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February 12, 2009
Exterminating Mice?
I posted this on the open thread and got lots of useful advice about cats that I am definitely taking into consideration. But I really want to do my due diligence and get some quotes from professional exterminators as well. Does anyone have recommendations to pass my way? I have two little kids so that has to be taken into consideration with the methods used. I may well get a cat anyway, but my wife is requesting that I give her options. Thanks in advance! wasder
Comments
wasder...not sure that the bait/trap/eterminate route will end the problem. You really have to plug up evey little hole in the basement where mice may enter. The problem is that most of them are not enterring from outside but travel from building to building through the party walls. It will be a never ending task of extermination.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 11, 2009 12:21 PM
No professional recommendations, but how bad is the infestation?
I mean, I know someone in Manhattan who had to abandon her apartment for a week while some special ops came in and took care of her problem.
But sometimes a few cheap mousetraps can take care of things if it is only a couple animals.
Cats are cool and all, but they aren't all mousers, and a cat chasing a mouse around your home can be a disruptive and messy experience.
Posted by: northsloperenter at February 11, 2009 12:24 PM
Unfortunately, I don't have a rec, but when I rented in Carroll Gardens we had a huge problem. Our most excellent landlords hired a company that (1) sealed every crack with steel wool (actually, the residents did this part) and (2) then put some poison somewhere (walls, basement?). The mice ate it, got thirsty, ran outside looking for water, died, and never came back.
In other words, the poison wasn't where children could find it. The method was 100 percent effective. Mice gone.
Posted by: mopar at February 11, 2009 12:27 PM
I recommend Bob Gargano, Bob's Pest Control & Exterminating, 718-768-6430. He's knowledgeable, reasonably-priced, a Park Slope oldtimer, and will work with any concerns or limitations you and your tenants might have. I think Donatella has previously posted a strong recommendation for a different exterminator she's used. I agree with others that pest control/extermination might reduce your problem, but will not solve it. A cat can be effective over the long haul, but also true that they might reward you with bits o' bird and mouse as gifts.
Posted by: vinca at February 11, 2009 12:48 PM
DIBS--I hear you. This is much more a "satisfy my wife" sort of inquiry. I have tried explaining to her that there is no magic "Mouse Be Gone Forever" exterminator but she wants phone numbers and prices before she succumbs to my cat plan.
Northslope--hard to tell exactly how many mice there are. I would guess 3-5 very small grey field mice. For the most part they come out at night. We have had to lock down all dry goods and make other annoying lifestyle changes since they raided the pantry a few night ago. I have put out a bunch of glue traps and haven't caught them yet, though I have watched them eat the bait off the traps!
Mopar---wish I knew who your landlord called...
Posted by: wasder at February 11, 2009 12:53 PM
I always heard that mice won't come anywhere near the house if it smells like cat. Certainly, I have never had any mice and I've always had cats. Cat lore is that tuxedos (black and white) are the best hunters, and that has actually proved true in my experience. Rescue a nice street kitten (both my current ones were once street cats) and you know they are gonna be able to f#$% some meeces up. There are lots of nice feral cat rescuers who could hook you up!
Posted by: mshook at February 11, 2009 12:53 PM
Honestly I would take the first steps in plugging every little hole with steel wool - so behind the stove, fridge, where radiator pipes meet the floor
then I would get a cat.
Also - get those electronic "Mice be gone" things you plug into the walls.
We had a mouse about 3 years ago - we did the electronic plug-in and steel wool and never saw him or anymore ever again....
Hope this helps
Posted by: gemini10 at February 11, 2009 1:07 PM
Hi Wasder. I can second the opinion about tuxedo cats. We have one now and I have had them before, and they all seem to have the same utterly adorable, mischievous personality and a hearty bloodlust for critters. Also, sweet as sugar with kids (the guy we have now does this thing we call "the hotdog" whenever someone in the house is sad, and when the baby would cry he would literally come on the run). Petfinder.com is a great place to look, and Animal Haven here in NYC is a humane, no-kill shelter where they know the personalities of their animals very well (I see some cuties: http://support.animalhavenshelter.org/site/PageServer?pagename=all_cats). Tell 'em you want a mouser who'll be sweet with kids. Just be prepared -- cats like to bring their owners the dead mice as "gifts" and you are sort of beholden to tell them what a good cat they are. Also, tell your wife I am a die-hard dog lover, but these tuxedo cats won me over. ;)
Posted by: I_haz_TWO_toilets at February 11, 2009 1:17 PM
I had a similar problem in late fall when it started getting cold outside....mice in the kitchen, the smell of their urine under the fridge was gagging. I have two dogs so I didn't want snap traps or poison and glue traps didn't work and are inhumane the way the mouse squirms forever. The solution, thanks to many brownstoners posts I looked up, was The Rat Zapper. Within 20 MINUTES of bringing it home, baiting it with dog food and turning it on I caught the first of many mice. It electrocutes the mouse and it is all contained neatly inside the housing so your wife won't even have to see the mouse should she not wish to. The best $50 I've ever spent. You can order online or go to a few places in the city that sell them. http://theratzapper.com/
Good Luck!
