# Wild mice in attic, just saw one in the garage, what to do?!?!?



## kindhearted (Aug 4, 2011)

Okay so for the past 3 weeks i've been hearing scratching and something running up in the attic. I didn't think anything of it because I never had any mice problems in my home before. Well I was just in my garage setting something up, and I hear the scratching again or chewing, so I decided to take a break and wait around to see if something came out because the noise was definitely nearby. And 10 minutes later I see a greyish mouse looking at me LOL. I am a little freaked out because I've never had mice in my home before...so far thank GOD I haven't seen any IN my house. I don't want them getting to my ratties or bunnies. So I don't want to kill them but I don't want them in my home either what do I do? I know the pest control people will just put traps up in the attic and I surely do not want to do that...

Can pet rats attract wild mice? I don't understand how these mice could be getting up in the attic. I don't leave any pet food in my garage what so ever. However sometimes litter boxes get left in the garage, and currently there are bunches of clothes in there. Can rattie/bunny poo attract them as well? I'm worried about if they're infected and transmit something to my ratties 

I need some advice and tips thanks guys.


----------



## 1a1a (May 6, 2011)

This doesn't fix the problem at all, just displace it. What my parents did in that situation was catch the mice using humane traps and let them go on a building site down the road.


----------



## Korra (Dec 11, 2011)

Unfortunately at my old house we lived in a very rural area and every winter we would have 5 or 6 mice get it without fail. Humane traps worked the first year, but after that the mice wised up. They would rob the traps of food and someone get back out!! The only thing that would work was snap traps.  Not fun!! But those little guys are DEVILS when they get into your house! They will tear up everything! 
I hope humane traps work for you!


----------



## Babs (Jan 26, 2012)

We got mice in our house over the winter last year, too. Generally harmless enough little things, we set humane traps and the silly little creatures would walk right into them while we were still in the room. We had so many that I ended up keeping the ones we caught in a single day in a tank before letting them go. You just have to be sure to let them go at least a half mile away from the house, or they can come back. On top of that, make sure no food is left around where they can reach it (even bags of dog food or rat food aren't safe, little buggers bite through the packaging) make sure there's no messy areas under the stairs or behind a couch or anywhere that would suit a mouse looking to make a mess and just keep at them with the traps. They will go away eventually, they always do!
Here's a couple of the ones we caught. First one was on my windowsill when I walked into my room one day. I just picked him up, got the photo and popped him in the tank!
View attachment 4774
View attachment 4775


----------



## Korra (Dec 11, 2011)

Which species is that? It looks different than the kind I managed to catch in my humane traps.


----------



## Babs (Jan 26, 2012)

You know, I've honestly no idea. We were trying to figure it out for ages. Eventually decided they must be some sort of grain mice from the bread factory across the road, but I couldn't find anything that looked quite like them online. Cute little things though.


----------



## TheServalRat (Feb 21, 2012)

Maybe it's a vole?


----------



## Babs (Jan 26, 2012)

Wow, good call. They do look like voles. I didn't even know those were native to Ireland, they're cute ^.^


----------



## Korra (Dec 11, 2011)

I didn't think voles had tales that were that long.


----------



## kindhearted (Aug 4, 2011)

I just called a wildlife removal company and I asked if their traps were humane and they said yes, so I asked if they relocate them after they catch them and she told me that the only animals they don't relocate are mice and rats  So I said then what do you do with them..and she said "we discard them" Who knows what they'll do with them -__- I'm just going to have to keep calling other companies i'm worried about all the wires I have up in the attic and garage. Plus duct work. These are way to fast to catch so I don't think I could grab them by hand :/ 

Does anyone know if our pet ratties attract them though? Or their feces


----------



## BasmatiRice (Feb 11, 2012)

I don't know but I wouldn't think so as rats kill mice...


----------



## Iheartroxyrat (Feb 22, 2012)

ive actually heard the oppisite... that rats keep mice away, because in nature rats would kill and eat mice! yucky... i dont have a mouse problem because i have cats :-/ i did have one mouse that i caught, well my cat caught it and i took it from him. but the little stinker escaped again and hasnt been back. but i did find loads of mouse poo in the insulatd part of my oven! one day roxy disapeared and we could hear her in there, i guess she couldnt find her way back out because when she heard my voice she started squeaking and thrashing... anyways we took the cooking top off and there she was and tons of mouse poo  it was really old but still! yuck!!


----------



## Babs (Jan 26, 2012)

Same, people were telling me to get some of my rattie poop and spread it under the holes that the mice were coming in. I never tried it, but apparently it's a good way to make the mice think twice before coming inside.


----------



## kindhearted (Aug 4, 2011)

There is some scattered rat poo in the garage because that's where I clean their cages, and some bunny poo. Some droppings accidently fall and some days i'm to lazy to sweep it out. My mom now thinks that the poo is attracting them -_- The cheapest companies I called today want a $75 charge JUST to take a look and see what i'm dealing with. I have the money...but if I don't have an infestation I would love to spend that money on things for my ratties. Then again I don't want wild mice to take over the house. The companies say that they let the animals loose in a field. What do you guys think..is it worth it?


