New Zealand

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid Alexandria, Arlington and DC

Oh honey, there are mice everywhere.

OP, get a cat or two. No need to let them outdoors - just the scent alone will keep away most mice (except the stupid ones).

Not op but also dealing with mice.
Are there specific types of cat that will go after mice, or just any will do?

Have you ever spent any time around cats?

Anonymous wrote:This is an easy problem to fix, OP. In the list of deal-breakers, I would not call that a deal-breaker! Too much radon in the basement, asbestos insulation, too much mold, active termites, un-fixable flooding issues because the house is at the bottom of a hill or in a flood zone, those are deal-breakers.

If everything else is great, just get mice traps, the humane ones.

It's only a deal breaker if you're incredibly naive or bonkers.

We had mice in our house. We hate mice. We had the holes sealed. We also use rat poison outside. No mice in a long time. Once every ten years or so we get one mouse inside the house then we set traps and. inspect for holes again and are without them for a decade.

You are being unreasonable if you think that you can find a house in this region that does not now and never has had mice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have owned seven homes and have never had mice. Weird question, OP.

Never? What do you attribute it to?
It’s a pretty common problem.

Never. I keep food in air tight containers, never in the original packaging. I’m a little OCD about cleaning. Maybe we have just been lucky? Even our farmhouse on 30 acres never had mice.

It's not about being OCD or cleaning.
You can have the cleanest home in the world and you can still get mice.

If you have a quarter size hole anywhere in your foundation or within 3 feet off the ground, you can get mice because they're naturally curious and will follow any hole in search of food.

Yes, we have a new build (2012) that is super tight but we still have things like a dryer vent, an electrical box, HVAC lines, etc that penetrate the exterior wall, and mice can either squeeze in, chew the wood, or pull away the putty that blocks those holes. Every couple of years we see a mouse or find something (like a bag a bird seed) that was chewed. Not buying a house because it had a mouse in it is like not buying a house because it has spiders.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid Alexandria, Arlington and DC

Oh honey, there are mice everywhere.

OP, get a cat or two. No need to let them outdoors - just the scent alone will keep away most mice (except the stupid ones).

Not op but also dealing with mice.
Are there specific types of cat that will go after mice, or just any will do?

Anonymous wrote:Mice don't come into houses for food. They eat it if it's there, and they breed. But they come into houses because there are holes. Holes are the primary problem.

Holes and warmth.

Mice are not the end of the world. They are easy enough to get rid of with cats, traps, etc.
it is a good idea to always be maintaining and repairing any holes or cracks that appear over time, but that isn’t just because of mice.

Gross. Clean and maintain your house.

Anonymous wrote:Avoid Alexandria, Arlington and DC

Oh honey, there are mice everywhere.

OP, get a cat or two. No need to let them outdoors - just the scent alone will keep away most mice (except the stupid ones).

Avoid Alexandria, Arlington and DC

Mice don't come into houses for food. They eat it if it's there, and they breed. But they come into houses because there are holes. Holes are the primary problem.

That’s really not true. I bet your house isn’t the cleanest is it?

Copper mesh is part of the answer. But you have to be vigilant and clean.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have owned seven homes and have never had mice. Weird question, OP.

Never? What do you attribute it to?
It’s a pretty common problem.

Never. I keep food in air tight containers, never in the original packaging. I’m a little OCD about cleaning. Maybe we have just been lucky? Even our farmhouse on 30 acres never had mice.

It's not about being OCD or cleaning.
You can have the cleanest home in the world and you can still get mice.

If you have a quarter size hole anywhere in your foundation or within 3 feet off the ground, you can get mice because they're naturally curious and will follow any hole in search of food.

Anonymous wrote:Buy a house. Get a cat. Voila - mouse-free house.

The mouse will get a dog.

omg. have been in this city for 2 months, the number of rats when just walking down the street is insane. is the city even doing something? cant wait to get back to nyc. we hired a rat czar but it was never as bad as here