Posted by: honeycut at February 11, 2009 1:45 PM
My previous co-op used a guy named Dennis who spent a day just finding holes and plugging them (sometimes with concrete). He then offers a 6 month guarantee or something and will come back for free if any mice/droppings are spotted. He puts down gluetraps but no bait/poison. And traps are put out of children's way (like under the stove or whatever). We had good results with him. Number is 917-459-0692. Good luck!
Posted by: WTbound at February 11, 2009 1:49 PM
Bodegas don't keep cats because they are cute!!!
On the other hand, once it gets warm the mice will bolt. They are a seasonal nuisance.
I don't actually consider them a nuisance as long as they are only in the basement. The steel wool will keep them from coming into the kitchen which typically is the only room they can get into...usually from behind the range.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at February 11, 2009 2:20 PM
You guys are the best! Thanks for these great suggestions. I think I might try the rat zapper first just to see if there is an immediate effect. Then if that doesn't work I will go the plug the holes and get a cat route.
I Haz--where have you been hiding yourself?
Posted by: wasder at February 11, 2009 2:49 PM
Just seconding what a lot of people are saying here, but trying to include your wife's desire... I really really hate mice, and understand that she wants a solution.
I would hire someone like the fellow listed above who will go seal up your house, because the only real problem is that mice are getting in.
FWIW, we had a really terrible mouse infestation when we started renovating, because we pulled the house apart quite a bit. But the sealing and tightening work we did in the basement and garden floors solved the problem.
If you decide to try fixing this yourself, keep in mind that mice can get really small. You want to plug anything you can put a pencil into, and plug it with something mice can't chew, like cement or tightly-packed steel wool.
Posted by: vanburenproud at February 11, 2009 5:23 PM
Get the Rat Zapper at Pintchik's hardware in the Slope. Pintchik himself gave me a unsolicited money back guarantee. I gave it to my tenants and it's been working.
Posted by: hoffster at February 11, 2009 8:11 PM
Agree with mopar. Do this:
(1) seal every crack with steel wool
(2) then put some poison ... The mice eat it, get thirsty, ran outside looking for water, die, and never come back.
Posted by: SnarkSlope at February 12, 2009 10:36 AM
i had a mouse problem and got two four month old cats and the mice were dead within the week. Now the cats are all grown up and I havent had any mice since.
Posted by: Santa at February 12, 2009 10:37 AM
we had mice in our ground floor ceiling because of neighbors' construction -- so i couldn't get to all the holes that opened up.
where and when did the mice problem start? that'll help you figure out where they're coming from, and where to focus your attention. that being said, also be sure to check your sewer pipes - make sure they're capped. 1/8" wire mesh works against mice, too (1/4" for rats).
i unscrewed my ceiling lights and was able to put poison through the hole directly into the ceiling. you may be able to do the same through wall outlets or fixtures. you can buy poison directly from home depot, etc., small green squares that are the same that an exterminator will use.
lastly, for a recommendation, use Ed Defrietas from Empire Pest Control on Court Street. He's a rat & mouse expert. Well, he's an all-pest expert, moderately priced and very thorough.
http://www.empirepestcontrol.com/contactinformation.nxg
718-237-0989
Posted by: chuck at February 12, 2009 11:13 AM
Don't let this go. Seal up the cracks. Mice leave pee and other hormones and your house will reek and you will never get rid of the smell. This is no joke. It's a very serious problem.
Seal up the cracks, put down poison, keep food in metal containers permanently, be on the lookout for droppings, rinse, repeat.
Get a cat if you want one but don't expect that to solve the problem.
Posted by: mopar at February 12, 2009 11:48 AM
Um, hate to be an asshole, but if you seal up the cracks and *then* put down poison, then don't expect the mice to run outside to die. They can't because you sealed up the cracks. This is a myth.
Expect to dispose of dead mice.
