Getting rid of rats/mice (merged threads)

toasterman

One dropping by the sofa, two more in the kitchen, and greasy pawprints on some of the cupboards (but only about 3-4" up, so it doesn't look like they made it to the worktops).
By pure fluke, a pest control van was parked outside my house this morning, and visiting next door. Sadly, he told me they were helping with fleas, not mice.

If anyone was wondering what proper pest control costs, he told me they would charge £90 + vat, and that includes two visits.
He said their price is about average, and £45 per callout doesn't seem any higher than for say computer support, or washing machine repair, or something like that.
What do they do? They come out, put down poison, then come back 2 weeks later to check it. They also survey the house and advise on entry points.
He said an infestation is normally cleared by those two visits, and that the amount of poison is tailored to size and weight of mice, so shouldn't affect birds, cats (even if the cat eats the mouse), etc.

In my situation, he said as it doesn't sound like we have a big infestation, he'd advise starting with more traps, and peanut butter as bait.
I queried the ultrasonic types, but he said they don't work very well in houses, as their impact is lessened by tvs, sofas, tables, or other furniture that might be in between the device and the mouse.
I won't give his company name, or it'll seem like I'm just doing this post for advertising purposes.

toasterman

Equaliser123 wrote: »

Bizarrely, the mouse appears to have lived alone as there is no further sign.

I thought the same a week or so ago when my mouse was caught. No droppings/signs for a week, but I've definitely got another now.

strawberries1

Hi All, apologies if this is the wrong place to post this.

Has anyone ever used an electronic mice repellent? Did it work, for how long, how much and where did you buy it?

I'm considering buying it if it works. Any recommendations please?

Thanks.

Ruth_honey

strawberries1 wrote: »

Hi All, apologies if this is the wrong place to post this.

Has anyone ever used an electronic mice repellent? Did it work, for how long, how much and where did you buy it?

I'm considering buying it if it works. Any recommendations please?

Thanks.

We've got one in every room & still had mice. Old style evil traps are the only thing that worked in this house. As much as I hate them, I hate having unwanted visitors in my house even more!

painted

I have aviaries so the seed thrown out by the birds is eagerly eaten by local mice. I use humane traps in the house and aviaries, then let the mice loose in a country place far away.

Eric_Pisch

cats work best

25.lindsay

we have borrowed one as have had in the house recently - I didn't actually believe it would work - but haven't seen one in the lounge since, nor signs of droppings, but we have seen them in the kitchen instead! The electronic zappers only work for a certain radius and not through walls/corners etc.... Supposedly the rats/mice get used to the sound so you need to move it around regulary - oh and the clicking in the background is a tad annoying. Hope this helps?

brightonman123

i had some from robert dyas- small speakerlike plug ins.. only really effective at deterring pesky rodents, rather than 'curing' existing problem,.

best put down poison (be careful if you have pets kids etc!), colelct and burn the ones that die, then keep place clean- especially free of any food scraps etc!

painted

Or you could borrow a ferret?!

Equaliser123

Eric_Pisch wrote: »

cats work best

Personally, I would rather have mice than a cat.