For the past week or so we’ve been hearing scurrying in the kitchen and bathroom at night, and we’ve found some small rodent droppings in the day. I set an electric trap with peanut butter for bait, but got nothing after several days. Then we had a couple of nocturnal sightings and had a sack of rice breached. Ugh. We couldn’t find how they were getting in.
The bathroom has some handmade sliding windows with a screen that is fixed to the frame with wooden trim (not a removable screen). I saw a mouse run by outside, and realized that I needed to check the window screen from the outside. It was a metal screen, but there was a neat 2-inch hole chewed through it in a spot that wasn’t visible from inside the house.
I made a temporary patch with Gorilla tape on both sides. I got some vintage traps and (handling them with gloves) set one between the window and the screen. I also cleaned the electric trap with alcohol and set it on the floor next to the sink.
The next morning, the Gorilla tape patch was chewed up, but not breached. Under it, though, was a new 2” hole. The classic trap had been sprung, but had caught nothing. The electric trap, though, was flashing its “got something!” light. Sure enough, it held an electrocuted tropical house mouse. I put steel wool in the new hole (I’d always heard that would stop them) and re-set the traps.
Next day, again, the classic trap was sprung but empty and the electric trap had killed another rodent. They had simply pulled out and discarded the steel wool.
The screen is quite old and rusty, and there was flashing running under the window to protect the now-removed old solar equipment, so I cut the flashing off to eliminate a place where the rodents could stand to do their chewing. I disassembled the window frame and replaced the screen with new aluminum screen fabric, anchoring it with my new staple gun. I have re-set the traps, but I’m hoping that the mice are all outside and will decide to stay there.
—2p