This past weekend I removed and relocated 19 very cute but very messy little mice from Tiny House Ontario. I thought I had them all at 14 because I did not hear any noise but on the last day, I lifted the toilet and there was a wonderful plastic bag and toilet paper home. It was a mom with four tiny pink babies.
I removed her and her family easily right in the bag. Since I know this is the access point for them, I then covered the area under the sink and toilet with a cup of cayenne pepper, a cup of cloves, and several types of essential oil which I understand they dislike the smell of. Lavender, peppermint and clove oil was what I used. I have to tell you, the bathroom smells heavenly to me. Clearly, I am NOT a mouse because I could sit in there all day and sniff.
The mice made one hell of a mess. It was seriously awful what they did in a five week period. They found a five pound bag of niger seed which I use to feed the song birds and this was absolutely everywhere. Further to this, they peed all over everything. The entire house had to be emptied and washed. All food, paper, tissues, towels, tea and coffee had to be disposed of. They got into everything. It took me hours to clean the place and it still smells of urine.
Mouse urine does not seem to be like urine from other animals. I think it has a lot of oil in it because it was never dry in the area where they peed. I normally don’t use a lot of chemicals when I clean but this time I bleached and then used oil soap to clean up the mess.
I the house still smells when I get back I will rub the wood and floors with pine essential oil but for now, after three days of work the house looks reasonable again.
Lets hope it stays that way.
Tiny House Ontario 
Steel wool will keep out the mice…it works by the metal wool penetrating their brains as they chew on it. Some folks prefer a gentler way. Perhaps some form of metal mesh to a certain height
steel wool to block the cracks to keep out the meeses.
Tom
It is my understanding that hantavirus is spread by deer mice. From what I could see, the mice in THO are house mice. These two species are supposedly the only two which invade houses. Both can be destructive (chew wiring e.g.) and make a mess and leave an unpleasant smell. Also, their reproductive habits are OBSCENE! Mice start to come into heated spaces when it gets cold outside.It is really difficult to prevent their entry as they can squeeze into such a small space. It is important to keep long grass and other vegetation from growing up around the base of any building. Good luck with your battle! Sorry you have had to spend so much time and effort on this rural problem.
That would be an awful surprise. Your solution of unpleasant (for them) smells should help. Here’s another non-toxic tip: smoosh a bunch of steel wool into the spaces where the mice enter. They hate it. Good luck! I have a litter of wild bunnies living in my (expensive!) wool insulation that I have to deal with..love the critters but not in my stuff.
Sorry to hear about the mouse problem…it is an part of country life though…you would have to be living in a concrete bunker with a hermetically=sealed door to avoid them. I hope the lavender works for you…I know that is one of the reason why cottagers say in Muskoka etcetera would put moth balls in their cottages when they were closing them for a period…as unpleasant as that smell might be…it was a common practice. I have been learning to do organic gardening and I have found that marigolds are a great deterrent to a lot of pests, both insect and four-legged. The reason I am saying this is that a lot of Ontario woodlands are subject to carpenter ants too…a real bother…but worth mentioning while we are discussing pests that can get into a woodsy Ontario home…I have had good experience using diatomaceous earth which is safe for humans and animals–but a nontoxic pesticide for insects that keeps working…because, well…the bugs eat their dead. yukko sorry I know 🙂
Good tips. You are right carpenter ants are something I have had a problem with in the past. This year they seem okay but I have not bee there to let them in…
xo L
Think Hantavirus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hantavirus just to cheer you up
Lets hope I am okay. Hanta virus is not frequent in Ontario. These are very rural mice too, so I hope they will be free of it.
Laura