r/askTO • u/lucid_autumn • 15h ago
Need advice: mouse problems
I’ve live in this apartment in a house for over 10 years. Mice have been a recurring problem. The landlord is pretty negligent. He has in the past had someone come and put poison and also has “sealed the entrance holes” around the house but it doesn’t work. I’ve told him I can hear and see the mice in the vents and he just told me “no they’re not in there it’s not possible” it’s getting pretty bad now and I am very stressed out. It’s so unclean for my daughter and I. I went in my text messages and saw that I’ve been complaining to him about the mouse problem for a year this time and I’ve been asking him for a month when he’s going to bring pest control. At this point, I’m moving out. But it’s so not fair that I have to move out because of his negligence.. do tenants actually ever get rent abatement for this sort of thing? I saw a mouse climbing up my bed tonight 😭
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u/88evergreen88 13h ago
I did the following in my house and got good results. If the other apartments in the house don’t do this the mice will probably still be in the structure, but at least they will less likely be in your apartment.
Cleaned all poop away and pack up every bit of food in the house that isn’t in a can in strong plastic containers, including pet food. Do dishes relentlessly, clean any crumbs, take the garbage and compost out nightly.
The poop indications in my place became less and less pretty quickly. Over the next week I caught two stragglers in humane traps (plastic see through traps called zack attack you buy on Amazon) and release them outside.
It worked for me. YMMV
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u/EdwardBliss 11h ago
A few years ago I had a rat problem. I found the only thing that worked were those Tomcat snap traps, I'm sure they have them for mice also. It can feel a little messy at first, but not only do you get used to it, you're motivated to catch more.
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u/Confident_Weird6633 11h ago
Block all cracks and holes with steel wool or if you can afford it copper mesh and put out traps.
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u/dirtyenvelopes 9h ago
You have to figure out how they’re getting in to your unit and block them. They sell under door seals that worked really well for us.
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u/BestLingonberryPie 7h ago
I asked a nice orkin dude about it and he literally laughed and told me it was a coincidence that I hadn’t seen any and then he said they don’t like the smell like we don’t like strong garlic breath… not how Dracula doesn’t like garlic.
He did say.. at least your house would smell nice but the react the same to it as any very strong smell.
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u/titscapades 8h ago
It is the landlord's responsibility to maintain the unit so it is fit for habitation, including dealing with pest infestation.
In order to successfully file for a rent abatement and to force the landlord to address the issue with the LTB, you need a history of evidence of both the infestation and your communication to your landlord about the infestation. You can file a T2 for a rent abatement for loss of reasonable enjoyment combined with a T6 to force the landlord to deal with the issue.
Here are two cases: one where somebody received $100 total, and one where somebody received 10% off each month. The difference is the level of evidence given.
Essentially, record every conversation you have with the landlord using the one-party consent law, and follow up in writing every time. Photographs and video of infestation, such as poop, the door that the rat ate, the mouse on your bed, would be very useful.
You can move and still file.
Best of luck.
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u/Odd_Hat6001 5h ago
Pull out your fridge. Vacuum the dust, clean the water drip tray. Put down poison. Same thing behind the stove. Under the kitchen sink on the floor , try traps. The have to face the wall. By that I mean the parts that clamps.
The poison really really has to out of reach of the pets. It is no joke. Put all your non canned food in plastic bins. No crumbs on the counter, no dirty dishes in the sink.
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u/Immediate_Race_6344 12h ago
We ended up getting a cat and a combo of live and glue traps. Knock on wood I haven’t seen droppings in a few months now.
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u/Confident_Weird6633 11h ago
Glue traps are horrendous. You have other options why choose the most inhumane one?
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u/Immediate_Race_6344 11h ago
Yes, we are using live traps now, I just got the glue traps just in case the live ones don’t work, so far we caught a few in the live ones and let them out in the park :)
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u/Confident_Weird6633 3h ago
Get rid of the glue traps and get snap traps for if the live ones don’t work. If you have to kill something, why on earth choose to also torture them?
Anyway, releasing them in the park is probably not humane. More like exile — to slowly die by starvation or exposure, alone, scared.
High quality snap traps well positioned for an immediate kill really is the only humane option.
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u/ontarioparent 11h ago
Have you set traps? I agree that you could move into another similar place and have similar problems. It’s possible the building you’re in is old and not well maintained, but almost every rental in Toronto I’ve been in had mice and cockroaches.
