I have this same problem, and this year is particularly bad, maybe because we have had a decent amount of moisture. My house backs to Nat. Forest, and I think there is no way around the fact that little animals live in the woods. I even had a squirrel in my home office at one point! I have a live animal trap (HOME DEPOT) that I baited with peanut butter to try and catch the squirrel and instead some smaller rodents managed to eat the peanut butter without getting trapped!

As far as plugging all the holes, there is a low 3 ft high deck around the back of my house, and I can't really get under there.... I use the sticky traps with some success, they seem to be the best at catching the mice inside the house. The problem with poison is the mice eat the stuff and then go die in the walls somewhere and the house smells like death so I don't use those. The snap traps leave lots of mouse blood and guts, pretty gross!

I resigned myself to the fact that, living where we are fortunate enough to live, we will have to accept the fact that mice live here too. I measured each of the shelves in my pantry and cupboard and went to Target and bought plastic containers, and now all my food and dry goods are in those containers. Occasionally I watch my ex-wife's dogs and I have a plastic trash can for dog food. I still have sticky traps around the house, and they look pretty funny on the nose of a dog! One more reason not to use the poison, I am sure some curious house pet would eat it.....

My 2 cents, good luck to all in the mouse fight!

I use these. No fuss, no mess and it even tells you when "somebody is home." A little peanut butter and place it next to a wall. They work great and I have several in the garage.

This time of year, mice and other critters are looking for a nice warm, dry place to spend the winter. So, if you have any openings into your house, now is when you'll find out.
The foam that Willy Fox posted earlier called Great Stuff is an expanding foam that works well to fill up cracks and openings. However mice can chew right through it. With some encouragement from Wildlife Control operators like myself, DOW came up with a new product (same as the red can) but now in a green colored can with a pest proof ingredient that prevents mice and other critters from chewing through it. Called Pest Block
https://smile.amazon.com/Great-Stuff-Pe ... stuff+pest

It also comes in a similar green can sold at places like Walmart and home depo. It works great.

As far as traps are concerned, I have to agree with others that the glue type traps are incredibly inhumane. Some states have outlawed them. You can remove critters caught on a glue board (if they are still alive) by smearing baby oil on them and gently removing them. There are literally hundreds of mice traps on the market. Some work ok and some don't work at all. The good old Victor snap traps will out catch every other trap out there. Most folks use way too much bait. A tiny bit of peanut butter smashed into the holes on the trip pan is all that is needed. I've caught over a thousand mice this past year without any blood and gore as mentioned by another member. I also use some live traps for mice too that work well but believe it or not, just like every other animal, you can't relocate them any place you want. Relocating animals is illegal unless you have written permission from the land owner, it has suitable habitat and is within so many miles of the capture site depending on the animal. There is no public land anywhere that is legal to release any animal: parks, forest, open space, etc.

Thank you.

I tried those Snowy Owl; but they did not work.

A Deer Mouse bit one of my dogs and I had to rush my dog to emergency. So I went back to the glue traps. No more issues of mice coming up to the 2nd floor of the house. The Deer Mice can be lethal to pets. I got my fur baby taken care of in the nick of time.

Agreed naturegirl2000, Glue traps are the best! I'm not really worried about a disease spreading rodent suffering. Much better track record than the spring loaded Victor traps which catch them by the leg or tail and doesn't kill them either.

Glue traps are the most inhumane device available on the market.

Last Night I must disagree. The Victor plastic snap traps have worked very well for me. All but one victim was killed instantly out of at least thirty.

The suffering associated with glue traps is a deal breaker for me. I am no friend of mice or rats but a better alternative exists.

The old fashioned spring loaded traps work best. And they're cheap! I've used them for years. I have NEVER had a blood and guts episode and never caught one by a leg or tail. When caught, the mouse is killed instantly across the neck or back. Just throw the appetizer outside for foxes or coyotes. Free food! Win win!