Topic: Rodent issue

I am hoping some other veterans out there have some great insight for me. I have been in Property Mgt. many years, recently took on position as Rental Manager at an older but nice garden style complex. Upon taking on, discovered an entire building has mice.
1. Immediately had exterminator out to bait Entire building
2. Informed all residents prior by notice of what to do to prepare for extermination
3. Personally conducted a building wide housekeeping inspection ( only found small infractions and cured them)
4. Took note of any and all possible entry for rodents in and outside of building
5. Am preparing to seal all entries
6. Of course provided traps for residents
7. One resident in particular who is clean has them very badly
8. Exterminator will be checking crawl spaces again to see if bait was eaten tomorrow

*** My fear is that even with me sealing entry points they are chewing through again. Also if I seal all points they could die inside walls which of course will draw more mice due to odor

Rodent issues are terrible, but it sounds like you are doing everything you can. The traps are great, but until all points of entry are sealed, they may not do much. Make sure to check behind the stoves and dishwashers and also roof vents. That's where we have found many entry points. Unfortunately, poison does create a potential problem if the rodent dies in the walls. I guess the positive is "well, at least it's dead!". :blink:

Good luck!

Mice are truly a nuisance! Teach resident to seal all their dry goods in plastic, air tight containers, take trash out daily, and make sure dust is removed. Place lots of traps along the baseboards, if possible. Mice are smart and will go around traps, so you need a lot of them. Make sure there are no dryer vents close to the ground (these make for easy access.) Clean the buildings ducts (mice like to build their nests in there.) Check the insulation in walls and attic areas because mice like to use these materials for nests, too. Finally, clear the outdoor areas of the buildings - are you close to open fields, farm land, parks, or other landfill types of places? You may have to try to treat the perimeter of the fields. Make sure your residents are not leaving pet food outside on the patio areas or in patio storage areas.

Funny as it may seem I learned about rodents while serving in the military. Having to be in many different environments you learn how to combat these little jokers. In the desert, I used peanut butter. But lets get to this issue:

1. You need to have it identified what kind of mice you have as there are three types
a. Deer mice
b. Field mice
c. House mice (breed year round)

2. Once you have identified which mouse type it is then we can hone in on how to eradicate the little pest!

3. Now some people use poison and I am against it because those little jokers get into a space die and then start stinking. If they have been identified as deer or field mice then they more than likely are carrying fleas and mites, so when the host dies, these creatures then look for other sources. Yep, you are now on the food chain of subjects.

4. I am a fan of live traps and mice love oatmeal. If you use traps that snap their little bodies then get some Slim Jims. They cannot resist those Slim Jims.

There are other things to do like finding out there habits and understanding that they will investigate daily there areas, so you want to move things as they do not venture all that far from their nests. Mice normally do not venture more than 30 feet from their nests, so if you see a lot of them, then they have quite a few locations.

Normally a female will have about 50 young a year. So, you for sure want to identify like I wrote before which kind of mice you have. Once you identify the kind of mice you have, I will try to send you specifics which may be of use. I am not a licensed exterminator, just been in the trenches with these little jokers here and in other lands.