Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with mice

There is a mouse living in my stove. He was not invited.

serialcomma — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:56:34 -0800

There's a mouse in my stove. At least, I hope it's a mouse. I've heard something clanging around in there for the last couple of nights. (It's perfectly silent during the day.) I've been able to keep the noise to a minimum with the occasional sharp rap on the stovetop, but I haven't actually seen the pest myself. There are no signs of mice elsewhere in the house, at least that I've noticed.

What are my options for getting rid of it?

1. Set traps, open the oven door, and hope the intruder finds its way out into a trap.

2. Leave it in the oven, where it will eventually die due to lack of food, and I won't have to deal with a living creature. Then remove the coprse. (Actually, is there any potential harm to it being in a gas stove, provided I don't turn the stove on?)

3. Call the landlord, ask them to send an exterminator, and let a pro deal with it.

Any other suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

Need to Fill Some Holes

suasponte — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:46:52 -0800

I need help plugging potential points of entry for mice. Problem is, I can't reach the holes There is a 6 inch space alongside our staircase running the entire length of the stairs, between the banister and the wall, in which I suspect there are mouse holes. Lacking a photo, the space is best described as a "U" with the stairs on one side and the wall on the other. Not only can I not see whether there are holes without using a small mirror, but if there are holes, there's no way for me to get steel wool into them. I can't use the foam spray available in hardware stores because the combination of my hand and the bottle won't fit into the space.

Is there a foam spray that comes with some kind of extension tube? Any other ideas?

DDT for bed bugs?

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:01:20 -0800

Using DDT for bed bugs? I recently found out that I have bed bugs in my new apartment. Obviously, this is extremely upsetting to me, as I’m a college student and work a lot so I don’t have the seemingly endless amount of time or money needed to get rid of them. I have contacted my landlord about the bed bugs but they are not being very forthcoming about helping me. They say they will only pay for what seems to me to be a crappy exterminator. I’m afraid that this will only make the problem worse.

My parents are seriously upset about this. They want me to move out right away. I keep telling them that that won’t solve anything; it will just spread the problem. They live outside the US, and my mom is coming to visit in a week (she’s not staying with me). She excitedly called me this morning to inform me that she bought DDT which she is planning to smuggle into the states in a shampoo bottle. I’m on the fence about using this… I’ve heard conflicting reports about how bad it really is. I’m mostly worried about the fact that it may cause breast cancer, and that bed bugs may be resistant to it. On the other hand, my first reaction is that I should spray it EVERYWHERE. How bad is it if used responsibly? How do I use it responsibly? I know that I have to dilute it, but how much?

So far, I have built up supplies to treat the problem on my own (caulking material, mattress cover, diatomaceous earth, and bed bug spray that kills on contact) but I’m not sure where I should start, or if I should event attempt to do it on my own. I’ve read bedbugger, but I don’t really have a set plan. I want to use DDT because it has a slow half-life and I’m sure other apartments in my building are infested. If I use it smartly, along with caulking every crack that I can find, I can lower my risk of being reinfested, right? Am I being really irresponsible by doing this?

I’m not sure how bad my bed bug problem is right now, I’ve seen three bugs, and I’ve gotten around 10 bites that I know of. I also can’t isolate my bed as it’s a loft bed.

I know this is long but I just have one more thing to add: I also have a mouse problem. I think there’s only one, but I know that they can act as an auxiliary food source for bed bugs. I want to get rid of it before I start treating, and then caulk up the hole that I think it has been coming from, but my traps weren’t working so I got sticky traps. Again, my landlord was supposed to come but he didn’t (three days and counting). If a mouse gets caught on the trap how do I get rid of it? I’m terrified…

I read the on bed bugs but I want to know if using DDT would even be worth the health risks. I’m afraid I’m being really shortsighted but this is my first apartment ever and I haven’t been able to sleep or eat very well for the past week (midterms+stressful work+ bed bugs+mice=HELL). I feel like I need a set plan so that I can feel like I’m actually doing something to control it, I’ve been avoiding dealing with it for far too long.

