Does anyone have an inexpensive, easy solution to mice prevention?

Keeping mice out of the house is the most effective, and usually cheapest, way to avoid them. The old folk wisdom of sealing up all the gaps with steel wool actually works quite well. I prefer using copper wool, since it doesn't rust away nearly as fast. Copper wool can be found everywhere cleaning supplies can be found, in the form of scouring pads. Steel wool is best purchased at the paint department.

It's very labor intensive, but you only have to do it once every five years or so, maybe eight with the copper.

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Originally Posted by Catsmine

Keeping mice out of the house is the most effective, and usually cheapest, way to avoid them. The old folk wisdom of sealing up all the gaps with steel wool actually works quite well. I prefer using copper wool, since it doesn't rust away nearly as fast. Copper wool can be found everywhere cleaning supplies can be found, in the form of scouring pads. Steel wool is best purchased at the paint department.

It's very labor intensive, but you only have to do it once every five years or so, maybe eight with the copper.

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Thank you very much. I've never had this problem before. But my cat has had fun trying to catch this one. But I don't want him to get worms or anything else.

If you've already got one, the answer changes. Since you have an animal in the house, poisons are out (secondary toxicity), glue traps are out (Kitty fur on glueboard = bad), and you are left with mechanical traps. The snap traps are really the most effective, but catching kitty paws is again a bad thing. The traps that the mouse goes into and cannot get out of will work if you put out enough traps. Mice like to travel close to walls, so keep the entrances parallel to the wall for them to run into the trap as they go along it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Catsmine

If you've already got one, the answer changes. Since you have an animal in the house, poisons are out (secondary toxicity), glue traps are out (Kitty fur on glueboard = bad), and you are left with mechanical traps. The snap traps are really the most effective, but catching kitty paws is again a bad thing. The traps that the mouse goes into and cannot get out of will work if you put out enough traps. Mice like to travel close to walls, so keep the entrances parallel to the wall for them to run into the trap as they go along it.

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Yes. I have already set traps. Have not caught any mice yet unless my cat got it. My main concern was preventing more from coming in. I will try the steel/copper wool. Thank you for your suggestion.

If some of the gaps are too small for wool, some silicon caulk or polyurethane sealant (comes in an aerosol like shaving cream) will stop them up.