Anyone know how to get rid of mice?

[JimmyCracksCorn]

I moved into a rather old house (100yrs) about 5 months ago and right from the beginning I would see the droppings in places around the kitchen such as behind the garbage, under the radiator, etc. I never actually saw or heard any mice, so I just kind of ignored the whole thing and assumed that there were a couple mice from when the house was vacant and that they would go away on their own.

Well, last night I saw this one mouse crawl up a hole in the living room twice and quickly run back down when I noticed it. It was the grossest thing I've ever seen.

What surprises me is that I have a terrier dog that is supposedly "better than a cat" at killing rodents. I was always told he was a "rat dog". But then this mouse walked in like it owned the place and the dog, sitting right beside me, didn't even notice it.

So here's the situation: 100yr old house = lots of cracks and crawl spaces. Its was vacant for a year before I moved in so the mice have had 1.5 years to take over the place. Also, my "rat dog" dog doesn't appear to give a ****... it wouldn't surprise me if it plays with them when I'm gone.

Questions:
-How can I get rid of them without having to call an exterminator?
-How can I determine whether I have 5 mice or 5,000? I have no idea as I've never lived in a place with mice?

Any ideas? I'm all grossed out now.

[SlowwHand]

Cat.

[alva]

Zomg!!!No teh Slow beat me!!!

[alva]

On the other hand


Two cats.

[Dr Strangelove]

Eat them.

[VetLegion]

I bet that there's quite a similar question being asked right now on the mice OT forum

Seriously, why exterminate them at all? They're not very dangerous.

[VetLegion]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
Eat them.

Print these and post them around the house.

[Japher]

We had a mouse in my last house.

We got this little black box in which you smeared peanut butter to one end above a metal plate and when the mouse went for the peanut butter it would shock the mouse and give it a heart attack.

You are going to need to seal your house or else mice will just keep coming.

Wilard.

[alva]

Best thing to have, is a rat. Where there is a rat, are no mice. The downside is of course, that you're stuck with a...well err...rat.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Cat.

I wonder how effective one would be given that my "rat dog" is completely useless and apathetic. I've also heard that cats raised by other cats aren't very effective either.

Seriously, why exterminate them at all? They're not very dangerous.

Because mice are gross.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by VetLegion


Print these and post them around the house.

I was actually thinking of throwing a snake down the holes next to pipes.

[CrONoS]

I had mice in my house, my two cat killed one or two mouse each night. I swear to you, cat are pretty effective for mouse.
When they heard mouse moving in the floor, they can wait for hour...

Another thing, put trap in your house, another pretty effective thing. But it's rather gross.
In my old house, we bought a little box in an animal store, the box was like a trap but it didn't kill the mouse, the mouse entered the box but and wasn't able to go out. We succeed to trap around 10-15 mouse with this box.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

So what did you do with the mice? Let them die in there?

[Ecthy]

They cooked meals of them.

[alva]

We succeed to trap around 10-15 mouse with this box.

You basically caught the same mouse 10 - 15 times.

It's the correct way though.