My House Mouse Removal Method

I will preface this by saying I like mice – I think they’re cute. Alas, they have no place in my home!

This will serve as a field guide for domestic mouse removal, based on my own experiments from the last three weeks. I am rid of all pests after what seemed like endless trials and errors.

I pass these on to you in your hour of need.

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I’ve rented the same house for five years. I live in the woods, and have never had any kind of mouse problem – until last month. An unfamiliar scratching started behind the wall, followed by excited squeaking. My heart slammed in my throat as I descended the stairs to find out what was going on.

Hearing a mouse in the house is scarier then seeing one. Just a single mouse can generate a tremendous amount of noise; it sounds like there are hundreds of them when they’re in the walls. The reality is that they travel in small groups, typically 4-6, and aren’t as big as they sound. The mice making a lot of noise is a sign of them just moving in.

Regardless, the mouse rabble will be a big portion of the stress. I actually have a cat, so the mice were hesitant to come out of the walls. I left a chocolate chip cookie on my kitchen floor one night as a test just to see if they’d come out and eat it – it stayed intact for the duration of my research.

Mouse Proof House

Everyone has the same first step: identifying points of entry. My house is on stilts, so getting underneath and poking around wasn’t that difficult. I immediately located two medium sized holes in the house, one in the trim, and one in the undercarriage.

There were two more holes I found inside my house within a utility closet. I didn’t see these until I found a mouse climbing through them one night at 3AM – be vigilant when scanning for mouse holes! They'll surprise you with their gymnastics.

Exclusion from the house is absolutely necessary. I plugged the exterior holes with a wad of steel wool and then backfilled them with expanding foam. Mice will eat every shred of normal expanding foam, so make sure to reinforce it with something stronger.

The interior holes were very narrow slits in the drywall beneath my water heater. I sealed these with tack nails and a sturdy length of wood.

Eager to test my handiwork, I cleaned up and called it a day. I braced a couple of my more questionable barricades with ribbons of duct tape.

The mice were louder than ever that night. Sealing the holes just agitated them. The next morning I invested in the standard d-con mouse poison, a box of sticky traps, and some earplugs.

Problem Solving

D-con is a delicate thing to employ. Since I have a cat, I decided not to use the poison. This might be considered a first option for some, especially if the mice are in your cabinets and furniture (hopefully you’ve checked those places).

Clean every nook and cranny that a mouse might explore – under the fridge and oven, behind the water heater, and all baseboard areas. Put the poison box in a secure, high trafficked place that only a mouse can get to.

I chose the war of attrition. After sealing the holes, I placed sticky traps in areas near them where mice linger. I caught two the first night with this method.

Since I was trying to be humane, I used canola oil to gently remove the mice from the adhesive – yes, it can be done! Add oil to the trap and use a spoon to help the mice escape. Be careful not to handle the mouse too much. I released them at a trailhead.

It wasn’t enough. The mice continued to harass me every morning at around 2AM. I banged around under the house with a hammer, I put out ultrasonic repellers, and even put out a pinch of cat litter – nothing worked.

I pushed on. The next suggestion came from my girlfriend: predator urine. She read that it triggers an immediate flight or fight response that the mice can’t cope with. The internet suggested red fox urine, but I could only find a coyote/fox granule mix at my local Ace Hardware.

Predator urine is a trade secret of exterminators. It doesn’t say anything about repelling mice or rodents on the bottle that I purchased, only that it repels cats and other garden pests. This is a must have item in the fight against mice.

The granules are less offensive to humans, and way easier to spread around, so they are my preferred pick. I scattered the mix under the house and around the entry holes. I also put some in key locations around my property that seemed like high traffic for mice: under my carport, and along the foundation and outside staircase.

I can tell you the urine worked. Not just because there was less mouse activity, but there was less activity all together. Squirrels, chipmunks – none of them came to poke around the coyote and fox urine. This is a real deal method!

Alas, the mice remained steadfast. More faint now, but I could still hear them skittering around in the early morning hours.

The Bucket Method

I turned to Reddit for advice. They pointed me in the direction of a very cheap DIY trapping device. It involves a five gallon bucket, a can, and a piece of string. Punch a hole through the bottom of the can and thread the string through both ends. I actually used a length of straight wire instead.

Attach the ends of the string to either side of the bucket with duct tape. This should create a kind of tightrope for the mouse to walk on. Smear a little peanut butter on the center of the can to lure the mouse in. In theory, the mice will lean on the can as they reach for the peanut butter, and roll off the string and into the bucket.

I rigged my own trap and found three mice in it by morning!

Takeaways

Mice aren’t the end of the world. They’re gross and inconvenient, but they’re usually just trying to survive like you and I. Remember that every house is different, so the tactics necessary might vary.

Cats are a great way to keep them from getting into the precious spaces of your home. I never found any evidence of mice under my furniture or behind anything, and I even checked with a blacklight. No poop, nothing.

Besides exclusion, the biggest tipoff was the predator urine. It seemed to work immediately and wasn’t very expensive. The liquid option can be found on Amazon for both coyote and red fox. I would suggest soaking old socks and placing them strategically around the outside of your house.

The bucket was the real solution I needed. Not only did I get to rig it to my liking (I coated the can in canola oil so the mice were guaranteed to slip off. I also sprayed the inside of the bucket with a little Pam so they couldn’t jump out), but I got to see real results in the morning.

After employing every method on the internet, my house is mouse free. Take this information and do the same to your home. I wrote this with the intent of sharing peace of mind with renters and homeowners everywhere: it can be done. With just a little persistence, and some predator pee, you’ll be mouse free in no time!