December 19, 2021

Winning a War (Finally)

With four cats around, our mouse population is kept pretty much under control. I think only once or twice we've seen a mouse in the house (which didn't last long). Even so, every winter we've had mice move into the walls in one particular corner of the house. We can hear them. The cats can hear them. But they stay in the wall so we never see them. 

The problem with mice in the walls is that they gnaw on things. Thinks like electrical wiring. Not good, and not a risk we want to take, so every year Dan has diligently tried to mouse-proof the house. He's blocked off cracks and filled holes, but when the cold weather months arrive, they still get into their hidey spot in the wall. 

We're pretty sure that they've been getting in somewhere around the HVAC. 

Our HVAC when it was newly installed.

When it was installed, the new unit was set on the old oil heater's concrete pad. It overhung it by several inches, but Dan figured that framing it where it butted up to the house would seal off the crawl space. After years of trying to second guess mousy holes and entrances, Dan finally pulled it out to see what he could do to keep mice out for good.


What Dan discovered is that the unit has holes in its framework that are perfect mouse entries. That's how they were getting in. The old concrete pad was removed and Dan poured a new one to properly accommodate the unit.


The other thing he  Dan's solution to completely wall off the HVAC opening in the foundation.

That might be shocking to some, but long-time readers may recall that we gave up using the HVAC years ago. We now live with wood heat in winter and modest natural methods of keeping the house cool in summer. It's been that way for the past six years, and we've acclimated. The bottom line is that winter is cold and summer is hot and that's just the way it is! If needs must, it can always be hooked back up. Anyway. . .


Three months later, still no mice! It worked! What a relief. 

24 comments:

LindaG said...

That's great!
Congratulations!
Be safe, God bless, and Merry Christmas!

Leigh said...

Linda, thanks! It's nice to have something go our way once in awhile. lol. Merry Christmas to you too!

Rosalea said...

You have Super Meowy, and now....Super Dan! There is always a solution if one looks hard enough. He reminds me so much of my other half, who can always figure out something, and it most often works!! So good to not hear those annoying little gnawing critters in the wall... and if one croaks...that awful smell that you can't get to, to eliminate!! Merry Christmas to you both, and all the critters.

Susan said...

I sometimes feel that I live in a house made of Swiss cheese. I can always tell when the weather is turning by the influx of mouse tenants. It keeps Slimmie busy.

Leigh said...

Rosalea, I should add that all the cats have liked to hang out on this side of the house; they know where good hunting is! Still, taking a proper solution in hand is a welcome event! Good point about mice dying in the walls. Yew!

Susan, ha! Critters are smart when it comes to weather! We get a huge influx of various bugs in the autumn too. Roaches are the worst, but this year hoards of lady bugs have been trying to move in. It's been a mild winter so far, but I have to wonder about the weather yet to come.

daisy g said...

Wow! I don't think I know a soul who doesn't use their A/C! Duly impressed!

Leigh said...

Daisy, yay, we humans love to be comfortable! For those willing to come out of their comfort zone, however, there are many benefits to living this way.

Mama Pea said...

Yep, finding the spot where those little critters are getting in can drive one straight up (the same?) wall! What a job Dan had to do to remedy your mousey entrances though. Many people laugh at us but Papa Pea runs a trap line outside(!) at places where he feels mice could use as entrances around our house and out buildings. He catches lots of mice in his traps, but we've never had one in the house. (Fingers crossed.)

Goatldi said...

Iam with Rosalea does Dan get a cape?

I also cool and heat as you. I confess that I pop the AC in our infamous summers. I am working on a circulating fan system to negate as much AC use as possible. But with a two-story log home it’s more of a challenge than it would be with a traditional stick house.

I do not use the heater at all because I have a 280 gallon propane tank and my whole house generator runs off of that when it is dictated. So I don’t want to waste the propane on heat and anyway we’ve lived on wood-burning now for so many years I’ve lost count.

I have also found that the planting areas on two sides of my kitchen this year I planted herbs. They are on drip irrigation for conservation of water and or manually turned on and off . I planted spearmint, peppermint and a few other herbs but I did the mint family because I know they don’t appeal to mice.
I will tell you this between the cats inside the house and the mint family outside the house I have yet to see any evidence of any mice this year at all.

Henny Penny said...

That is wonderful. Actually finding all the places mice can come in is a miracle. Congratulations on not using the air conditioner in summer. Being from North Carolina I know how hot and humid South Carolina can be too. You and Dan are amazing.

Leigh said...

Mama Pea, Papa Pea's idea is brilliant. Obviously, it works! Mice can be tough to get rid of once they find their way inside. That being said, most of ours are in the barn and chicken coop!

Goatldi, I often tell Dan he's my superman! :)

Planting mints like that is an excellent idea. I'm going to do that too!

Of living without AC, I think it's really tough with modern construction. The assumption is that everyone will have indoor climate control, so less thought is put into a properly designed house. I really learned a lot about this from the Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton lectures in my PDC. Folks have lived comfortably for millennia without modern heat and cooling. But technology has become a crutch and an excuse to abandon those techniques in favor of high-energy, high-tech methods. Now, we're worried about climate change! Duh.

