buy those ultrasonic devices. buy several, depending upon the layout of your house. remember those ultrasound can’t pass through walls. eventually put one in every room. plug them in outlets. the mice will pack their packs and go. they can’t stand the noise. this is what people do in vacation homes and boats when they prepare them for winter.
2 Likes
I have been skeptical as they have been ineffective in my garden, I don’t believe those sonic devices really work. Have you actually had demonstrated results and if so, can you link me to what device?
1 Like
No matter what you do you can never guarantee that a guest will never see a mouse. So you can lose potentially 100s of dollars shutting down or roll the dice on getting crazy guests who demand full refunds because they saw a mouse.
1 Like
I would rather not risk it since I know for a verified confirmed fact we have a problem inside the house.
Incidentally, I know why neighbor finally burned that gargantuan brush pile. Which smoked out my guests, left their car and my whole 2.5 acres covered in ash, required airing the house out for days and massive Ozium to get the campfire smell out of the house, and resulted in mice moving in.
Neighbor’s place is for sale now.
1 Like
I haven’t seen a mouse in ages given that I have two pretty decent mousers (Olivia and Olive, both with their original shelter names).
Assuming you cannot have cats in the rental all the time, I wonder if a friend or a local farm could lend you a mouser? I know in fact that our local shelter now gives out somewhat unsocial, formerly feral cats to patrol warehouses and the like, as there is nothing remotely as effective as a cat to control rodents. And in fact, the “feral” cats apparently end up pretty sweet after they get used to people.
1 Like
You could possibly try certain dogs as well. If you lived near me I could bring in my pitbull. She was much better at getting and killing a mouse who ran into the pantry the other night than my new kitten was. She even jumped into a cardboard box head and front feet could only fit in to get it!
1 Like
I am allergic to cats. That said, if I lived there full time I would let an outdoor cat hang around. We have discussed it. They are pretty useful in the country.
These are good suggestions but not practical in our situation.
2 Likes
We had an issue with mice last year. Our problem is that we have a rambling old house, approximately 500m2 with various bits dating back to 1779, which means there are numerous nooks and crannies where vermin can nest.
Our guest said that they’d heard scratching noises and movement in the apartment ceiling, and when they knocked on the ceiling with a brush it stopped. For a while. I told them it was probably geckos mating… not sure they were convinced 
We were empty the next night and sure enough, lots of activity. My solution, once they’d left, was to put both rat and mice poison (not sure of the difference though!) in the ceiling cavity via the light fitting hole. The I sealed up as much of the access to that area using construction foam.
So far no further issues and the guests simply didn’t leave a review.
We had got on pretty well with them, so I think this may have been them being nice.
This was last September and the same folks are due to check in tomorrow for four days! They also tried to book us a couple of months ago as well, all direct and not through Airbnb.
Moral of story, not all guests get freaked by mice.
JF
3 Likes
Not sure I’d find that any more comforting than mice, but…
2 Likes
I never had a problem with mice until after my cat died and I started boarding dogs. None of the hundreds of dogs here have been worth a damn to get mice. However they have alerted me to the traps having been successful. 
I sealed up some gaps I found around entry points, bought vittles vaults for all the dog food including guest dog food and laid traps. No poison and no professional help but it did take two seasons.
1 Like
Reminds me of hearing loud rustling that sounded like something BIG in the wall, of my little hotel in Borneo and telling the front desk about it.
“Serpenta” was their one-word reply.
I was slightly freaked out by what sound like a freakin’ 8-foot python in a wall nearby but somehow survived. I can’t imagine after that, that a mouse would faze me in the slightest.
So the exterminator sent someone out who actually has a clue (I was livid but anyway) to do a full assessment of our situation.
A worker is going out to seal some gaps in the crawlspace next week and they are going to install four of something like this, that is anchored to the porch, one by each ingress point. You will see similar traps by the sliding doors at places like WalMart and Lowes if you look for them.
It will cost me an additional $5 per month on our maintenance plan to service the boxes.
buy it…
RR
1 Like
I might if I din’t alreay have a parcel that still has a mortgage on it for sale. Want some land on the Mogollon Rim? 
2 Likes
A well known Houston defense attorney is selling his TX ranch and only wants 1.5 million. That seems so affordable compared to how much things cost in CA. I can see why TX is being flooded with Californians (in some ways).
Walker’s Cay finally sold to a Texas billionaire last year. It was listed for a long time, originally in 2004 for 18 million. Last time I had looked it was down to half that or less. I had always wanted to go fish there in its heyday. I guess I will finally have the chance one day once they get it renovated.
Since we are the only dogless house in the neighbourhood, our garden is, by default, Feral Cat Sanctuary. They can be a yowling nuisance, but on the other hand we never see mice or rats any more (of course, now I’ve said it a whole family will turn up tomorrow …)
The drawback is that the animals we don’t like are not their only food, though my husband reckons even a hungry feral cat is no match for a speedy squirrel.
Get a cat …works wonders
Our first guests since our pause are in there now. I am told there has been no further evidence of rodent activity for the past week before they checked in yesterday, so crossing my fingers we have gotten all the invaders out. Now if the exterminator doesn’t stop making messes when they go in, I am going to start sending them my cleaning bill. But that is a different rant.
2 Likes