Can't sleep. Mice will eat me.
November 20, 2013 7:14 AM Subscribe
How do I endure the mice that descend upon my room at night? I really need to sleep again.
For about three weeks now there has been a mouse problem at my house. When the weather turned cold I failed to check the places where they tend to get into the house right away, and as a result we have them among us now.
Nowhere do they seem to be more active than in my bedroom, for reasons that have me and the rest of my family at a loss. Most every night, regardless of when I retire, after I turn out the light and get into bed I begin to hear scratching and movement both in various parts of my room and beyond (perhaps in the floors, walls and the heat vent/cold air return). I wake up instantly at these noises and find it difficult to get to sleep afterwards even if I get out of bed and investigate, throw things from my bed, turn on a light and attempt to drive them from hiding places with a baseball bat, etc. More recently, I have been feeling scratching at my mattress and movement on my body while I am in bed (literally, something with small feet walking up my leg or spine), which also makes continued sleep impossible, and deep sleep afterward equally difficult. I have become convinced that I will be the next thing they nibble on, if they believe they can get away with it. Falling asleep to podcasts played aloud only means that I will wake up later in the morning to the noises, and does not dissuade the mice.
No one in my house has any idea what it is that draws the mice to my room continuously and makes them so bold as to crawl over my body. The only food in the room is sealed and has repeatedly been checked for breaches. Dishes that are brought up to the room are always taken away again. I never eat in bed. Any garbage that I throw away in my room is mixed with DCon mouse poison. Indeed, it seems as though there is more poison (moderately successful, sometimes the scratching and movement includes the sounds of the poison being nibbled) and traps filled with peanut butter (totally unsuccessful, except for the time I accidentally set one off moving furniture, forgot about the trap and returned 24 hours later to find it cleaned out) in my room (in response to where the sounds of scratching and movement come from) than anywhere else in my house, yet the mice keep on coming. There is no water for them to imbibe. The floors have been vacuumed and nooks and crevices checked for forgotten pieces of candy or crumbs. I can't find any evidence that they are nesting or trying to nest anywhere in my room, nor strangely can I find any of their fecal matter.
I have been told that there is nothing more that can be done than what I am already doing to try and combat this infestation of my personal space. I cannot bring a cat into the house because my brother is allergic and my father hates them. A professional would just come in and lay out more traps and/or poison, no different from what I have already done. My inability to sleep due to these incidents has had as negative an impact on my life as you can imagine. I see that other individuals with similar issues in previous AskMe's have moved out of their homes for a time until the poison or other treatment could run its course, but that is financially prohibitive for me. No one else in my family is having this level of trouble with the mice, and it has even been suggested that I am exaggerating or making up my stories of hearing scratching or feeling feet on my spine. I assure you that I am reporting what I have been hearing and feeling, but I have to admit that when I'm tired and lying in bed, rigid and keyed up for every tiny sound, I can't tell the difference between normal house creakings and the mice, and while I have seen mice in other parts of the house and frequently catch things darting away out of the corner of my eye, I have never visually confirmed the presence of a mouse in my room. But what else could it be?
I know that the poison is working in killing the mice, but in the meantime I need to be able to sleep through the night unharassed. What can I do that I have not already done? We have no pets that will wander in to potentially consume poison or disturb traps, but anything else that I bring into my room needs to be something I can stand sleeping around (mothballs aren't going to work).
Thank you in advance.
For about three weeks now there has been a mouse problem at my house. When the weather turned cold I failed to check the places where they tend to get into the house right away, and as a result we have them among us now.
Nowhere do they seem to be more active than in my bedroom, for reasons that have me and the rest of my family at a loss. Most every night, regardless of when I retire, after I turn out the light and get into bed I begin to hear scratching and movement both in various parts of my room and beyond (perhaps in the floors, walls and the heat vent/cold air return). I wake up instantly at these noises and find it difficult to get to sleep afterwards even if I get out of bed and investigate, throw things from my bed, turn on a light and attempt to drive them from hiding places with a baseball bat, etc. More recently, I have been feeling scratching at my mattress and movement on my body while I am in bed (literally, something with small feet walking up my leg or spine), which also makes continued sleep impossible, and deep sleep afterward equally difficult. I have become convinced that I will be the next thing they nibble on, if they believe they can get away with it. Falling asleep to podcasts played aloud only means that I will wake up later in the morning to the noises, and does not dissuade the mice.
No one in my house has any idea what it is that draws the mice to my room continuously and makes them so bold as to crawl over my body. The only food in the room is sealed and has repeatedly been checked for breaches. Dishes that are brought up to the room are always taken away again. I never eat in bed. Any garbage that I throw away in my room is mixed with DCon mouse poison. Indeed, it seems as though there is more poison (moderately successful, sometimes the scratching and movement includes the sounds of the poison being nibbled) and traps filled with peanut butter (totally unsuccessful, except for the time I accidentally set one off moving furniture, forgot about the trap and returned 24 hours later to find it cleaned out) in my room (in response to where the sounds of scratching and movement come from) than anywhere else in my house, yet the mice keep on coming. There is no water for them to imbibe. The floors have been vacuumed and nooks and crevices checked for forgotten pieces of candy or crumbs. I can't find any evidence that they are nesting or trying to nest anywhere in my room, nor strangely can I find any of their fecal matter.
