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

Olliebeak

If they've eaten the poison, they will go away and die somewhere - maybe back in their nest or back outdoors if they're field mice.

You can get humane traps which work quite well, BUT you then have the problem of disposing of the living mouse somewhere away from your house.

If you think you can handle a dead one, the best method is the ordinary 'Little Nipper' spring trap. By the way, mice absolutely adore peanut butter!

Most local authority Environmental Health Departments will also come and deal with the problem - but some of them DO charge - fortunately ours doesn't - it's always worth phoning them to ask what the procedure is.

nesssie1702

If your local Environmental Health department doesn't offer a pest control service, they will be able to give you advice over the phone.

Claire - if your house was empty for a while before you moved in, then the mice may well have decided to visit! We had the same problem when we moved in, but we lay down some poison as well as using the nipper traps and that got rid of them.

I have a theory that the reason so many folk are scared of mice is as they move so quickly they tend to give us a fright when we see them, so we associate this fear with the quick moving mice - it's only a thought?!

Claire_Bear

Yeah the house has been empty for a while, I would have thought that this meant there would be no food for them though?

The thing is, I like mice and rats normally, but it gave me such a shock when it ran out and I wasn't expecting it that it made me scared. It's also the fact that I don't know where it is now, and I'm going to be scared to look in our kichen cupboards and all the boxes in case it frightens me again, that's the only bit I don't like. I've called him Mr. Mousey to make him seem less scary

MindaJ

According to a book I have, rats and mice hate the smell of peppermint oil. It's suggested as an organic way of deterring them. I noticed mice hanging around my birdcage outside so I tried putting a few drops of oil around. I saw one mouse once the day after I did it, and no sign of them since (about a week). I'm not putting this out there as proof at this stage but it's looking promising! Maybe sprinkling peppermint oil around the house could convince them to move elsewhere.

Claire_Bear

It might be worth giving that a shot, although we haven't seen Mr Mousey since the other night, and there's no signs of them around eg droppings, chewed boxes etc. My ever helpful OH keeps telling people I 'say I saw something', he thinks I just imagined it :rolleyes:

MindaJ

Whenever I see a mouse I like to convince myself I only thought I saw it. I hate the things!

debtworrier

I've been reading through the mouse threads, and I just wanted to say something on the "humane" traps subject.

Mice are vermin. They don't eat much, but they have very weak bladders so they pee all the time. That's right - over everything. The mouse droppings aren't so much of a problem (unless you're careless about using cumin in your cooking, I suppose) but their pee soaks into everything and that's what you catch things from.

The most humane thing to use is one of the new spring back-breaker traps. They're just like the classic mousetraps, but easier to set without ending up with blackened finger-nails. One snap = oblivion. The mouse is instantly unconscious from shock.

Catching a house mouse in a little box and then releasing it somewhere else is not humane. Reading through the other posts, some people seemed to think that after taking their "little visitor" for "a little walk" that they were releasing the poor thing into Beatrix Potter Land.

The mouse is going to end up either back in your home, as someone else's problem, or dead anyway. You're dumping it outside, in a cold, hostile climate where there is no shelter - house mice have evolved to live in proximity to us, using the shelters that humans build. If the cold doesn't get it, then cats, foxes, rats or owls will.

If you're concerned about the mouse suffering then the only way to ensure it suffers as little as possible is to kill it yourself using a good trap.

debtworrier

powershopper wrote: »

just a thought......... if there is a hole big enough to get a pencil into, then a mouse will get through...............

If you're blocking holes, stuff them with cut up Brillo pads. The mice can't chew through the wire wool, and the red soap that the pads contain has phenol in it, which is poisonous to mice - it passes through their skin. (Phenol is also poisonous to cats and dogs in exactly the same way, so don't use it around them. Phenol doesn't pass through human skin, though it gives some people an itchy rash.)

Pippajo

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum but didn't know where else to post

We have either mice or rats which are eating through the solid plastic lids of storage containers to get to flour. We've had mice before which nibble everything, but these are thick lids which have always been ok before.

The odd part is that we have no droppings to work out what it is. It is ignoring a trap with chocolate - maybe its on a diet :rotfl:.

I've got some metal tins on order but really need to get rid of the bloomin thing before it wrecks my food budget and we are living out of tins as the only safe option!

Has anyone else come across this?

Penelope_Penguin

No, I've no ideas on this one Get a trap, then you'll be sure what you've got

Take a look at this older thread; I'll merge this later.

Penny. x