On 12 Nov 2005 11:20:34 -0800, wrote:

:
wrote:
: Just as the subject states: I have some mice in my walls.
:
: - My house is new (5 months old)
: - I hear them chewing at the framing inside the wall between the
: kitchen and the dining room
: - A cold air return runs in this wall
:
: I've used Riddex and the like the past with good results as far as
: killing the mice. But they usually crawl somewhere, die, rot...and
: well -- stink. Fine for a garage or attic area but these guys are
: inside the wall. What would be recommended? Traps? Is there poison
: that will kill them and dry them out or something? I have pets and
: small children so poison and traps are obviously damgerous no matter
: what the outcome.
:
: Any thoughts? And any thoughts as to bait on the traps? I hate to use
: the glue traps because the mouse gets stuck and usually ends up chewing
: a leg off or something gross. I don't need my six year old girl seeing
: that.
:
: I'm in Eastern Ontario...
:
: Thanks a lot.
:
: Corey
:
:I just tore out some drywall for a kitchen remodel and discovered
ieces of dog food lodged 4 feet up in the insulation - mouse storage.
:I've also found it in the basement piled on a shim between a door frame
:and stud. I get them moving in every once and awhile. Just use the
:cheap snap traps - don't want poison around the pets. A bit of bacon
r peanut butter seems to be a good bait. I put them in the closet
:near where I feed the dogs - I know the mice travel there and the dogs
:don't end up with a trap on their nose.

Yes, assuming there's nothing in the walls that sustains them they will
look for food. Whenever I notice mouse problems I put down a mouse trap
or to with a bit of peanut butter for bait. I usually catch all the mice
(usually one or two) in a day or two and don't get bothered by them for
a long time, generally years.

I had animals living under the house and got a recommendation to chase
them out by putting a container with some ammonia down there. They hate
the smell of ammonia and abandoned the premises. You have small
children, but I don't think that a little ammonia poses a threat if you
get some of the evaporating gas where the mice will smell it (you should
check that out, but that's my guess. Ammonia is toxic, but not THAT
toxic. Just don't combine it with bleach or you get chlorine gas, which
is seriously toxic!). That is something you might try if you aren't
successful in trapping them like I have. Maybe you can put a small open
container with some ammonia in it where it will gross them out.