Rats in Brooklyn. Who woulda thunk it?? And all you did was leave the door wide open day and night. Really? I co-managed a supermarket in Flushing one summer 41 years ago. We didn't dare go into the basement food storage area after 4PM, as that was when the rats came out. The owners didn't care to spend money on exterminators--until the Health Department closed the store down one morning. (You'd think they take a little something to look the other way. This was the Rotten Apple.) If what you saw was so small you couldn't ID it, it was likely a mouse. Standard neck-snapping rat traps won't work well, as they won't trigger with the light weight of a mouse. So close up all entries to the cellar. Especially the doors. If it's rats, you have a wide choice of inanimate elimination methods--poison, neck snappers, live trapping, glue boards and electrocution. When we lived in rural Ohio, we had a rat terrier. In downtown Toronto, a brace of cats were good for the occasional mice. Reminds me, time to check the garage traps for last night's stray Mickies. This post was edited by worthy on Sun, Jun 2, 13 at 11:00

It might be the mouse base needs to be cleaned, the drivers need to be reinstalled, it needs a new battery if its wireless or it's just a dying mouse. If you have another mouse around, try and see if you get the same errors. I recently had similar problems with an old wireless mouse and throwing it away and replacing it fixed all my problems.

I use old-fashioned snap-traps. I just throw the whole trap away with the dead mouse, so I am profligate in that sense, but I hate the idea of opening up that trap to get the mouse out and then re-baiting it. Ew. I once lived in a house that had a very serious mouse problem and we had Orkin out to bait the house. It worked perfectly, no dead mice stinking up the place. The guy said that they'd go outside to find water after being poisoned, and I guess he was right.

This is a situation with which I have had much experience and the solution is easy if you are diligent and properly motivated. There is no need for a professional exterminating service. Mice often nest in the ground just outside of your foundation, especially if the foundation wall is of old stonework. Cold weather will reduce their food supply and drive them into your house and so will construction excavation. I'm surprised the local building department didn't require a rodent control plan for earthwork next to a townhouse. Its unlikely that they are rats so assume they are mice for now. The mice will enter through the basement and look for food. If the food in the basement is accessible they will go no further. If it is not accessible, they will head for the kitchen and open pet food. The only way to get rid of mice safely and without odors is to trap them. The only effective poison is sold in huge containers and you don't want it in your house. Traps are also the quickest way and you are racing against the next birth cycle and it's short. I've used every mouse trap sold and I discovered that only one is effective: ORTHO HOME DEFENSE MAX "PRESS 'N SET" It is easy to bait and set and will kill mice as soon as the house gets quiet and not stop until they are all gone. Use a dozen traps and place them with the jaws near a straight fun of wall and not in direct sight of humans. The best place is the kitchen counter against the backsplash behind bottles and stuff if possible; that is their highway. Use peanut butter from small disposable "lunch" packets to avoid contaminating a jar of it. Since this trap will not allow them to eat the bait you might not have to rebait the trap for a month. Expect to catch 10 or 20 them in a month before you are done. Don't remove the traps just because you haven't caught one for a few days; the babies may be on the way. If you have trouble doing this give the task to someone else; you can't let the mice take over your house. Happy hunting Here is a link that might be useful: Ortho Press N Set