We've Got Mice-Help!!! (merged threads)

Kelinik

caffeinehit wrote:

They won't be interested if there isn't anything to eat. We solved our mouse problem (which poison and traps had failed to cure) by sealing up the gaps at the back of our store cupboards, regularly sweeping up any debris from the floor and under the units, and making sure any food was shut away at night.

This is really the only way to stop meeces coming in. Whatever you do please don't resort to poison as apart from it being a hideous death for Mr. Mouse there is also a high chance of them hiding away to die in the walls/under the floor and you'll end up pulling the house apart to remove little bodies!

I have read about the plug in things but couldn't vouch for them myself as I have domestic rodents here so obviously couldn't use one! I have devised some rather imaginative humane traps to catch wild mice myself in the past involving buckets and lots of books but they will ultimately just keep coming in if there is a food supply so best to sort that first really in my opinion. :cool:

RibenaBerry_2

I agree. The main thing is to seal up holes (they can get through any gap the size of the end of a pencil or bigger). Use wire wool, which they cannot chew through (though not near wiring, for obvious reasons).

We had mice in our old terraced house. Poison didn't kill them (I think they were immune. They seemed to love eating it, but didn't go away...) and only old fashioned traps sorted out the problem. We tried the plug in things - and then found mouse droppings on top of them! We tried humane traps- the bait went and the mice weren't trapped! We tried glue boards - they had mouse prints and fur left all over them!

They still get in along the row of houses from time to time (through the attics or under the floorboards). Sort the odd one out (or the initial infestation out) with traps, but clean up all food sources to discourage them. Move all food to sealed plastic or glass containers. Remember that they can climb and don't leave any food (particularly flour or wheat based) in paper packaging.

I know traps seem brutal, but they are at least quick in dispatching their catch. I was told by pest control that they're a lot more humane than poison.

abdulinyourface

thanks ever so much for all your replies.

ill give them a go and let you guys know how i get on if succesful. ive currently got traps around the house so fingers crossed they will work to a certain degree.

if anyone else has anymore ideas then it will be greatly appreciated.

once again thanks!!

Miss_Behaving

We get lots of mice and I just use the humane traps. Once caught, the children take them down the end of the road to the field, spin them around three times (to confuse them so they can't find their way back ) and let them go. The traps are really easy to use and you don't come into contact with the little critters.

Penny-Pincher!!

I posted about the eact thing last year but cant find the thread.

PP
xx

WeirdoMagnet

I agree - removing their food source is the only long-term solution. Also remove any bedding type of material that they might be chewing up for nests, and as suggested, fill any holes that they can get through. Otherwise they'll just keep breeding or will be replaced by another troop!

My mum used humane traps, but I've since heard that they're not that humane, and not that effective either. You're supposed to take them at least 4 miles away, or they can find their way back, and they're so traumatised, I've heard it said that they probably die of shock anyway.

They can chew through plastic tupperware type containers, so make sure there aren't any holes in yours! My Dad keep his peanuts for the birds in a pretty hefty plastic container in the garage, and they've chewed through that!

Kelinik

Miss_Behaving wrote:

spin them around three times (to confuse them so they can't find their way back )

Afraid to say this will make no difference at all to a mouse. :cool:

kittykat500

I have a pest repeller bought from QVC but found it did not deter at all! I was also reluctant to mouse traps and eventually decided on humane traps. They are not very expensive and are re-usable (although hopefully you will not need to use them again!).

I agree with everyone else who say that you need to remove the food source. However, do be aware that mice eat anything - foam, polysterene, (they chewed through my telephone cable, attracted by the electricity apparently), cardboard etc. Mine were coming up through the floor - so you need to check everywhere as they can get through a gap the size of a pencil!

The best thing to put in the humane trap is not cheese but chocolate (they like peanut butter too). Not any easy thing to sacrifice chocolate in my house but needs must!

I have a great fear of the little critters, so as we caught them, my sons trekked a quarter of a mile to the park and let them loose.

Hopefully this solution will work for you. If all else fails, call the local authority pest control - not sure if this is a free service though.

Good luck!

frosty

We use rum,we cut a 2ltr plastic bottle in half,put it where the mice are,add the rum.(just a couple of inches)the rum attracts them,you need to put things next to it so the mice can climb up and then they fall in,:eek: They then get drunk and drown.:beer:

Please dont use poison,because the mice can take several days to die,which means they can go outside and be eaten by other animals like cats or birds of prey ,which then results in a slow painful death for them aswell.
Better for the mice to die drunk than be poisioned.IMHO.

researcher

We used to use humane traps - we live in the country and gets loads of mice when the weather turns bad. They sometimes works too well and once we caught three in a day! Only downside is that you have to take the mice a good distance from your house to release them - or they just come back! RSPCA suggest 1/2 mile,

Q for short story.

My OH found a mouse in the trap about 11:00 pm one night - he got out the car and drove it to the woods where we release them. Here he saw an abandoned car (the smashed windows were the giveaway). When he got home he phoned our local police stations "Good evening officer, I was just taking a mouse to the woods.................." :rotfl: