Mice in the basement

You might want to try posting this at alt.consumers.pest-control in addition to your post here.

Good thinking.....yes, there is a drier in there too. Hadn't thought of that. The ones I saw were by the drain, but I guess they could have used the drier vent. Guess I should try to determine where that vents outside and deal with it.

Thanks Mat

Point taken. I will see what the Terminix guy says and report back.

Hey Mat, why don't you get a young cat??? they're cheap, and very efficient...... plus make a great friend if you like animals..... better than having abunch of poision/traps around..... joe

The mice that found their way to under my dishwasher had come in thru the dryer exhaust vent. I still had one of the old style plastic ones, not the all-metal ones. They chewed a teeny tiny hole in it.

When I went to buy the spring traps at the feed store, the guy told me that a field mouse needs no more than 1/4" to squeeze thru if there's an incentive. I have no idea whether he's right or not but the hole they chewed in the dryer exhaust vent was mighty small. I never would have even seen it if I hadn't been looking for where they got in.

Judging from the mouse droppings, a second place they appeared to have been coming in was thru a hole that had been for an old television antenna line into the basement. The line had been removed, but the hole had never been filled in.

Cindy

I suggest just sitting and waiting in your basement with a 12 gauge shotgun. As soon as a mouse appears, blow him away. After a while they will get thye idea that they should move to someone else's house.

The havahart mouse trap is the best around for live trapping, by making it obvious a mouse is there in time to release him. Otherwise you tend to forget about them until it's too late. I take them about a mile away.

It's a small version of their every-other-animal trap. Get one that hasn't been bent in storage or it won't work.