Were the NOD mice really stolen from the Japanese?

kisch mokusch — Fri, 25 May 2007 19:36:18 -0800

I was told a story once, about an American stealing Non-obese Diabetic (NOD) mice from a Japanese lab, and smuggling them back to the States. But I can't find the story anywhere on the web. So the story is as follows:

In the 70s, Shionogi Research Laboratories in Japan developed the NOD strain of mice. But the Japanese didn't want anybody else to have them. So an American scientist actually stole a breeding pair and smuggled them into the US (in the early 80s, I think). The mice apparently spent the journey in his top pocket. Once in the States, the mice made there way to Jackson Laboratories, and the rest of the world finally had access to the strain. The Japanese tried to get Jackson to return the mice (or destroy the line), but were told there was no chance that would happen.

I want to believe this story (how could I not? it's a cool story), and I remember it being told with some authority (by a reputable guy who did his Post-doc in Jackson Laboratories). It's just that I can't find it anywhere on the web.

Has anybody heard this story before? Is it somewhere on the web, or in a book or journal?

3 Computers, 1 Keyboard 1 Mouse?!

matthelm — Fri, 11 May 2007 09:26:50 -0800

I have a system that uses 3 computers, which are all talking to each other. I need to be able to use one keyboard and one mouse to control all three at the same time. Does anyone know of a reliable device?

All the basic units of life.

kisch mokusch — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 03:01:41 -0800

I'm interested in cells. As many different types as can be identified, and the more specific the better. Preferably mammalian, certainly vertebrate (otherwise the the list would be too big!). Sound references desirable (or, failing that, a brief description of which organ they can be found in).

e.g.
Dendritic Epidermal T cells: T cells found in the skin of mice (but not humans). Nat. Med.

Ideally the answers would be from biologists/reasearchers who have experience with the particular cell(s) they mention. I've already seen the wikipedia list, and although at first glance it seems impressive, it has a lot of errors, and is lacking references. So first-hand knowledge is highly desirable.

Quality over quantity.

Got mice?

jellicle — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 11:52:26 -0800

Got mice? I've got mice behind the drywall and I'm trying to figure out an expedient way of snuffing out their lives. So, it's the time of year when the mice come in from the cold. This is a relatively new house, well built overall, but there are scritch-scritch noises behind the drywall in the basement. I do not see any sign of mice in the living areas of the house - I believe they're confined between the drywall and the cinderblock outer wall. Thus, trapping won't be effective - they're not out and running around to run over traps I place on my side of the drywall, and I can't get behind the drywall to lay traps on their side.

The best solution that occurs to me would be to jab a needle through the drywall and spray poison on their side. (And find the entry point and stop it up, naturally). Is that done for mice, or is that just an insect thing? Any other solutions that don't involve tearing down the drywall to get at the rodents?

I'm aware of the possibility of retaining a professional exterminator, so you don't need to mention that, thanks.

Help Tom catch Jerry

milarepa — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 07:34:07 -0800

How do I turn this into a brutal, relentless mouse killing machine? To be fair, that picture was taken almost two months ago, which makes kitty ~4 months old, meaning that I think it's time for rescued kitty to start pulling her weight around here.

Currently, the cat sleeps with my wife and me, or our daughter, and doesn't seem to show any interest in mousing. However, we don't think she's seen one yet. She's very frisky, and seems like a natural hunter -- we found her on the L.I.E in the pouring rain of all places, so she's definitely tough beans.

Anyway, we live in a small two bedroom, and mice seem to originate in the kitchen. It's not infested, but it's enough to be bothersome. Our idea is to get the kitty a nice bed in the kitchen for a while so she can keep guard at night, at least until she links mouse rustling to something killable.

Is it too early to expect her to be a cold-blooded hunter?

Is there any sort of kitty psych 101 that I should know about -- am I going to give kitty some sort of kitty complex by kicking her out of our bed too soon?

What else can I do to make Master Meshu Meshola a brutal, relentless mouse killing machine without destroying her ability to take impossibly cute pictures like this? Can I have my cake and eat it too?

