Advice for mice getting into airbnb in the woods

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Hello all, I have an airbnb in the woods and in the winter time there is occasionally mice that get inside. I have tried to seal up every crack with steel wool, expanding foam, and caulking the gaps but somehow they still get in. It is an old drafty house so I am sure there could be spots I am missing. Since it is only used as airbnb, is kept very clean with no food left exposed. Have tried peppermint oil and it doesn’t seem to work, plus gests complain of the smell too.

Usually it is not an issue if the cal is booked, but on slow months with days between guests, there may be mouse droppings found inside or a dead mouse in a trap. I manage it remotely and am not able to clean before every check-in.

Does anyone have advice on how to deal with this issue?

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Find someone to clean before every check in. Your responsibility to your guests is to make sure that upon check in they are not confronted with these issues.

Your rates or cleaning fee might need to be raised.

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Will, you need to find a way to have the place cleaned shortly before guests check in. First impressions are super important and mouse droppings are gross.
And guests arriving to a mouse trap with a dead mouse in it? That’s really unacceptable.

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And if they find traces/ dead/ live mice, and they complain to Airbnb….full refund for them and possible suspension for you……
You need a pre guest inspection

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We live on an island so we are surrounded by the jungle The problem used to be rats, so I bought these ultra-sound gadgets that you plug in; they worked, and I have never had a complaint since

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We have a similar problem. Our home is in a rain forest and is open-air architecture to get the most out of the breezes. That means the doors don’t have weather stripping, and we have only screens and louvers over the windows (no glass). The doors are left open all the time to “let the view in” - but it also means the bugs and small critters (including mice and birds and geckoes and bats) get in, too. We’re a “glamping” property - glamorous camping.

I have it in my house rules that the open-air design means there may be a few “creatures” in the house, and that the presence of a few of those does not mean we have an infestation, so it will NOT qualify for a full or partial refund.

I don’t know if that will help you, but it seems to work for us. I also mention this in the Instant Book message because I know no one reads the House Rules.

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Yes, I live in insect heaven, too. I tend to get quite down-to earth type guests, who have travelled a lot, so have never had a guest freak out about seeing some ants (well one guest did a bit when a trail of big ants appeared in her bathroom, but I helped her kill them, we were both whacking them with a shoe and that was that), or ask for a refund or mention it in a review.

It’s definitely good to mention in the listing or a message, but I think that critters getting in during a stay is a little different from a guest who just checked in finding mouse droppings or a dead mouse in a trap.

Gecko poop on surfaces is a daily occurence where I live, but I make sure there isn’t any in evidence when a guest arrives.

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A friend of mine was having an issues with mice in her stove and put peppermint packages meant to keep mice away. Within a day, the mice were gone.