Mice in DM’s house

[GonnaGetGoingReturns]

Staying at DM’s house (old Largs Victorian house) over bank holiday weekend with family. DM and me sitting having hot chocolate, I see a mouse run out from under the fridge. It’s sort of a pantry/larder utility room and huge modern kitchen is where we sit. Stepdad has a new workshop attached to the lean to.

Oh yes she says DCat caught one the other week but we thought it was a wood mouse from the garden. In fact the other weekend about a month ago I also came to stay and recall seeing a mouse run from behind the toaster on the kitchen counter (granite). DM says not checked there (old French open canister is used to store her old cat treats, DCat doesn’t eat them now after dental treatment). We take out packets and that’s been the mice’s dinner judging from chew marks. Lots of droppings on back edge of kitchen counter. DM says she has noticed DCat sitting by the area where mice seen but thought it was nothing….

They actually mouse proofed the pantry/larder/utility room and big kitchen and lean to about 3 years ago, steel wool etc.

DM says she will put down traps. DCat sleeps with her but is desperate to spend the night downstairs.

SIL is mouse phobic and having a baby in October and staying too.

Any tips? How have the little buggers got in? They’re not wood mice, definitely house ones. DM did say that on local FB/WhatsApp forums there’d been lots of reports of mice in houses lately.

Thank god I return to my mouse free house tomorrow or Monday. Thank god it’s not like my friend’s flat who one morning not wearing slippers stepped/trod on a freshly caught rat 🐀 fur side up courtesy of her DCat. I think I’d have cut off my foot if that happened…

Burn the whole house down

mice will get through the tiniest of spaces and we've found traps to be the only answer but we don't have a cat! good luck getting rid

DM’s house not mine. Don’t think they were in toaster and avoided cat iams but they like Dreamies!

DM is now saying she’ll try large traps as they caught the mice in their holiday home in France. At least the mice there are country ones and run the gauntlet of the farm cats and other neighbouring cats (in a hamlet with bugger all there not even a bar or shop) but tons of cats around!

DM’s Dcat is a good mouser and I’ve seen her catch mice before. She’s itching to go downstairs to catch them. Tabby cats are good mousers (she’s Tabby and white).

I’ll now have to check my house when I get home to see if there’s any mice too and I also have a DCat.

Have you looked inside the toaster OP?

Jesus Christ is that real?!

I already told DM I’m having toast under the grill pan tomorrow or porridge.

DM loves her Hovis seven seeds bread. Bet mice love it too.

DM insists on closing doors at night so mI’ve won’t get in and out. I keep telling her they squeeze through gaps the width of a pencil. Doesn’t help that DM is an animal lover and prefers to use humane traps. I’m strictly kill them, think I’m adopted!

Only thing that finally got rid of our mice was poison. The rice size pellets. We don't have pets and DC were old enough

i’d use and have used poison but DM won’t. Is it true that if you use poison once they’re less likely to return as they don’t want to be poisoned again? I’m

Try those plug in sonic repellents, they emit a sound that only rodents can hear, which sends them crazy. £18 for 2 on Amazon, get enough for one in each room, put them on the highest setting. You can also put bait boxes along the wall in each room with sachets of bait in them, the latest one is supposed to be irresistible to mice & works really well.

It seems that you have a mouse infestation going on there and they're breeding nearby.
I would be inclined to call in professionals to deal with it before it becomes a bigger issue.
My parents had this same problem and it turned out that mice were getting through the wall cavity and breeding in there 🥺

Could they be travelling from upstairs as they were in a wall/room near the bathroom? DM told me that had been dealt with.

I was told the opposite by pest control who came to sort out a mouse problem in my garage. They said that because I kept baited traps in the garage all year round, I was actually encouraging the local mouse population to come in! They are attracted by the nice smelling poison and come in from outside. Yes, they go away and die but others take their place! He told me to only put poison down when I actually see evidence of mice in the garage ie their droppings or torn bits of plastic bags etc.

Given that this is an ongoing problem and there have been infestations before (to prompt the "proofing" 3 yrs ago), they sound really well established. This PLUS the deadline of newborn and a mouse phobic mother moving in soon...

... I would definitely call pest control!!

I'm sorry, but it's highly likely that's what has happened.
I would call in a pest control company.

Thanks all. I’m staying there tonight too but will mention this to DP’s. It’s a typical large Victorian house so perfect for mice. That’s the beauty about my place, boring Victorian cottage type and cheap at the time but if I’ve ever seen mice I’m immediately on it!

DB and DM were frantically cleaning this morning and not mentioning it to SiL who will freak if she hears there’s mice around.

Slight update spoke to DM. She’s freaking out slightly thinks only small family of mice downstairs and the room with the mice is tidy but a slight dumping ground. I’ve said I’ll help her clear it. DM has put most things away in cupboards and toaster is binned. It’s sort of an add on area to the main kitchen with most of the “antique” kitchenware there. Not used that much, more by stepdad, as near his workroom. The pantry/larder part I’ve said to DM needs to be cleaned/cleared thoroughly. Don’t think mice in main kitchen which is all stainless steel and granite and bloody expensive with that tap which heats the water up.

Her Dcat spent most of the afternoon asleep on DM’s bed so maybe it came down at night to try it’s luck (door is closed but DB is staying who slept downstairs en famille and opens doors). No carcasses today though. At least her DCat is an excellent hunter, always trying to play with string/laser pointer/Da Bird etc.