Mouse in the House

RustyBrooks — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 02:50:02 -0800

We definitely have mice in our garage. I'm worried they may be in our attic or our house interior and I need some advice. So I'll break it down into a few pieces

* How do you estimate the size of an infestation? I've put sticky traps and poison all over our garage and in key parts inside the house. We've caught a few in the garage, none inside the house. I am interesting in figuring out how many mice we started with, and whether that number is decreasing.

* With the traps it's straightforward, fine one with a mouse, throw it away. With the poison, I'll find one that's been well nibbled (they're blocks of poison) but I've yet to find a dead mouse (not in a trap). Assuming that the poison is lethal in the doses that they're eating, where are they? Did they go outside to die, or, more likely, are they deep under some stuff, in a hole, in the attic, etc? Are traps alone effective enough, especially since I now need to worry about mice rotting away in various places?

* At what point do you consider calling in a professional? There is no evidence that they are getting into our food, the dogs food, etc. There has been a definite increase in activity in the garage, I found, for example, that a bag of ant poison had been eaten through, of all things, and a nest made inside. I suspect they are coming in because it's starting to get colder and wetter outside.

* Also, we live in a new house built in what was an empty field 6 months ago. So these mice are probably "field mice" right, and so this is the first wave that is moving indoors. Does that change anything? When we first moved in we had spiders EVERYWHERE but the numbers have died down since we remove them whenever we find them.

Mice in the dishwasher

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 12:33:22 -0800

How do we keep mice out of the dishwasher and what might be the health effects of having them in there? (effects on us, that is -- not on the mice :-)

Mice get into our dishwasher (even when the door is latched). That means that there are mouse droppings in our dishwasher. This happens even when the dishes in there are clean (e.g. If we run the dishwasher when we go to bed at night, there already are droppings in there when we get up in the morning).

They seem to be getting in and out at the bottom of the door somehow, but I can't tell exactly where. When we open the dishwasher, they flee towards the door (i.e. the hinge) and disappear, but if the one who opened the door responds to this by slamming the door then the mouse is often crushed under the bottom of the door. The dishwasher does not leak. Are mice likely to be able to get in and out of any dishwasher or is there some damage here that is allowing access? Put another way: the dishwasher is ancient and I don't mind getting a new one but I want to make sure that this actually addresses the issue (and that I know how to keep them out).

The dishwasher presumably heats the water to a sufficient degree (for a sufficient amount of time) that bacteria are killed, but we have recently had an episode of pinworm in our household. Might the mouse droppings be the source of this infection? After all, if the worms can survive in the gut, hot water might not be so tough. Any other creepy-crawlies we should be worried about?

We are in a townhouse and an adjacent unit is, um, not likely to be free of mice in the foreseeable future. So completely eradicating them from our home is next to impossible, though the dishwasher is the only place it's really a problem, thanks to kitty-power.

Will catching NYC mice make my cats sick/dead?

unknowncommand — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 08:56:26 -0800

Will catching NYC mice make my cats sick/dead? My cats have killed two mice in the past four days. I live in NYC, and I wonder whether mouse-catchability is aided by their being poisoned already. Last night, I heard one of the cats vomiting a lot, and this morning found the newly deceased mouse. Does cat-vomiting usually accompany non-poisoned-mouse-killing? If these mice are poisoned will it hurt the cats if they are only killing (and not eating) them? What to do? I would love the cats to catch the mice, but not if it kills them (obviously). I've read a few "how to catch mice" threads on ask.me already, and tried googling but the keywords are tricky.

Vacation home ordeals

Amizu — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:24:39 -0800

Help my family protect our log cabin. Much My family bought land on forested land overlooking the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia about 40 years ago. (My father thought Nixon was going to take over the country in marshall law.) About 20 years ago, they hired a local log cabin builder to construct a traditional log cabin. It is beautiful, secluded, and very important to my family, because every year we spend unadulterated time together as a family, without TV, friends, or other distractions. And when my family lost everything else, we still had the cabin.

However, the cabin has problems, namely trespassers, flies, and mice.

