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

purpleivy

Taking this from another angle...when I lived with my nan we got a mouse or two and from then on prevention was our watchword. we were absolutely scrupulous about making sure that all food was put away, all surfaces wiped down and floor was crumb free. They soon went elsewhere where they could find something to eat.

Years later the worst case of mice I saw was at a friend's, who never cleared up. There were always a week's worth of crumbs on the floor and the dining table...:eek: :eek: :eek:

I helped her to clear up prior to moving house and found a nest inside a pram mattress that was tucked alongside her sideboard.

Since these incidents I've found that a period of utter cleanliness will help to sort out both ants and mice.

nesssie1702

The sonic repellants might work for a little while, but the mice will eventually get used to the noise and come back.

Purple Ivy's right - keep the place clean and avoid food spillages, as that encourages them too.

strawberryberry

Found evidence of mice in loft when putting xmas decs away they have found lovely places under the insulation how cozy and warm but hard for me to track and to clean up the evidence. No trace of them downstairs but my mum rekons once they are upstairs they can get everywhere and they must come down to feed.
Have read about ultraviolet black lights which show up urine so you can see were they have been but the only one i can find is urine-off but reports say you have to hold the light a couple of inches from the surface for it to work.
Dont fancy that in the loft balancing on supports or clawling over the whole house.
Anyone seen a stonger light that does the same thing that doesnt cost a fortune.

bishbash55

strawberryberry wrote: »

Found evidence of mice in loft when putting xmas decs away they have found lovely places under the insulation how cozy and warm but hard for me to track and to clean up the evidence. No trace of them downstairs but my mum rekons once they are upstairs they can get everywhere and they must come down to feed.
Have read about ultraviolet black lights which show up urine so you can see were they have been but the only one i can find is urine-off but reports say you have to hold the light a couple of inches from the surface for it to work.
Dont fancy that in the loft balancing on supports or clawling over the whole house.
Anyone seen a stonger light that does the same thing that doesnt cost a fortune.

i imagine there is evidence of mice in most peopleslofts (including my own). its not necessarily current activity but could be from many years ago.
i know of many infestations of mice in lofts that have gone un-noticed and never caused the resident a problem.
lofts are quite easy places to get rid of mice though, personally i would get some cereal based mouse bait from b and q and scatter it accross the loft. mice prefer to feed in this manner rather than from small containers. after you have killed them you can always vac up the poison. alternatively use break back traps baited with chocolate for a fast nock down.

doodlehumlucysmum wrote: »

... and i want it gone!!!

Hello all,


Option2 -poisen
omg it actually causes internal bleeing the rat man even told me that. in terms of dealing with the prob sounds the best way but its a slow and painful death.

quote]

well you could egnore the problem and in 21 days you will have another 10 juvenille mice by one female. give it 4 weeks and those juvenilles are ready to start breeding themselves.
you will then start to consider poison but will be killing lots of mice instead of the one or two you may have now.
the poison is slow acting but doesnt cause pain. i would consider it preferable to glue boards which can often cause heart failure.

lucyhope wrote: »

My cat's on her final written warning!!! She'll bring them home but won't catch them in the house:eek: Any other cat we've had has deterred them but not this one.

simple. stop feeding your cat and it will act more like you want it to in terms of catching mice.

competitionscafe wrote: »

That's what happened in my previous flat - they dissapeared for a bit but came back after a while. I saw them walkind around right in front of the sonic plug in thing and it didn't seem to bother them at all!! Also, out of the 4 I bought 2 seemed to malfunction as I could clearly hear them beeping.:mad:

the sonic deterants work by distressing the mouse, just like birds become used to scarecrows so do mice to sonic devices, after a while they realise they are not a threat and egnore them.
there not worth buying but if you do do not leave them switched on all the time. use them intermitently.

Little_Chicken

Hallo fellow mouse catchers.