I have been told that there is nothing more that can be done than what I am already doing to try and combat this infestation of my personal space. I cannot bring a cat into the house because my brother is allergic and my father hates them. A professional would just come in and lay out more traps and/or poison, no different from what I have already done. My inability to sleep due to these incidents has had as negative an impact on my life as you can imagine. I see that other individuals with similar issues in previous AskMe's have moved out of their homes for a time until the poison or other treatment could run its course, but that is financially prohibitive for me. No one else in my family is having this level of trouble with the mice, and it has even been suggested that I am exaggerating or making up my stories of hearing scratching or feeling feet on my spine. I assure you that I am reporting what I have been hearing and feeling, but I have to admit that when I'm tired and lying in bed, rigid and keyed up for every tiny sound, I can't tell the difference between normal house creakings and the mice, and while I have seen mice in other parts of the house and frequently catch things darting away out of the corner of my eye, I have never visually confirmed the presence of a mouse in my room. But what else could it be?
I know that the poison is working in killing the mice, but in the meantime I need to be able to sleep through the night unharassed. What can I do that I have not already done? We have no pets that will wander in to potentially consume poison or disturb traps, but anything else that I bring into my room needs to be something I can stand sleeping around (mothballs aren't going to work).
Thank you in advance.
If you can borrow a friend's cat for a few days -- doesn't need to be there overnight, though that would be useful -- and lock the cat up in your bedroom, that might be enough. A young active cat would be ideal, but even my 11 year old can't be bothered to chase the mice cat got rid of the mice in my office.
posted by jeather at 7:24 AM on November 20, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by jeather at 7:24 AM on November 20, 2013 [3 favorites]
You can get a device that creates ultrasonic noise that mice supposedly cannot stand. They're pretty reasonably priced.
We used one to get rid of martens that lived on our ceiling and kept us awake at might. It worked really well. But I've never tried one for mice, so no guarantees.
posted by Too-Ticky at 7:25 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
We used one to get rid of martens that lived on our ceiling and kept us awake at might. It worked really well. But I've never tried one for mice, so no guarantees.
posted by Too-Ticky at 7:25 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
Have you tried experimenting with different traps and different baiting techniques? I've found that adjusting the amount and placement of the bait can increase the effectiveness of classic mouse traps
posted by alms at 7:27 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by alms at 7:27 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
Okay - you say you've checked all the crevices for food particles. However, I don't see that you also have been sealing those crevices. And you need to do that too - killing the mice that make it into your room is one thing, but you also want to stop them from coming into your room in the first place.
Check your room again for any hole, crack, nook, etc., and for each one you find, do the following:
1. Put poison in there first.
2. Then stuff cotton balls in there.
3. Then stuff STEEL WOOL in there.
4. Then duct tape over the whole mess to seal it.
The poison would kill them, and the cotton balls and then steel wool would be tough to eat through if they get past the poison - and the duct tape would be a physical barrier.
Ideally this would be done all over the house, but if there are mice that are bold enough to come into your room to the point that they are WALKING on you, this will at least stop that bit. You may also still have them stuck in the walls, but if they can't get into you, then presumably they'd still be able to get out of the house, and may choose that option.
Although that's another good question - are you in a single-family house? Or an apartment? If you're in an apartment, then you may not be able to do much in your own place if the building is infested and other tenants aren't doing much; I was in a building that had a restaurant in the ground floor, and we had a big mouse problem as a result. All I could do was plug up holes in my apartment and let my cat go nuts (Zach was a really good mouser, fortunately); but I still heard occasional scratches in the walls. But if you're in a single-family dwelling - jesus, why hasn't your father called a full-on exterminator if you're telling him about mice WALKING ON YOUR BED in the middle of the night?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:29 AM on November 20, 2013 [6 favorites]
Check your room again for any hole, crack, nook, etc., and for each one you find, do the following:
1. Put poison in there first.
2. Then stuff cotton balls in there.
3. Then stuff STEEL WOOL in there.
4. Then duct tape over the whole mess to seal it.
The poison would kill them, and the cotton balls and then steel wool would be tough to eat through if they get past the poison - and the duct tape would be a physical barrier.
Ideally this would be done all over the house, but if there are mice that are bold enough to come into your room to the point that they are WALKING on you, this will at least stop that bit. You may also still have them stuck in the walls, but if they can't get into you, then presumably they'd still be able to get out of the house, and may choose that option.
Although that's another good question - are you in a single-family house? Or an apartment? If you're in an apartment, then you may not be able to do much in your own place if the building is infested and other tenants aren't doing much; I was in a building that had a restaurant in the ground floor, and we had a big mouse problem as a result. All I could do was plug up holes in my apartment and let my cat go nuts (Zach was a really good mouser, fortunately); but I still heard occasional scratches in the walls. But if you're in a single-family dwelling - jesus, why hasn't your father called a full-on exterminator if you're telling him about mice WALKING ON YOUR BED in the middle of the night?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:29 AM on November 20, 2013 [6 favorites]
Yeah if you're not seeing droppings in your room, they are more likely in the walls/vents and not your room. Still noisy but less of an issue. I have mice in my house and I feel your anxiety about it, it sucks, but you need to separate what is really happening or likely to happen from what you're imagining in your worst dreams. You say you're doing all you can but I'd suggest
- removing the garbage can from the room entirely
- stop eating in your room, period
- get glue traps and put them in the vents (they are gross and cruel but they work)
- put cottonballs with peppermint oil in the places you think the mice will be. They don't like the smell and it's better than mothballs.
