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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be worried about mice.

30 replies

kitkey · 26/01/2011 11:24

I think I know I am being U and paranoid. long rambling post - so sorry. We rent our house - it is 4 bedrooms and we rent just outside London so the price is very reasonable. We have 2 DCs and I am now very early pregnant with DC3. The house is old and needs work doing if you owned it but is definitely adequate. We have a flat in same area that we own - 2 bedrooms - it is too small for us but it is lovely and clean and I could clean every corner. We couldn't sell it last year for the price we wanted hence renting it out and renting ourselves - the arrangement works out well for now until the economy changes. BUT we have MICE. Now, this didn't really bother me previously, we caught a couple and have those ultrasonic deterrents all over downstairs. DH used to hear them when he was up late at night before we did the above but hasn't recently but I think they are still lurking as i pulled the TV unit out today and saw some droppings ?old.. I hoover the floors downstairs daily (the middle of them). The landlord is helpful but it is a old draughty, gappy house. I had a missed miscarrige in November and today have decided it was due to catching some thing from the mice and feel miserable and guilty and that it is going to happen again. I feel people will judge me if they knew we have mice as if it disgusting living there with young children and being pregnant putting me and the baby at risk. Before feeling like this today I just accepting dealing with mice in an old house is part and parcel of the circumstance and keep crumbs to a minimum. Am I putting our health at risk?? Think I am hormonal now.

OP posts:

ashamedandconfused · 26/01/2011 11:30

I am sorry about the miscarriage, and while it is understandable that you are still upset and looking for a reason, i think that the anxiety you are experienceing is blown out of proportion and may even be symptomatic of some level of depression. I think you should speak to your GP - good luck

Orangesarenottheonlyfruit · 26/01/2011 11:38

If it's any help, we live in a rambling old, filthy building site of a house, opp a park (where mice, rats and foxes come from). We have a HUGE mouse problem and have finally more or less got shot of the recent batch, using poison but before that they were rife!

I have had no problems conceiving and subsequently bringing up a baby and a toddler. In fact, as the doctor mentioned to me when I expressed concern - "people have been living alongside mice forever". Put it in perspective for me!

claricebeansmum · 26/01/2011 11:39

Firstly, take a breath and sit down.

You are right, mice are pretty much part and parcel of owning an old house. We always seem to have mice on and off. I am afraid that I am old school when it comes to mice and load up my mouse traps with chocolate spread and leave DH to deal with in the morning.

I am sure that the miscarriage was not due to mice. Mice are constantly incontinent so you do need to keep cleaning and work out which rooms they are coming in. Can you fill in gaps with expandable foam?

Mice like clean houses! So nobody should judge you and TBH I think lots of people have mice - they just don't notice...or choose not to

celebmum · 26/01/2011 11:40

i live in a reasonably new house, on the edge of a large town... its a semi with gardens/ drive etc. i clean and hoover almost everyday, i have 2 cats and we still had a mouse!! we first heard him when i was pregnant and tried traps (humane)and deterrant things.. nothing worked and we found evidence of him being in the pantry (chewed areosol lids and carrier bags surprisingly, not food!) in the end we put poison down and that seems to have worked... and baby is fine..!

no one will judge you for having mice, if they want to move in to your home they will!

Original poster

kitkey · 26/01/2011 11:40

Ok. Thanks but am not really looking for something to blame about the failure of last pregnancy just don't want history to repeat itself. My mum is a hygiene freak and if she knew would go spare but I am more laid back and lived in all sort of holes as a student - just been reading some websites about mice in pregnancy and they are a RISK. Don't think anti-Ds will stop the risk.

OP posts:

kreecherlivesupstairs · 26/01/2011 11:40

I agree wholeheartedly with what the previous two posters have said.
IIWY, I think I'd ask the landlord to get rentokill in to poison the mice.
To put it into perspective for you, I was pregnant and living in a house with rats and a million cockroaches. I delivered DD 9.8 years ago.

ZZZenAgain · 26/01/2011 11:42

please think very positively about your pregnancy, that it is going great, that the baby is healthy.

Put poison down for the mice. Do you sometimes hear them rustling about in the walls? If not, it may just be old dropping you are finding.

Original poster

kitkey · 26/01/2011 11:43

Thanks for your reassurance - just what I needed so much. I thought I was being a moron but needed reassurance - my mum would move house if she had a mouse and disinfect 100 times a day.

OP posts:

ZZZenAgain · 26/01/2011 11:43

get dh to put down the poison

thumbdabwitch · 26/01/2011 11:45

Mice are everywhere - it's hard to keep the beggars out!
I think your MMC is unlikely to have been anything to do with the mice, sad though it was. And you are doing the best you can to keep the mice at bay under the circumstances.

I had to use poison on the last lot of mice I had - there was no other way, they were too clever for the humane traps.

If you really want disgusting - I had rats in my house 3 or 4 times as well - got in through next door (semi-d house) - and once I found a dead one (poisoned) in my kitchen drawer! bleugh.

ANYway - I think you're fine, and I think you'd be surprised how many people have to deal with mice (and rats!) regularly.

