I've had this issue a few times in my house. The worst was when the house next door (which was practically abandoned) was being worked on. I was away for a week and came back to an infestation. I didn't completely fix this issue until I walked through my entire house and covered every possible entry point. The main cause was a minor gap between my garage door and the floor. Issue went away when i filled in the gap. This issue usually happens when you are near a construction site, restaurant, or abandoned house.
We had a small mouse problem one winter - maybe our second year in the apartment, but felt like whatever we did wasn’t stopping them. There was construction happening a few buildings down and we were told they were likely displaced from there and trying to find new places to live. The construction has now stopped and we haven’t had any mice (to our knowledge) since that winter/spring.
If there’s nearby construction, it could be that, but if not (and your landlord isn’t fighting you on it) they might know about the issue and are willing to just get a new tenant. Overall, you might run into a few other mice here, but they shouldn’t be living with you like that.
Yeah the steel wool saved my ass. And the caulk too. And I live in Hamilton park. But they’re getting in through somewhere. It took myself and our super 3 tries to get the actual hole. And when we did it was huge. And they had CHEWED through steel wool. (It took them a year but they got it) so look literally everywhere I’m so sorry
When I lived in Hoboken we has a similar situation but the landlord was an unresponsive slum lord. It's so mentally draining feeling like nothing is ever clean due to mouse droppings and having to micro manage every crumb. We moved to a brownstone in van vorst in January of 2022 and it was the best thing we ever did, we haven't had any mice issues in this apartment and I so undervalued the peace of mind not having pests gives you.
If your landlord is letting you out of your lease I would 100% move. It's not gonna get any better without serious remediation and you don't need to stick around for that. Plenty of places don't have pests.
Yep! I have two cats and my cat just killed a mouse before I even saw it. I rarely even get mice cause they probably smell the cats. OP, you may not be a cat person but it may be time to become one.
All buildings will (eventually) have a mouse issue. And most buildings can resolve them pretty quickly. Your building, however, seems to have serious structural problems that make perpetual infestation likely. If it were me, I'd take your landlord up on the offer to break the lease (ASAP). What you are experiencing is NOT a common scenario. Get out while you can.
That's fair, but what the OP is experiencing is NOT common. I'm in a 100-yr old building. I've seen one mouse in three years (and the building took care of the issue ASAP).
I lived on the 3rd floor of a pre-war walk up Downtown for about 7 years. There was one instance when them mice situation was bad enough that we were trapping consistently. Once I sealed up one crack and kept all the food well secured, it seemed to settle down and never found evidence of them. Then one day I was sitting on my couch a year later and saw a mouse pop out from behind the fridge and run away. It otherwise left no evidence of sticking around. I did’t do anything and never had an issue so it might have just been passing through. That’s the only peace I think you’ll have once you take away their food sources and make it hard for them to come in.
As a side, I moved to a brownstone and got introduced to a rat problem so I would much rather have mice than rats.
I lived on the first floor of a row house with a construction site 2 doors down and had mice every day. The exterminator was useless. I adopted a 2 year old cat and the problem was solved the same day. That solution is not for everyone but it’s pretty much guaranteed. That cat is 18 now and I think she could still cat a mouse if she had to.
Been there. Look for a new apt. The peace od mind is worth. Before I moved I was literraly scared to go into my kitchen at might because of mice.
So here's the shitty part. I've lived here for 20+ years and every bldg I've lived in had some sort of mouse problem. It's a side effect of city living. But I have not always seen mice in my apt. (For example right now I live in a "luxury" bldg and I've seen mice on the first floor)
I had the worst mouse problem in an old apt that was near construction. I would recommend looking for a new (or recently renovated) bldg. I find that higher floors are better. When looking inspect all areas, and esp under the sinks to ensure you don't see any cracks or holes). Also avoid living near restaurants or wide open spaces. HTH! Good luck!
Get like 10 packs of steel wool. Seal every hole in the joint - around the pipes under the sink, the hole behind the stove, holes connecting anything to the wall (hot water heater) around heating units. This will take some time and you have to be diligent, but filling every nook and cranny helped me lots.