----------



## Babs (Jan 26, 2012)

I would buy some humane traps because they're reusable anyhow so you'll always have them if you get mice again, and let as many loose as far away as you can. Truth is that professionals will charge you a fortune for doing something you could do just as easily. There's a bucket trap that you can make yourself, if you google live mouse bucket trap you should get a few good links to how to make one  Regardless, even if it comes to a snap trap, I'd sooner do that than pay the ridiculous amount they're asking for. Mice are a nuisance, but they're hardly on a Herculean scale. No need for the Ghostbusters really.


----------



## kindhearted (Aug 4, 2011)

What i'm also concerned about is if there are any openings where more mice could get in such as the roof. I don't have any proper tools to seal anything up if there is damage or openings. I'm to afraid to go into the attic or the roof because i'm severely afraid of heights LOL


----------



## Iheartroxyrat (Feb 22, 2012)

then u might need a professional  im also terrified of hieghts so id rather have somebody else do it... but getting your own humane traps might be good idea too. or just get a cat haha.


----------



## Ruairidh (Aug 29, 2011)

While it probably won't get rid of all the mice, and certainly won't last for ever, the best thing to do is get a humane trap (there are a couple of really good inexpensive grav traps. This is the one that my mother uses) and a plastic bucket to put the mice in until you can relocate them. My mother and I even went so far as to get a water bottle to put in the bucket. She just puts out the traps at night (Peanut butter makes the perfect lure), gathers them up in the morning, and drops the mice in the bucket. Once a week she takes them many miles away, and lets them go. 

I really have no advice as to getting rid of mice permanently, mostly because I don't think you'd like/be allowed to use the only real solution that my family ever had: The first time I had rats, one of them ended up refusing to stay in her cage, and ended up being a freerange rat with the run of the house. This was the only time in my life that we didn't have a mouse infestation. Rats do not attract mice, they hunt and kill them. I have personally seen my old rat hunt down and eat wild mice, during the time we let her live freerange. 

/my two cents.


----------



## kindhearted (Aug 4, 2011)

Okay so I called the company and cancelled my appointment for tomorrow. I've been thinking about it and $75 is just a lot of money if there's only 1 or 2 mice especially since I've never had a problem before. Sooo i'm giving it a few more days, see if I can catch one myself. If I put my rats urine where I saw the mouse in the garage, do you think he'll leave the house?


----------



## kindhearted (Aug 4, 2011)

*UPDATE:
*
Yesterday I had a humane wildlife removal person come and inspect the house. $75 down the drain JUST so he could look. Turns out there isn't any damage YET but some how this guy thinks that this problem was going on for however long the house is. That's weird because wouldn't I have any damage by now? You would think right. Well there are 5 entry ways that they're getting in from. He suggested he seal them up for us for $175 which is not a problem..THEN he told us but I can only do that if you enroll into the trapping program where he has to come for 20 days, which equals $90 a day. The guy is in the same county also. I asked if I could do the trapping myself and just have him seal everything and he said he couldn't do it. The total would of been around $1900 and he wasn't even willing to accept payments.

There are 2 baby mice that I saw yesterday, I can't just kill them with snap traps. I am going to try any hand catch them with a cup of some sort. Has anyone done that before? There has to be a mama somewhere around because the babies looked young but not to young where they can't eat solids.


----------



## katkandy (Mar 3, 2012)

We had mice for a little while after our cat passed away. We got another cat...bye bye mouse problem.

WARNING, not a pleasant story...

One afternoon I pulled the couch away from the wall to give the floor a clean and, lo and behold, a dead mouse. When i bent down to sweep him up I noticed he'd been scalped! That's right, scalped. I looked up at my peaceful, friendly Anakin Ratwalker asleep on the bench and thought, 'surely not...?' But yes, it's the only conclusion I can come to. The rat was right beside a cabinet that Ani free ranged on all the time. I think they came face to face and Ani decided the lounge room wasn't big enough for the both of them. Urghhh... 

I don't think Rat or Bunny poop would attract mice unless the cages were really messy and smelly, the same way rubbish bins attract them.

Good luck and well done on the humane options.


----------



## ratjes (Mar 26, 2011)

kindhearted said:


> *UPDATE:
> *
> Yesterday I had a humane wildlife removal person come and inspect the house. $75 down the drain JUST so he could look. Turns out there isn't any damage YET but some how this guy thinks that this problem was going on for however long the house is. That's weird because wouldn't I have any damage by now? You would think right. Well there are 5 entry ways that they're getting in from. He suggested he seal them up for us for $175 which is not a problem..THEN he told us but I can only do that if you enroll into the trapping program where he has to come for 20 days, which equals $90 a day. The guy is in the same county also. I asked if I could do the trapping myself and just have him seal everything and he said he couldn't do it. The total would of been around $1900 and he wasn't even willing to accept payments.
> 
> There are 2 baby mice that I saw yesterday, I can't just kill them with snap traps. I am going to try any hand catch them with a cup of some sort. Has anyone done that before? There has to be a mama somewhere around because the babies looked young but not to young where they can't eat solids.


That is a total ripoff. I would never hire that guy again. 
We have wild mice off and on but there is no food in the garage where they come in. I think they hide from the wet weather and usually they leave in the spring.
We did find a nest in the engine of the lawn mower though, filled with corn kernels. No idea where these came from. I never buy it or grow it. We only get deer mice, which are mostly living outside in the forest.


----------

