I'm in college. My room happens to be in a house that was built in 1886, so forget sealing any openings outside that may be letting mice in. I doubt it's possible, and even if it was, the school couldn't be bothered to do it.
I first spotted a mouse (still don't know how many there are, I like to kid myself that there are only a few--so far as I know, out of 11 rooms, only two people have reported mice or evidence thereof) last week. At three in the morning. Immediately, every single item of food in my room went into plastic boxes (those big Rubbermaid tubs). I got rid of the trash can in my room. I vacuumed. I was told it would be a few days until the exterminator came to look, so I plugged in two of those ultrasonic pest repeller things. Those do work, by the way--but only for about two days.
My room has an old fireplace that was tiled over probably decades ago. There is a hole where a bunch of said tiles are missing, right at the juncture between wall and floor. There is currently a mousetrap next to said hole, right where I've seen the damn thing dissappearing.
The exterminator put three traps in my room. They're baited with peanut butter and hot cocoa mix.
The problem: at least one mouse, possibly two, has been scurrying around my room all night. Going nowhere near the traps.
Do I a) get them to give me enough mousetraps to completely line the walls of my room, b) obtain a VERY against-the-rules cat, c) never sleep or turn off the lights again, or d) give up on this whole school thing and join the circus instead?
Anyone have any better ideas before I go completely insane? Should I be baiting the traps with something else? Do I need several dozen more? (There goes a mouse running around again...) Do any of the commercially available "mouse repellent" products work? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. The school's not going to do anything besides give us traps if they can help it, and last time I lived in housing with a really bad mouse infestation, I developed bronchitis & allergy-induced asthma.
Thank you so much,
Aimee
**edit: I realize the chances of getting the mice out of the building are basically nil. Barring that, is there anything I can do to keep them out of my room?