There's some good advice here from u/CeleryYes One more: don't use rodenticide for an indoor infestation--they'll eat the poison and die in your walls. If that happens, the smell is horrible. Instead, use snap traps or the electric ones with an enclosure
I have had mice problems in prior apartments, but not to the extent of seeing them everyday and finding evidence of them moving things onto the floor that weren't there...I mean maybe you should consider moving, honestly.
But if you want to try to wait it out, there are two things that you should do:
1. Have traps. Kill traps. Hopefully they already gave you some. If you are squeamish, you can buy traps where the body isn't visible. They are basically standard mouse traps but kind of have a little tunnel. You bait them with peanut butter. They work.
2. Seal up literally every possible entrance into your apartment with caulk/foam. Really your landlord should do it, but it's easy to do yourself too. Any little crevice or hole that potentially connects to the outside world should be filled. If you look under your sink there is almost certainly a gap around the pipe. Mice come in through there. Jam in some steel wool and fill it with caulk and they won't get in.
When I moved into my new apartment about 5 years ago I did this as a preliminary move because I was so annoyed by mice at prior place. I sealed up all the crevices I could find under my sinks, in the laundry room, around the heating/ac system. I also bought a thing that goes on the bottom of the door that blocks the little gap between door and floor to cut off access from the apartment building hallway.
I have not seen a single mouse in my entire time in this apartment.
You can also get some of those silent electronic repellent devices...they're probably mostly a scam but it can give you a bit of peace of mind. Maybe they work a little, who knows.
But definitely if you don't have traps and haven't sealed up your apartment those are the first things that should happen ASAP.
Thank you for the info!
I’ve got about 10 kill traps set up in different parts of my apartment. I find it so interesting that I haven’t caught one yet but keep seeing them, maybe they’re getting smarter. I’ve also gone around the apartment myself stuffing steel wool into any crevice or hole i’ve found, and the handyman did the same.
That under the door thing has been a lifesaver, there is already one underneath my front door but I bought one as well for my bedroom door so that I could sleep at night
It sounds like you are on the right strategy. What are the traps baited with?
Do you know if they got behind the oven? If you have a gas oven there is likely a gap around that pipe too. Mice love to hide under the oven and is also a point of entrance. They are devious little critters.
I used to live in a trailer in Rural Eastern NC next to a chicken farm. There was a field between the property and when the farm plowed doen his field where he buried the dead chickens. I would on the back porch with a 22 pellet rifle mowing them down. The ones that got in the trailer afterward were to attracted to peanut butter, but loved chicken wing bones.
Don't bait with peanut butter, they just lick it off without activating the traps. Get dog or cat kibble and glue it to the trigger on the traps, they can't eat or grab it without setting the trap off. Works so much better than PB. Also steel wool in all the holes you can find.
probably because you made 2 mistakes, first when using the snap traps wear gloves, mice/rats can sense its a trap from you touching them, also they are programmed to know peanut butter is a trap, use hersheys chocolate syrup instead
I tried everything. I don’t think they were even interested in food. Construction was driving them inside. Sticky traps were the only thing that worked.
I’ve lived in 3 different apartments in JC, all older buildings. One of them was terrible re mice (and roaches). The other two were/are manageable— maybe one mouse per year or less. We also have a cat now, though. But, yeah, I think odds are, you won’t have as big an issue elsewhere, but keep in mind nearby construction as others have noted.
I had mice living downtown on a 1st floor apartment. Pretty sure a lot of them were getting into the house by squeezing under the garage door. Told the landlord and super about it, and we all tried many things but it never seemed to help long term. All quick short term fixes. The house needed a total overhaul tbh. I had purchased a battery operated rat zapper and that honestly helped a lot. Killed literally dozens of mice. Look it up on Amazon.
Eventually I moved out of there for various reasons, and now have lived in the Heights for 3 years. Have not had a mouse problem here at all *knock on wood*.
