mice and spider prevention

trailingspouse

Regular dusting (including ceilings) will keep the spiders under control.

Do you actually have a mouse problem? Humane traps work well (but you need to check them every 12 hours or so, or the mouse dies anyway, which isn't very humane). But if you haven't seen any evidence (mouse droppings look like black grains of rice), then I wouldn't worry about it. And the kids leaving the door open or not won't make the blindest bit of difference to a mouse.

another_casualty

Thanks again all
No, I haven't mice . I was just overthinking , as I now live in a place with wooden floorboards. Davesnave , you're right . That seems like a bad idea, and a bit overkilll . I'll do nothing for now . Peppermint spray now and again, seems the way to go. Regular dusting as well, as you kindly pointed out trailingspouse is the way to go also.

Thanks:)

FreeBear

getmore4less wrote: »

keep the spiders they help catch the flies from the dead mice.

They also catch some of the mozzies that fly around at night. To be honest, I don't worry about spiders as the cat likes to feed on them when running around the floor.

Mice on the other hand, spread disease and chew on foodstuff. Snap traps and a cat seems to keep them under control as does plugging gaps where they can get in and clearing up food scraps & crumbs.

another_casualty

Sometimes I miss having a cat . As this flat is on the main road , I'll just have to do without .

Davesnave

another_casualty wrote: »

Sometimes I miss having a cat . As this flat is on the main road , I'll just have to do without .

Ah, but the only mice we get in this modern, concrete-floored house are those the cats bring in! :rotfl:

.....And the voles, shrews, bats, lizards, slow worm, birds etc etc.... most of them pretty lively, as our cats just like to sit and watch them.

They know when I show up its game over though. You can almost see their faces fall.

Strider590

There are many things that people say will stop spiders, but it's all complete BS and a waste of money..... Stupid old wives tails, like buying Lion poop to deter cats (which was disproved by MythBusters).

You typically see spiders for a few weeks in the year, so people buy these plug in things and when the spiders start to disappear they attribute it to the plug in, when in fact your simply coming to the end of that few week cycle.

pelirocco

I would be very surprised if peppermint oil repels mice ! ( googling seems to cover both schoold of thought ) We often have problems with mice , if we see signs we put done traps until we dont catch anymore ..........So either we have got rid of them or they are just hiding . !!! we can go months with out seeing signs but we know they will probably pop back in . Its impossible to mice proof our house , we could house a whole tribe of pygmies in the space under our floor boards , so mice have no problems .They can get into holes you didnt even know existed and climb completely smooth verticle walls .......if you ever need to trap one , chocolate spread makes excellant bait

Grenage

Strider590 wrote: »

There are many things that people say will stop spiders, but it's all complete BS and a waste of money..... Stupid old wives tails, like buying Lion poop to deter cats (which was disproved by MythBusters).

You typically see spiders for a few weeks in the year, so people buy these plug in things and when the spiders start to disappear they attribute it to the plug in, when in fact your simply coming to the end of that few week cycle.

Yup, and that time is coming up just about now.

Clairabella

We had massive spiders invade our house. When DD dog had fleas we sprayed all the carpets with Indorex and never saw another spider for over two years. I don't know if the spray repelled or killed them but, if we have another spider invasion, that's what I'll be buying.

coffeehound

FreeBear wrote: »

Mice on the other hand, spread disease and chew on foodstuff. Snap traps and a cat seems to keep them under control as does plugging gaps where they can get in and clearing up food scraps & crumbs.

Read somewhere that it's important to stuff gaps with wire wool before using filler, expanding foam or cement to stop mice chewing their way back in. Need to do that here as I found two holes in the wall to floor join under kitchen units where they got in last winter.

As for spiders, also keep windows and doors shut from late summer when the temperature and light reduce and the spiders head for the warm again.