Getting rid of rats/mice (merged threads)

jess1974

dacouch wrote: »

They won't like it if you grab their nuts

Ha Ha very helpful thank you:D.....

laurel7172

No low effort answer.

When I found I had mice in the loft, it took me a week's holiday to sort it out. Stuff to the tip, stuff cleaned, and a small fortune on lidded crates for what could be salvaged.

I put down traps after that, but didn't catch anything. Hopefully I just made it so bleak and inhospitable up there it drove them out. I've kept to the discipline of everything in lidded crates. No more duvet storage in plastic bags!

stef240377

laurel7172 wrote: »

No low effort answer.

When I found I had mice in the loft, it took me a week's holiday to sort it out. Stuff to the tip, stuff cleaned, and a small fortune on lidded crates for what could be salvaged.

I put down traps after that, but didn't catch anything. Hopefully I just made it so bleak and inhospitable up there it drove them out. I've kept to the discipline of everything in lidded crates. No more duvet storage in plastic bags!

Majority of stuff up there was already in lidded crates so not so much of a cleaning spree. Alot of the stuff up there were boxes from electrical items where they recommend you keep the box in case of breakdown, These have now been removed from the loft and taken to a mates farm to be burnt.

Were meant to have the pest control team out today but the one i was told to contact via the housing association will not come out as its not there jurisdiction even though they are a nationwide company so a morning wasted waiting for someone who had no intentions of turning up. Rang local council who said thay can get someone out when i get back from hospital tomorow so thats pleased me no end.

Hubby has moved all the crates to one side tonight and vacummed the floor boards up there set two traps and will see what happens overnight.

Still got to pop round to neighbours to let them know but being elderly cant really see them being overly concerned about unpaying guests in an area they cant access anyway, but better they are told so they cant throw it back at us.

stef240377

mogadon wrote: »

As you've already been told it could be bats, you can't legally do anything now. They are heavily protected by law, and once it's been suggested that there is a possibility that there are bats, you have to treat it as if there are bats until you know for certain that there aren't.

It is more likely to be mice, but you need to be careful now, just in case it isn't (incidentally lots of bats settle in highly urban areas, pipistrelles, for example, love to roost in PVC soffits, though not in loft spaces).

The Bat Conservation Trust take it incredibly seriously, and people do get prosecuted for disturbing bats. Maximum punishment is £5,000 per bat, and up to 6 months in jail.

If you put bait or a cat or anything else up there when a roost is suspected, you are already breaking the law. If it turns out the suspected roost is an actual roost you could be in serious trouble.

I appreciate your reply, it was the housing association who mentioned bats not myself, i will not even predict whats up there until i have proof hence my title creatures in the loft. It was the pest contol team who also suggested i see if the cats are any good up there after i mentioned i had two lazy cats in the main living area who had not detected anything downstairs, suppose they knew they werent going to come out and wanted to fob me off.

stef240377

Environmental health have been out and it is confirmed a stray mouse is the problem. Has asked us to use traps rather than poison so at least it will die and we know where it died rather than put poison down and it dying somewhere in the house and giving off a nasty odour as it decays. Have warned neighbours as the man said the problem is definitely not coming from our house and it is most likely to be one of the neighbours.

BenS1

My girlfriend has mice in her house. She doesn't want to kill them but she wants them gone. Any ideas?

stef240377

You can get humane traps which you bait up, it catches the mouse and then you have to take it somewhere to release it. In our local hardware shop they were about £8 each compared to the snap traps that were 2 for £2

poorbabe

Hi all.

This evening was sitting comfy on the sofa watching tv and saw something move long the skirting board towards the bookcase behind me. I thought I was seeing things but it turns out I have a mouse :mad: I'll be contacting the HA first thing on Monday and will check with my neighbour opposite as I think she had it/them a few years ago.

My plan of action in the morning will be to check the kitchen cupboards, decanting goods into plastic/glass containers where needed and sprinkling flour along all the skirting boards to try to see where the !!!!!!(s) are coming in from.

Can I assume where there is one the rest are already here or due to follow shortly? :mad:

noelphobic

poorbabe wrote: »

Hi all.

This evening was sitting comfy on the sofa watching tv and saw something move long the skirting board towards the bookcase behind me. I thought I was seeing things but it turns out I have a mouse :mad: I'll be contacting the HA first thing on Monday and will check with my neighbour opposite as I think she had it/them a few years ago.

My plan of action in the morning will be to check the kitchen cupboards, decanting goods into plastic/glass containers where needed and sprinkling flour along all the skirting boards to try to see where the !!!!!!(s) are coming in from.

Can I assume where there is one the rest are already here or due to follow shortly? :mad:

You might be 'lucky' and only have the one. We have trapped 5 in total and still have traps and poison down, even though we haven't seen any for a while. After we trapped the 4th one we saw a live one but then nothing for a couple of months. My son then saw one on a Saturday morning and we trapped one that night - hopefully the same one!

Hope you manage to sort it soon.

poorbabe

Hi Noelphobic, thanks for the info :sad:. I guess I'll check the hardware shop for suitable poisons/traps today. Better that than getting my outfit ready for the Christmas party on Thursday :rolleyes:.