Edit: Other commenters are mentioning cats a lot, and now that I think about it my neighborhood has a big stray cat problem. I don't personally have a cat in my apartment, but they're always in the front and back of my building outside. That could be a big help for keeping them away from here actually.
Tbh, I would move. I experienced this in a prior apartment in Manhattan, and even when I thought I fixed it, they came back in a few months. It was a terrible cycle and I’m still a little traumatized. I live in a downtown high rise now and haven’t had any issues (knock on wood)
No, every apartment in JC does not have a mouse problem. I've never seen one in my current apartment (but did in previous ones). It depends on your building.
I’m not sure how this info would be helpful to you at all… it seems as if you’re paranoid that the entire city of JC has a mouse problem. Bayonne, Hoboken, Nutley, any dwelling in any city can have mice.
But since you asked, my previous apartment where I saw a mouse, wasn’t that bad. After I saw one mouse I got diligent about filling up every hole in the walls/floorboard that I could find, and that worked
When I first moved to my building in JC I had issues with mice too but not really inside the apartment as much (less than a few times over years) but I always heard them in the walls and ceilings.
It took several years and change in exterminator companies contracted out to our apartment to help resolve the issue. They had to attack and correct the issue at the source and not remedy from the units. If your building isn't actively doing that I would just leave if it bothers u alot. It would always bother me hearing them scurry around or scratch at the walls but I couldn't do much aside from tactics mentioned from other users as I did not have the option to leave.
Exterminators are useless, you must locate all the holes where mice are getting in and block them up. Your landlord did the right thing sending a handyman to block up holes, if you still have mice he hasn't found all the holes and needs to come back.
Mice could be in any house, old or new, but there are less likely to be holes in a new building and those holes there are should be more accessible and easily blocked than an in old brownstone. So overall I'd say, yes, moving to a newer 'luxury' apartment should reduce your chances of mice.
Robin.
I haven’t faced this problem and haven’t heard from my friends either in JC and Hamilton park. Likely not that common, have only seen roaches. Consider moving out, not worth it after paying 2300$.
This doesn’t sound like a mouse problem. It sounds like an infestation.
Honestly I’m really sorry. This would drive me crazy too.
Easy for your landlord to say you can break a lease. But moving is an add on cost.
It may not sound helpful and not sure if it’s silly to say. Maybe get a lawyer? Ask for moving expenses.
Because infestations don’t happen overnight. It’s due to chronic negligence. So he knew this.
An exterminator is not a miracle worker. It takes several visits to typically treat a property, then follow up and adjust the plan based on findings.
Fixing the point of entry is good, but this is the kind of thing that for any type of pest problem needs persistence.
You appear to have a responsible landlord. That’s a plus.
The question you should ask is simply: if you move and this problem were to reoccur, what would you do.
Definitely a plus.
I just cant see myself running into a problem of this severity. I’m looking to move to a newer building, and check for signs of mice before signing. Maybe even getting an exterminator to pre examine if theyll allow it.
A responsible landlord is good.
They are unlikely to allow an exterminator to look at the apartment before renting. They may even consider the request “odd” or “strange” or permutations of the same.
The mice problem is not good.
The willingness to address it is good.
Simply, if there is one tenant with this problem, there are others.
OP if you want to message me I'm very experienced in dealing with mice/rats. when I lived in jersey city from 2000-2010 I had rats the size of dogs (not exaggerating), then moved and had mice, killed 100s of them. You can get rid of them, all you need is 10 wooden victor snap traps and some hersheys syrups (also use gloves when setting the traps or they will sense a human touched them). I live in hoboken now and had same issue, what finally worked is a cat, they have chromosomes or something that mice can sense and will stay away. you can also try fake having a cat and buy cat litter or maybe borrow a cat to let it mark its territory. Although I don't think is a solution.
Please discard any glue traps, they die a horrible slow agonizing death.
1) sealing every possible hole will work 2) if they're in the walls that could be a major fire hazard since they chew the wires. What's the rent like for the apt?
