Mysterious Rodent?

[jvc714]

My wife claims she saw a mouse under the kitchen cabinet. There are droppings that look like mouse droppings.

Today, I discovered someone digging under the baseboard of the wall where the crack in the concrete slab as there are little rocks (more like pebbles all over under the funiture). I have also been hearing scraping noises in the late morning (around 9am) almost daily for the last 1.5 weeks.

Does anybody know if mouse can dig out concrete pebbles from my cracked slab?

If it's not a mouse, what can it be?

I have attached some pictures.

 

[oldognewtrick]

If your wife said it's a mouse, it's a good bet it is. Women don't make stuff like that up. This time of year they are looking at getting into a warm place and if they want in, they'll find a way. Set a couple traps where you suspect activity, peanut butter works well.

 

[jvc714]

I find it hard to believe a mouse will can dig into concrete and past the base plate of the wall framing.

It is nowhere near cold out here. The last two weeks, it has been in the high 80's to 97 the other day.

I've been setting traps out and the creature is tripping the cage door but is not inside. I bought a tunnel trap from Home Depot and he has not gone into that either. The next thing I will try are clamp traps and eventually glue traps. I have been trying to catch it alive as I don't want to kill anything if possibly. Hopefully, it cooperates.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Snap traps work great, glue traps are cruel.

 

[jvc714]

Snap traps work great, glue traps are cruel.

The glue traps will be absolutely last resort if nothing else works. I am trying to make it as painless as possible.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Mice die slowly in glue traps, can live for days, will chew off their legs to get out.

 

[billshack]

Mouse dropping look like brown rice. Rat dropping look like the pitts of olives but can be as big dates. Hope this helps.

 

[jvc714]

Today I caught a mouse in a snap trap. I initially put the food on the trap but without setting it so the mouse will get used to eating there thinking it is safe. Later in the day (assuming the old food was gone), I set the spring on the trap and the mouse fell for it.

I set up another trap to see if there are other mice.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Mice love peanut butter as olddog stated.

I have had old snap traps with six month old moldy peanut butter still catching hungry mice.

 

[oldognewtrick]

Today I caught a mouse in a snap trap. I initially put the food on the trap but without setting it so the mouse will get used to eating there thinking it is safe. Later in the day (assuming the old food was gone), I set the spring on the trap and the mouse fell for it.

I set up another trap to see if there are other mice.

Congratulations on your successful hunting expedition.

 

[bud16415]

I get told in the morning to go check my trap line. You have to love country gals.

 

[jvc714]

I caught 2 more little mice in a live trap. My wife said she saw more. :-(

I guess my hunting expedition is not over.

 

[ekrig]

If you have caught mice inside, that a little too late because it means that they've found a way in and simply plugging those probably won't suffice. I suggest that you set outside perimeter defenses. Look into to those exterior mouse/rat traps to get them before they even come inside.

 

[tomtheelder2020]

We used to have mice moving into the house every fall when farmers started plowing nearby fields. Then a neighbor started feeding the feral cats - haven't had a mouse in the years since.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Do not use a live trap.

When you release them, they will find their way back inside, unless you release far enough away.
Then they will just infest someone else’s house.

Snap traps rule!
I like the plastic, easy set types.

You can release the dead mouse into the garbage without touching it.

 

[jvc714]

So far, I have only caught one mouse with the snap trap. Two in a live trap. It has been almost a week since the last catch.

Originally, I put food on the snap trap and not set the trap so the mouse would think it is safe to eat there and one day, I will set the trap and it snaps on them. Now, they won't even touch food on the trap. Maybe they witnessed one mouse got trapped?

I did not want to go there but I decided to set out some glue traps to see if they fall for that. It seems that the trap only works once. After that, they seem to know better. Hopefully, I run out of mice before I run out of different traps to try.

 

[Jeff Handy]

My experience is totally different than your theory that the mice are learning.

I have had a dead mouse caught in a snap trap, and other mice get caught in traps right next to it, over several days.

I have seen mice eating peanut butter from a trap with a dead mouse caught in it.

 

[jvc714]

Jeff, I don't know what to tell you. This is the first time I got mice in the house and boy oh boy, they are smart.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Put out four or five traps in a hot spot, not one or two.
Put the snap side facing and touching the wall.

Mice will hug tight to walls.

A good method is to put two traps almost touching, in a vee pattern

 

[billshack]

I agree with jeff, I have a cottage in the north woods mice at this time of year are all looking for a home in the up coming winter. I have 12 traps all set . when i catch one i just open the trap and out pops the mouse, then i reused the same trap same place, this year i an up to about 20 mice. here is my favorite traps .