Exterminator questions re Rats/Mice

I see you are in western NC. Here in the south we have water bugs/giant roaches/1-1/2 inch long brown bugs/don't know the real name. They love D-Con and it doesn't kill them. They eat it all day long. So you might think the mice are carrying off the poison because it keeps disappearing but the bugs are eating it. Sticky traps get rid of the bugs and some mice.

My sister had a mouse problem. I found a mouse hole in a corner of her living room floor and, not having anything else at that moment, I filled it with toothpaste. We laughed ourselves silly a few minutes later when we heard the mouse on the other side of the paste "chew" us out. Man, did it chatter. I realize now it was probably the peppermint.

Early in the thread the water bucket method was discouraged because the owner wasn't home often. If antifreeze is used instead of water, the chemicals preserve the rodent, eliminating the smell. Still not pleasant, but more humane than glue traps. It also self-resets.

If a person is going to be home often, and has pets/young children, these traps are great.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We had a big issue with mice getting into our cars. Glue failed. Poison failed, or would cause them to die in places we couldn't get to. We have a dog, and a baby, and didn't want them to get into a standard snap trap, or the poison, so we tried the above trap. It's excellent. So easy to set. Strong enough to kill the mouse, but not injure a pet or person. I highly recommend it.

Our biggest help with mice and rats has been rat terriers. They will kill 10X more mice in a day than cats ever thought of, and will take out big rats with a vengeance.