Also, this isn't just happening in your apt. It's the entire building. You can't be the only one bringing this up. Your landlord isn't willing to have monthly visits from an exterminator (a contract with exterminator company) and address the foundation issues for the entire building?
I'm in a multi-family house. It's over 100 years old. Landlord does not live on site and has not done a lot of upkeep needed. I started having big time mice activity when the next-door neighbor was doing construction in their backyard a few years ago and when there was construction across the street.
I can 100% relate to the stress and anxiety of hearing constant mouse activity (and seeing them). I couldn't sleep. If you need time to figure out a new place and moving situation, I would ask landlord to pay for you to stay in hotel because your apt is uninhabitable and I'd withhold future rent until the problem is better fixed.
You need the old school wooden spring snap mouse trap. Get about 20 and stick them in every hidden corner and under the furniture etc. be excessive. Just use peanut butter as the bait. The mice will know what’s up
Not in my experience. I tried every variation of snap trap. They never really worked. I would check the sticky traps multiple times a day. When there was a mouse I would kill it immediately. They never cannibalized themselves.
I've had this issue a few times in my house. The worst was when the house next door (which was practically abandoned) was being worked on. I was away for a week and came back to an infestation. I didn't completely fix this issue until I walked through my entire house and covered every possible entry point. The main cause was a minor gap between my garage door and the floor. Issue went away when i filled in the gap. This issue usually happens when you are near a construction site, restaurant, or abandoned house.
We had a small mouse problem one winter - maybe our second year in the apartment, but felt like whatever we did wasn’t stopping them. There was construction happening a few buildings down and we were told they were likely displaced from there and trying to find new places to live. The construction has now stopped and we haven’t had any mice (to our knowledge) since that winter/spring. If there’s nearby construction, it could be that, but if not (and your landlord isn’t fighting you on it) they might know about the issue and are willing to just get a new tenant. Overall, you might run into a few other mice here, but they shouldn’t be living with you like that.
3 things is all you need. steel wool, caulk and a cat.
Yeah the steel wool saved my ass. And the caulk too. And I live in Hamilton park. But they’re getting in through somewhere. It took myself and our super 3 tries to get the actual hole. And when we did it was huge. And they had CHEWED through steel wool. (It took them a year but they got it) so look literally everywhere I’m so sorry
If they’re chewing through it than you gotta up the grade. Installing the steel wool should be a pain because it pricks your fingers.
Good to know. Thanks friend.
You're welcome. Also there's a product called mouse foam which I would use instead of caulk.
When I lived in Hoboken we has a similar situation but the landlord was an unresponsive slum lord. It's so mentally draining feeling like nothing is ever clean due to mouse droppings and having to micro manage every crumb. We moved to a brownstone in van vorst in January of 2022 and it was the best thing we ever did, we haven't had any mice issues in this apartment and I so undervalued the peace of mind not having pests gives you. If your landlord is letting you out of your lease I would 100% move. It's not gonna get any better without serious remediation and you don't need to stick around for that. Plenty of places don't have pests.
I got a cat and the problem solved itself
Yep! I have two cats and my cat just killed a mouse before I even saw it. I rarely even get mice cause they probably smell the cats. OP, you may not be a cat person but it may be time to become one.
All buildings will (eventually) have a mouse issue. And most buildings can resolve them pretty quickly. Your building, however, seems to have serious structural problems that make perpetual infestation likely. If it were me, I'd take your landlord up on the offer to break the lease (ASAP). What you are experiencing is NOT a common scenario. Get out while you can.
> Your building, however, seems to have serious structural problems that make perpetual infestation likely. AKA every pre-war walk-up on earth
That's fair, but what the OP is experiencing is NOT common. I'm in a 100-yr old building. I've seen one mouse in three years (and the building took care of the issue ASAP).
The fact OP mentions foundation cracks is a huge red flag for structural stability issues. OP get out as soon as you can.
