Mouse in the House

[wyoDreamer]

I did some research and what we have are probably Big Brown Bats. They are a "cave bat" that has adapted to hibernating in houses; finding home attics to be the proper temperature for hibernating ... great. They live in colonies, and when hibernating they will wake up every couple of weeks or so and move around a little bit. Hence, every 2 weeks we have a bat in the house - or so it seems. Colony means that there are probably a number of bats hiding somewhere... Yippee.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

OH Geeze - sorry you're dealing with that! Bats are something I've not had in the house - at least not yet. We've had snakes and mice and spiders and lizards... you know - all the usual. But not bats! Yay!

 

[flowerbug]

after last night i know i haven't trapped the mouse yet. there were noises last night but gladly no chewing. it will be cold enough tonight that i'm not going to bother to refresh the peanut butter on the traps. this weekend it is supposed to warm up to the mid 40s and for a few days so i'll get the traps redone for that and hope i can catch the critter if it does decide to run out for some fresh feed or something.

 

[flowerbug]

I did some research and what we have are probably Big Brown Bats. They are a "cave bat" that has adapted to hibernating in houses; finding home attics to be the proper temperature for hibernating ... great. They live in colonies, and when hibernating they will wake up every couple of weeks or so and move around a little bit. Hence, every 2 weeks we have a bat in the house - or so it seems. Colony means that there are probably a number of bats hiding somewhere... Yippee.

still good to know what you are up against. i still am not quite sure, but figure it is mice as they've been the most common critters to get in the walls (besides the hornets/wasps/bees).

 

[NH Homesteader]

We had chipmunks in our insulation under our old trailer. The chewing was awful! My DH and one of our dogs took out most of the population the following year. The quiet the next winter was appreciated.

 

[flowerbug]

We had chipmunks in our insulation under our old trailer. The chewing was awful! My DH and one of our dogs took out most of the population the following year. The quiet the next winter was appreciated.

we can have chipmunk population explosions here with all the rocks we have and other places to hide. about 5 years ago we had so many running around that i trapped over 50 of them in a few weeks time. normally the snakes and the semi-feral kitties were keeping them under control well enough, but i still hunt a few because Mom has conniptions when she sees any creature around she doesn't want. i only get after the groundhogs but prefer to have a good fence for those instead of having to hunt them.

i'm working on a project this past fall and next spring that gets rid of a lot of hiding space for creatures so that will help a lot.

i don't think this is a chipmunk nest (chipmunks have a different activity pattern).

 

[NH Homesteader]

Yep we have stone walls around our property, good hiding spots for sure!

 

[flowerbug]

with this warm spell i reset the traps this afternoon... not much confirmed action on them but i did see some little mouse nerds near one of the traps so they are around out there.

 

[flowerbug]

still warm. was able to get out today to check the traps i'd set yesterday. a few of them showed signs of being licked by mice so i set them to be a bit more sensitive and hope they'll return for dessert this evening.

i also checked out the AC unit which was a previous nesting site for them and made sure it was not being used again. it checked out ok. i also looked underneath it to make sure there were no gaps that mice could be using. that also looked as it should.

then i swept out the entrance to the crawl space which is right next to the AC unit to get rid of any mouse nerds in there so i can keep track of how much it is being used by mice. it wasn't too bad. we're not storing hoses in there like we did last year so the mice have nothing in there to hide within to start thinking of building a nest.

since it was nice enough out i took the wheel off the wheelbarrow that needs to be fixed (new rubber and tube needed) and swept the garage. didn't see a single mouse nerd in the garage.

 

[farmerjan]

I have mouse problems too. There are a dozen "barn cats" outside and they took care of the big problems a few years ago when I would come home at night and see 20 + rats run everywhere in the open garage building because the farmer that owns this place was storing feed there in uncovered bins. A real nightmare. There were always a few mice in the house. The house is a 1750's stone house, with brick addition and stone foundation. A real easy spot for them to get in and out.
I have used every kind of trap and find that the old fashioned snap traps work for awhile. I have good luck with the sticky traps. Put them in the spots where they "run" and will catch some of them. I have a cat that will actually pull them off the sticky trap. I will carry it out the door, call her and hold it tight on both sides and she will pull it off the trap and take off with it. There are still some in here, and sometimes it will take a few weeks to get them. There are a couple that I am hearing and I want them to be gone so am using several types to get them. Never see any outside and the cats cannot get into the basement to get them. It gets too cold to leave any doors even cracked as the cold air will seep up through the floor and then the heat runs all the time. I really hate mice and rats.