Mice in Bed-Stuy
We’ve been renting a floor-thru in a brownstone for a year and a half. We saw a mouse when we first moved in, but after plugging in some holes we went an entire year before seeing another one. Five months ago, we started seeing a mouse and/or droppings almost everyday. We suspect it is because…
We’ve been renting a floor-thru in a brownstone for a year and a half. We saw a mouse when we first moved in, but after plugging in some holes we went an entire year before seeing another one. Five months ago, we started seeing a mouse and/or droppings almost everyday. We suspect it is because the next building over had construction work done. We’ve plugged more holes. Our landlord had a handyman come in to plug additional holes.
We have used glue traps and poison, but neither have worked. We keep the kitchen super clean and throw out the garbage regularly. The only thing that was effective was peppermint oil but only for about a week.
Our landlord does not want to hire an exterminator. She doesn’t seem to think mice are that big of a deal. “This is NYC” she says. Also, she thinks an exterminator will just lay down poison which she could do herself.
Any other suggestions for things we can do? Is it worth us hiring an exterminator to just work on our floor or is it only effective if the whole building is done?
What kind of litter is it, Bob? As I posted yesterday, my dog is very partial to World’s Best.
I just spoke to Max and he’s willing to share his used cat litter if anyone wants it. He’s a very generous cat.
Mmmm, bags of dirty cat litter.
I had a similar problem
bags of dirty cat litter near recently plugged up holes works very well.
Likewise have had success with the ratzapper and snap traps. Plugging holes with steel wool CAN work, but you have to be totally thorough (brownstones are just porous) and keep in mind the hidden places mice can come up (e.g., thorugh the gaps around pipes and gas lines to your stove, etc.). I have never had an exterminator do any good against mice nor heard of anyone having success with an exterminator.
tybur6,
I just read your post to my cat, Max. He says you deserve mice 🙂
I am deathly afraid of mice/rats/whatever.. I would def say if an exterminator would put your mind at ease then you should tell your ll that you would like one. you never know. beyond what you are doing already there isn’t much else until the contruction stops.
I wholeheatedly second the ratzapper idea. In my experience, exterminators don’t do too much and they are a waste money. You can go and buy the same posion yourself for much cheaper. I’ve used the ratzapper and it really works (without the mess of the snap traps).
the biggest problem with the glue traps is uou feel bad stomping on the mouse to put him out of his misery (they are actually cute looking) and worse, you can’t reuse the trap like a spring trap.
I’ve heard lots of good things about the ZAPPER.