Don't come to Australia - we have to deal with bloody cockroaches as well - some of them are the size of baby mice

Chil1234 · 26/01/2011 11:49

YANBU.. Rodents are not a good thing to live alongside and, whilst they may not have actively contributed to what happened in the past, living in a state of anxiety is not good for anyone. Call your local council as they have pest control services. Put your mind at rest.

redrollers · 26/01/2011 11:50

We have had mice on and off, caught a few in mousetraps,I have one of those sonar things but it doesnt work. it makes me sick every time I think about it. My house is very clean, it's not that. Most people know that.
I havent seen one for ages, and DS and I just saw one yesterday morning, so the traps are out as we speak

I also have a rental flat and my tenant's had a couple of mice too. As a landlord there wasn't much I could do, as the tenant didn't want to use poison, which most companies and the council would use.

As a landlord, I was happy to pay for any treatment etc, but practically you can't go round there every morning to check mice traps. So the tenants did it. Fortunately there was only one, and they got it quite quickly.
I think you can ask the landlord for help, indeed they should know about the problem, but practically unless you want to go with the poison ( and have them die anywhere in the house) you just have to try and get them one by one

Original poster

kitkey · 26/01/2011 11:52

Yes when I was a student nurse we lived in digs with rats that used to gallop across the loft space and manage to get into the kitchen - yuk but at the time I wasn't that bothered. DH sometimes stays up late at night working and used to hear them but hasn't post catching 3 of them and using the plug in sonic things. Maybe I will get him to put poison down just in case- it's the smell of them dying that puts me off the posion.

OP posts:

JBellingham · 26/01/2011 11:54

get a cat

minibmw2010 · 26/01/2011 11:55

We have definitely had mice over the colder nights recently, we can hear it/them in the ceilings. Its annoying and frustrating but I have no idea how they are getting in - we have a new house, shouldn't be any gaps to get in but they only need a tiny tiny gap. I figure if we put down traps we'll just have others. So long as they stay in ceilings and don't actually get into the rest of the house I'm going to have to put up with it I think. Since its warmed up I haven't heard anything.

Punkatheart · 26/01/2011 12:33

We have mice too - gappy suspended flooring to blame. We even had, before we fixed it - a rat that got in and even behind the bath panel. We caught him in live trap. The council rat man who came was absolutely useless - no knowledge of rodents. His name was ROLAND - honestly - and he was fed up of people laughing at him. I don't believe in poison, as a conservationist. It has horrific consquences for the environment. We released our friend into a very big wood nowhere near people. Wild rats only live for less than a year - their time is over soon enough.

If you can afford to, get the SUPER plug-in deterrents..those ones will travel through the floor. I think the company Big Cheese do 'em.

We have always used live traps but also blocked up any holes that come into the house. Our cat is useless and would quite probably fall in love with a mouse and live happily ever after.

Poor you though - your anxiety is all over the place. Can you possibly get some counselling to help with it? You say the landlord has been helpful but what has he actually done? He is responsible for any infestations and should get a professional to give advice.

As soon as the weather gets warmer, they usually scoot outside for some sleep in the sun and food. (Mice, not landlords)

Wishing you well....

sb6699 · 26/01/2011 12:35

You should block up any gaps with wire wool as the mice dont like chewing on that.

Use traps to get rid of existing mice THEN start using a sonar device (they dont work effectively if you plug them in while the mice are there).

It really isnt a sign of a dirty house or anything like that its just part and parcel of living in an old building.

valiumredhead · 26/01/2011 12:40

Get ROBAN poison and it will get rid of them in about a week. We have tried EVERYTHING and snappy traps and poison are the only things that work ime.

I understand about the anxiety - I HATE them,the little feckers like new houses. old houses, wherever they can get into basically. Minimise the attraction by putting ALL food away in containers and don't leave the fruit bowl out either.

Some councils will come out for free, some charge a fee, but honestly get some ROBAN and you will sort the problem quickly.

thumbdabwitch · 26/01/2011 12:46

the professional poisons they use contain a desiccant to stop the bodies smelling so bad when the mice/rats die; if you can check with the council whether or not they provide the service, it's worth it. Some councils do all rodents, some do rats only and some just tell you to call in Rentokil.

redrollers · 26/01/2011 12:46

what about the poison and kids though? Is it safe for them?
or if you put it in a cupboard e.g, wouldn't they trail it round the house? or is it not enough to worry about?

valiumredhead · 26/01/2011 12:49

My ds was 2 when we had first big infestation - kept an eye on the poison and never found it trailed anywhere - also no smelling bodies anywhere and one night we caught 5 in traps so you can imagine how many there were ( shudder)

thumbdabwitch · 26/01/2011 12:49

The poison is poisoned grain so doesn't really get trailed around, not that I noticed anyway (I had a very bad infestation of rats - took 4 weeks, poison refilled every week, to get rid of them all). The EHO made sure that the poison was out of the way, and they would have to be even more careful if other animals and small children are in the house too.
The poison is poisonous to children and other small animals too, including dogs and cats.

ZZZenAgain · 26/01/2011 12:53

he he he Roland the rat man. Poor bloke.

redrollers · 28/01/2011 15:47

question, do you think they get wise to the traps?
I have had them down for a couple of days now and no luck at all?

Punkatheart · 28/01/2011 16:03

Have you tried something sweet - they love chocolate. At Christmas we found a Quality Street chewed and obviously enjoyed, at the back of our piano....

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