anyone with a persisent MOUSE problem, what did you do/are doing?

[cookiemonstress]

Oh this is a long and sorry saga. We live in a terraced london house and we have mouse issues, which I hate. Two years ago around this time of year, we discovered we had mice. Cue much financial outlay on not one but two (including rentokil) pest control interventions and various electric/sonic plug ins. About three months later, the problem came under control and the mice appeared to have disappeared.

At exactly the same time the following year, it happened again. I bought a supersize plug in (as the existing one has just died) and that seemed to do the trick. However we were welcomed into 2009 with the aroma of dead mouse (which I know smell everywhere I go, it never leaves you....aaaH)

In july this year we heard scratching under the stairs. Then they moved in under the sink.

They seem to have a 'run' (think this is a technical term) which starts from the kitchen sink, down the back of the kitchen units through the wall, into the back of the stairs.

I have bought rentokil poison which is being eaten by the bucket load it seems and it still being touched. We have tried to fill every hole but short of ripping out the entire kitchen units, there are some that are just impossible to reach. I'm desperate but unfortunately don't have the spare cash to justify this exercise.

I hate, hate, hate them. They are making me dislike my house and I can't relax in the evening. The house next door is empty and neighbours on both sides have them.

Please please give me hope. I'm reticent to get a cat because my dd's are frightened of them and they bring their own rodents in.

Should we get rentokil in again?. It's over a £100 and the poison i'm buying from B and Q is rentokil endorsed.

[inveteratenamechanger]

Oh I do sympathise. I have had mice twice. Both times the only thing that got rid of them was a pest control guy - not Rentokill, an independent guy who was much cheaper (£48 and he came back as many times as he needed to to get rid of the mice).

They did come back once though, and tbh I keep an eye out for them as I would not be surprised if they came back again.

This house was obviously riddled with mice at some stage, and they must have some ancient folk memory that keeps them coming back to their old haunts.

I have tried to fill the holes where they were coming in from the outside, but the little buggers can seemingly get in though the tiniest gap.

I know exactly what you mean about it ruining the house for you - I felt that way too.

[Grisette]

The council sorted ours out. They keep coming out each week until the rodents have gone and they were a lot cheaper than £100. Sometimes they are free! Just call tem and say you have a persistant problem. You don't want to be mucking round with rodent poison yourself, especially with kids in the house.

Does your loft open out to your neighbour's loft? If so they might be coming through their and if your neighbour doesn't control them they will just keep coming back. The council can force your neighbour to control them if they won't.

[Grisette]

btw the sonic things are bollocks. They don't really work.

[pooexplosions]

The sonic things are only meant to deter new rodents from coming in, if you already have them you need to get rid. The sonic thing is only a deterrent/prevention, not a fix.

[Takver]

Cats are a PITA to say the least, but everywhere I've lived & not had one, we've had mice. Worth trying the council first though (at least they don't have fleas )

[EldonAve]

We still need to block up all the gaps - wire wool is best for this

Are they eating your food or crumbs or just living with you?
Lack of food will help

We use the old style traps

[SparkyToo]

We are using the old style traps. I've had pest control over in the past and all they do is put poisin down - but I don't want them dying under the floor boards/kitchen units or wherever!

A few years ago when we had the problem I did get one of those plug in things that create a noise that we can't hear, but mice and rats can and they don't like it apparently. A friend reminded me of them as she uses one and finds it does the trick. But can't find ours right now. I got it from B & Q and think it may have helped back then too.

We've caught about 5 mice with the traps in recent weeks, but haven't caught one in a week now - so things are looking up!!

[Grisette]

The poison the council uses mummifys the corpses ( evil dick dastedly style laugh) so the smell is minimal. I used to worried about killing them until i found out they carry samonella

[becks5109]

we too live in a terrace house in London and have the same problem - we use poison and old style traps and when things are bad husband sometimes catch 2 a night. DH also seems them running around the kitchen if he works late at night on his PC - they are such gross little critters. The council have come to us twice before and the guy told us to get all our cereals in containers and be really vigilant about sweeping all crumbs off the floors etc. We found a half dead on by the washing machine the other day that must have eaten some posion so another one down! I do sympathise with you as I find it makes me hate being in the house and in the mornings I stomp into the kitchen in case any are lurking. Also had a horrible incident a while back when I came in with the kids and put DS to sit on the worktop and then realised there was a dead mouse in the trap right behind him - DH normally deactives traps during the day but he must have forgotten.

