HOw To MOUSE IN THE HOUSE

This past weekend, when I was at the farm, staying inside where it was cool, taking a break from mowing, I was putting some stuff in a closet when I noticed something odd.  I moved a basket that had some fabric in it and saw that some of it had been chewed up a bit and the pieces had been made into a cozy, fluffy little nest. It was apparently on it's way to becoming a regular four star mouse spa.  There were none that I could find.

I envision that they take off running when we drive up and then hide somewhere, laughing.  I took it all outside to clean it, threw away the fabric that had been chewed up and brought the rest back inside, in drawers this time, while wondering how to combat this new enemy. Sure, a fuzzy and cute enemy, but still the enemy.  I'll admit, I'm a sucker for fuzzy and cute and alas, I don't have a mean bone in my body.  Except for poisonous snakes and spiders, wasps and all bloodsucking insects, but I digress.

We aren't out there full time to be able to have a cat, the whole circle of life thing.  We also can't use any sort of trap because we can't leave them like that for days at a time, that's not right either.  We can't put anything down that might kill them because again, we're not there to take care of the, um, end result. Besides, that goes back to the mean bone deficit I have.

Does anyone have any tried and true methods to make the mice want to live somewhere other than Seda Bolsa farmhouse?  Some sort of repellent?  Home remedy or herb?  Electronic device?  Since we're starting to take linens out there, have sheets on the beds, towels in the kitchen, etc, we need to nip this in the bud now before it gets out of control.