Against my own good judgment, I am moving into an apartment building with a massive mouse infestation.
The mice probably aren't coming from the previous tenants, meaning that one of the neighbors is just a dirty motherfricker. Logically, that means the mice will never be completely eradicated.
The thing that gives me hope is that this place seems like it can be sealed off from the other units in the building. There are three main spaces to consider:
1) The main indoor area. (Two bedrooms, one living room, one bathroom.) This area is mostly sealed, and the only places where mice can enter are the doorways (which are well-sealed).
2) The opposing balconies. These two areas Are sealed from the outside, but poorly. There are some places for mice to enter, which I plan to seal.
3) The attic. (The attic is a tin-roof A-frame over the concrete roof of the original building.) I was in the attic twice over the weekend and not only did I see mice, but it also smelled like mice shit / pee. While this is concerning, the area is otherwise very clean (no nesting materials or things in storage). The roof has multiple openings. The last tenants / the landlord tried to block them with chickenwire, but it clearly hasn't worked judging by the amount of feces on undisturbed surfaces.
My question then is, what is the best method of sealing up multiple large (fist sized) holes? I have seen online that people recommend filling holes with steel wool embedded in some kind of amalgam, but I have a lot of holes to fill (~50-100 ventilation holes embedded into the concrete in the attic). I am not worried about losing ventilation in the attic because it won't greatly affect my unit and no one else goes up there.
I was also was thinking about fitting the attic with a drip system that constantly drops bleach solution over a large area.
The solution is clear:
Yes this.
The bleach solution seems dumb for continuous exposure. The Concrete might definitely not like that leading to damage.
For the ventilation holes take little wood blocks and attach a thin sheet of metal to the mouse intrusion face and glue them in. The mouse can not chew concrete and metal after all. To get the metal sheeting for cheap cut apart metal cans.
Alternatively instead of gluing the blocks in place wedge them in place into the holes.
>The mouse can not chew concrete and metal after all.
Rats can very easily. Steel wool is just unpleasant for mice, not impossible. It's like putting a lock on your door doesnt stop a burglar they just look for something easier.
Two dumbest posts in this thread. A fed cat will not hunt. Playing, bringing you a gift, is not mousing, its bullshit.
A cat that wants to hunt will hunt. A cat that doesnt will not. Really, really stupid idea unless you have access to a wild raised farm/barn cat that grew up hunting.
Even then it just keeps them hidden, mice will still be there and climbing on your shit when you aren't looking. Cat isnt omnipotent.
If you can drop a pencil down a hole then a mouse can get through it.
Chicken wire will work if the holes are small enough, normally at that size its plate with holes, not holes made of wire though.
I recommend you dont block ventilation, if you do that they win.
If I get a cat, but I only half assedly block mice gateways, will I still notice the mice?
Probably; at least occasionally. Cats aren't magical; they respond to rodents after the fact and ward away others with their scent, but hungry mice will still try their luck from time to time.
One of the myths about cats is that starving them will make them more eager to hunt. Actually, it just saps their energy and makes them sleep more. Well-fed cats treat hunting like playtime, and actually end up doing more of it than cats hunting for their actual nutrition.
>Be 10 living in the Burbs
>2 cats, cat door, come and go as they please
>Late spring, start finding baby rabbit bodies all over yard, garage, porch
>Cats ALWAYS decapitated babies, never missing parts, just separated
This went on for years before the rabbits moved on I guess, never found the adults. I hate cats but they can kill some varmints, that's for damn sure
The cat will need some time. Once the pests are eradicated you will hardly get any mice
Depends on the personality of the cat.
Some will just go to town and eat them.
Others will just kill them and leave them lying around.
A keyword you might use to filter for the right kind of personality is something like "highly food motivated." Since once they know mice are food, they won't just leave them lying the frick around.
Get cat urine, put a small amount evenly distributed in the attic and other places. Rats and mice will avoid it. Emphasis on small amount, because it stinks.
Why the frick are you moving into a mouse house? Is it worth having to hermetically seal your home?
> not worried about losing ventilation in the attic
Attics need ventilation or mold will bloom
i would put mouse poison down in trays in the attic as they will take it back to the nests, also maybe metal bug mesh to go over the holes in the loft, maybe that metal wool and put cement over it, as others have said beware if you fill the holes watch out for mold
I get fine results with epic amounts of rat bait crumbled with peanut butter. I mean fricking gross overkill.
Do you not fear hantavirus, OP?
Make some 5 gallon bucket mouse traps, get a 30 gallon trash can, empty the buckets into the trash can, feed the can with kibble so they don't just start eating eachother, find a fun place to release them. Or you can be a pussy and drown them but you'd redeem yourself by dumping 20+ gallons of soaking wet dead mice of a balcony. Depending on what they hit you might be an urban legend or domestic terrorist so choose wisely.
>The thing that gives me hope is that this place seems like it can be sealed off from the other units in the building.
You are mistaken.