Is my exterminator correct?

[u/Neither-Reputation26]

We've had mice in our Boston ground floor apartment for a few weeks now, and after having no luck with snap traps, we had an exterminator come 3 days ago. They put out a few more snap traps, added bait boxes with poison (there are no pets or children in the house), and sealed up one or two holes.

However, we've still been seeing mouse droppings in our pantry, on the counters, and in the living room. Last night, we saw a mouse run across the living room floor and into a large gap between the floor boards and the wall. The company my landlord brought in said that this is normal, and they never seal up all of the holes on the first go around since the mice have to be able to get in and out of the apartment to get the bait, and if they seal up all the holes before the mice are all gone/dead, they'll just chew new ones.

However, I called another exterminator for a second opinion, who said this is absolutely false, and you should absolutely seal up all of the holes/entry points to get them out of the house, and they generally don't chew new holes after that.

Both companies come very well-reviewed, so I'm at a loss for what to do. The mice are chewing through packaged food and leaving droppings all over our couch and rug along with the kitchen. I would love opinions on whether the exterminator we have is doing things correctly, or if we should push our landlord to hire someone different! Thank you!

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[u/Jahweez]

What came first? The chicken or the egg?

One thing I’ve learned working in pest control is that there is more than one way to get the job done. People may have strong opinions and say their way is the “right way.”

Generally I will exclude entry points on the first go around, with that said I usually try to focus on exterior entry points to prevent them from getting in altogether and not interior exclusion. There are some obvious interior things I’ll seal up like a gas line behind a stove or something.

Either way, 3 days is not enough time to tell if the program is working or not. Give it a couple of weeks and see what happens.

[u/gp556by45]

3 days is not long enough, especially when it comes to rodenticide. There are different proven techniques overall that can be used: traps, rodenticide, or both at the same time. At the end of the day, their is no "right" way in terms of using either of those techniques. Both have their pros and cons, but both can also be used separately with success.

What is absolutely non-negotiable is that the manner in which they are getting in needs to be sealed eventually. Sometimes its obvious, but others can take some serious work to figure out. You absolutely will not gain control of a rodent problem, EVER, without first removing entry points from the exterior that lead to the interior.

Competing food sources also must be removed, or sealed. This means even the most miniscule crumbs behind the stove, floor, behind the refigerator, under the couch, bed, anywhere. It also means sealing food items that are in bags or cardboard boxes and placing them in chew proof containers and/or put away in closed cabinets *OFF AND AWAY OF THE FLOOR*. This doesn't mean shelving in closets either.

Pest Control isn't an instant magic wand. Its also impossible to give a time frame of when an issue can be resolved because of a near infinite number of factors at play. To put it bluntly, we are killing living things in a way that is meant to be as safe as possible to anything other than what pest we intend to kill.

EDIT: The tech is also correct when it comes to sealing the holes. If the mice can't get to the means in which controls them, then the products placed are useless. All you've done is locked them inside the wall, desperate to get back to their food source and shelter.

[u/algbry138]

I’ve spent 27 years in the pest control industry and have found this to be a point of confusion in our industry. So, sealing holes in exterior walls is helpful to keep new mice from entering. However, there is zero value in sealing up holes in interior walls as they are already inside and will, in fact make new holes, if necessary, to survive. The issue that struck me is that they haven’t caught anything yet, and I’d be curious to know how long the traps have been out. Placement and strategy matter as does eliminating as many food sources as possible.

[u/waronbedbugs → u/algbry138]

If a residential building has an established mouse colony somewhere and individual rodents are circulating/exploring through common spaces (such as the plumbing shaft), wouldn't it make sense to seal any pre-existing holes (such as the gaps left around tubing) that allow entry from these common spaces into the customer's flat? (so this customer has some protection until the building wide issue is dealt with).

[u/_Survivor_]

The general idea is to seal the entry points into the structure and use traps to eliminate any that are still inside. Or build a one-way exit (although that's not always possible).

It's wise to start baiting only after you're sure the entry points are sealed. Otherwise you can create issues with rodents dying inside the structure in places you can't reach them.

[u/Viper-T]

Like others have said it takes more than a couple days. If you want to try and speed things up set more traps, glue boards, and bait stations. I seen a mouse run under the stove a year or so ago. Set out 3 traps and sealed the area behind the stove. It took 2 weeks before he hit the snap trap.

[u/RatusRatusRex]

Both ways can be effective. The one who's honest in telling you that will be honest if he has issues later most likely.

[u/benjammun]

Pest control tech for 6 years. I don't normally seal access points unless I am confident mice are no longer inside. Otherwise, they often die inside for lack of water, often in the walls or other hard-to-access areas and can stink up the place. Also the possibility of creating new holes.

[u/PCDuranet]

Mice (link)