I am so glad I found your website. I would like help on the best products for mice control. I’ve read your very helpful article. I have a cabin on a lake and in a wooded area. My wife left some dog food in a plastic bag about a month ago and I found piles (about 6) of dog food hoarded under mattresses and under chair cushions. We have had mice issues in the past and up above, in an attic crawl space, I’ve found substantial mice droppings. Our problem is that we are only there maybe once a month, sometimes twice a month. We have always had a musty smell in the cabin and I am afraid this is due to substantial mice infestation (urine, carcasses, feces). Can you provide me with best products for trapping, cleaning, removing odor, and dealing with this nagging problem? Many thanks, Bob
No doubt any structure built in wooded areas are prone to invasion by small rodents like mice and rats. And when these structures are located close to water, the odds for this kind of problem only increases. Based on these facts its no surprise you’re finding such activity. And though your pet food may have been involved this time, its safe to say your structure would be prone to mice invasion whether you have pet food present or not. I say this because rodents will typically seek structures located in wooded areas since they need protection from the elements. And this can happen any time of year.
So based on the information you’ve provided, its highly likely you’ll have this mice problem as a “recurring” issue. With that being said, its important to set up the cabin with devices that will “capture” the invading mice so you have control over where they’re active, where they die, etc. This will enable you to best manage any malodors so when you come to visit your cabin for some relaxation, you can have fun instead of having to fuss with bad odor, mice droppings and other mice mess every visit.
To achieve this goal, you’ll want to equip yourself with the right cleaning compounds and the right traps.
So for the odor, there are two products listed in our mice control article that will help. The first is ROUGH AND READY. This product does a great job of disinfecting and removing odor. So if you have areas with mice droppings, urine or dead bodies, Rough and Ready would be the first product to use. It will definitely get rid of the bacteria and disinfect the area you clean. And for light odor issues, it will remove the smell. But if there is a dead body smell that lingers after 2 treatments with Rough and Ready, you’ll need to employ the NNZ instead of just the Rough and Ready. This product doesn’t disinfect like Rough and Ready but NNz does a much better job at neutralizing any kind of dead body odor so it’s excellent for use where rodents are defecating or found dead.
Now once you’ve cleaned up the area, you’ll need to set up several mouse traps as a way of controlling future mice invasions. And since you won’t be around for weeks at a time, you’ll need 2-3 times as many traps as normal in place to achieve this goal. This way you’ll have plenty ready to catch over and over for weeks on end.
So in any area around the home where you’ve found food being hoarded or where you notice droppings, one of these devices should be set. That means you’ll need 6-8 of these mice traps to do the job properly. A good mix of such traps would include 3-4 MOUSE MASTERS and 3-4 LT3310 traps.
The LT3310 traps will only catch one mouse at a time but they are very effective at catching larger animals like flying squirrels, rats and chipmunks. This way if any of these larger rodents find their way into your home, you’ll have in place some traps that can catch them too. Plus they work great for mice and are one of my favorites. I keep 2 in my attic space year round and over the years, they’ve caught 5-10 mice and 1-2 squirrels as well as 1 chipmunk.
The Mouse Master is a bit more versatile and able to catch 5-10 mice per setting. These are great to use in any area where you suspect mice may be entering. This might be the attic or garage. Basically anywhere you’ve found large amounts of droppings or food hoarded are signs of multiple mice so a multiple catch trap is a good option to use in such areas. I like to place one of these where I have my LT3310 traps too. This way if I get a mouse caught in my LT3310, when it sounds off it will no doubt attract others to the area which invariably get trapped by the nearby Mouse Masters.
To get the mice interested in these traps, you’ll want to place 2-3 pieces of dog food along with some PECAN PASTE. The pet food is a good visual lure but the Pecan Paste will surely get the attention of any rodent that comes close and get them to enter for sure. Pecan Paste will remain attractive for months so it doesn’t go “bad” when used inside structures.
Lastly, when you come to visit the cabin and find trapped or dead mice, you’ll want to clean out the traps with some of the Rough and Ready to keep them clean and ready for reuse. Which points out one of the great things about using live traps; they can be reused for years and no doubt will pay for themselves may times during their useful lives.
Here are links to these items in our cart. Please show your support for our business by purchasing the items we recommend from the links provided. Remember, this is the only way we can stay around and be here to answer your questions and keep this valuable web site up and running. Thanks for your business!
Rough’n Ready: https://bugspray.com/sanitizer/liquid/mold-blaster-sanni-shine
NNz: https://bugspray.com/sanitizer/liquid/nnz-64-oz
Mouse Master: https://bugspray.com/traps/cage/mouse-master-clear-top
LT3310: https://bugspray.com/traps/cage/live-trap-3-x-3-x-10
Pecan Paste: https://bugspray.com/traps/lure/pecan-paste
Mice: https://bugspray.com/mice
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Jonathan
Customer Care
www.bugspray.com
Bob says
Thanks, Jonathan. I’ve ordered everything needed to do battle! Any suggestions on the best way for cleanup of mice droppings and urine? I’ve just been using a portable vac for the droppings but I’m wondering if that’s best. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Bob
Tech Support says
Hey Bob. Sorry for not getting back sooner but with the holidays and all, there has been a lot going on..
As for cleanup procedures; I would refrain from using the portable vac unless you take one of two precautions. Here’s why.
Basically there could be a bio hazard hiding in the rodent droppings and though the process of this material drying up will kill most bacteria and virus, these contaminates can live quite a long time deep inside the tiniest of mouse droppings. And in fact the most common way for these contaminates to get airborne is during a “rough” cleanup (using a vacuum is considered rough).
This doesn’t mean you can’t vacuum. It just means you should do a little preparation first.
Now the simplest thing to do would be to wear a respirator during the cleanup. This would filter out any hazard and when working in crawl spaces, attics, etc. cleaning up rodent or other animal droppings, wearing surgical gloves, a respirator and some form of eye protection is just plain smart.
Now if you don’t feel like donning all this protective gear, you could neutralize the hazard with the Rough and Ready by lightly the areas you want to clean. It only takes a light amount sprayed over all the droppings and then letting it dry for 12-24 hours. Generally treating in the morning and letting the treatment stand that day and overnight will render any hazard harmless so the next day you could vacuum safely.
Hope this helps! Give us a call if you need further help; here are links to the products mentioned above.
Respirator: https://bugspray.com/equipment/safety/wilson-freedom-respirator
Surgical Gloves: https://bugspray.com/equipment/safety/latex-gloves-l-100box
Rough’n Ready: https://bugspray.com/sanitizer/liquid/rough-and-ready
Jonathan
Customer Care
U-Spray Bugspray
http://www.bugspray.com
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