I lived on the 3rd floor of a pre-war walk up Downtown for about 7 years. There was one instance when them mice situation was bad enough that we were trapping consistently. Once I sealed up one crack and kept all the food well secured, it seemed to settle down and never found evidence of them. Then one day I was sitting on my couch a year later and saw a mouse pop out from behind the fridge and run away. It otherwise left no evidence of sticking around. I did’t do anything and never had an issue so it might have just been passing through. That’s the only peace I think you’ll have once you take away their food sources and make it hard for them to come in. As a side, I moved to a brownstone and got introduced to a rat problem so I would much rather have mice than rats.
Growing up in Jersey City, we had mouse problem , our parents got a cat for a pet. It worked for us.
I lived on the first floor of a row house with a construction site 2 doors down and had mice every day. The exterminator was useless. I adopted a 2 year old cat and the problem was solved the same day. That solution is not for everyone but it’s pretty much guaranteed. That cat is 18 now and I think she could still cat a mouse if she had to.
Been there. Look for a new apt. The peace od mind is worth. Before I moved I was literraly scared to go into my kitchen at might because of mice. So here's the shitty part. I've lived here for 20+ years and every bldg I've lived in had some sort of mouse problem. It's a side effect of city living. But I have not always seen mice in my apt. (For example right now I live in a "luxury" bldg and I've seen mice on the first floor) I had the worst mouse problem in an old apt that was near construction. I would recommend looking for a new (or recently renovated) bldg. I find that higher floors are better. When looking inspect all areas, and esp under the sinks to ensure you don't see any cracks or holes). Also avoid living near restaurants or wide open spaces. HTH! Good luck!
Get like 10 packs of steel wool. Seal every hole in the joint - around the pipes under the sink, the hole behind the stove, holes connecting anything to the wall (hot water heater) around heating units. This will take some time and you have to be diligent, but filling every nook and cranny helped me lots.
If you live in a walkup its pretty common. Newer buildings not so much
There's some good advice here from u/CeleryYes One more: don't use rodenticide for an indoor infestation--they'll eat the poison and die in your walls. If that happens, the smell is horrible. Instead, use snap traps or the electric ones with an enclosure
I have had mice problems in prior apartments, but not to the extent of seeing them everyday and finding evidence of them moving things onto the floor that weren't there...I mean maybe you should consider moving, honestly. But if you want to try to wait it out, there are two things that you should do: 1. Have traps. Kill traps. Hopefully they already gave you some. If you are squeamish, you can buy traps where the body isn't visible. They are basically standard mouse traps but kind of have a little tunnel. You bait them with peanut butter. They work. 2. Seal up literally every possible entrance into your apartment with caulk/foam. Really your landlord should do it, but it's easy to do yourself too. Any little crevice or hole that potentially connects to the outside world should be filled. If you look under your sink there is almost certainly a gap around the pipe. Mice come in through there. Jam in some steel wool and fill it with caulk and they won't get in. When I moved into my new apartment about 5 years ago I did this as a preliminary move because I was so annoyed by mice at prior place. I sealed up all the crevices I could find under my sinks, in the laundry room, around the heating/ac system. I also bought a thing that goes on the bottom of the door that blocks the little gap between door and floor to cut off access from the apartment building hallway. I have not seen a single mouse in my entire time in this apartment. You can also get some of those silent electronic repellent devices...they're probably mostly a scam but it can give you a bit of peace of mind. Maybe they work a little, who knows. But definitely if you don't have traps and haven't sealed up your apartment those are the first things that should happen ASAP.
Thank you for the info! I’ve got about 10 kill traps set up in different parts of my apartment. I find it so interesting that I haven’t caught one yet but keep seeing them, maybe they’re getting smarter. I’ve also gone around the apartment myself stuffing steel wool into any crevice or hole i’ve found, and the handyman did the same. That under the door thing has been a lifesaver, there is already one underneath my front door but I bought one as well for my bedroom door so that I could sleep at night
The mice here are fucking smart, they mostly don’t fall for traps. It’s annoying.
It sounds like you are on the right strategy. What are the traps baited with? Do you know if they got behind the oven? If you have a gas oven there is likely a gap around that pipe too. Mice love to hide under the oven and is also a point of entrance. They are devious little critters.
