Mice extermination is getting harder and harder as each new generation of mice seem to get smarter. It is not that they are getting smarter, only that their mothers are teaching them the tricks their mothers learned about traps and bait. However, there are some ways in which you can still exterminate mice yourself. These ways involve the creation of irresistible but deadly "holiday" treats just for the mice. You will need to be especially careful and wear rubber gloves for this, but the "treats" are most effective. (Also keep these away from pets and children, as you would any bait for pest control.)
No-Bake Peanut Butter Balls Rolled in Mouse Bait
Mice LOVE peanut butter. In fact, most exterminators will tell you to skip the cheese and bait traps with peanut butter. The salty-sweetness of this spread draws them like flies to garbage, and because they have to lick the PB off the trap, they stay put long enough for the trap to spring shut on them.
That said, if the mice in your home or building are avoiding the traps, try this trick. Create no-bake peanut butter balls just as you would if you were going to eat them. That is not the poison. The poison comes in when you pull on the gloves and roll or dip the balls in mouse trap bait pellets. It is better to roll and coat the PB balls, because then the mouse has to eat its way through the bait pellets to get to the PB. With your gloves still on, place the poison-covered PB balls in places where you have seen the mouse come and go, and where pets and kids will not get them.
Mini Sugar Cookies with Arsenic
Take a very small bit of sugar cookie dough and make tiny, round sugar cookies. Bake as you normally would. Don the gloves place the mini sugar cookies on a paper plate. Sprinkle the powdered arsenic very lightly on top of each mini sugar cookie. Then place the cookies out of sight, but where the mice will find them. If you have a rat problem too, these will also work on the rats. (The number one ingredient in rat poisons is arsenic.) Very carefully dispose of the empty paper plate and thoroughly clean your work surface, which should have been covered or done on an outside work table for safety reasons.
Contact a pest company, like PermaTreat Pest & Termite Control, for further help.