- Put steel wool around places you think they might walk. They will not walk on it. This is especially true of there are holes for pipes to run through or whatever. Mice can get through a hole the size of a dime
- consider one of those noisemaker things Too-Ticky mentions - I have used them and they're a little tricky (the way the sound works means they won't always be effective where you have them, put a little research into them) but I feel they're effective
Sleep on a couch or somewhere else for a bit so that you can get some rest. It's a vicious cycle, the lack of sleep makes you hyperalert to the noises. Also think about whether there are ways you can protect your bed to give you more reassurance that they can't get up in there with you (and they definitely would prefer not to if given the choice, mice are pretty human-contact avoidant).
My personal experience was that when I felt like I was doing all I could, there were actually more things that I could be doing.
posted by jessamyn at 7:29 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
- removing the garbage can from the room entirely
- stop eating in your room, period
- get glue traps and put them in the vents (they are gross and cruel but they work)
- put cottonballs with peppermint oil in the places you think the mice will be. They don't like the smell and it's better than mothballs.
- Put steel wool around places you think they might walk. They will not walk on it. This is especially true of there are holes for pipes to run through or whatever. Mice can get through a hole the size of a dime
- consider one of those noisemaker things Too-Ticky mentions - I have used them and they're a little tricky (the way the sound works means they won't always be effective where you have them, put a little research into them) but I feel they're effective
Sleep on a couch or somewhere else for a bit so that you can get some rest. It's a vicious cycle, the lack of sleep makes you hyperalert to the noises. Also think about whether there are ways you can protect your bed to give you more reassurance that they can't get up in there with you (and they definitely would prefer not to if given the choice, mice are pretty human-contact avoidant).
My personal experience was that when I felt like I was doing all I could, there were actually more things that I could be doing.
posted by jessamyn at 7:29 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
When you set the traps, have NO contact with human skin. Use dishwashing gloves to remove them from the package, and continue to use dishwashing gloves as you bait them and place them. Also, try a variety of traps. (sticky traps, live traps, conventional traps). Make sure not to touch any of them. Also, google BUCKET MOUSE TRAP and try that one.
posted by jcworth at 7:30 AM on November 20, 2013
posted by jcworth at 7:30 AM on November 20, 2013
I am not trying to be dismissive of your problem, but I will tell you that I sometimes feel my cat jump onto my bed in the middle of the night, but I haven't actually lived in the same home as my cat for 15 years, and she died 5 years ago. I also sometimes feel roaches crawling up my leg or spine in the night, but the year I spent living in a tropical country where that was sometimes a problem was 14 years ago. The things our body tells us at night when we're in the dark and trying to sleep are just not always true, even if they feel really, really true at the time. I'm not saying you have no mice in your room, but it's likely that part of what you feel isn't actually happening.
A good quality professional can do more than just lay traps -- they should be able to help you identify and seal entry points. They also know where to put traps and how to bait them based on years of experience instead of just dealing with this one incident.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:33 AM on November 20, 2013 [21 favorites]
A good quality professional can do more than just lay traps -- they should be able to help you identify and seal entry points. They also know where to put traps and how to bait them based on years of experience instead of just dealing with this one incident.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:33 AM on November 20, 2013 [21 favorites]
I had this problem when I lived in Florida except that they were RATS! (My landlord said they were citrus rats so I guess I was supposed to feel better about them being in my room.)
You MUST call an exterminator (You can get one that traps them humanely if you want.) In order to get into those walls and into your crawl spaces, you need a professional.
posted by nubianinthedesert at 7:34 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
You MUST call an exterminator (You can get one that traps them humanely if you want.) In order to get into those walls and into your crawl spaces, you need a professional.
posted by nubianinthedesert at 7:34 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
Maybe something like this? I used to have mice problems where I lived previously and I couldn't sleep for days. I had a ton of traps out but none seemed to be working. Eventually one mouse was stupid enough to drown itself in my toilet, and I've used something like this successfully a few times since then.
posted by Malleable at 7:47 AM on November 20, 2013
posted by Malleable at 7:47 AM on November 20, 2013
A professional would just come in and lay out more traps and/or poison, no different from what I have already done.
Do you really think that there would BE professional exterminator companies if the service and expertise they offered were no more valuable than just buying some stuff at the hardware store?
Call the exterminator!
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:54 AM on November 20, 2013 [15 favorites]
Do you really think that there would BE professional exterminator companies if the service and expertise they offered were no more valuable than just buying some stuff at the hardware store?
Call the exterminator!
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:54 AM on November 20, 2013 [15 favorites]
Nthing exterminator. They have tools that you don't, and experience in knowing where the entry points are and sealing them up.
posted by telophase at 7:56 AM on November 20, 2013
posted by telophase at 7:56 AM on November 20, 2013
I once lived in a basement where I could hear mice crawling around in the suspended ceiling in my bedroom. You do become hyper-aware of the noise. I tried the ultrasonic noise thing which only helped temporarily.
The only thing that helped me sleep was having some kind of fan or white noise running to cover the sound. That was a lifesaver for me as I wasn't jumping at every little creak or scritchy sound.
Good luck!
posted by mefireader at 7:56 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
The only thing that helped me sleep was having some kind of fan or white noise running to cover the sound. That was a lifesaver for me as I wasn't jumping at every little creak or scritchy sound.
