Rats or mice? Or something else?
Personally I like traps. Bait them with nuts, seeds and peanut butter.
Like these-
https://www.homedepot.com/p/JT-Eaton-Repeater-Low-Profile-Multi-Catch-Mouse-Trap-with-Solid-Steel-Lid-12-Pack-420/205018835

https://www.thespruce.com/best-mouse-traps-4154321


You are right about poisons, they will endanger your pets, as well as anything else that feeds on mice, like hawks and owls.

They are now just leaving me parts of their kills. Like some guts and such. I know the rodent can't survive, so there is either a hidey hole somewhere or my fur babies are eating them

Traps

Last edited Wed Oct 12, 2022, 09:09 AM - Edit history (1)

that attracts mice also. Once we saw them feeding with the squirrels, I put the mothballs under the house and put the peppermint at the spots where I suspected they were coming from under the house.
Knock on wood, we haven't seen any in about 3 weeks.

And when ever you open stuff up use copper mesh, it's a loose screen of copper which they are allergic to and will avoid. They also hate touching aluminum foil. You need to find their water source. That is likely the initial cause.
Good luck, it takes a lot of effort to seal up, especially a raised structure. I did my wife's summer spot a while ago, but they just got back in this summer. I didn't use copper mesh before. We just bought it.

season (Fall, Winter), they all start trying to sneak in, make their way into my home. I have 3 dogs and although sometimes they're good mousers, it's not enough.

So, usually in the early fall, I put glue traps out and do so knowing that yeah, sure maybe one of the dogs will accidently get caught in a glue trap, but they are big enough so it doesn't overwhelm them, and they can manage until they get my attention (to pull the offending glue trap off their paw). They are smart enough to avoid the glue traps for 99.9% of the time, but sometimes they mis-stepped and OPPS, they're caught. Easy enough to pull the trap off since they are designed for spiders and insects, small mice.

Then, in the Spring, when the mice disappear (I guess if any are left, they go back outside), I pick up the glue traps, so they won't be in the way when I do my normal clean the floors routine, etc. In these cases, I also don't just throw the glue traps away, I move to a basement (unfinished) or garage, so they'll continue to be effective. I don't have any little critters in STLMO (lizards and such, I don't want to kill them), so I don't have to worry about accidently getting the wrong sort of critter on the glue traps.

By the way, cats are the best policy against mice, so you're doing good there. As to being in your walls? Well, all I can say is that they do get hungry and thirsty, and do come out to find something to eat and/or drink. I suspect that a professional mouser would claim that they would have to 'bomb' the entire house, to be totally effective in getting rid of the mice in the walls. I would do the above first (glue traps etc.) prior to going this drastic route, as you and your pets would have to temporarily relocate.

Good luck!

I had a real problem with rats and mice after I kept killing the rat snakes that were eating the eggs and baby chicks. One day when spraying the yard with Cutters flea and mosquito spray (the kind you attach a hose to), I decided to spray inside the chicken house. Nothing happened until I sprayed on top of the laying boxes. Apparently the mice were living up there and they exploded out of there like a bomb had gone off. They hated the stuff! Might work for you if you sprayed under the house or through a hole in the wall.
As to what bait for rats, scratch then drill a hole in an almond with a deck screw (gently) and put it on the bait tang of a large rat trap (bend up the pointy sharp part and gently push it on). Works great and sometimes you can even reuse the almond.
When I quit shooting the rat snakes, the problem went away. Now when I catch one eating the eggs, I just spank it with a piece of bamboo and it stays gone for a good long while.
Don't let kitty eat the mice, our cat got sick several times and the vet said the mice had bad bacteria that caused it.
Back in the day grandma had a rat snake that lived under the sink! Ha.. not me, too creepy. Good luck and vote blue all the way down!

And seal those entrances. Then use traps to remove the ones already in the house.

They hate it.

Good luck!

Able to hear it. Also remove or stash away any food source. They will eat almost anything. Including the glue on wall paper. The rest they will make nesting material out of. If all else fails trap them and get them out as quickly as you can. Keep the traps behind closed doors where your pets can’t get to them. Hanta virus is another concern

but electronic traps got rid of a plague of rodents in my neighborhood about 10 years ago. My poor cat would act like a pointer dog and let me know where they were, but she was too old to catch them.

I used Victor traps, they run on AA batteries, are humane (I guess) because Mickey doesn't have time to squeak before he's gone, just open the trap door and dump the remains into the trash. Best bait? Peanut butter with a cat kibble stuck into it, irresistible.

I didn't like poison, too much chance of them dying in the walls and stinking up the house. Snap traps were useless, mice here are too savvy for those. Glue traps are cruel beyond belief. And nothing that gives you a live mouse will work, dump Mickey outside and he'll just come right back in.

https://www.amazon.com/Victor-M250S-Touch-Upgraded-Electronic/dp/B074Y2PW1X

Posting the Amazon link so DU will get a few cents, but it looks like they've got a special on them now.