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Original poster

Mouse in the house

110 replies

Gwenhwyfar · 29/11/2019 23:35

I hear noises in the kitchen, went to see and a mouse ran past. It went back to behind the boiler. I suppose that could be the entry point. If so, there's no way I'd be able to seal it as I can't get there.
What should I do? I'm quite scared at the prospect of mouse traps, but I find poison to be too inhumane. I rent, but I suppose I should try to fix the problem myself before calling the landlord?
Or should I call the landlord on the basis that it may be affecting other flats in the building with the same landlord.

OP posts:
Woolly17 · 02/12/2019 14:13

Bear in mind a mouse can get in through a hole the size of a pencil so it's really hard to block all their access points. If they are living in the flat you'll find damage and droppings (and eventually they will piss everywhere and it smells). If they're coming in to forage there'll be a lot less of the above. Clean everything and put opened packages in sealed containers.
A cat is not necessarily a reliable deterrent. I have one mouser and one idiot. Only use humane traps if you can release them. And please please let your landlord and building management company know.

Rosepetals30 · 02/12/2019 17:22

Tigger it’s horrible I know...

But the success rate of that is ridiculously high....
Blush

Rosepetals30 · 02/12/2019 17:23

^ however you can release mice from glue traps with vegetable oil, the issue is you need to do this fast before they get into turmoil

Inebriati · 02/12/2019 19:42

You must have seen oiled seabirds being rescued and cleaned? If you use glue traps then oil, you are just releasing an oiled animal into the wild to die of hypothermia.
If you cant stomach killing the mice, don't use glue traps.

Rosepetals30 · 02/12/2019 19:52

Inebriati Wouldn’t know , just heard apparantly

ladygracie · 02/12/2019 19:57

I haven’t read the whole thread (sorry) but my local council deals with mice for free so it’s worth going online & checking if yours does. I completely empathise as I’ve had one for months - I thought the council had got rid of it but now am not so sure.

PickAChew · 02/12/2019 19:59

It's hard to release mice from glue traps if they come in overnight.

We have occasional visitors in cold weather and keep big cheese snap traps in a box, baited with peanut butter, in strategic places. They're instant when they do catch one. My only issue is that slugs seem to like them, too!

Original poster
Gwenhwyfar · 02/12/2019 20:08

"but once they are caught the "humane" thing is fold the board over and stamp on them."

I just couldn't do that :(

OP posts:
Original poster
Gwenhwyfar · 02/12/2019 20:11

Well, no sign of it so far today! No rustling noise in the kitchen. Snap trap still ignored. Bait station seems to have droppings near it, but I'm presuming the mouse is just climbing over it or something. The poison is all still inside. How much poison would a mouse take? Could it be that it's taken the poison, but I can't see a difference.

OP posts:
Original poster
Gwenhwyfar · 02/12/2019 22:06

So, now I've fly tipped. Took a rustling bin bag outside and just left it there. Unless it managed to escape when I was taking it out, a mouse was inside it.

OP posts:
PickAChew · 02/12/2019 23:16

If you have to keep. Bin bags in the house, it's worth getting a sturdy container to keep them in.

It's pretty revolting if you're not allowed to use outdoor bins.

Original poster
Gwenhwyfar · 02/12/2019 23:41

Yes, I realise I will need to buy actual bins. The funny thing is that food is supposed to be kept in a caddy and you'd think a food bin would be the ultimate draw, but they haven't been interested in that at all.
I do have an actual bin for food so the food waste is in there now.

Having to keep all my rubbish inside is problematic in lots of ways. There's nothing I can do about it, but the move to less frequent collections obviously affects people in flats much more than those in houses, or even those in flats who have an outside space.

OP posts:
PenelopeFlintstone · 03/12/2019 06:09

Agreed that your bin collection set up is terrible. Of course mice like food but they come inside anyway. They moved into a new build of my friends that had never had anyone even live in it. They like the shelter.

A mouse man once said, "If you've got a floor covered in crumbs and no gaps, you won't have mice. If you've got no crumbs at all but some gaps, you will have mice."

Hepsibar · 03/12/2019 06:27

Can you borrow a dog or cat, as they dont tend to like the scent and will go elsewhere. Also clear up all crumbs and keep bread, biscuits, pasta in a breadbin so they cant get at it. Also clear crumbs from toaster.

Dowser · 03/12/2019 06:35

One night last week we got into bed, lights out and I could hear tiny feet scampering about.
We have no ( official) pets..light went on, hubby had a good look around..couldn’t see anything...all our dried food is in plastic containers..and I have in the past seen teeth marks..not ours..on the containers
We live in a town..but I expect they are everywhere.
As I was dropping my friend off yesterday...a rat crossed over an adjacent road...bold as brass in broad daylight..

Dowser · 03/12/2019 06:39

Our mice man used to put sugar and chocolate in long necked milk bottles..I suppose a wine bottle would do
He reckoned they liked sweet stuff.
Our council don’t offer this free service anymore but he came once and laid a trap in the loft...he said ..I wouldn’t worry about the mouse..I’d worry about all that stuff in the loft coming down on your head lol

ThatLibraryMiss · 03/12/2019 09:46

OP, if you still want to try peppermint oil, Amazon sell it. If you have Prime and don't mind paying you can get it tomorrow.

It's a common (and cheap) oil so you might find it in a shop that's open late - Boots stock it, and Sainsburys sell peppermint extract that's peppermint oil plus alcohol.

SunsetBoulevard3 · 03/12/2019 11:49

Holland and Barrat have it, Neals Yard have it. Boots have it. You want the pure unadulterated oil

Original poster
Gwenhwyfar · 03/12/2019 22:53

Well, I finally have a dead mouse. I thought the body would be in the trap, but is actually next to it with blood splattered around (sorry for TMI). I now have to think of how to dispose of it. I don't want to wear my washing up rubber gloves for fear I'd never get them clean again. I suppose wrapping a bag around my hand and trying to pick it up with the bag.
I had a really hard time setting the traps, but once has worked eventually!
I've also put a bowl of oil down after seeing that on youtube, though they used coconut oil and I could only find vegetable or olive oil at my corner shop.

OP posts:
Devereux1 · 04/12/2019 07:59

Well, I finally have a dead mouse. I thought the body would be in the trap, but is actually next to it with blood splattered around (sorry for TMI)

Appalling. Angry

joystir59 · 04/12/2019 08:02

Get a plug in electronic mouse repellant device. They can't stand the high frequency sound it emits and go away. We can't hear it, of course

SunsetBoulevard3 · 04/12/2019 12:17

I have a plug in device. It doesn't work. At all.

PenelopeFlintstone · 04/12/2019 13:02

I've seen mouse poo on top of those repellant things in a school kitchen, more than once.
I've never, ever seen one dead next to a trap before.
Have you got any bins outside not too far away? Dustpan and brush?

Toomuchgoingon · 04/12/2019 22:05

Well we have evicted two rats in the past couple of weeks. They (or it may have been the same one twice) didn't get an eyelid when we appeared so we picked it up in a towel and took it for a walk to a nearby field. Hopefully it won't be back........

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