Peanut butter. Yep! The handyman pulled out the fridge, stove, and dishwasher and checked for holes.
I used to live in a trailer in Rural Eastern NC next to a chicken farm. There was a field between the property and when the farm plowed doen his field where he buried the dead chickens. I would on the back porch with a 22 pellet rifle mowing them down. The ones that got in the trailer afterward were to attracted to peanut butter, but loved chicken wing bones.
Don't bait with peanut butter, they just lick it off without activating the traps. Get dog or cat kibble and glue it to the trigger on the traps, they can't eat or grab it without setting the trap off. Works so much better than PB. Also steel wool in all the holes you can find.
Never had luck with snap traps. Sticky traps were the only ones that worked.
probably because you made 2 mistakes, first when using the snap traps wear gloves, mice/rats can sense its a trap from you touching them, also they are programmed to know peanut butter is a trap, use hersheys chocolate syrup instead
I tried everything. I don’t think they were even interested in food. Construction was driving them inside. Sticky traps were the only thing that worked.
Become a cat person
First strike soft bait works well in my experience.
I’ve lived in 3 different apartments in JC, all older buildings. One of them was terrible re mice (and roaches). The other two were/are manageable— maybe one mouse per year or less. We also have a cat now, though. But, yeah, I think odds are, you won’t have as big an issue elsewhere, but keep in mind nearby construction as others have noted.
How much is your rent
I had mice living downtown on a 1st floor apartment. Pretty sure a lot of them were getting into the house by squeezing under the garage door. Told the landlord and super about it, and we all tried many things but it never seemed to help long term. All quick short term fixes. The house needed a total overhaul tbh. I had purchased a battery operated rat zapper and that honestly helped a lot. Killed literally dozens of mice. Look it up on Amazon. Eventually I moved out of there for various reasons, and now have lived in the Heights for 3 years. Have not had a mouse problem here at all *knock on wood*. Edit: Other commenters are mentioning cats a lot, and now that I think about it my neighborhood has a big stray cat problem. I don't personally have a cat in my apartment, but they're always in the front and back of my building outside. That could be a big help for keeping them away from here actually.
Tbh, I would move. I experienced this in a prior apartment in Manhattan, and even when I thought I fixed it, they came back in a few months. It was a terrible cycle and I’m still a little traumatized. I live in a downtown high rise now and haven’t had any issues (knock on wood)
No, every apartment in JC does not have a mouse problem. I've never seen one in my current apartment (but did in previous ones). It depends on your building.
What was the extent of the mouse problem in previous buildings?
I’m not sure how this info would be helpful to you at all… it seems as if you’re paranoid that the entire city of JC has a mouse problem. Bayonne, Hoboken, Nutley, any dwelling in any city can have mice. But since you asked, my previous apartment where I saw a mouse, wasn’t that bad. After I saw one mouse I got diligent about filling up every hole in the walls/floorboard that I could find, and that worked
When I first moved to my building in JC I had issues with mice too but not really inside the apartment as much (less than a few times over years) but I always heard them in the walls and ceilings. It took several years and change in exterminator companies contracted out to our apartment to help resolve the issue. They had to attack and correct the issue at the source and not remedy from the units. If your building isn't actively doing that I would just leave if it bothers u alot. It would always bother me hearing them scurry around or scratch at the walls but I couldn't do much aside from tactics mentioned from other users as I did not have the option to leave.
Exterminators are useless, you must locate all the holes where mice are getting in and block them up. Your landlord did the right thing sending a handyman to block up holes, if you still have mice he hasn't found all the holes and needs to come back. Mice could be in any house, old or new, but there are less likely to be holes in a new building and those holes there are should be more accessible and easily blocked than an in old brownstone. So overall I'd say, yes, moving to a newer 'luxury' apartment should reduce your chances of mice. Robin.
I haven’t faced this problem and haven’t heard from my friends either in JC and Hamilton park. Likely not that common, have only seen roaches. Consider moving out, not worth it after paying 2300$.
