thing last Thanksgiving (when a mouse popped out via the back of the stove onto my stovetop, they were starting to get into the back of my stove, which you DON'T want, as they can nest in the insulation and ruin it). I filled any and every crevice I could think of, in addition to the area around the kitchen pipes. Go along with a flashlight and if you can see into it, they will be able to get through. Perhaps it's not fair, but if you are going to be involved in a long and drawn out battle with a slumlord, at least you can get some temporary relief for yourself in the meantime. Steel wool really works!
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 7:08 AM on August 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: "So there's at least one in my house, could be more."
They come in pairs. Always. If there is one, there is another.
"But the likelihood of sealing every single hole coming in.... sorry, not great."
They can squeeze through a hole smaller than a dime. Sealing 100+ yr old building is going to be impossible. That said, always work at the obvious routes.
"Keep your food sealed and your apartment spotless to create an inhospitable environment for them."
Pretty much. Food control, and laying out traps and poison. Your personal ethics will determine whether you're fine with glue traps or not, but they *are* effective. You will need an iron stomach to deal with the (not necessarily over) results.
Two mice in six months, though -- it may not seem like it, but you're actually not doing too badly.
posted by Capt. Renault at 8:22 AM on August 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
They come in pairs. Always. If there is one, there is another.
"But the likelihood of sealing every single hole coming in.... sorry, not great."
They can squeeze through a hole smaller than a dime. Sealing 100+ yr old building is going to be impossible. That said, always work at the obvious routes.
"Keep your food sealed and your apartment spotless to create an inhospitable environment for them."
Pretty much. Food control, and laying out traps and poison. Your personal ethics will determine whether you're fine with glue traps or not, but they *are* effective. You will need an iron stomach to deal with the (not necessarily over) results.
Two mice in six months, though -- it may not seem like it, but you're actually not doing too badly.
posted by Capt. Renault at 8:22 AM on August 26, 2019 [5 favorites]
Is it realistic to have someone do an assessment of all the places a mouse could get in, and then figure out how to mitigate?
This is what exterminators do. They won’t catch every hole, but they could catch plenty, and fixing the obvious holes is better than fixing nothing. Same thing with traps—better to catch some of them than none of them.
posted by sallybrown at 8:27 AM on August 26, 2019
This is what exterminators do. They won’t catch every hole, but they could catch plenty, and fixing the obvious holes is better than fixing nothing. Same thing with traps—better to catch some of them than none of them.
posted by sallybrown at 8:27 AM on August 26, 2019
Do you have space in your heart for a cat?
posted by St. Peepsburg at 8:35 AM on August 26, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 8:35 AM on August 26, 2019 [8 favorites]
After a prolonged rat problem at my house, we hired a pest control company. They maintain three black boxes along the outside of the house that contain poison. It has been successful, after my own attempts at sealing the house and trapping failed (caught 13 rats and it wasn’t enough).
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 8:41 AM on August 26, 2019
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 8:41 AM on August 26, 2019
Best answer: Not sure of the weather in NYC, but I'm in the Midwest and our nights are suddenly a lot cooler (upper 50s). My cats have killed 2 mice in the past week after nothing all summer. So if your area has had cooler night temps recently, the local mice may just be looking for warmer shelter and you may see an uptick in mouse activity until late fall. "Mouse season" here averages September/October, and sealing off entry points (for us it tends to be around pipes), clearing debris away from the outside base of your building, and setting/checking snap traps regularly throughout the fall, seems to be the way to go. An exterminator can definitely do this for you. We also seal our carb-y food in plastic bins. The mice seem to like chocolate, nuts, and cookies best. We have had good results with the "Tomcat" black plastic snap traps, they're quick and strong, also reusable if you have the stomach for it.
posted by castlebravo at 9:05 AM on August 26, 2019
posted by castlebravo at 9:05 AM on August 26, 2019
Taking another angle, threatening a rent strike as an early step strikes me as a very good way to ensure that your lease doesn't get renewed next year. I'm not saying you should never do it, but it's definitely for further down the line when the landlord is being obstreperous about fixing the problem.
posted by praemunire at 10:18 AM on August 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 10:18 AM on August 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
Agreed that a rent strike over a single mouse would represent a massive and counterproductive escalation. Sealing the holes and putting down traps is pretty much the only thing to be done here. I recommend the traps that look like hockey pucks - they've always worked the best for me.
posted by Ragged Richard at 10:29 AM on August 26, 2019
posted by Ragged Richard at 10:29 AM on August 26, 2019
Response by poster: Expectations really matter - I assumed that my experience meant something went really wrong, but I'm hearing this is something to be managed rather than a problem to be solved.
