Getting rid of rats/mice (merged threads)

Nile

Hello apogee


Welcome to the MSE site.:wave:

italiastar

Alphakill from Rentokill - in Robert Dyas etc is the best poision I've found. They love it and usually give up life within 1m of the poison. In Italy they use a mouse glue - put bait in the middle of the glue and the mouse sticks to it - very messy.

Wickedkitten

The only problem with poison though will be the smell of rotting rat that you will have to track down and get rid of.

paul_h

Yes, mice aren't too bad, they shrivel up fairly quickly - but a dead rat stinks! Then there's the maggots and flies... _pale_

Another vote here for peanut butter, just a spead on some toast or a bit of biscuit - 9 out of 10 mice prefer it in my experience. Rats tend to prefer something grain based, dog mixer biscuits are good, but they will go for just about anything.

Nipper traps are good for mice, but I've never had much luck with the bigger rat traps - get a cage live trap for a rat. When you catch it, shoot it in the head, or drown it in a bucket of water. If you think drowning is cruel, consider how excruciatingly painful death by poisoning must be - I know which I'd prefer if I had a choice...

pault123

I had a rat problem a couple of years ago after I moved into what seemed to be a nice fully furnished apartment. I noticed something was wrong when binbags left outside overnight would devlop smalls holes all over, then the following night heard a lot of rustling around in the kitchen.

I bought a mouse trap not knowing exactly what I would find in the morning.

After a week of being set off everynight with no catch I bought a Rentokill Professional Rat Trap from Homebase, similar to the wood and spring type but made out of hard haevy plastic and a powerful spring.

Peanut butter bait did nothing. As advised by an old friend i cooked a sausage in a frying pan left the fat to harden in the pan and bated the trap with it.

Sausage fat WOW, I caught over 10 huge rats in four days. They are very intelligent and I found moving the trap each time to different locations helped, but always at the edge of the room as the rat 'runs' they follow stick close to walls usually.

I do consider spring traps to be the most humane and efficient way of trapping, quick and hopefully painfree.

Also the council came round and layed poison which was eaten by what I think was the few remaining rats. The smell a few weeks later was unbearable and I managed to break the tenency due to the fact the flat wasn't fit for living.

paul_h

pault123 wrote:

I do consider spring traps to be the most humane and efficient way of trapping, quick and hopefully painfree.

If you can get them to work, the traditional rat traps are great - some rats just won't go near them though. The other thing is that if a rat is caught by a limb, they will gnaw the limb off and hobble off, which can't be a very pleasant divorce for them.

I'll remember that one about the sausage fat... I have used fatty bacon before, they seem to like that too. I also think it's the meat fats on the dog mixer biscuit that attracts them...

pault123

Well I did get one rat which I didn't want to mention, the only one though where I found a leg in the trap which I presume it had gnawed off to escape!

I recaught it 2 hours later and confirmed it did have 3 legs!

they must have a strong survival instinct!

me4bargains

I'm desperate.
I have a serious investation of mice. I'm really scared of them and though I have laid poison down which is eaten by them they don't seem to be dying.
Please don't laugh but they are taken over my life. Last night I was up half the night as I could hear it behind my bed and wardrobe.I was frozen in bed.
They are in every room of the house.
My Housing Association wont help as it's mice not rats and it's really beginning to get me down.
I am bringing up two kids on my own and can't afford to bring in the 'exterminators' has anyone any suggestions to rid me of this problem.

mrcow

me4bargains wrote:

I'm desperate.
I have a serious investation of mice. I'm really scared of them and though I have laid poison down which is eaten by them they don't seem to be dying.
Please don't laugh but they are taken over my life. Last night I was up half the night as I could hear it behind my bed and wardrobe.I was frozen in bed.
They are in every room of the house.
My Housing Association wont help as it's mice not rats and it's really beginning to get me down.
I am bringing up two kids on my own and can't afford to bring in the 'exterminators' has anyone any suggestions to rid me of this problem.

In addition to the poison lay some old fashioned traps.

They're not for the skweamish (sp), but it you're anything like me, the idea of mice running around is more unnerving than anything I could find in a trap. They work fast, and you can put them behind you bed and wardrobe to catch the blighters.

If they are in every room, you need to block any holes up where they may be getting in. Mice can get through the absolute tiniest holes. (I found some expandable filler helpful).

Are you sure that the council won't send someone out? I've just check my local council's website, and they agree to send a private pest controller out to any domestic premises with mice/rat/cockroaches or bedbugs free of charge? It may be worth looking on your council's site and just typing in "mice" as a search?

mookiandco

i had mice in my previous home. i became really jumpy at every little rustle and kept thinkng i could seem them out of the corner of my eye. still effects me in my new mice free home!!

i managed to get rid of them by:
1) purchased the electronic sonic plug in devices. bought pack of 3 from e-bay. plugged them in each room i had seen mice.
2) had a late night stake out to find out how they were getting in and then blocked as many holes as possible.
3) used normal rat poison for a short time until the amount wasnt going down anymore.
4) sprinkled pepper all over the areas where mice were coming in. dont know where i got this tip but mice didnt come back!

I tried sticky traps and that didnt work. i tried traditional spring traps but the sight of 1 decapitated mouse was too much to bear! i also kept setting them off with the slightest movement.

hope you get rid of them soon.