Here's the scenario: The place has untreated logs (which are starting to disintegrate a little bit), and various small holes and cracks. The roof has wooden shingles. My father is a contractor, and has years of experience, but he's 65 and didn't build log cabins.

We used to have a small "camp" nearby, and had a few problems with mice, but hardly any problems with flies. The log cabin, however, has a fly problem, and so every summer when we show up, everything is covered in fly bodies - a dark, nasty layer of dead flies. Even if we think we've killed them all, they form into hives in about October, and by summer they're all dead and covering everything. And mice get into the mattresses. Also, vandals and thieves have entered the cabin a few times, as they do to other seasonal homes in the area. To protect the house, we have covered the windows and doors in heavy plywood and steel bars, but we know it's not impenetrable. We lock the cabin from the inside, and someone thin slides out the bottom of the cabin via a trap door, but my parents can't fit, so they can't visit their cabin by themselves. We live 12 hours south of the cabin. The result of all these problems is that it takes days to get into the cabin and clean it, and our ability to use the place is reduced.

I'm wondering if there are solutions to these problems. Are there ways to effectively protect a cabin from mice - especially mattresses, couches, etc.? Are there ways to stop this fly abomination? How about security for an isolated cabin with no electricity or running water? (We'd like to keep it that way, because it's a large part of the charm, but we would consider alternatives.) Is there some way to keep it secure without using the trap door? Nearby friends look out for the place, but it is mostly inaccessible in the winter, other than by sea, so it's hard to check on at the most vulnerable time of year.

Taking the mickey (mouse)

iamcrispy — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 15:37:15 -0800

Rats/mice. I seem to have a new friend living in my flat. It's small, brown and furry and I'd like to dispose of it (them?) quickly and effectively. I have absolutely no intention of giving it the humane treatment as I simply don't have any way of removing a living creature from my flat in london to somewhere else (no car etc.). How can I kill it? Kill it up good. I'd like to avoid getting an exterminator in as I don't have a great deal of time on my hands at the moment, should it come to that, I presume my landlord is liable for the monies?

Should I get a pet mouse?

afx237vi — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 15:46:40 -0800

Is it a bad idea to keep a pet mouse in your bedroom? How noisy and/or smelly do they get? For a while now I've been thinking about getting a small pet. I like the idea of a mouse, but I'm concerned by the fact that she would need to live in a cage in my bedroom. Just how noisy do they get at 3 in the morning? And are they as smelly as everyone thinks they are?

What about other small animals? Are there any better suited this environment? Ideally, I'd like something small, low-maintenence, quiet and non-aromatic. Does such a thing exist? Also, it would help if it's affectionate and intelligent and easy to handle. Oh, and cute. And easy/legal to buy in the UK. Thanks.

How to get rid of mice

stupidsexyFlanders — Fri, 12 May 2006 08:39:43 -0800

I've got a mouse problem in my house and I need advice on ending it once and for all. We've seen evidence all over the house -- from the first floor up to the third. It's an old house and there are several gaps where mice could get in to the basement. On the inside, there's some openings from the basement up into the laundry room. I think sealing these up should help a lot. So job 1 is to fill these gaps -- what are the best materials (inside and outside) for filling so mice can't get in? On the eradication side, I've tried traps of various kinds and I don't want to have to deal with baiting them, hiding them, disposing of them, etc. I would rather use poison, which I can put in the crawl space under the laundry room. However, I've never tried it. I'm guessing I need to poison first, and seal later. True? How exactly do they die? I've heard they eat the poison and then go outside looking for water and die there. Will they even really do this? Or are they going to die in the house (basement, inside walls) and stink for a long time? How long do they take to die after eating the poison? How often does the poison have to be "refreshed?" Any brand/type recommendations? Thanks.

Children's book about family of mice?

msbrauer — Tue, 09 May 2006 07:19:09 -0800

What is the title of a children's book about a large family of mice, all of whose names are derived from numbers? Sister's graduating from high school, so it's time to get sentimental. A book from her childhood has become a bit of the family lore, but we haven't seen a copy of it since the initial reading, borrowed in another state from a school library that was closed 10 years ago.