I got a nice MeMail with a recommendation for an exterminator. Is it reasonable to expect my landlord to pay for this? Or for me to split it with them? [I know this is ultimately up to them, but it's helpful to know what standard expectations would be.]
Other followups:
- I will set [more] traps
- I will seal up all my food and put in the refrigerator as much as possible
- I will continue paying rent as usual - message clearly received
Thanks y'all for your advice and concern! I was/am sleep-deprived and feeling vulnerable, but now feel more optimistic that I can manage this situation.
posted by estlin at 11:29 AM on August 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
I got a nice MeMail with a recommendation for an exterminator. Is it reasonable to expect my landlord to pay for this? Or for me to split it with them? [I know this is ultimately up to them, but it's helpful to know what standard expectations would be.]
Other followups:
- I will set [more] traps
- I will seal up all my food and put in the refrigerator as much as possible
- I will continue paying rent as usual - message clearly received
Thanks y'all for your advice and concern! I was/am sleep-deprived and feeling vulnerable, but now feel more optimistic that I can manage this situation.
posted by estlin at 11:29 AM on August 26, 2019 [2 favorites]
You can try to ask your landlord to cover this, but in my experience whether or not they do is actually a crap shoot, especially since it sounds like your situation is pretty "it's kinda what happens in New York apartment buildings". I know it's freaky, but you really are in a very, very manageable situation right now.
Sealing up food and setting out traps is really the very best thing you can do. Also, stuff the steel wool into that hole you saw one crawling through, and inspect the walls on that side of the apartment as well and do the same for any holes bigger than, say, a nickel. (Don't forget pipes under sinks.)
I feel you about how freaky this is; I've noticed a couple roaches in my apartment (the first time in 12 years living here I've seen them) and am about to go on an all-out assault myself. I've also had an instance where I had a mouse problem. But ultimately I figured out a likely spot where they were getting in and covered that over, and then closed up all the food - and haven't seen a mouse since, and that was about 6 years ago.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:39 AM on August 26, 2019
Sealing up food and setting out traps is really the very best thing you can do. Also, stuff the steel wool into that hole you saw one crawling through, and inspect the walls on that side of the apartment as well and do the same for any holes bigger than, say, a nickel. (Don't forget pipes under sinks.)
I feel you about how freaky this is; I've noticed a couple roaches in my apartment (the first time in 12 years living here I've seen them) and am about to go on an all-out assault myself. I've also had an instance where I had a mouse problem. But ultimately I figured out a likely spot where they were getting in and covered that over, and then closed up all the food - and haven't seen a mouse since, and that was about 6 years ago.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:39 AM on August 26, 2019
Yeah, mice are a pretty ordinary fact of life in buildings like this. Stuff the hole firmly with steel wool, spray some peppermint oil around your baseboards (they hate it), and set up some mousetraps.
posted by desuetude at 12:46 PM on August 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by desuetude at 12:46 PM on August 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
FYI, there are humane traps you can buy as well (as it seems those haven't been mentioned): They trap the mouse in a little enclosure --which they are enticed into with food, e.g., peanut butter-- and then when you have a mouse inside, just take it to a field/park far (enough) away and release it. PLEASE don't use glue traps, that is outrageously cruel. If you are going to kill them, make sure it is done FAST and EFFECTIVELY.
posted by Halo in reverse at 1:58 PM on August 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Halo in reverse at 1:58 PM on August 26, 2019 [1 favorite]
Ultrasonic mouse repellents have worked really well for us. We used to get lots of mice (and you're right, they can be so noisy that you imagine an intruder is breaking in through the skirting board).
Since installing half a dozen very high-pitched electronic squealers around the place, we haven't seen a mouse in years. The ultrasound doesn't bother our dog or cat either.
Yes, I know that keeping mice away is supposed to be the cat's job. He doesn't understand.
posted by MinPin at 2:39 PM on August 26, 2019
Since installing half a dozen very high-pitched electronic squealers around the place, we haven't seen a mouse in years. The ultrasound doesn't bother our dog or cat either.
Yes, I know that keeping mice away is supposed to be the cat's job. He doesn't understand.
posted by MinPin at 2:39 PM on August 26, 2019
Is it reasonable to expect my landlord to pay for this? Or for me to split it with them? [I know this is ultimately up to them, but it's helpful to know what standard expectations would be.]
NYC law requires landlords to pay for pest extermination services. You can file a complaint if they don't bring one in after you complain about pests, but honestly I wouldn't take that step unless you start seeing mice regularly and he's still blowing you off.