Good luck!
posted by mefireader at 7:56 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
Never eat in the same room where you sleep unless you are bedridden and unable to move to another room.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 7:58 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Admiral Haddock at 7:58 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
Call a few exterminators and ask them to describe your options and their pricing. Most professionals are accustomed to having prospective customers ask questions and compare price quotes. Just because you call them doesn't mean you have to hire them, and it'd be worth knowing your options.
posted by Meg_Murry at 7:59 AM on November 20, 2013
posted by Meg_Murry at 7:59 AM on November 20, 2013
Nthing that you need an exterminator, you cannot deal with this alone. It sounds like the rest of the people in the house, your father, your brother, and whoever else, are being singularly unhelpful and unkind. Rodent carry disease; they also do damage to insulation and wiring. If your family owns this house they need to do something now.
Meanwhile, can you stay with friends until this is resolved? You need sleep.
posted by mareli at 8:06 AM on November 20, 2013
Meanwhile, can you stay with friends until this is resolved? You need sleep.
posted by mareli at 8:06 AM on November 20, 2013
We had a mouse problem last year, and called a professional exterminator. One thing they did that never in a million years would have occurred to me was to put poison traps outside my house, with a super-delicious (to mice) bait. There were no baited traps inside our house at all -- he did put sticky scented traps in the house, but none that had actual bait. He said this would actually draw them out of the house -- because they would go out to where the super-delicious bait was. If you have baited traps inside, you might be drawing more mice in from the outdoors.
So -- one thing you could try is to put traps outdoors. But I also recommend hiring a professional. They really do have solutions you aren't aware of, and deep knowledge of the way these critters behave that can really help you.
posted by OrangeDisk at 8:11 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
So -- one thing you could try is to put traps outdoors. But I also recommend hiring a professional. They really do have solutions you aren't aware of, and deep knowledge of the way these critters behave that can really help you.
posted by OrangeDisk at 8:11 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
....but in the meantime I need to be able to sleep through the night unharassed. What can I do that I have not already done?
More info than you want to know, but I was a Peace Corps volunteer for a few years in a rural village in a developing country and there were rats everywhere. You could hear them running through the house at night. If I left pet food out, rats would scale down the wall.
I never had to worry about them running on me, and it was likely because I had a phenomenal mosquito net. Air gets in and out, but it is a mesh net and rodents can't get in either. You tuck in the other sides of the net underneath the mattress.
If I had the problem that you are encountering now (and don't have other places to sleep), then I would get one. Can't speak to this brand, but it looks similar. At least you can sleep through the night and know that they will not walk on you.
Also nthing the exterminator, but I don't know what can or cannot be done for rats or mice.
posted by Wolfster at 8:20 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
More info than you want to know, but I was a Peace Corps volunteer for a few years in a rural village in a developing country and there were rats everywhere. You could hear them running through the house at night. If I left pet food out, rats would scale down the wall.
I never had to worry about them running on me, and it was likely because I had a phenomenal mosquito net. Air gets in and out, but it is a mesh net and rodents can't get in either. You tuck in the other sides of the net underneath the mattress.
If I had the problem that you are encountering now (and don't have other places to sleep), then I would get one. Can't speak to this brand, but it looks similar. At least you can sleep through the night and know that they will not walk on you.
Also nthing the exterminator, but I don't know what can or cannot be done for rats or mice.
posted by Wolfster at 8:20 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
Call the exterminator.
Set glue traps at the intersection of vertical and horizontal surfaces. They’re the only trap that works every time. Go around the exterior of the house with a can of spray foam and seal every hole and crevice. Check these a few weeks later, and use steel mesh over any that the mice have chewed through.
Call the exterminator!
posted by davidpriest.ca at 8:28 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
Set glue traps at the intersection of vertical and horizontal surfaces. They’re the only trap that works every time. Go around the exterior of the house with a can of spray foam and seal every hole and crevice. Check these a few weeks later, and use steel mesh over any that the mice have chewed through.
Call the exterminator!
posted by davidpriest.ca at 8:28 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
Mouse poison often works by making them incredibly thirsty. So they run outside for water, and then die. You don't want dead mice in your walls. So in general I agree with EmpressCallipygos about sealing locations, but not with the poison in the wall first. They need an escape route, and you don't want to lock them inside.
Just a disclaimer, I don't approve of poison. And don't put poison out doors in case someone's beloved pet finds it.
You need to seal off how they're getting into your house in the first place. Mice go outside from time to time, and come inside where it is warm. You need to seal the outside - steel wool, caulking. But where to seal? Mice can climb quite high and they are pretty crafty. So set some have-a-heart humane traps outside the house in various locations and you will find out how / where they're getting in. (Mine were coming in from a small hole under the front porch.)
Also if you can borrow a cat for a few days. Like was said above, even a lazy cat is smelly enough to scare them away.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 8:35 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
Just a disclaimer, I don't approve of poison. And don't put poison out doors in case someone's beloved pet finds it.
You need to seal off how they're getting into your house in the first place. Mice go outside from time to time, and come inside where it is warm. You need to seal the outside - steel wool, caulking. But where to seal? Mice can climb quite high and they are pretty crafty. So set some have-a-heart humane traps outside the house in various locations and you will find out how / where they're getting in. (Mine were coming in from a small hole under the front porch.)
Also if you can borrow a cat for a few days. Like was said above, even a lazy cat is smelly enough to scare them away.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 8:35 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
This zapper type of trap works really well, in my experience.
posted by ghharr at 8:37 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by ghharr at 8:37 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
Is your house on a crawlspace? In our last house, the ingress point for our mice was a spot where a water line came up from the crawlspace and into the kitchen. They'd chewed around the hole to make it bigger. I spent an hour or so under there with a can of Great Stuff and a wad of steel wool, sealing up every pipe opening I could find.
This was about the time we got our cats, so the inside (and area outside the house) got full of cat funk as well. I think I trapped one mouse in some attic knee space, but that was the last incursion we ever had.