It's a picture book written in English; the pages are primarily illustrations with a little bit of text either on the page or on the facing page. Plot is unknown to me, but the main feature of the book is that the family of mice all have names derived from numbers. The one I remember is "Fifthmore" (or less likely "Sixthmore"; spelling is uncertain, so it could be spelled closer to "Fifthmour," as in "Seymour"). The book is probably American, though it could easily be from somewhere else.

Can't find much with google. Most common result under a variety of searches is "Ten Mice for Tet," and that isn't it.

Would love to find a copy of the book.

Why doesn't my dog eat cat kill?

Secret Life of Gravy — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 08:35:03 -0800

Why does my bulldog ignore dead critters in the house? We have a mighty hunter in our midst, Eustace, the cat, who makes sure we are provided with a corpse or two a day, usually mice, voles, rats, birds, snakes or squirrels. My question is why does my English bulldog, Fanny, completely ignore these offerings? She is a major chow hound who only gets fed once in the morning and spends the rest of day snorking up anything she considers remotely edible. When we go for walks I have to be ever vigilent to guard against her finding old food wrappers or gum or chicken bones, etc.

But she never shows any interest in the cat kill left lying around. Lettuce with a drop of ranch dressing? oh yes! Burnt pizza crust? bring it on. Raw chicken skin? more please. Fresh, bloody rat? that is about as interesting as the rubber band on the floor, no wait...the rubber band deserves a second glance because it might have become edible in the last 2 seconds.

What is most strange to me is that a dead squirrel on our route really makes her day. She would be happy to spend all day sniffing it, but a dead squirrel in our living room is old news.

Why doesn't she show any interest in fresh meat unless I am standing in the kitchen chopping it up for dinner?

Eek! A mouse!

Elsa — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 14:07:36 -0800

How do I get a mouse out of an ash-filled fireplace? I’m housesitting in a somewhat posh home. A mouse, running to escape the cat, climbed with ridiculous speed up the firescreen and into the (unlit) fireplace, which is heaped with ash and soot. If the mouse comes out on its own, it will leave greasy little sooty footprints all over the rugs. More worrying still, the cat is keeping a vigilant watch; I’m a bit concerned she might charge and knock over the screen in her eagerness to get at the mouse, thus creating a still bigger mess.

I've tried scooping it up with the fireplace shovel, planning to drop it into a coffee can, slap on the lid, and release it outside. Every time I got it on the shovel, the mouse simply leapt off into the bed of ashes. It is now cowering under the andirons, and I cannot reach it.

I’m astonished and embarrassed to discover that I cannot bring myself to plunge my arm in and pick up the damn mouse. Every time I get close to snaring it, it clings to me with its terrified little mousy claws and I shriek and recoil. I’m mortified, but will admit my shame if it gets me help.

How do I train my pet mouse to use an exercise wheel?

iloveit — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 15:02:36 -0800

[BFSkinnerFilter] How do I train my pet mouse to use expensive exercise equipment? I purchased an exercise wheel for my pet mouse. I was delighted to watch him explore this contraption; getting it turning from the outside, venturing into it, and finally learning to get running at full speed within it. The mouse seemed to love it. Sadly, my roommates could not tolerate the incessant squeaking that the mechanism produced. Back to the pet store I went. For twice the price of the cheap metal wheel, they had a plastic model with a ball bearing. In opposition to the very open wire-mesh drum, this model is like a plastic bowl with a bearing in the middle and a metal stand to hold it vertically.

I presented Ralph with his new Mini Silent Spinner and patiently waited for him to hop inside and get jogging. It went ignored for the first evening. The second day I tried to encourage him to explore the new contraption with a small dab of peanut butter smeared inside. Ralph gladly collected his treat, putting only his front legs on the rim of the wheel. I tried again, trying to find a place to put the peanut butter such that he could only reach it by entering the wheel completely. Alas, the mouse outsmarted me -- being able to reach every spot without getting inside the damned thing. I have since tried picking him up and placing him in it, putting some of his regular food inside, even placing the wheel on its side to allow him to get familiar with the interior on his own terms.

I feel tremendous guilt for having deprived Ralph of his exercise. He learned to use the first wheel in about half an hour, and I was hoping he would figure this one out even more quickly. How do I get Ralph to start running again?

You spin me right round, baby...

disillusioned — Sun, 25 Dec 2005 00:40:38 -0800

MTBFFilter: Why is Microsoft's mouse scrolling mean time between failures different for scrolls towards the user vs. scrolls away from the user? As seen here. [PDF] I realize this question is effectively crossing the threshold into complete nerddom, but I was looking at mouse specs for an answer to this thread, and noticed the difference on some of Microsoft's mice. I can't easily determine if this is the same with other brands, considering some of Microsoft's mice apparently have the same MTBF for scrolls.

Obviously, it makes more sense that a mouse would stand up to higher "down scrolling" stress, since we tend to scroll down more than up... but does that mean they engineer the mouse to stand up to more down-scrolling? Is there any rhyme or reason here?

Thanks in advance... engineers, start your engines!

Ultrasonic Mouse Repellers: What's the deal?

SoftRain — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 19:03:29 -0800

Does anyone have any experience with these these ultrasonic mouse repeller things? Do they actually repel the mice? I've tried traps. I've tried steel wool. I store all my food in jars or shelves that they can't get to. The only trap that's ever actually caught anything is those battery-operated ones that electrocute them. I can't use poison because my landlords (who live on the two floors below) have cats and even though they're obviously horrible mousers, I think poison + pets = bad scene.

They disappear for awhile, but they keep coming back. The floorboards are really old and hard to block up. I have a friend coming from out of town in a couple of days and I want to make sure she doesn't have anything crawling on her in the middle of the night. I don't really think they frequent the room she'll be sleeping in, but I've seen them poking around.

I've seen these in the store and if they did the job, I'd be more than willing to buy some. So do they really work? Is there anything that does ward off the little beasts?

Removing dead mice?

ThePants — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 21:04:27 -0800

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.

How to catch mice better?

judybxxx — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 06:42:13 -0800

My basic mouse traps (snap) aren't working, what am I doing wrong? Help! In the fall (sometimes) mice come into our old coop-apartment building, and seem to come through my Living Room! Last year I caught 13, this year 3 over 3 weeks, and now they eat the peanut butter but don't snap the trap. I've cleaned the traps, but they still get it. I've tried other traps before, but these were the best. It seems that my pantry is accessible somehow from the attic. and actually, it is good to know where to trap. Last year, my next-door neighbors saw and caught several mice and then when I started trapping, they saw no more.

So, do I need new traps? I tried glue traps before, that was awful. and I don't want to keep driving a few miles to empty live traps. and I tried a little one, and it would snap and I couldn't tell if there was a mouse inside. So , once I released one, and once I drove miles for an empty trap. My mammologist friend says they come back from a long way off, not just a mile.

I want to catch them NOW, before they get established. Last time I bought traps it was hard to find the 'classic' snap trap - they had some with plastic pieces that were supposed to smell like cheese - seems unlikely to me.

I've got a million other things to do, so I'm hoping to limit the number of experiments. I thought there was dried peanutbutter buildup, that's why I washed them. But this morning all three traps had no peanut butter! I hate to feed them!

There's a mouse in the house...

dead_ — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 08:42:55 -0800

Best way to get rid of a mouse without killing it? I'm a vegetarian--for many reasons, including ethical--and I'm pretty much opposed to killing animals. But boy, is the mouse living in my kitchen a pain. I've isolated his hole, and I am wondering if there are any good ways to get him out of there, and my house, without murder!

How to stop a mighty hunter hunting?

twine42 — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 15:33:27 -0800

How do we stop our indoor/outdoor cat bringing in mice? Our ten year old cat has suddenly (re)discovered the delights of bringing in takeaway dinners for herself. It wouldn't be so bad if she didn't bring them in living and then let them roam around the house by themselves. How do we stop her?

Bells simply don't work - she stays motionless on a wall or car bonnet and then just falls on her prey.