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

cheeks

We have mice in our loft and have bought a humane trap. We caught a mouse last night and released it, but it has done a wee in the trap and it smells. What should we use to clean it?

SLMLK

I've found humane traps very effective - especially when you use chocolate as a bait (a good use for the turksih delight left over from Christmas chocolate boxes that no-one would eat). The only problem is that the mice will return unless you 'rehome' them a long distance away.

Last time we had mice we took a few old jumpers and the like to a friend who had a cat. They put them in the cat's basket and the cat slept on them, which covered them in hair and cat smell. We then put these in the room the mice were entering in through and it acted as a detterent, the mice stopped coming in.

Please think very carefully before resorting to posion. I lost a cat to that once. He was a good catcher, our neighbour used poison, he ate poisoned mice and it killed him.

Whatever method you use, you do need to try and find out where they enter from. I've had them come in through fireplaces, floorboards and air bricks. They can fit in tiny spaces.

champys

MrsTine wrote: »

I have 2 killer cats... that seems to stop live mice (unless they are brought in as presents...) but the yucky dead ones of your front door step do get a little tedious...

Personally I hate poisons but that's probably because there is a chance one day one of my furries will catch a poisoned mouse and by eating it will get poisoned too

Likewise - we have a killer cat now too, apart from the decorative one who feels she is above such low things as vermin. Before that we used humane traps, and OH would go on his bike to deposit the caught mouse a mile or so away. There was one who had a damaged ear that he caught 4 times! They were probably back in the house before he had cycled back......
Cats are a natural remedy to mice. The side effect however is that she sometimes gets the odd bird as well! I guess it's never perfect :-)

Dumyat

our mice are very partial to garlic pate.
set the traps where you see the most droppings. they like warm spots - behind the fridge, tumble dryer, cooker...worked best for us.
but agree best thing is to stop them getting in by checking airblocks, pipes etc for gaps.

CFC

Well I finally caught Morris the Mouse 10 minutes ago.

I bought mouse glue traps...I had tried humane traps, snap traps and poison boxes to no avail, so I had to try the Nuclear option. I finally found where one of his favourite lurk points was, and so the glue trap went there. For the past two weeks I've had them where I saw him before, but no Morris appeared.....

I must say I'm very grateful he only chose to get caught tonight right under my nose so I could deal with him straight away. A rustle of noise, and then a squeak, and I saw him firmly stuck to the glue. I was able to take him outside immediately and kill him humanely. I wouldn't have liked him to spend any time at all stuck to the sheet without being around to dispatch him. I wouldn't reccomend you use these things unless you are desperate, have tried everything, and are around a lot when they are laid to prevent any suffering.

Still, I would say that if nothing else works, those glue traps do work, but they are not for the faint hearted. I felt very sorry for him, and I must say I grieve for him a bit. For a mouse, he was full of cunning and he kept out of the kitchen for the last couple of weeks. Still, have to remember that he may actually have been a she, and produce loads and loads of mice if left uncaught. Trap is down again, just in case he had a girlfriend, but hopefully there was only him.

Mrs_Bones

Ok i've at least got one mouse in the house because I've seen him. Now I've nothing against mice in general as long as they stay outside or in the bottom sheds but I'm afraid I draw the line at sharing my home with them.

Problem is how to get rid of it or them.
I don't want to use poison because a) I don't want it crawling and dying somewhere and I can't find it and b) I'd be worried about other animals and it getting in the food chain. We have a lovely kestrel who vists.
I have thought of getting a cat but don't think the dogs will be impressed with that idea. Plus knowing my friends cats chances are I'd end up with even more mice inside as they brought them into play.

So reluctanly I'v got the traps out but the little blighter doesn't seem to like what i'm putting on it, so far I've tried bread and yesterday changed to a bit of dairy milk chocolate but nothing, any other suggestions what I could use?

BB1984

I heard somewhere that they love peanut butter.....but I haven't tried and tested it myself. I guess they can smell if from a mile off!

Gryfon

I've done peanut butter before when we had a load of them in the house. Seemed to work very well as after a few days we'd manage to catch about 6 or 7 of them...yuck!

abaxas

Obligatory link:-

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dwFDN0ikfbY

Pink.

Hi Mrs Bones,

There's an earlier thread that should help so I've added your thread to it to keep the suggestions together.

Pink