Our current place is in the country, and judging by the number of traps I've found, the prior owners must have a real bear of a problem with mice. I chucked all the traps and poison packs I've found and let the cats do their thing. No mice, and we've hit the cold time of year when they normally start poking around houses looking for warmth. So all this to underscore: find some cat smell sources and sprinkle them liberally around the place if you can.
posted by jquinby at 8:42 AM on November 20, 2013
This was about the time we got our cats, so the inside (and area outside the house) got full of cat funk as well. I think I trapped one mouse in some attic knee space, but that was the last incursion we ever had.
Our current place is in the country, and judging by the number of traps I've found, the prior owners must have a real bear of a problem with mice. I chucked all the traps and poison packs I've found and let the cats do their thing. No mice, and we've hit the cold time of year when they normally start poking around houses looking for warmth. So all this to underscore: find some cat smell sources and sprinkle them liberally around the place if you can.
posted by jquinby at 8:42 AM on November 20, 2013
koucha: "I assure you that I am reporting what I have been hearing and feeling, but I have to admit that when I'm tired and lying in bed, rigid and keyed up for every tiny sound, I can't tell the difference between normal house creakings and the mice, and while I have seen mice in other parts of the house and frequently catch things darting away out of the corner of my eye, I have never visually confirmed the presence of a mouse in my room. But what else could it be?"
Sleep deprivation, that's what.
I live in an old house with perpetual difficult-to-control mouse issues, and I totally know what you mean about seeing things darting out of the corner of your eye, and I'm telling you that some of this is your mind messing with you.
I'm not saying that you don't have mice in your walls and that they don't get into your room. I'm saying that *some* of the things you're hearing, seeing, and feeling are not real mice. Your poor exhausted brain is doing its damnedest to make sense of your anxiety/alarm by filling in identifiably mousey details, but it's too tired to realize that it's not solving the right problem. First thing, you need to get a couple of nights of solid rest somewhere.
As for the real mice, they may be drawn to your room not for food or water, but because they need to cross the room to get from one part of the behind-the-walls-space in the house to another part of the behind-the-walls space.
They mark routes by dribbling little drops of pee, which dry almost immediately. Scrub the floors well with ammonia to erase their invisible tracks. Be extra thorough with the baseboards and other nooks and crannies which may serve as portals to the behind-the-walls-and-floors parts of the house -- they only need a 1/4 inch to wiggle through. For further dissuasion, I have heard from many sources that mice do not like the smell of peppermint oil.
However, if they have some way into the house, the poison won't ever eradicate them, it'll just reduce their numbers, not discourage new mice from giving your house a go. This is what a professional exterminator is for -- not just killing the mice already inside the house, but finding where they're getting in and preventing/discouraging new tenants.
posted by desuetude at 9:23 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
Sleep deprivation, that's what.
I live in an old house with perpetual difficult-to-control mouse issues, and I totally know what you mean about seeing things darting out of the corner of your eye, and I'm telling you that some of this is your mind messing with you.
I'm not saying that you don't have mice in your walls and that they don't get into your room. I'm saying that *some* of the things you're hearing, seeing, and feeling are not real mice. Your poor exhausted brain is doing its damnedest to make sense of your anxiety/alarm by filling in identifiably mousey details, but it's too tired to realize that it's not solving the right problem. First thing, you need to get a couple of nights of solid rest somewhere.
As for the real mice, they may be drawn to your room not for food or water, but because they need to cross the room to get from one part of the behind-the-walls-space in the house to another part of the behind-the-walls space.
They mark routes by dribbling little drops of pee, which dry almost immediately. Scrub the floors well with ammonia to erase their invisible tracks. Be extra thorough with the baseboards and other nooks and crannies which may serve as portals to the behind-the-walls-and-floors parts of the house -- they only need a 1/4 inch to wiggle through. For further dissuasion, I have heard from many sources that mice do not like the smell of peppermint oil.
However, if they have some way into the house, the poison won't ever eradicate them, it'll just reduce their numbers, not discourage new mice from giving your house a go. This is what a professional exterminator is for -- not just killing the mice already inside the house, but finding where they're getting in and preventing/discouraging new tenants.
posted by desuetude at 9:23 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
You say you can't get a cat - what about some cat fur sprinkled along the baseboards of your room, behind outlets, under the bed, and so on? Would that be a problem for your brother?
It's the smell of cat that will drive them away, and you can get close by putting fur and the like in some areas. If you have a friend with a cat, they'll have scads of fur for free.
I'm not sure about this. We have the occasional mouse living outside the house along with an indoor/outdoor cat who is an excellent mouser. Despite the fact that a serious mouse-predator is living in the yard the mice still come to the property to eat spilled chicken food. If there's something around that they need I doubt a little fur is going to deter them. I'm no expert but that is my observation based on my experience.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 9:41 AM on November 20, 2013
It's the smell of cat that will drive them away, and you can get close by putting fur and the like in some areas. If you have a friend with a cat, they'll have scads of fur for free.
I'm not sure about this. We have the occasional mouse living outside the house along with an indoor/outdoor cat who is an excellent mouser. Despite the fact that a serious mouse-predator is living in the yard the mice still come to the property to eat spilled chicken food. If there's something around that they need I doubt a little fur is going to deter them. I'm no expert but that is my observation based on my experience.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 9:41 AM on November 20, 2013
Any garbage that I throw away in my room is mixed with DCon mouse poison.