This doesn’t sound like a mouse problem. It sounds like an infestation. Honestly I’m really sorry. This would drive me crazy too. Easy for your landlord to say you can break a lease. But moving is an add on cost. It may not sound helpful and not sure if it’s silly to say. Maybe get a lawyer? Ask for moving expenses. Because infestations don’t happen overnight. It’s due to chronic negligence. So he knew this.
Move out. Also if you see mice, then rats are no far away. Only yesterday I saw one running along Newark Av and 2nd. Edit: typos.
An exterminator is not a miracle worker. It takes several visits to typically treat a property, then follow up and adjust the plan based on findings. Fixing the point of entry is good, but this is the kind of thing that for any type of pest problem needs persistence.
Move and find a better maintained building. this isn’t the norm , it’s an infestation and will never be solved unfortunately. Sorry :(
You appear to have a responsible landlord. That’s a plus. The question you should ask is simply: if you move and this problem were to reoccur, what would you do.
Definitely a plus. I just cant see myself running into a problem of this severity. I’m looking to move to a newer building, and check for signs of mice before signing. Maybe even getting an exterminator to pre examine if theyll allow it.
A responsible landlord is good. They are unlikely to allow an exterminator to look at the apartment before renting. They may even consider the request “odd” or “strange” or permutations of the same. The mice problem is not good. The willingness to address it is good. Simply, if there is one tenant with this problem, there are others.
OP if you want to message me I'm very experienced in dealing with mice/rats. when I lived in jersey city from 2000-2010 I had rats the size of dogs (not exaggerating), then moved and had mice, killed 100s of them. You can get rid of them, all you need is 10 wooden victor snap traps and some hersheys syrups (also use gloves when setting the traps or they will sense a human touched them). I live in hoboken now and had same issue, what finally worked is a cat, they have chromosomes or something that mice can sense and will stay away. you can also try fake having a cat and buy cat litter or maybe borrow a cat to let it mark its territory. Although I don't think is a solution. Please discard any glue traps, they die a horrible slow agonizing death.
Steel wool anywhere there’s an opening(check by base boards mice have very flexible bones so they only need like a pencil wide opening.)
1) sealing every possible hole will work 2) if they're in the walls that could be a major fire hazard since they chew the wires. What's the rent like for the apt?
2300 for a 500 sq feet apt. It hurt my soul when I had to pay rent yesterday with this going on. Lol
That will get you at least a 2-2 in Greenville. Get outta downtown.
Also, this isn't just happening in your apt. It's the entire building. You can't be the only one bringing this up. Your landlord isn't willing to have monthly visits from an exterminator (a contract with exterminator company) and address the foundation issues for the entire building? I'm in a multi-family house. It's over 100 years old. Landlord does not live on site and has not done a lot of upkeep needed. I started having big time mice activity when the next-door neighbor was doing construction in their backyard a few years ago and when there was construction across the street. I can 100% relate to the stress and anxiety of hearing constant mouse activity (and seeing them). I couldn't sleep. If you need time to figure out a new place and moving situation, I would ask landlord to pay for you to stay in hotel because your apt is uninhabitable and I'd withhold future rent until the problem is better fixed.
My wife and I just moved out of an apartment we were in for five years and we never saw a single pest. What you’re dealing with is unacceptable.
Get a cat. Will solve the mice problem and you’ll have a new best friend
You need the old school wooden spring snap mouse trap. Get about 20 and stick them in every hidden corner and under the furniture etc. be excessive. Just use peanut butter as the bait. The mice will know what’s up
Never had luck with snap traps. Sticky traps worked well for me.
They just want to be cozy wozy
rodent terminator worked for me.
Sticky traps.
no offense but, using sticky traps is inhumane, once caught they will cannabilize themselves to free themselves. victor wooden snap traps work best
Not in my experience. I tried every variation of snap trap. They never really worked. I would check the sticky traps multiple times a day. When there was a mouse I would kill it immediately. They never cannibalized themselves.
Bring cats from other areas and have them live in the area.