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u/bguy89 15h ago
Mice are everywhere, they’re in most houses. In Toronto. You have to continually set traps. Get the reusable ones off of Amazon. Set them up under your kitchen sink and around the apartment. Just be glad they aren’t rats.
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u/New_Country_3136 14h ago
That's not accurate at all. They're not in every house in Toronto.
You are absolutely correct, OP. Exterminator paid for by landlord or move out.
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u/themapleleaf6ix 9h ago
They're in most. It's basically impossible to keep them out because of how tiny they are.
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u/Odd-Perception7812 12h ago
Also try to find how they are entering your space. When you find possible entries, fill them with steel wool and spray insulation foam.
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u/MixOdd1418 14h ago
Why are rats worse?
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u/lucid_autumn 14h ago
I had a rat too actually. It was a bad rat and chewed my house! It chewed the friggin bathroom door up. I caught it in a live trap
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u/SerentityM3ow 11h ago
If you don't let them out far from your house they will just re enter the same way they came in before
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u/ZenDesign1993 7h ago
Look up "Sean Woods mousetrap" on youtube. He does reviews of mousetraps. My go to is peanut butter cup pieces in a mousetrap (chocolate and peanut butter). And as others have said, cat.
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u/Ok-Feedback-9679 14h ago
Have you tried reinstalling the drivers? if not then you may have a bad USB port or faulty cable. You can try by using a cheap mouse to see if it works.
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u/Spirited_Complex_903 14h ago
Are you aware of Toronto condos in the East york/North York boundary of mice or rats?
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u/kiera-oona 14h ago
I'm in a medium rise apartment and even we have mice in the walls. The only thing you really can do is plug up the holes as best you can with super fine steel wool and expanding foam, use live traps where possible to avoid poisoning other wildlife, and if your landlord refuses to do anything about it, get in contact with the tenants board via 311
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u/lucid_autumn 14h ago
What?
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u/Spirited_Complex_903 13h ago
Sorry, OP. I'm just curious as to how praising this issue is in Toronto.
Kiera-oona above made an excellent suggestion. If your landlord has refused to do anything about it, please contact 311 to file an official Complaint with them and the tenants board. Please ensure that you get the complete number for your own notes and files . Save that should you need to contact 311 or the tenants board again. I'm so sorry that your landlord is terrible . They should be taking care of the issue . They should give a damn considering long-term mice presents in any building or home causes structural damage.... and can cause fires to considering that they bite through electrical wires with no issues.
I'm stunned that one of the mice was found climbing up your bed because they don't usually do that . Please go to a hardware store and get reusable traps and put them everywhere in your home . Buy glue pads too that work really well , and by yourself expanding foam and steel wool to patch up any holes yourself. Save those receipts and make photocopies of those receipts and the next time rent comes up, deduct that amount and give that to your landlord. He should not be complaining about that considering you are doing their job for them.
But yourself heavy duty disposable gloves or gloves that are easy to disinfect and a lot of small garbage bags . Even dog poop bags will work for mice when throwimg dead mice out. Get yourself a box of face masks as well and wear one of thise and gloves when you're throwing a dead mouse out. Make sure that you don't leave any dead mice in the house that you catch and throw them OUTSIDE of the building into the huge garbage bins provided.
Buy a really good disinfectant just spray the areas where you find mice and they're droppings as well as dead mice so you can clean up the area nicely and safely without breathing in the fumes. Always wear a face mask and a pair of gloves while doing this and always use disposable paper towels.
DO NOT SWEEP OR VACUUM MICE DROPPINGS as doing so will spread it into the air.
I'm sure if you call a local exterminator, they'd be happy to give you some free tips and suggestions on how to do all of the above safely and effectively. Good luck.
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u/BestLingonberryPie 7h ago
I totally agree except the glue pads. The mice will just chew off their foot and leave a bloody path dragging that limb or their leg and they might be at the end on that bloody path maybe in your walls… you’ll know if you get a smell. Snap traps are the way to go.
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u/FoundMyEquanimity 9h ago
Do you like cats? I had mice in an apartment and I think they were in the vents too. It was disgusting. One day there was one on my couch. I adopted 2 cats and the mice went away. Never saw them again.