This info might not make it to their newsletter. If there's garbage, they might still be drawn to the smell and then die from the poison later on, so it might be mitigating some of the population but still be a flashing 'Eat at Joe's' sign in the night.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 9:44 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
This info might not make it to their newsletter. If there's garbage, they might still be drawn to the smell and then die from the poison later on, so it might be mitigating some of the population but still be a flashing 'Eat at Joe's' sign in the night.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 9:44 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
First NO FOOD in your room at all. Vaccum up every possible quark of it. No beer cans, no food garbage, NO FUCKING FOOD IN YOUR ROOM.
Secondly, infestations are not going to be cured with bait and traps.
CALL THE FUCKING EXTERMINATOR. You may have to tent the house to get rid of them.
Y'all have a lessez-faire attitude towards vermin. Me. Not so much.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:15 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
Secondly, infestations are not going to be cured with bait and traps.
CALL THE FUCKING EXTERMINATOR. You may have to tent the house to get rid of them.
Y'all have a lessez-faire attitude towards vermin. Me. Not so much.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:15 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
Another person recommended one as well, but the ultrasonic rodent repeller was the only thing that got rid of our mouse problem. Since they day we installed it we have not seen a single mouse or dropping in our apartment. We tried glue traps, snap traps, electronic traps to no avail. The upfront cost is higher (I think the one we bought was ~$30 on Amazon), but it worked.
posted by nolnacs at 10:20 AM on November 20, 2013
posted by nolnacs at 10:20 AM on November 20, 2013
The mice are not going to eat your face. They are afraid of you. Sleep easy knowing that the LAST thing the mice want to do is bother you in any way.
posted by Sara C. at 11:23 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Sara C. at 11:23 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]
I recently dealt with mice in my house, and I tried every kind of trap and bait out of sheer desperation. The only effective ones were these. Old fashioned wood snap traps were a no-go as were various plastic models that looked like giant binder clips with jaws. I must have bought and tried 6 different types of traps before I finally found the Kness ones. With the new, highly effective traps, the mouse problem was over in two days.
posted by quince at 11:25 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by quince at 11:25 AM on November 20, 2013 [1 favorite]
"It's the smell of cat that will drive them away, and you can get close by putting fur and the like in some areas."
I can say without a doubt that this is simply not true. I had two cats (neither mousers) and I had mice every single fall/winter in the same quantity before and after having cats.
In my house, we had a simple regimen - when the weather turns cold, mice come inside. This happens whether or not there is accessible food - shelter and warmth is enough. I set snap traps baited with a small (really, small and if you're using the traps with metal bait holders, try to get peanut butter up under the rolled part) blob of peanut butter. They can "steal" that if they're gentle, so I have to periodically rebait traps. Some people recommend bacon, cat food, or gum drops. For bacon and cat food, it is recommended that you tie the food to the trap. And now you know why I use peanut butter - when I'm setting traps, I'm not in the mood for a sewing project, but maybe you're willing to do this. Pet stores often have sampler packs, 1 of which will work for weeks. You can use thread or dental floww to tie down the bait. Traps of any sort should go along the baseboards. Healthy mice avoid being in open spaces.
Putting the stinky baited traps outside is a great idea, but you will also likely catch small birds, chipmunks, voles, shrews and other small animals. You might want to put the trap in a box with mouse-sized access holes to at least keep the birds out.
Oddly enough, Warfarin Sodium (aka Coumadin) is an effective rodent poison in that in high doses it causes uncontrollable internal bleeding.
posted by plinth at 11:53 AM on November 20, 2013
I can say without a doubt that this is simply not true. I had two cats (neither mousers) and I had mice every single fall/winter in the same quantity before and after having cats.
In my house, we had a simple regimen - when the weather turns cold, mice come inside. This happens whether or not there is accessible food - shelter and warmth is enough. I set snap traps baited with a small (really, small and if you're using the traps with metal bait holders, try to get peanut butter up under the rolled part) blob of peanut butter. They can "steal" that if they're gentle, so I have to periodically rebait traps. Some people recommend bacon, cat food, or gum drops. For bacon and cat food, it is recommended that you tie the food to the trap. And now you know why I use peanut butter - when I'm setting traps, I'm not in the mood for a sewing project, but maybe you're willing to do this. Pet stores often have sampler packs, 1 of which will work for weeks. You can use thread or dental floww to tie down the bait. Traps of any sort should go along the baseboards. Healthy mice avoid being in open spaces.
Putting the stinky baited traps outside is a great idea, but you will also likely catch small birds, chipmunks, voles, shrews and other small animals. You might want to put the trap in a box with mouse-sized access holes to at least keep the birds out.
Oddly enough, Warfarin Sodium (aka Coumadin) is an effective rodent poison in that in high doses it causes uncontrollable internal bleeding.
posted by plinth at 11:53 AM on November 20, 2013
Quit eating in your room. Move the trash somewhere else while you are sleeping.
If there's a grand mouse party zone in one room, that's where the mice will be. Killing them later with poison won't keep them from coming any better than it worked to keep people from drinking during prohibition.
I'm saying that *some* of the things you're hearing, seeing, and feeling are not real mice.
This is all too true, and it's common for it to happen when you have mice, the %#*@! Don't feel bad about it. The mice might also be more active in other areas than people think, maybe the rest of your family sleeps more soundly or can't hear as well.
You need to close off any means they have of getting in. In addition to previous replies, you also need to close off the gap under your door while you sleep in case they are getting in from the rest of the house.