[pofacedandproud]

I think a cat is the only solution. We specifically got a cat when we had a terrible mouse problem in an old london house - [fell in love with her though] She killed a mouse a night for two weeks and we never got them again. She was a very good mouser though - get a female adult for best technique.

[Deeeja]

Definately agree about a cat. I have never had a mouse problem when I have had a cat.
My cat is weird, but we all love her.

[fruitshootsandheaves]

get a cat like this then your dd's wont be scared

[pofacedandproud]

cats more eco friendly than all that poison...

[Grisette]

Cats make me wheeze.

[PinkTulips]

we have 6 cats... no more mice and the rats at the end of the garden have been dispatched of too

although i do get the occasional dead shrew as a gift

[Takver]

Our office has one But it is run by me & DH, so we get to choose! And being as its full of seeds, mice are a bit of an occupational hazard.

[mathanxiety]

The steel wool can be used to bung up every tiny little hole (as small as 1 cm) you can find on the outside, up as far as you can reach. You can get it in paint and wood refinishing suppliers. But if your attic space is open overhead, this might need to be tackled too. I prefer traps to poison because they don't skulk off to die in the walls that way. But a cat is really your best bet. Get a female whose mother was a good mouser.

[nighbynight]

Cat is the best solution, ime.

But your neighbours have to tackle the problem too. Some runs can be through your walls, even if the mice never come out in your house.

[cookiemonstress]

itwascertainlyasurprise, I feel for you re: dead mouse and handbag scenario, poor you!!!!!

So the update is that after I first posted, next day I found a mouse poo in the bathroom under sink cupboard and my toilet roll nibble. I can tell you, a line has been crossed.

Cue much frantic telephoning and expense later. The rat man has been. Laid down poison. Identified all my holes and now all I need to do is find someone to fill them (or the ones I can't reach).

Meanwhile i have been attempting to entice neighbouring cats in for a cuppa and a chat, in the event that a cat smell will deter. Unfortunately this reduces DD1 to gibbering wreck (she had unfortunate cat incident around 16 months and has been petrified of them since).

Will update as to progress. DH heard squeaking last night, told rat man who looked a bit . He did sketch me a rat poo so I could compare (seems to be the size of a liquorice comfit) and I def haven't seen any that big, so major panic averted.

To top it off. My Dd1 has passed on her nits to me. It's pestilence central at my house.

[penona]

Just to add a different view on this, we have 2 cats and when we moved to a new house, we had mice. I often heard scratching but though 'nah, we've got 2 big cats' but yes, they chewed through a butternut squash.

So we have some of those plug in sonic things which are working very well. But the cats did not.

I know it doesn't help you, but if you do get a cat, make sure it's a mouser. My two are rubbish!

[ravenAK]

Cats are good.

MIL recently got herself into a flap about her mice - she was only prepared to put poison in ONE location as she was terrified that dnephew would get to it. So it was to be hoped that the mice were willing to negotiate a Lara Croft-style puzzle of boxes in the cellar in order to gorge themselves on poison from the one strategically-deployed dish...

Anyway, SIL looked on t'internet & apparently they hate menthol oil.

MIL & SIL tried this & apparently it worked.

Can't do any harm if you wanted to try it?

[LynetteScavo]

bUT IF YOU GOT YOUR OWN CAT, YOUR dd COULD GET OVER HER FEAR, ND THE CAT COULD CATCH THE MICE....PERFECT SOLUTION.

Ooops!

[pofacedandproud]

you really need our old cat, who has now retired to a friend's pile in rural surrey [she hated small children - the cat I mean] I should have rented her out, could have made thousands. She is very affectionate with older children/adults mind.