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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think that there is an increase in mouse/rat problems in the Uk

32 replies

sockmuppet · 13/01/2013 16:13

I used to think that mice/rat problems were limited to inner city areas or very rural and were not that common elsewhere. However, having moved from a city last year to a large town I am surprised that vermin is also a problem here.

I never remember anyone having problems with pests when I was growing up is this a new phenomenon?

AIBU to think there is an increase in mice living in houses countrywide?

OP posts:
Naysa · 13/01/2013 17:49

I agree. Especially when our NDN admits that she has found mice living in with her rabbits. We've tried every humane trap going with no success. We are eyeing up little nippers because it is getting so bad. We asked the NDN if she is having any success getting rid.

No, she says, I haven't tried anything yet. Sad

TidyDancer · 13/01/2013 17:51

One of my close friends is a pest controller. He has said recently that if anything, there has been a year on year decrease in rat problems. Not sure about mice though.

HollyBerryBush · 13/01/2013 17:52

Of course - food shops all over the place, people walking through town centres forever munching fast food crap and dropping the remains.

Where ever you see pigeons, you will see rats if you look hard enough. And urban foxes.

Mice have always been around, they just aren't so obvious.

sydlexic · 13/01/2013 18:02

We had a visit from pest control at my place of work. I was assured that the increase in vermin in MC areas is due to the increased liking for decking. Apparently it is an ideal nesting place with a good food source, it just drops down the gaps.

His words not mine.

sydlexic · 13/01/2013 18:03

He also said, dont know if it's true that govevernment not paying for treatment of sewers.

porridgewithalmondmilk · 13/01/2013 18:08

There are loads of rats at service stations on the motorway - it is awful!

Punkatheart · 13/01/2013 18:12

Lots of reasons:

Less frequent bin collections

Takeaways - people dropping chips etc

People feeding birds - including putting out meat for red kite, which is madness

They are very intelligent, adaptable and they breed prolifically

They are developing immunity to the type of poison used

We have chickens and our neighbours blamed the rats on us - not aggressively but in a 'well if you have chickens..' However, she then admitted to putting grated cheese on the floor for the 'poor robins.' She also claimed to have a rat proof compost bin that was full of food - only to find that they had tunnelled in and had babies.

I am a conservationist and will not use a type of poison - which can in fact kill other creatures who eat dead rat bodies. But we had such a problem that I had to get in a professional - but one who understood the conservation problem.

I have very little issue with mice and actually, as soon as they disappear I worry - it means that the rats have taken over, as they will eat mice.

I am - and always have been - very particular. But when rats breed, the tiny babies can get into my aviary. I remove food at night and tried putting chilli powder into the food, which does help and does not affect the chickens.

I think to be responsible about waste food is important - but landfill is a breeding ground for them.

It's a shame really - they are so very intelligent. When I caught some (to release in woods very far from people) they at first were aggressive but when I came back (I gave them water) they responded to my voice and actually took food from my fingers. They are just a species trying to survive - so I don't understand why people hate them. That said, they are never ideal in a home and once they overstep that line - they have to be dealt with quite hard....

porridgewithalmondmilk · 13/01/2013 18:16

Punkatheart I have to admit I shuddered at that ...

PoppyWearer · 13/01/2013 18:18

We've had mice in our house this winter, the first time in the 4 years we've been here, but looking in the loft there is plenty of evidence of pre-existing vermin (mice, rats and squirrels ) living up there...

DuchessofMalfi · 13/01/2013 18:29

sydlexic - you're right about decking being a problem. We had two decking areas in the garden at our old house, one of which was raised and so created a perfect area for rats to nest.

We realised we had a problem when I saw couple of rat holes in the flower border. Next thing I knew, there were rats running everywhere. I saw, at the worst, 15 in one go - adults and babies. We didn't have any bird feeders, no compost bins, nothing else that could attract them. So it had to be the decking. DH removed it, and underneath we found rat runs everywhere. It was awful. We had no choice but to call in pest control. It took weeks and weeks of visits from them putting in traps, poison etc before we finally got rid of them. I was so worried they were going to get into the house.

We get the occasional mouse at the house where we live now, mostly in the garden, but we have had one or two get indoors too, but no more rats thank goodness.

RedToothbrush · 13/01/2013 18:45

Theres a problem with increased resistance to poison.

Plus I think people are less tolerant to the presence of mice/rat and will try and get rid of them at the first sight.