I'm looking for some advice. 2 weeks ago hubby said he saw a mouse in our hallway - which disappeared down a crack in our floorboards. He swiftly set to filling in all gaps in the floor etc, and inspected outside to see if there were any obvious holes.

Anyway, we hear them under the floor - mainly during the evening, but they can be heard scratching/gnawing in the day too. But they are so LOUD, do you think it's more likely to be rats?

Anyhow, we have 2 cats (indoor) one of them senses the rodents under the floor and goes bonkers, but has yet to catch one.

We haven't found any evidence of them in the house (droppings, opened/chewed food packets) but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

So - what should I do? We live in London and have a small patio area - where I suspect they came from - should I trap out there? or will I just attract the whole neighbourhoods rodents? Should I trap the house although I don't think they've 'broken through' yet.

By the way, our house is pretty clean, no crumbs anywhere or food left out. The cat's food goes away at the end of the evening now.

Any help or advice appreciated.

I'm worried that if I don't do something now, there'll be too many to cope with. Thanks - sorry for the loooong post. xxx

Casati

Little Chicken, we had a similar problem, ground floor flat with patio.

Ours were getting in through the low level airbricks, our house was on a steep hill and the airbricks were set at a level BELOW the floorboards. If you have neighbours 'attatched' at the side of the property it is possible they are gaining access there and coming into your house under the floorboards.

In the end we screwed EXTREMELY fine wire mesh over the outside of the airbricks and plugged up a few tiny, pencil sized holes with wire wool.

They were gnawing at the floorboards and it was SO loud...but definately mice. Mouse and rat droppings look quite different so if you do find any poop you should be able to make a positive ID

I suggest you get a couple of 'test' snapping traps and bait them with some snickers bar ( they seem to love the chocolate/peanut combo) Obviously you need to put them somewhere the cats can't get at, you don't want them sticking their paws in it. If you don't catch anything then hey-ho, but keep checking them in case you have, or if the trap is not sprung but the bait is gone then you know you have a problem. If you think your neighbours won't freak out then I suggest you talk to them about it, in my experience of London properties, if one has mice then the neighbours usually do to, if you all make an effort to tackle it at the same time then you have much better chances of getting rid, as opposed to them just moving next door and lulling you into a false sense of security !

I hope this helps...

Casati

PS. I am sure that you do keep the house clean but bare in mind just how little food something as small as a mouse needs to live on..literally just a few crumbs a day. We made the really basic mistake of having a swing top bin which they used to just jump in and out of. It could just be that the warmth is attracting them, especially with it being so cold at the moment.

Little_Chicken

Thanks Casati, I'll have a look outside again tomorrow, and get hubby to help out. We have a 'snap-shut' metal bin which should help. Seriously - our house has never been so clean. LOL. I've done some ridiculous things - like live the kitty-litter dirty a bit longer in the hope the smell will scare the mice away. heheeee!

I don't really want to kill them - do you think i could try the humane traps?
We haven't found any poops yet - so i'm not sure if they're breaking in properly yet, but i'm sure it won't be long :0(

Casati

I have never tried the humane traps...the trouble is, where do you release them? apparently it has to be at least a mile from your house to stop them coming back and I THINK it might even be illegal.

These are London mice, house mouses! they are not like wood mice of field mice that happily live out their days at the bottom of the garden, disturbing nobody. Release them and the chances are they will be straight into someone elses house.

I honestly think that snapping traps are your best bet. Its quick. You need to keep on top of this, if the mice are under the floorboards you really don't want them chewing through the wiring and starting a fire. (Don't mean to scare you but...) Glue traps do seem unneccessarily cruel to me.

Also, call your council's pest control department, most of them won't come out for free anymore but they may be able to give you some advice. No harm in asking them...

welshsue

I personally wouldn't bother with the ultra sonic devices. I have mice in my garage who are chewing through absolutely everything. Bought 2 ultra sonic devices and put them in there. Not worked at all, still have mice. Now waiting for pest control officer to come and put poison down.