Question: We have mice nesting in our bathroom vent pipe, and the attic insulation is riddled with tunnels, so I assume we may have mice in other ducts as well. The exterminator says to kill them, but we don’t want our house to stink of dead mice. Is there a way to drive them out other than by calling in the Pied Piper?
We also have gophers under the front walk and back patio. We were told to drive screen down around the parameters of the walks and slab. Do you have guidance on this?
We now have a bee colony under the siding. We have attempted to block the entry but they just find other entries. Suggestions?
We are at war with the paper wasps who build nests under our deck and over the front door. We also have mud daubers. We brush the nests down but they soon reappear. Solutions?
We have lived here since 2006, and this is the first year we have had problems with mice, gophers, and bees. We don’t have pets or bird feeders, and no problems inside the house.
Answer: I don’t have any of those pests at my house. Now I know why; they are all at your house. Before I moved to Sun City, I lived in a house in the woods and the mice would move in every fall. You are correct about poisoning them. They die in the wall and it takes about a month for the smell to dissipate. I had a regular routine every September. I would set two mouse snap traps in the attic. I would check them every two days. I would dispose of the dead mice and reset the traps. I usually caught about a dozen mice before they were all gone. I would not see another one until the next fall.
Here my critter problem is voles. There is a poison pellet made to kill them and other similar pests. I put a couple of tablespoons of these pellets in their hole. That was a year ago and I have not seen one since.
Your bees, paper wasps and mud daubers can be dangerous if you disturb them. I would leave them to professional exterminators.
Notice: We usually announce about this time of year that we will be holding our furniture repair day for residents in October. This is where Woodchucks volunteer to repair wooden furniture items for Sun City residents. The club board has decided not to hold the Ask the Woodchucks day this October. The club board will reevaluate next year whether to hold the event again in the future.