I had a really serious mouse infestation once, and my #1 tip is this: steel wool alone will not necessarily help. I stuffed some holes with steel wool and a month or so later I discovered that the mice had managed to pull it aside in some places and enlarge the hole around it in others. But steel wool with spackle mashed into it is magical. When you cram a mouse hole with that, it stays crammed. I wish I could send a gift basket to the hardware store guy who told me about that trick.
posted by showbiz_liz at 5:30 PM on August 26, 2019
NYC law requires landlords to pay for pest extermination services. You can file a complaint if they don't bring one in after you complain about pests, but honestly I wouldn't take that step unless you start seeing mice regularly and he's still blowing you off.
I had a really serious mouse infestation once, and my #1 tip is this: steel wool alone will not necessarily help. I stuffed some holes with steel wool and a month or so later I discovered that the mice had managed to pull it aside in some places and enlarge the hole around it in others. But steel wool with spackle mashed into it is magical. When you cram a mouse hole with that, it stays crammed. I wish I could send a gift basket to the hardware store guy who told me about that trick.
posted by showbiz_liz at 5:30 PM on August 26, 2019
PLEASE don't use glue traps, that is outrageously cruel.
I don't disagree that they're cruel... but once I'd tried everything else to no avail, I resorted to glue traps, and I wound up catching 5 mice the first night and maybe 20 more over the next month. When you're regularly waking up face-to-face with mice that have climbed fearlessly onto your bed, your morality gets flexible. Or at least mine does.
I made sure to kill the mice as soon as I found them trapped - I would never support just throwing away glue traps with live mice in them.
posted by showbiz_liz at 5:36 PM on August 26, 2019 [3 favorites]
I don't disagree that they're cruel... but once I'd tried everything else to no avail, I resorted to glue traps, and I wound up catching 5 mice the first night and maybe 20 more over the next month. When you're regularly waking up face-to-face with mice that have climbed fearlessly onto your bed, your morality gets flexible. Or at least mine does.
I made sure to kill the mice as soon as I found them trapped - I would never support just throwing away glue traps with live mice in them.
posted by showbiz_liz at 5:36 PM on August 26, 2019 [3 favorites]
We have the Smart Mouse Trap (one of the no-kill ones), and have been using it for years. When the weather gets cold, we start to get mice. Either we will see one, or see evidence of one, or our chihuahua will lose his shit, and we'll know it's time to put out the trap. We put it out every night until we stop catching mice. Sometimes we only get one, sometimes we get 2 or 3. Then we don't worry about it again until months or maybe a year later when another mouse makes it in. As long as you put out the trap the second you suspect a mouse, you are good. You just don't want to wait till they've had time to settle in and reproduce.
posted by selfmedicating at 8:28 PM on August 26, 2019
posted by selfmedicating at 8:28 PM on August 26, 2019
I have cats for this.
posted by bile and syntax at 5:49 AM on August 27, 2019
posted by bile and syntax at 5:49 AM on August 27, 2019
Showbiz Liz is right about how landlords are supposed to provide pest control, so I'm going to re-write my previous answer about whether the landlord would cover your calling an exterminator.
I think what I meant was that your landlord may not be too happy if you called and paid for an exterminator without checking with your landlord first. You've seen the one mouse, you called the super, you were offered traps. For just one mouse, that's about right. The most I'd do is ask if your super could come in and help you look for spots where another mouse could get in, and could help you plug those holes.
If you start seeing a whole mouse invasion, then call the landlord and discuss bringing in the big-guns exterminators. But for right now, for just one mouse in six months, and for your landlord to have responded by giving you traps, that's actually about right as far as what a landlord has to do.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:14 AM on August 27, 2019
I think what I meant was that your landlord may not be too happy if you called and paid for an exterminator without checking with your landlord first. You've seen the one mouse, you called the super, you were offered traps. For just one mouse, that's about right. The most I'd do is ask if your super could come in and help you look for spots where another mouse could get in, and could help you plug those holes.
If you start seeing a whole mouse invasion, then call the landlord and discuss bringing in the big-guns exterminators. But for right now, for just one mouse in six months, and for your landlord to have responded by giving you traps, that's actually about right as far as what a landlord has to do.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:14 AM on August 27, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
I grew up in the suburbs and mice were just a part of life. Essentially you want to seal up all the holes and put out traps to catch any that are already inside. But the likelihood of sealing every single hole coming in.... sorry, not great. Keep your food sealed and your apartment spotless to create an inhospitable environment for them.
posted by DoubleLune at 6:54 AM on August 26, 2019 [8 favorites]