You may have better luck with some of the other varieties of traps. After not catching them with the cheap snap traps, I went to a large hardware store and discovered there's a huge variety of kinds of traps -- most of these are marketed as being "easy to set" or "never touch a dead mouse". I bought a few different types and caught my mice a few hours later, after setting the new traps up right near the cheap snap traps -- I suspect the mice both learn what the cheap and common traps look like, and how to get bait out of them without getting caught. If you have a lot of mice, the traps where you see a dead mouse but "never touch" it are both easy to remove the mouse from and far easier to set than the cheaper traps.
If you want to keep them away when you are sleeping, I've had success with extremely high pitched noises driving them into other areas of the house. This is something to try only if the high pitched sound annoys you less than the mice sounds, but if it's bad enough... I haven't had the chance to try the actual ultrasonic types.
posted by yohko at 1:18 PM on November 20, 2013
If there's a grand mouse party zone in one room, that's where the mice will be. Killing them later with poison won't keep them from coming any better than it worked to keep people from drinking during prohibition.
I'm saying that *some* of the things you're hearing, seeing, and feeling are not real mice.
This is all too true, and it's common for it to happen when you have mice, the %#*@! Don't feel bad about it. The mice might also be more active in other areas than people think, maybe the rest of your family sleeps more soundly or can't hear as well.
You need to close off any means they have of getting in. In addition to previous replies, you also need to close off the gap under your door while you sleep in case they are getting in from the rest of the house.
You may have better luck with some of the other varieties of traps. After not catching them with the cheap snap traps, I went to a large hardware store and discovered there's a huge variety of kinds of traps -- most of these are marketed as being "easy to set" or "never touch a dead mouse". I bought a few different types and caught my mice a few hours later, after setting the new traps up right near the cheap snap traps -- I suspect the mice both learn what the cheap and common traps look like, and how to get bait out of them without getting caught. If you have a lot of mice, the traps where you see a dead mouse but "never touch" it are both easy to remove the mouse from and far easier to set than the cheaper traps.
If you want to keep them away when you are sleeping, I've had success with extremely high pitched noises driving them into other areas of the house. This is something to try only if the high pitched sound annoys you less than the mice sounds, but if it's bad enough... I haven't had the chance to try the actual ultrasonic types.
posted by yohko at 1:18 PM on November 20, 2013
So i've had this exact problem. The difference was it a rental, the landlord was a slumlord, and illegally flat out refused to pay for an exterminator.
I put up with what you're going through with my roommates saying basically what was said above with the "you aren't really feeling mice in your bed dude" until i literally woke up with a mouse tangled in my curly hair squeaking and desperately trying to get out.
I ended up building a VERY tall loft bed with really spindly legs and essentially, a caltrop sort of design where the legs met the bed which ended at a completely vertical upside-down portion that they couldn't cross. I never saw another mouse in or around my bed, and previously i could occasionally watch them run right across the bed, and the head of the bed against the wall was actually stained with mouse piss.
The second step was getting the little chewy bricks of poison and littering them around the house. I got a costco sized box of them and just threw them out everywhere.
Unfortunately, this did kill all the mice. Why is that bad? Because the entire place fucking stunk like rotting dead animal everywhere. There were mice with half their fur falling out seizing on the floor in my living room, and crawling in to the laundry basket, or under the burners in my stove to die.
I moved out at that point.
Call an exterminator. I wish i had paid for it instead of going through that for months and months. As others have said they do a lot more than just "oh, yea, put down bait and traps, see you later".
I am completely, 100% the fuck over stupid home remedies for stuff like this now. I just recently dealt with bed bugs at my new place(ugh) and have really just entirely had it with folk remedies. The longer you wait the worse this will get and the more annoying and costly it will be to get rid of.
For sleeping though, a hard to climb loft bed(maybe get a metal one and zip tie lots of steel wool to the legs a few feet up?) and ear plugs are kinda a must though.
posted by emptythought at 3:28 PM on November 20, 2013 [3 favorites]
I put up with what you're going through with my roommates saying basically what was said above with the "you aren't really feeling mice in your bed dude" until i literally woke up with a mouse tangled in my curly hair squeaking and desperately trying to get out.
I ended up building a VERY tall loft bed with really spindly legs and essentially, a caltrop sort of design where the legs met the bed which ended at a completely vertical upside-down portion that they couldn't cross. I never saw another mouse in or around my bed, and previously i could occasionally watch them run right across the bed, and the head of the bed against the wall was actually stained with mouse piss.
The second step was getting the little chewy bricks of poison and littering them around the house. I got a costco sized box of them and just threw them out everywhere.
Unfortunately, this did kill all the mice. Why is that bad? Because the entire place fucking stunk like rotting dead animal everywhere. There were mice with half their fur falling out seizing on the floor in my living room, and crawling in to the laundry basket, or under the burners in my stove to die.
I moved out at that point.
Call an exterminator. I wish i had paid for it instead of going through that for months and months. As others have said they do a lot more than just "oh, yea, put down bait and traps, see you later".
I am completely, 100% the fuck over stupid home remedies for stuff like this now. I just recently dealt with bed bugs at my new place(ugh) and have really just entirely had it with folk remedies. The longer you wait the worse this will get and the more annoying and costly it will be to get rid of.