Henny, I wish I could say it's for some noble cause, but the truth is that we simply can't afford to use the HVAC. Our first winter here our electric bill jumped up from $125 in summer with the AC to over $200 in winter for the heater (electric heat pumps are extremely inefficient heaters). That was over ten years ago and before numerous rate increases. With retirement, our income has gone down and rates have gone up. So, I'm glad we invested in making the house more energy efficient. Most people would probably think our house too warm for comfort in summer, but it's cooler than outside and with fans, it's tolerable.

Retired Knitter said...

My sister and her husband live in a wooded area.I don’t recall them mentioning mice in the house. But maybe it was a topic that just didn’t come up. But they did struggle with mice getting into the engines of their cars and chewing on wires. They had a car or two into the shop for such damage. And they had an old Honda Civic for several years that was my mom’s. That thing ran like a Timex. Took a lickin' and kept on tickin’. But it lost the battle with the mice eventually. One day my brother-in-law took it out for trip into town - not far. Before he got off his street, the engine caught on fire and distroyed the car. He was not injured. He took a picture and sent it to me. Mice and squirrels can cause great damage in a house. Glad you got rid of these critters from your house.

Toirdhealbheach Beucail said...

Leigh, this is a recent problem that has arisen at The Ranch. I can see where it will be a war. Congratulations on your victory!

Lady Locust said...

Good Job! We get them in our walls too though we recently got a cat to help with the problem. So far it's helping but not yet curing ;-)

Leigh said...

RT, mice infested cars - yikes! We've never had that happen before and I hope we never will!

TB, I think ours just moved into the barn. :)

Lady Locust, I'm guessing the cats keep them from making their way into the house, but walls aren't good places for them either!

Ed said...

When I moved into this house ten years ago, there were mice. I finally figured out that they were getting in through the conduit that runs from the A/C unit outside, into the junction box mounted to the side of the house, and from their into the house. I cleaned out the nest in the conduit box (the smoking gun sign), plugged it with steel wool and haven't had one in the decade since. I see you too have the conduit and junction box on the outside of the house so you may want to check it out if Dan already hasn't.

Leigh said...

Ed, that's a good idea. The steel wool was brilliant.

Annie in Ocala said...

I grew up with living the old way an didn't use AC in n central FL till 2014 or so... Then between working nights, sleeping daytime and them hot flashes that came with that menopause period of life I decided it was time to cash in some of those "carbon credits" I'd surely saved over the years... But still keep my kwh/month at 300-650 average per month... When I was very young our house was struck by lightning an burned down. A decade later dad went to great lengths to design a Florida cracker style house that had the high ceilings, tall windows that opened top an bottom, east-west breezeway... Was aligned with the winter sunrise doing the most warming and the hotest summer sun shining on the utility and bathrooms... And of course fought the county tooth and nail at approving the blueprint. You know... Because it didn't have any HVAC plan built into it!!! They said it was not energy efficient... !!! Too much window/breezeway!! idiots. It was a lovely house. Built out of lumber cut from the property it sat on.
An I can relate on the mouse problems.... I occasionally have wanna be tenants that the dogs alert to then the rodents move up to ceiling/soffit space.... But a younger cat has helped with that luckily. The old one is retired.

Leigh said...

Annie, your dad was a wise house designer! It's amazing what an intelligent design can do. After the housing section of my permaculture design course, I realize that we have completely lost the concept of wise passive climate design of homes. Somewhere awhile back, we thought we didn't need it anymore because of technology. What a mistake that was.

Nice to hear your dogs help with your potential mouse invasions! Our oldest cat is retired too, but he still snoopervises the younger crew.

1st Man said...

How funny that we had discovered our recent mouse problem and you are posting about your long running war. Yeah, we understand. Our war will go on for a while longer. But I'm totally going to remember this and some of the great suggestions others have made. Your posts always have such great information. Thank you.

wyomingheart said...

Great that Dan found the entry point! We battled rodent trouble for two years when we first bought the farm, because the house sat empty for three years before the purchase. After planting mint around, putting steel mesh around the perimeter of the house, setting snap traps, filling holes with steel wool and caulking, and finally encouraging the wild cats to stick around as hunters, by feeding them, we are in great shape. We had a bigger problem with chipmunks, once the mouse population dissipated, and we were thankful to the wild cats for their dedication! As far as the air conditioning is concerned, we use air rarely, and only at night. We are lucky that the old farm house is completely temp controlled because of the thick walls. Hope you and Dan have a very Merry Christmas!

Leigh said...

1st Man, I know! Kind of ironic, isn't it? But then, when cold weather is imminent, all critters start looking for the most comfortable winter accommodations they can find.

Wyomingheart, sounds like your old farmhouse was built back when people still had the wisdom to build soundly and with non-tech ways to be comfortable. Your mouse deterrents sound very successful! Cats are definitely part of any farm integrated pest management program. And I hear you about the chipmunks! Cute but destructive! Fortunately, they are a cat delicacy.

Chris said...

What a detailed job that was, tracking down their covert entry. Fortunately, you are a more determined than the mice!

Leigh said...

Chris, I confess that I'm still on guard and listening for mice in the walls. So far, it's all good!