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Anyone had any success getting rid of mice?

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  • jetplane
    jetplane Posts: 1,615 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    We live near fields and my husband uses slices of mars bars on an old wooden trap and never fails to catch them. He has tried and tested most other ways but always resorts to the old mars bar.
    The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. Steve Biko
  • pixo
    pixo Posts: 180 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Blimey you look like you've covered everything.

    We found that our little friends quite liked Cadbury's Dairy Milk so we popped a couple of those peices on the old fashioned traps and bang.. the problem was gone.
  • gibson123
    gibson123 Posts: 1,733 Forumite
    Make sure that you get rid of any water source, so no dripping taps and make sure you dry out sinks and baths, mice like a regular and secure source of fresh water.
  • Mad-Frog
    Mad-Frog Posts: 936 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture
    My neighbour had a problem with mice, the council do put poison down but they also look for their entry exit points etc

    It took a good few weeks with more poison being put down but eventually they did get rid of them

    Then the rats appeared in their garden :eek: again they have gone now but that took two/three years but they were only around in the summer.

    I know it must be very difficult with three young children but are you sure there are no holes into cupboards and that they are not eating food that way?

    Good luck hopefully the council will sort it but it may take a few weeks for them to go x

    I would never have guessed that mice like chocolate or MarsBars though!
  • We caught ours with chocolate spread!

    Works better than a piece of chocolate as they have to dig into the groove to get it so makes the trap go off.

    I dislike dealing with the corpses so that is definitely my husband's job.

    Worst time was we heard the trap go, went to empty it and it had vanished. Totally and utterly vanished. We had visions of an Uber-Mouse with a trap around it's neck strutting around the house :rotfl:

    OP: we had to remove rice and cereals from the kitchen/pantry and put them in a plastic storage box to prevent them being nibbled at.
    It's difficult with young children, I know, but enforce rules such as no food in the bedroom, all food at the table, no sweets in the lounge etc and have a nightly "sweep" before you go to bed of the lounge/dining room kitchen to make sure there's no crumbs. Wipe the surfaces over with a washing up liquid solution to be sure.

    Hope you can get rid of them soon. We suffer them every September, they come in from the fields :mad:
  • Justme29
    Justme29 Posts: 125 Forumite
    It may sound a bit drastic, and more expensive in the long run, but how about a cat?

    I used to have mice at my old flat, and all through the night I could hear them scratching around, and I couldn't ever sleep, as I used to start getting really panicky that they were going to jump on the bed(while my husband slept soundly on).

    After about a week :o I had had enough and ended up going to my local rescue centre, and getting my current little man.

    Since I got him, didn't hear a peep out of the cheeky mice, and touch wood now in my new flat, no problems either.
  • Nicki
    Nicki Posts: 8,166 Forumite
    Thanks. OH and I spent this evening emptying all our kitchen cupboards and throwing out absolutely everything which wasn't in a tin or already in a plastic box, and then washing out the cupboards with dettol spray. So our cupboards look very bare at the moment but hopefully this means there is nothing for them to snack on. All food from now on will either be put in a sealed plastic box or kept in the fridge or freezer. I guess this was good discipline as the kitchen cupboards were in need of an audit and a clean but it's one of those jobs you keep putting off.

    Hopefully the council pest control person will have some good ideas tomorrow and if not, I am going to phone the company londoner1998 recommended as they sound quite good. In the meantime, we'll have to continue to live off ready meals, as I'm not up for cooking in a rodent infested kitchen.

    It would be good to get rid of them quickly as I was asked today if I could help cater for someone's wedding in a fortnight(the best friend of my friends daughter who is getting married on a shoestring, and my friend has stepped in and is putting together a reception for her) and I've had to say I won't be able to do it unless the mice are completely gone by then because I can't risk any food for a reception getting contaminated.
  • Nicki
    Nicki Posts: 8,166 Forumite
    Justme29 wrote: »
    It may sound a bit drastic, and more expensive in the long run, but how about a cat?

    I used to have mice at my old flat, and all through the night I could hear them scratching around, and I couldn't ever sleep, as I used to start getting really panicky that they were going to jump on the bed(while my husband slept soundly on).

    After about a week :o I had had enough and ended up going to my local rescue centre, and getting my current little man.

    Since I got him, didn't hear a peep out of the cheeky mice, and touch wood now in my new flat, no problems either.

    I do like cats but our last cat was attacked and killed by a large urban fox which often comes into our garden, so don't want to risk another one. I'm not so keen on indoor cats as I think they can get frustrated and aggressive if not able to go outside from time to time, and a litter tray would be tricky with a toddler :)
  • elsien
    elsien Posts: 35,932 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 17 June 2012 at 9:51PM
    I somehow got rid of mine without actually catching any.
    I had 4 traps which I tried at various times and in various places with all the things you've mentioned. The mice were walking past them and completely ignoring them. Saw them scooting up the hall, in the kitchen and nesting under the bathroom floor, I was pondering the damage they could do to my wiring and after 2 months in despair called out the pest man.

    He put down traps (peanut butter was his bait of choice) and loads of poison. Still nothing. Then they went. Of their own accord, so he didn't charge as he said whatever I'd done had obviously worked.

    So for what it's worth, make sure the mouse traps are positioned along skirtings, the side of washing machine, behind the cooker etc. Mouse man also said to make sure you position them along the skirting to make it easier for them to run over the spring bit. Also they use central heating pipes to move round the house, so keep an eye out for droppings in other areas so you can put traps there as well. (The little so-and-so s had even been in my boiler where it was warm.)

    Secondly, absolutely scrupulous hygiene everywhere. I was previously a bit of a slob who was happy to leave dishes overnight. I had to stop all that, wash up immediately after use (seeing a mouse on the cooker eating from a saucepan while I was munching on the spag bol I'd just made rammed that one home), sweep the kitchen every day, clean up toaster crumbs etc. Put all food in sealable containers. And the main one was the dog food - turns out that the mice were eating the food I was leaving out for the dog while I was at work so I had to get up and feed her earlier then wash the bowl. If they can find food they store it, so that's why they ignore the traps, because they already have a supply stashed away.
    I sealed up every hole I could possibly find (mouseman said that they can get in through tiny gaps, so it was impossible to seal them all) and as they seemed to be nesting in the upstairs bathroom I took down some trellis that they may have been climbing up.

    And fingers crossed I've been mouse free for a couple of months, having had them a good three months prior to that.
    Horrible, isn't it?
    All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.

    Pedant alert - it's could have, not could of.
  • netti
    netti Posts: 56 Forumite
    We caught our little visitor in a humane trap baited with a southern fried potato wedgie! Dropped him off in a field and never saw him again...
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