Getting rid of rats/mice (merged threads)

overworked_underpaid

I cant stand the sight of mice and cant go near a dead one! I have tried all sorts of bait including rentokil but this has not worked.

I read in the paper a while back that there are pest control companies that visit your house and put a mouse trap machine (approx size of a small box). Then they come to retrieve it and dispose of the pests. Anyone heard of this and know if they are effective?

noelphobic

overworked_underpaid wrote: »

I cant stand the sight of mice and cant go near a dead one! I have tried all sorts of bait including rentokil but this has not worked.

I read in the paper a while back that there are pest control companies that visit your house and put a mouse trap machine (approx size of a small box). Then they come to retrieve it and dispose of the pests. Anyone heard of this and know if they are effective?

I'm exactly the same. I have a really bad phobia and having mice is really stressful for me. Have you tried traps? If you can't cope with the outcome is there someone else who can deal with it for you? If you live alone do you have a kind relative, friend or neighbour who would help you out? When I had my first infestation my son was away at uni and my neighbour set up the traps and dealt with anything that was caught in them for me. I did get her a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine for her trouble and it was well worth it!

I haven't tried the pest control companies so can't comment on that. However, have you checked your house insurance? Some policies cover rodent infestations so it's worth checking.

noelphobic

I must have tempted fate by posting on this thread this morning. I found that 3 traps that had been placed very close together had all been set off. There was a mouse in the middle of them that I thought was dead. My son is off work this week so was still in bed. I asked him to deal with the corpse after I went to work. Then I heard a squeak and saw it move and realised it wasn't dead :eek:. I hid in the bathroom (literally) while he dealt with it. It turned out that the mouse had a leg trapped in each of the traps.

Last time we were invaded the traps worked very well. This time round we seem to have supermice that either evade the traps altogether, set them off without being trapped or get trapped but don't actually die. Some of the traps are the same as the ones we used last time, just cheap ones from Home and Bargain that worked very well. However, Home and Bargain now sell different ones that don't seem very good at all. Can anyone recommend traps that are either available online or from a chain such as Home and Bargain etc and that work well?

Mischa8

Just thought I would post about my mum's saga (past and present with rodents).

She lives in a Victorian terraced house with church and churchyard (no graves!) behind it. Church and churchyard due to be demollished and rebuilt on this summer/autumn.

Rewind a few years to 1970s... there was a council dump nearby (great!) and also a sort of passageway behind the houses to near an old playgroup (next to churchyard/church) - this passageway was used by rubbish bins/by rubbish collectors.

Anyway - we had a cat and for years he would catch rats for us, huge, dead and alive. The dog was scared of them. I think the cat only stopped when it was bitten by a rat (nasty, only time cat saw vet). We also had mice in the house sometimes but I think cat brought them in or they lived inside on and off.

Years later my mum got 2 cats - great cats but quite big and mousers. They catch field mice (from the churchyard) - they're tiny, quite cute but a pain. One time they caught a pregnant mouse it was in wooden panelling in kitchen, had babies, cats stayed up all night catching them!

Anyway - also rats have been caught/seen. Baby and adult. One cat died but we don't see them so much now. I think foxes living in churchyard/church catch the rats and/or other cats do.

My mum did see a rat this winter as she was feeding birds, let seed fall and of course one came out for food. Years ago after seeing an adult pregnant rat in garden she got pest control out, he put down poison but apparently dead baby rats were all over garden after that. Pest control said those rats were ground rats, more like squirrels.

Basically - now she never sees them. Smell of remaining cat keeps them away, next doors cat sometimes brings dead rats in but he stopped doing that!

Thank god I don't live there anymore but sometimes I house-sit. :eek:

A few years back I did live in flatshare with mice - Victorian conversion, wooden flooring but not *sealed* with gaps everywhere. Bloody mice loved that. Got all info on them from pest control. I moved out after 6 months... Sealed etc places are best, carpets and be careful with attics/cellars etc. They're their homes.

Anyway good luck to anyone else. sorry this is so long!

Mischa8

Another thing I remembered. When my parents had a shed many years ago rats made a nest under there - this was at back of garden - actually they made a really smooth rat run with the soil nearby, quite clever.

The rats never came near the house then (we didn't have cats then) so best to leave them be I'd say. Its when mice/rats move in (colder weather etc?) that they're a pest.

Oh and have heard countless stories about decking and rats/mice nests under them. I wouldn't bother with decking!

noelphobic

has anyone tried this, or anything similar - I'm getting desperate!

http://www.primrose.co.uk/-p-693.html?adtype=pla&kw=&gclid=CNyew9nNh68CFc4LtAodJUmk_g

Lally

I'm wondering if you can help. I have a very clever mouse in my house, I've managed to catch them before but not this one. I've been trying for a week.

I've tried different traps and all sorts in the traps including nutella, jam, and icing sugar. Things it can't just bat out with its paws (? :rotfl: ) but nothing is working. Mum gave me bacon fat last night and it has managed to get that out.

I'm fed up of cleaning droppings. It's eaten my curtains and now it's eating the skirting boards, you can actually see the teeth marks. I've seen it too, it's tiny.

I called Pest Control at the council, all they will do it lay bait and come back to check on the levels. But I don't want it crawling off and dying in my house somewhere, I want to know it's caught. And I have a 4 year old so I'm not comfortable with the thought of this.

What would you recommend? There are different traps at B&Q, there are deterrents too.

Help? :money:

noelphobic

You have my sympathies, as I have had 2 mice infestations. You might want to look at this thread, as there are loads of tips in there

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/159477

vax2002

There is never 1 !
Sorry but thats the truth

jojo2910

We had success with peanut butter.