Get a cat. You might think that's a flip answer, but we had such a bad mouse problem and nothing worked to keep them out. We got a cat and they were gone the next day. We knew they were gone because they had been so bad, they were keeping us up at night with their scratching and crawling. Final straw was when I found droppings in the baby's crib.

Place edibles in metal or glass containers, clean out your cabinets, and get a cat.

The cat watches the mice eat the cat food. He also believes in catch and release. At least he has gotten too old to catch his toys outside, and then bring them inside to let them go. The garter snake was bad, but the baby bunny was worse. It wanted to run every direction except towards an open door, and was too big for the havahart trap I have to catch indoor chipmunks.

Cats have to be trained by their cat mom to chase mice. I had one totally unable to hunt. Then another that hunted everything scared me. Now my dog is a good mice/rat killer. But I have to dispose of body . Icky! Call a pest control company.

We actually have a cat-she has caught maybe 2of them.

They ate my car airbag too, not fun.

We inherited a mouse problem when we bought this house. I sense that it was a long term problem that wasn't dealt with by the previous owners and generations multiplied despite them having a cat and dog. Fortunately, mice evidence currently occurs only in the attic and basement. Here's what I've learned. You have to figure out where they're coming in from the outside and block access or you will never get rid of them. The problem is they need only a half inch opening. This will be a dedicated project for us in warmer weather on our hands and knees at the sill of the house. When you do find openings, small grid hardware cloth is a good option. Steel wool is a quick fix but rusts so you'll see stainless wool and copper mesh recommended also. Apparently, they will chew through expanding foam and the like but silicone works, too.

We've eliminated many through trapping indoors with snap traps using tiny smears of peanut butter. My husband takes care of this (ugh) and uses perhaps two dozen traps that are checked every few days and bait is refreshed often. Trapping alone isn't working. Repeated entry to the attic has been infuriating so I resorted to poison in bait stations outside. I purchased the bait blocks with the quick killing chemical which is more costly than the common stuff but requires just one feeding so the mice aren't slowly dying as they repeat feed. We secured 18 locking bait stations around the perimeter outside. It's been amazing to see that the quantity of bait eaten has dropped, seemingly indicating that the population is dwindling. No evidence of them dying inside the house. Note that for both trapping and bait, gloves should be worn for your protection as well as to prevent any human scent on the traps and bait stations.

I checked into professional extermination. The services and customer satisfaction varies considerably. I got the sense that many companies are looking for a monthly contract which rather goes against 100% elimination. Negative reviews said they do a cursory look for obvious entry points and repair, place a few traps and bait stations, and check them monthly for somewhere in range of $75/month. I felt that we could give it a go and will continue with our method until we can find every entry point. It's a process but it's in a manageable state - for now.