Found a mouse!

[Anyoldfuckingusername]

Oh god.
DH saw a mouse last night, he didn’t tell me until the morning because I was asleep but apparently it was in the kitchen and disappeared behind the baseboards. I’ve got the plug in things that make a noise that (please god!) gets rid of them and some traps, and we’ve put any cereal, bread etc safely away, but any other tips? We’re in an urban 2nd floor flat for context.
TLDR: we have mice (or a mouse). Please help me get rid.

You will have mice, plural.... sorry.

Old fashioned snap traps along the edges of rooms where they run and block up any holes with wire wool. I've seen them squeeze under doors!

You’ve definitely got multiple mice. The only way as pp says, is to fill the holes. There is probably an air brick at ground floor level which is letting them in the building, needs to be covered in wire mesh

I once had one arrive through an air brick in a blocked chimney at ceiling height. I saw it arrive. We stared at each other. Not sure who was most upset....

If it’s rented get the landlord to do some pest control as you are likely not the only flat affected. They can dislocate all of their bones to get through tiny spaces the thickness of a pen. Traps and block up holes

Can vouch for these traps - we had an infestation in our pantry of all places this summer for the first time ever - so much cleaning and boxing everything up. We thought it was one but it must have been a pregnant one because we caught almost 25 😱 in the end with these and released them in the field over the beck. And then the last one would not go in the trap no matter what we baited it with. Blocked all holes with steel wool - think it's still in the walls but it's going to have starve. Might get a cat now.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sensitive-Mousetrap-Substitute-Friendly-Professional/dp/B08PPBFYB7/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?keywords=mouse+trap&qid=1696358673&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1&smid=A9ZU0RUPG7K5Q

There is no point trapping house mice to release - they live in houses not the forest!

Property developer and these are what you need with a dab of peanut butter:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/pest-stop-plastic-metal-battery-powered-mouse-killer/45407?kpid=45407&cm_mmc=Google--Datafeed--Auto%20and%20Cleaning?kpid=KINASEKPID&cm_mmc=Google--TOKEN1--TOKEN2&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIodu728bagQMVFsbtCh3RswWKEAQYAiABEgJZufD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Clean, swift, don’t go wrong like the old fashioned traps mentioned above - those can cause the animal to suffer.

Absolutely untrue. Many house mice live their entire lives outside not in houses.
What on earth has you being a property developer got to do with the price of fish?

That's not an 'old fashioned' trap and it doesn't hurt them or cause them to suffer - they are perfectly fine when released. The point is to get them out of my house. I have no argument with them otherwise.

I didn't realise house mice only live in houses - did they not exist before we had houses then? Where were they living before they entered my newly built house? No other houses nearby.

We've named ours Maurice. We leave him snacks.

@Mytholmroyd the “old fashioned” traps I referenced are the first response. The poster also calls them “old fashioned”.

They live in settlements - shed, barn, house ie not in the elements or in a field like a dormouse. So catching and releasing outside - away from their family and in an environment they cannot survive in is silly.

@TheEldersOfTheInternet My point being: I have tackled a lot more vermin infestations than anyone on this thread - unless they are the pied piper or work at rentokil. I thought the subtext was obvious. Please excuse my lack of clarity 😀

aargh, thanks everyone.
Ive bought more traps and found a suspicious hole behind the kitchen sink which is getting plugged tomorrow. We’re in owned not rented but the council offers pest control and I’ll contact the building manager.
And then, hopefully, we’ll be done with the little bastards!

@Gribbit987

"what you need with a dab of peanut butter:"

+++

I personally find Cadbury's chocolate buttons (melted into the bait hole) work best.

Not wise. Though they can be cute, they are constantly pissing and shitting everywhere and can spread some very nasty diseases. It's a bad idea to encourage them to live in your house.

OP, everyone always says that if you see one you've got loads and I'm sure it's often true but sometimes it really is just one looking for a place to set up a new base. So hopefully that's the case.

They run along walls, not across the middle of rooms, so try to guess the routes she might be taking and set the traps up against the walls, not parallel with them but the other way on to make a t shape, so she'll run across the trigger. If you saw her go inside a hole you know where she'll probably come out but get lots of traps set up. If you catch one empty the trap promptly and get it set up again. Keep an eye out for droppings. If you don't catch more in a week or so or see any more droppings you probably managed to nip it in the bud. Fingers crossed 🤞

We have had mice twice. Each time thinking it was just one. The first time we caught 6 in total and the second time 3. All caught with snap traps filled with Nutella. The snap traps are the best option.

Thanks Esgaroth but ohh, I wish you hadn’t said she! I’ve (ridiculously) got the guilts now.
You are very right though of course, as is AWAIA

Just do not use glue traps!

I've got 8 of them in my living room. But they're pets. Only hazard when cleaning out the cage is them squeezing through tiny gaps in the base boards of the kitchen cupboards when they've found a gap I havent taped up and then spending a good couple of hours lying on the floor ready to catch them again
They're usually happy to sit on my feet or climb up my legs while I’m sorting the cage but two of them are stealthy fuckers.

Sorry, it's a habit I've got into.

Dispatching mice isn't fun but you have to be ruthless because they really are a health hazard, not to mention the damage they can do with chewing.

We're on the ground floor and we've had mice a few times. Twice it was just one scoping the joint and once they managed to set up a nest under the kitchen sink and start breeding and it was a nightmare.

I don't like the idea of trapping and releasing them because they can't survive outside of human built structures so they'll either die anyway, find their way back to yours (they can do this over surprising distances) or go into someone else's house and become their problem.

I know some landlords can be a bit slippery, but I didn't realise they could do this.