Posted by: vanburenproud at February 12, 2009 11:55 AM
With our big, shabby frame house, mice are a perennial seasonal problem. Over the years, we've had half a dozen cats. Two have been ace mousers, one was terrified of them, and one--the magnanimous Hodge--would capture them and gently bathe them like his "babies." He would look so sad when he released them and they ran away; he had a genius for holding them in his mouth with just enough pressure to restrain them without puncturing them. We worked out a system whereby we'd carry Hodge to the curb, mouse in mouth, and give him a firm clap on the flanks--a kitty Heimlich--so that he'd expel the mouse onto the gutter. There, it usually ran a few feet before expiring of sheer post-traumatic stress.
So...no guarantee with cats, although they are very useful for other seasonal chores like warming your feet on the bed at night.
Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at February 12, 2009 12:26 PM
Not that I don't think it would be nice of you to adopt a kitty who needs a home, I wouldn't rely too much on a cat to get rid of your mice, and it's an old wives tail that a mouse won't come into a house where cats live. Since it's nearly impossible to plug up every hole in an old house, especially when you have radiators, conduits, etc., and the problem with poison is that you never know where they will go to die. Also, if you have children, poison may not be the best idea. I recommend the d-Con "No View, No Touch" traps. They're little round traps that have a little door, and are spring loaded to kill the mice once they enter. More humane than glue traps, less dangerous for humans and pets than poison.
http://www.d-conproducts.com/traps/nvnt.html
Posted by: bigmissfrenchie at February 12, 2009 1:37 PM
Vanburenproud, everyone in the building sealed all cracks from the inside. Maybe the exterminators put the poison in the walls. The exterminators said the mice would run outside to die so we wouldn't have dead stinking mice in the walls. The mice were definitely gone after that. There was some kind of guarantee -- maybe six months or a year? We moved a few months later.
Posted by: mopar at February 12, 2009 1:53 PM
My deco inlaid wood dresser is permanently imbued with the stink of mouse pee -- the mice ran around all the walls and furniture in the place (we didn't realize this until much, much later). It's especially noticeable in humid weather. The mice were vanquished six years ago, and we moved, and the smell is as strong as ever.
After you're done exterminating, wash around the edges of the room (and any furniture there) with a solution of water, bleach, and dish soap.
Now when I go into certain bodegas, I can recognize the smell instantly. There is on one Bedford Ave. around N 12th or so that takes the cake. Endless generations of mice must have had free run of the place for 50 years or more.
Posted by: mopar at February 12, 2009 2:03 PM
wasder, I think you should do a scientific test here so you can be the official 'stoner' mouser. Try everything mentioned above for one week at a time, and let us know which is the miracle cure (save the cats for last, they're a long commitment!
Posted by: denton at February 12, 2009 2:31 PM
Oh Brenda, I love Hodge. Thanks for sharing that story.
Hi Wasder. I've been trying very hard to stay employed (so far so good, knock wood) and have cut WAY back on my online dallying. Good luck with your mice!
Posted by: I_haz_TWO_toilets at February 12, 2009 4:38 PM
I have only seen one mouse in my house and I have never seen droppings or smelled mouse pee although I am still not sure that I know what mouse pee smells like. I read in a natural remedy book that mice are just as repelled the scent of peppermint as they are cats. The book suggests soaking cotton balls in peppermint oil and placing them strategically around the house. I did this and I now change them out every 6 months or so. I also use peppermint oil soap to clean cabinets, counters, garbage cans, etc... Of course there will be a slight peppermint smell lingering immediately after placing the cotton balls around or cleaning with the soap but the smell goes away and it still works. You can also grow peppermint plants in pots and place them around your yard. Don't put them in the ground though because they grow like weeds.
Posted by: Just Wondering at February 12, 2009 5:14 PM
Mopar, the exterminator was either telling you a fib, or your walls weren't actually sealed. Think about it. How are the mice going to leave if you don't let them?
Posted by: vanburenproud at February 12, 2009 8:20 PM
Simple. We were on the inside, the mice were in the walls, we sealed the inside, put poison in the walls, mice went outside and died. I have no idea if the exterminators then sealed the place from the outside.
Posted by: mopar at February 12, 2009 10:59 PM
Just got home from a long day shooting out of town. Caught a mouse in a glue trap! Ordered rat zapper. will report results.
Posted by: wasder at February 13, 2009 2:48 AM
wasder- MM is a grandma. Maudey Clawdy gave birth to 2 beautiful kittens. Hint, hint. A beautiful fuzzy tabby and a dark tortie.
Posted by: bxgrl at February 13, 2009 12:07 PM
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