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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We are in NoVa and use Pest Now. They have been great. Highly recommend. We have been dealing w a large mouse presence (at least it seems large to me based on the large amount of poop discovered in random places in my home) since Spring and are finally nearly 100% mouse-free.

Agree with pp re finding the entry points. Ours was a sump pump cover that wasnt completely covered and an old dryer vent that wasnt properly closed off. Also you have to find out how they are getting through your house—we had a hole behind our stove that they were using to easily access our kitchen from their homes in our walls, as well as a hole under the sink. These were all holes caused by the previous owner doing diy work and not understanding what they were doing.

Anyway, our PestNow guy (Donovan, he is awesome) walked around the inside and outside of the house with me during his first visit to look for entry points. Also make sure there arent any cracks they can use in the garage to enter the home. We ended up having to hire a handyman to help us take care of closing up the access points.

I disagree about the poison vs traps though. We used traps initially and caught plenty of mice but there is no way to kill them all if you have a problem more than 1-2 mice. The poison is completely sealed in a plastic box that is designed for only mice to enter and exit, and it is locked so your kids/pets cant get in (unless your pet is a hamster). They put the poison boxes places your kids/pets cant easily access (we currently have 3 or 4 in the basement in places like on top of hvac ducting and in the unfinished storage part) and it not only kills the mice but they are a good way to measure the mouse activity and whether what you are doing is working. We only saw one dead mouse in the basement and one living but very dazed and slow moving house in the kitchen following putting out the poison.

Finally, make sure to clean and disenfect all droppings you find because mice use their poop trails to help them find food sources again. We ended up removing and replacing a lot of insulation in our basement that was disgusting with the amount of poop found in it.[/quote]

I’m stoked for this homeowner that the mice are gone. But fwiw, I think all of the “closing” of holes is basically theater. The sump pump and dryer vent are just easy places to “find” a “hole” and contractors of all kinds love to tell you about how the last guy was an idiot and they are your hero. Ditto behind the stove - my mice also like to come and go there. But it’s not like they can’t find another way from the wall behind the stove out into the kitchen. I’m not saying he was scamming you - putting out a poison that works is effective. I’m just saying pest contracts are mostly a sales job and all of the other stuff is, in my opinion, basically fluff. This is just one homeowner’s perspective obviously. [/quote]

This perspective makes me quite nervous. Isn’t it possible to cover those standard holes with a metal mesh or anything similar?[/quote]

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