mice problem in rental building ..... solutions .... cat rental???

I recently had a similar problem and simply chose to make my place inhospitable - meaning I've carefully kept closets closed, food off the counter, and dried dog food in thick plastic containers. He/she seems to have moved on to greener pastures.

311 is a good all-purpose number for non-urgent housing complaints. In the meantime, glue traps work pretty well. Plus steel wool in any openings in the floor - check around radiators especially.

If you get a cat you will have no mice in a matter of days, and they will not come back. Just the scent of cats cause mice to panic.

Agree with the others:
1) fill all gaps around pipes (check under sinks and the gas connection behind stove), radiators, floor moldings, etc.. with a generous amount of steel wool. Use a pencil or a ruler to push it in to the cracks. Mice (and rats) can squeeze thru tiny cracks;
2) Make sure there's no gap under your front door, often they just squeeze under. Get a door flap for the bottom of your door that meets the floor (no space for them to squeeze under!)
3) throw your garbage out every night, wipe clean all countertops and sweep, sweep, sweep. All foods should be in glass or plastic containers (or kept in the fridge). Try to wash everything with bleach to eliminate their scent trails, so the rest of the family doesn't move in too! Also try to limit their water source;
4) Mouse traps. First, confirm it is actually a mouse and not a rat. The rats' droppings are a little bit bigger than a mouse (looks like a candle wick versus the tiny rice grain sized poops of mice). You need the right size trap to do the job - you'll never catch a rat in a mouse trap. I like to put them in shoe boxes (place the trap perpendicular to the wall) with holes cut at each end to encourage them to run thru the box (make sure there's enough clearance for the trap to snap in the box). That way when you catch one, there's no splatter, etc... Just pick up the box and toss it; bait the traps with cheese (peanut butter never works for me!)
5) My cat is useless - especially if it's a rat. Best bet is the traps - and don't use poison if they die in your walls you'll be suffering!
6) Have the super check the basement - there may be a minor population explosion due to the weather - traps should be placed in the basement too;
7) Good luck!!!!!!

thank you everyone for the great advice! sounds like this is not such an uncommon experience.

Get a rat terrier?
http://www.lostsite.com/pics/otherpics/DarwinKitchen.jpg

nycer is right about the door issue. Once, when my building was undergoing reno work I watched with horror and disgust as a mouse scampered down the hall and disappeared under someone's door. We're talking a half-inch space, possibly less. They're resourceful little suckers.

Don't use Glue Traps! My friend used it and lived to regret it. The mouse got stuck on the glue trap and squealed in agongy for days. It was heartbreaking for my friend. She came to find out days later that she should have taken the mouse along with the glue trap and put it underwater to drown the poor thing instead of letting him die a tortureous and slow death.

BigApple is correct in what you should do. As soon as you have a mouse stuck in any way on a glue trap (you can not remove it, you will pull its legs off), you must kill it, and the proper way is a quick drowining - I recommend filling a small zip lock bag with warm (not cold, not hot) water and putting the mouse and trap in head first and complete. The mouse will expire quickly and you can toss the plastic bag with the mouse in the trash outside.

OY - I don'r like those glue strips 'cause you've then got those crazed LIVE rodents you need to deal with. eeek! If you go that route, tho, a good THUMP with something hard kills 'em nice & quick. I prefer the snap traps; a corpse is unpleasant but very satisfying. I make a yummy "cookie" dough out of peanut butter & oatmeal & they love it; just put a very small amount on the lever, the size of a pea, so they must work to eat it & thus deploy the trap. I always put the trap on a big sheet of newspaper so I can just fold the whole thing up & easily dispose of it but I like the shoebox idea even better. An exterminator told me that if you keep them out of the basement you pretty much keep them out of the building; since we've used an exterminator & have quarterly visits, we've had no problem to speak of. I'd strongly urge the building to get an exterminator; we have a contract & in addition to the quarterly visits, they come any time there might be a problem. Good luck & fight them suckers; it's your house, not theirs!

We tried all of the above in our condo building and only finally got results by having a company come in and "rodent-proof" our apt. for a few hundred dollars (and a six month guarantee.) Best money I ever spent after months and months of trying everything. I was tired of glue traps and killing them--I wanted to stop them from getting them in. Building mgmt and super were both useless. Good luck.

Dudes - cats work, it just takes a few days. Ask any bodega owner.

If you use a cat, don't use poison at the same time. Not only can the cat be exposed to the poison directly, but a not-dead-yet mouse can be caught by the cat.

I have a cat, and I once briefly had a mouse. He came in through the doorframe gap, and ran under the refrigerator. My cat sat there patiently and quietly for hours, and, the next time the mouse emerged, brought the ex-mouse to me as a present. Good cat.

Nice present ... ICK!

Goose, et al...which company did you hire? In the middle of a mouse mess -- hired Metro Pest Control & I'm happy with their customer svc & first visit but time will tell. Also, I live in a small coop bldg--24 units with about half of the tenants renting -- how much should the mgmt company be responsible for? I paid $300 and am happy to do it if it gets rid of the problem -- a renting neighbor said that it was too much and she'd just live with the problem -- this is a problem with low owner-occupied coops -- renters don't care.

Steve is right...I had a terrible mouse problem in an old rental and once we adopted cat that was it. It's been years and no mice...

and the upside is you'll fall in love with your cat...it happened to me..never had a pet before but thanks to a RAT problem..yes, so scary I woke up in the middle of the night and my eye caught something in the kitchen and I said how did a cat get in my apartment before I realized it was a rat laying on the faucet. Next day went out and adopted a cat and it was love at first sight.

We used Ecology Exterminating: www.ecologyexterminating.com and we were very happy. I think we probably paid $200-$300 but it came with a six month guarantee and it's probably been 9 mos since. Very professional and they blocked all the hidden spots my super couldn't find. This is a good solution when you're tired of simply killing the mice. This stops them from getting in. Good luck.

don't adopt a cat just to get rid of mice...its an up to 20 year commitment that comes with amusement, affection, purrs and pouts (and yes cat hair) with the wonderful incremental benefit of mouse detererence and, when necessary, elimination...But if you want an excellent companion who requires minimal maintenance but gives so much, a cat is definitely the way to go.

I agree with Liz and Julia - only adopt a cat if you are ready to make him or her family!!

If you decide to get a cat, just be prepared for this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ffwDYo00Q&feature=channel

and this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s13dLaTIHSg&feature=channel

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!That was the funniest (and truest) thing ever!!!!!!I love it!!

Squid...loved it...

Argh...I can't stop watching the one where he is waking up his owner...I'm obsessed!! How have i never seen this before???

Squid..OMG...Hysterical. The really wierd thing. The wake up video is exactly my female cat (minus th bat) while the sofa is act is my male to a tee.

I know. It's frighteningly spot-on.

Squid...i just googled the creator and found another cat video,opening the door that is great. thanks for getting me started.