For sleeping though, a hard to climb loft bed(maybe get a metal one and zip tie lots of steel wool to the legs a few feet up?) and ear plugs are kinda a must though.
posted by emptythought at 3:28 PM on November 20, 2013 [3 favorites]
seconding the zapper. its worked well for me when conventional means did not. plus, its satisfying when you hear the little fuckers get zapped.
posted by jpe at 6:09 PM on November 20, 2013
posted by jpe at 6:09 PM on November 20, 2013
I've survived Australian mouse plagues. I've woken up with mice playing on the pillow next to my face and hanging from a mobile over my bed (I have no idea how they got up there). I've had them eat the soap in the bathroom and candles in the lounge room and clear out a sack of dog food in a night they were so thick. If you want to freak yourself out look up videos of mouse plagues.
Things that I found that helped.
Steel wool every single hole in your walls, if it's as big as your little finger they can get in, all they have to be able to do is get their teeny tiny skulls through the hole the rest will follow, get down to floor level. Do your walls do all the way down, is there cracks under the skirting where it sits over the carpet, behind furniture, move everything and double check and stuff steel wool in every single crack, that expandy spray foam is good to and great if you combine it with steel wool. Can they come in your heating vents? The holes behind light fixtures etc etc you get the idea. Under your door from another room. Block all holes. If you can get it so they can't get in, you can learn to live with the sounds of them playing in the walls, at least they can't get you.
Next search your whole room, from what you describe I imagine you have a nest or 2 in your bed room. Search through old boxes, all your drawers, strip your bed and check your mattress and box spring if you have one, check everything. The steady stream of mice and their lack of fear of humans screams young mice to me. When you find a nest, do what I do freak out at all the things they destroyed to make the nest and then get rid of it and seal of access to the area if possible.
If you have a bed with long legs, get four large containers stand them in wide buckets and fill the buckets with water, get stands to stand your bed on if needed (like they use to raise beds to store things under). You may find dead mice in the water in the morning, if this grosses you out leave something for them to climb out on. Make sure they can't get to your bed from over head, eg lamps bedside tables, blankets reaching the floor and the like.
You want a huge bag of cheap wood and spring traps they are a quick death for the most part and in my mind the most humane, poisons leave them dying and smelling in the walls (and boy do dead mice stink) and sticky traps just pointlessly mean and you have a freaked out screaming mouse to kill. Lay a bunch of traps around your room, bait with peanut butter, laugh manically as you hear the snapping noises during the night, throw out mouse and trap in the morning (traps are cheap don't mess around with emptying them unless you have to financially).
We didn't call an exterminator because in our case there wasn't a damn thing they could have done as the whole area was being swamped with mice. They will most likely use poisons and sticky traps (at least the ones that handle any commercial premises I've been involved with have) as mentioned before I find both of them just add to the stress of dealing with the mice, but if it gives you peace of mind it might be worth the call.
Good luck.
Oh and if the mice are coming into the house because of cold weather outside, it might be worth your while to set some traps in the basement and to go around the outside of the house and block any holes you see that would give them access to your house, expanding foam is great for this.
posted by wwax at 10:39 AM on November 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
Things that I found that helped.
Steel wool every single hole in your walls, if it's as big as your little finger they can get in, all they have to be able to do is get their teeny tiny skulls through the hole the rest will follow, get down to floor level. Do your walls do all the way down, is there cracks under the skirting where it sits over the carpet, behind furniture, move everything and double check and stuff steel wool in every single crack, that expandy spray foam is good to and great if you combine it with steel wool. Can they come in your heating vents? The holes behind light fixtures etc etc you get the idea. Under your door from another room. Block all holes. If you can get it so they can't get in, you can learn to live with the sounds of them playing in the walls, at least they can't get you.
Next search your whole room, from what you describe I imagine you have a nest or 2 in your bed room. Search through old boxes, all your drawers, strip your bed and check your mattress and box spring if you have one, check everything. The steady stream of mice and their lack of fear of humans screams young mice to me. When you find a nest, do what I do freak out at all the things they destroyed to make the nest and then get rid of it and seal of access to the area if possible.
If you have a bed with long legs, get four large containers stand them in wide buckets and fill the buckets with water, get stands to stand your bed on if needed (like they use to raise beds to store things under). You may find dead mice in the water in the morning, if this grosses you out leave something for them to climb out on. Make sure they can't get to your bed from over head, eg lamps bedside tables, blankets reaching the floor and the like.
You want a huge bag of cheap wood and spring traps they are a quick death for the most part and in my mind the most humane, poisons leave them dying and smelling in the walls (and boy do dead mice stink) and sticky traps just pointlessly mean and you have a freaked out screaming mouse to kill. Lay a bunch of traps around your room, bait with peanut butter, laugh manically as you hear the snapping noises during the night, throw out mouse and trap in the morning (traps are cheap don't mess around with emptying them unless you have to financially).
We didn't call an exterminator because in our case there wasn't a damn thing they could have done as the whole area was being swamped with mice. They will most likely use poisons and sticky traps (at least the ones that handle any commercial premises I've been involved with have) as mentioned before I find both of them just add to the stress of dealing with the mice, but if it gives you peace of mind it might be worth the call.
Good luck.
Oh and if the mice are coming into the house because of cold weather outside, it might be worth your while to set some traps in the basement and to go around the outside of the house and block any holes you see that would give them access to your house, expanding foam is great for this.
posted by wwax at 10:39 AM on November 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
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It's the smell of cat that will drive them away, and you can get close by putting fur and the like in some areas. If you have a friend with a cat, they'll have scads of fur for free.
By the way - mice are prolific crappers. If you've got mice in your room, you will almost certainly be able to find their droppings: tiny, black, rice-like things.
posted by jquinby at 7:19 AM on November 20, 2013 [2 favorites]