Original poster
sockmuppet · 13/01/2013 21:25

I agree about the decking problem, it's the perfect rat run

OP posts:
bigbluebus · 13/01/2013 21:57

I don't know about there being more of them, but the mice seem to be getting cleverer!
We recently found evidence of mice in our garage (which has a door straight into the house). DH set some traps and put chocolate in the traps as we have heard they prefer this to cheese. After the 1st day, the little blighters had managed to eat the chocolate without setting off the traps!
He then spread peanut butter on the traps, thinking that they would have to lick it off and would definitely set the traps off - wrong. They managed to lick all the peanut butter off and escape the traps. On the 3rd night DH pinned the chocolate to the traps - success! We have caught 4 so far and are hoping there won't be any more. DH has searched the garage for evidence of nesting but has drawn a blank. The last time we had them, they had nested in some insulation inside his vintage car!!!!

Oodsigma · 13/01/2013 22:27

We've had mice come in from the gardens/fields/empty house next door. Usually cat h a cou

Oodsigma · 13/01/2013 22:28

We've had mice come in from the gardens/fields/empty house next door. Usually cat h a couple and on the next cold snap we get a few more. Not seen any signs of rats in the compost heap at home but they are on the allotments obviously

Oodsigma · 13/01/2013 22:29

Don't know what happened there Blush

Punkatheart · 13/01/2013 22:30

The little field mice are so beautiful. I have caught them in live traps...they are so timid and tame they will sit on your hands quite calmly. Huge eyes and those flappy big ears. Completely different to the house mouse. When they move, they are so fast they blur.

On the day my cat died, they came into the house. It was party time!

LadyBeagleEyes · 13/01/2013 22:32

That would have given me nightmares Duchess Shock
.

LtEveDallas · 13/01/2013 22:41

We had a rat problem within weeks of getting our rabbits :( They nested under the hutch, and we only realised when DH actually saw one going into the hutch early one morning.

Thankfully we have MuttDog, and were looking after JackDog that weekend. DH pulled the hutch forward - rats gone in seconds.

Since then we've had to move the rabbits to the heated playhouse, (too cold outside), and it looks like the rats are back. This time we can't move their home though, so we have no choice but to poison...I'm not happy about that, but hopefully they've nested underthe playhouse so will die and decompose there, rather than cause secondary poisoning.

I wish I hadn't been so naive about the rabbits - didn't even consider rats. We are right next to a field and close to a building with a lot of food waste. Rabbits were a bad idea.

Bakingnovice · 14/01/2013 00:31

Punk how the hell did you catch live rats?? They're v fast the buggers.

Poppy - rats in the attic. That would give me nightmares. If I had rats or mice I would have to cry and sell up! This thread is freaking me out...

LineRunner · 14/01/2013 00:37

It's food supply that is the real issue.

It's the same for foxes where I live. People drop pizzas and kebabs in the street; they don't bag up food waste properly; and hurl chips out of car windows at 2am.

ComposHat · 14/01/2013 00:46

We live in an fairly run-down tenement and are infested with mice and they have the run of the block. We have had mice in our flat so bloody brazen they would stroll across the lounge whilst we were watching TV. Short of donning little sparkly costumes and performing busby berkley numbers, they couldn't have been bolder.

Traps, (humane and otherwise) Ultrasonic devices, poisons, all seemed to have no effect. In the end we got a cat, whilst the scent of the cat has stopped them putting in an appearance, I can still hear the mice running around somewhere about the walls or floorboards, all whilst the cat sleeps soundly on the bed.

MaggieMaggieMaggieMcGill · 14/01/2013 00:48

I was standing at a bus stop recently and I noticed a mouse nibbling on the remnants of a sandwich. It was quite sweet.
Then I noticed another and another, by the time I had counted six, my skin felt a bit crawly and yuck!

BunFagFreddie · 14/01/2013 01:25

I used to put a lot of food out for the birds last winter. They seemed to be eating it very quickly, so I just kept chucking more out for them. One evening I saw ratty chowing down, just sat there stuffing his chops and staring at me.

I live out in the country and there aren't any fast food places here. We still get rats though. I've noticed that country rats look healthier and a bit more wholesome. I used to have a couple of pet rats and they are really intelligent. I saw a documentary about them once. An old boy went to the park at night to feed the 'nocturnal squirrels'. They were eating out of his hand. He found out he was feeding the rats. Grin

IneedAsockamnesty · 14/01/2013 01:34

When I was a kid i used to see loads of rats, these days I hardly see any unless I'm using the underground.

I think the last one I saw not near the underground was about 4 years ago, but I have noticed a large increase in mice.

Another thing I don't see much of these days is cockroaches