Mouse in house

Old_Git

I am the landlord of a house I bought in 2016. Same tenant has lived there since I bought .

About 6 months ago the tenant had a mouse in the kitchen .Mouse trap put down and caught .No obvious entry point for mice.

Last Friday the tenant messaged me to say she is getting pest control in as she has mice under the stairs and in the attic .Tenant said the doors and windows where not open .Then said the 5 year old child leaves the door open when she is getting the 2 year old into his pushchair .

The house is beside a field that has horses and mice .
Feral cats gather outside at night I assume looking for mice .

I spoke to the son of the previous owner who said they always had mice outside .No mention of mice inside .

What is the best way to deal with this . I spoke to the next door neighbour .He used to live in another house nearby they had the same problem ,they got pest control in who put traps and poison down but don't block and entry point .

The local council dont deal with this anymore.

What is my best action here.

G_M

There's never just one mouse!

They don't wait for someone to open the door for them, they find a way in!

I'm guessing this is a field mouse, not a house mouse yes? Google for pictures. I live in the country and have them coming in every winter. They don't do much harm. Just be careful about kitchen cleanliness and food storage. They leave in the spring.

If they are field mice, then pest control is pointless. You can't eradicate every mouse in the field outside!

Buy some humane traps, then re-release them 2 miles away (closer than that they'll come back - I've checked).

ProDave

Just put rat poisen down, out of the way like under the kitchen unit kick boards.

It is a fact of life living in the country, nothing to get worried about.

PokerPlayer111

If its 1 field mouse you can catch them in a jar if you get them in a corner, my cat used to bring them in all the time. I caught them in jar and relocated them down to local field.

AdrianC

We often get mice in the house. Bloody cat brings 'em in and releases 'em.

Silvertabby

Field mice are nocturnal, so they won't be strolling in through the door in broad daylight.

When we had field mice in the attic, we found that they had been getting in via the integral garage (where I had been storing bird seed, so I got the blame!) and then into the wall cavity through a gap in the garage inner wall.

We had to get rentokil in to sort out the ones nesting in the attic in case they chewed through the wires up there. We also filled in all the gaps with expanding foam and - touch wood - haven't seen them in the house since.

bouicca21

It's house mice that are a problem. Does your tenant know the difference between house and field mice?

Margot123

It's one of the joys of living near fields. Often people want to admire nature, but from afar.

They could always move to somewhere more densely populated, then they'd have bigger mice called rats!

trailingspouse

Get a cat. It won't solve the mouse problem, but it will give you someone to blame.

Humane trap is the way to go - bait with chocolate rather than cheese. But you need to check them every few hours or the mouse will die anyway and then it's not very humane.

Also important to keep food covered, and keep floor and worktops clean in kitchen and elsewhere.

pinklady21

Concur with previous posters. I have had mice both in my own rural house, and in my city centre rental property - a flat. We also have a cat who is adept at bringing in live mice.....
Agree, humane traps are the way to go, check them regularly and bait with melted chocolate. The wee devils can move so quickly, that they can grab a piece of loose chocolate and make safely away before the trap releases.
It can sometimes be obvious how they are getting in and the tiniest of holes will let them through - holes cut for pipes can be the culprit. If you find any holes, stuff them with steel wool which the mice cannot chew through. check along skirting boards too, they may have chewed through the floor boards.
One thing not already mentioned - use the plug in repellers to prevent them coming back. I have found these to be effective in both houses - Including in the flat where I discovered lets of mouse droppings under a sofa and a mouse nest in the back of the fridge after a tenant had moved out....The tenant must have known that they were hosting Micky and Minnie, but did not think to mention it to me!
At least your tenant has told you about it, and now that you know, you are expected to do what you can to get rid of them. Best of luck.

Silvertabby

One thing not already mentioned - use the plug in repellers to prevent them coming back. I have found these to be effective in both houses. Posted by pinklady21

We tried one of these in the garage. The little tinkers disabled it by biting through the wire.