We have an old Victorian home and it is almost impossible to keep out the occasional mouse, weird bug, even a bat. My daughter moved home during COVID and took over one of our guest rooms including the closet. She left for a few days and when she returned a mouse had ripped up two leather jackets. She was devastated as one had sentimental value. I was secretly relieved that this didn’t happen to a guest using that room and closet. Can you imagine the review?!
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I have the occasional visitor in my 1938 cabin, so far no damage and no bad reviews.
Oh Puhlease, with all that is going on in the world she should be grateful for a warm place to live and that she is safe from the virus.
RR
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Wow. I’ve had mice before but they never tore up anything of value. In my home I was able to get them under control by searching for where they seemed to enter and sealing that up. Then I bought old fashioned traps and baited them and put them where the dogs couldn’t get to them. After 2 winters I got the problem under control.
There are also electronic traps that some folks prefer since the mouse death seems less gruesome and the disposal of the body can be hidden from view.
I’ve noticed that with being closed much of the year that when I go in to clean there is always a dead bug in a windowsill or under the bed or some caulking has shrunk from the wall and needs to be touched up or something. I think we forget how much we do daily to keep our places in shape.
I just had a regular guest who is really more of a friend stay this past week. When I went in to clean in preparation for a guest I found a few things I was unhappy about, things I’d missed and was glad there wasn’t a paying guest to leave the review. I hope my friend also didn’t see them. LOL.
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She wasn’t ungrateful, just very sad to lose a gift from someone no longer with us.
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Yesterday morning, my wife and I were doing some prepping of the rental for our next long-term guest and she saw a couple of termite tubes in one of the bedrooms. We had a whole house treatment done 7 years ago, but she thinks that we may not have renewed the maintenance contract. Crap.
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Terminix owns me, lol. My long term rental has had everything post beetles, ants, termites, squirrels, chipmunks, and we suspect a racoon. Old houses are hard to seal tight when the creatures are just as determined as we are.
There are these high-tech modern devices devices called m.o.u.s.e…t.r.a.p.s.
Also a cat is an excellent deterrent.
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We are well aware of mouse traps and use them with much success. However, the second floor has never had this issue before. My husband is severely allergic to cats. I would get one in a heartbeat.
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Try the plug ins that make a high pitch sound. My husband uses them in the garage and attic and he swears by them. The sound cannot be heard by human ears.
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We do use that in the kitchen and actually suspended one in a crawl space where we didn’t want to constantly change traps.
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Try peppermint or lavender oils. Put it in a spray bottle and spray baseboards. Mice hate the smell. You can also try moth balls outside. My husband uses moth balls in his shed since we don’t have electrical outlets in the shed to use the plug ins.
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That’s funny, this was just “recommended” to me on Youtube. Seems to be a peppermint oil and cinnamon oil mix.
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I don’t think that there is any excuse to have a property on airbnb where there is potential for mice to enter.
If a guest sees mice, i’d assume you’d get an automatic negative review. Is it worth it?
Your daughter need to find out where the mice are entering the property and then seal it up. If not, she needs to hire a professional
Nonsense! Unless you’re going to build a hermetically sealed house there will always be access points for vermin, and depending on your climate, much worse than mice!
Our house dates from 1770 or thereabouts and has been added to, altered, used and abused since then. There is no way we could make our property completely vermin proof. It’s how you act in a preventative fashion that counts.
JF
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All properties have the potential for mice to enter. They can walk in through an open door, rats can come up from the sewer. I am having a hard time believing this was a serious comment.
RR
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I use victor electronic mouse traps - they zap the poor little guys and kill them quick, no mess, and easy to dispose. They take 4 AA batteries and are easy to set. Put some peanut butter on the inside of the trap near the sniff-holes, and put a small dab at the entrance of the trap to entice them. You’ll want to set it along a wall, where you’ve seen the mice before - preferably not out in the open.
If you have pets the electric traps are definitely a good option; they’re too small and sealed for the dog to get into, and even if he did, the zap would not be lethal.
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I’m gonna dump on ya, too, rex. You’ve apparently never lived in the countryside. All sorts of little critters can get in any little crack or when doors are left open. And rodents will even chew through screens if they really want to get in.
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A mouse can get into ANY home, restaurant, hotel, attic, crawl space etc they want to. Their bodies are designed for getting into small spaces.
Anyone who thinks their home is mouse-proof is only hoping.
I love seeing an occasional black snake tour the neighborhood to clear out pests. Also I have two Yorkie Terriers (1 is a mix) who let me know when a mouse has moved in.
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A field mouse moved into my home. I think he scampered in when I took out the trash. When I re-entered my home, dogs were enjoying the chase.
I am amazed at the joy terriers have at doing the mouser/ratter job they were bred to do. Animal Planet had a show about rat infestation at a farm in Australia. Team of 6 Jack Russell terriers brought in. Rat number was overwhelming. Once the pups started work, they were excited and would go at the rats until their owner made them stop.
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I have to tell my “pest” story.
I lived here alone with my two dogs. Couldn’t sleep. Got up in the middle of the night to go to the computer in my office, at the other end of the house. Didn’t turn any lights on. Dogs followed me from the bedroom.
I got into the kitchen and saw something moving in the pantry, just beyond the kitchen. At first, I thought it was my cat. Almost immediately, I saw enough of the silhouette to know it wasn’t a cat.
The dogs realized it at the same time and they went barreling into the pantry. They chased the animal—a raccoon—across the pantry and into the office beyond. There was plenty of barking and growling but no physical contact.
I was in the doorway to the kitchen. I reached in and turned on the pantry light. Then I pulled the pocket door almost closed between the kitchen and pantry.
The raccoon came dashing out of the office and saw that it was stuck in the pantry. So it fled out the cat door to the garage.
I waited about 20 seconds and then let the dogs out into the garage. They ran around barking, but the raccoon had been smart enough to exit through the cat door to the driveway.
The dogs were bouncing around, all excited. Best game ever.
I had opened the outdoor cat door just that afternoon, after my old lady cat had died. My younger cat liked going out. Seemed like a good idea when I opened it. Sadly, I closed and locked it right after the raccoon left, never to open it again.
Fortunately, the raccoon wasn’t inside the house long enough to do any damage.
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