Tell me how to get rid of mice! Desperate!

[FlatsInDagenham]

We've had mice in our Victorian terrace for too long. Many months. We've used a humane trap and we did catch 2 mice ages ago using that, but this latest batch don't go near it.

Every morning I come downstairs to find mouse poo behind my sofas and all over my DD's highchair . They are also slowly killing my piano from the inside by leaving poo / wee / dog biscuits inside it.

Last week we put poison down, but so far there is absolutely no change and the bait trays don't look as if they've been disturbed.

What should I try next? An old fashioned spring trap?

By the way, I don't really want to kill them but the poo on the highchair really gives me The Rage and the humane trap isn't working.

Don't waste your money on deterrents traps or cats. Even if you catch a few you will never get rid of them all. Save up and get the council round with their poison that works. I just paid £62 for 3 months of treatments that will see the incontinent blighters off for good.

Roban is the most effective poisson ime, you need to order it on line as it's 'too poisonous' to be sold in shops. Had seen of mice and a particularly nasty rat invasion!

We finally used sticky traps after months of trying to kill the same mouse (we'd blocked all the entrances). Eventually we got him. It was horrible (DH had to smack it over the head with a shovel) but it worked.

Sticky trap gave me nightmares. The mouse had tried to crawl off and as it had been stuck for a few days it tore itself in half.

My Dh ended up hoovering one up that he cornered behind a book shelf. I screamed like a banshee

It was awful we were over run with them, they were coming up from the downstairs flat. We'd had them ages and it ended up a battle between them and us! We'd go to bed and within half an hour 5 snappy traps would go off.

Oh god - came back to this thread and read about LegoWidow's toasted mouse. Bleurgh!

And valiumredhead's DH hoovering up a mouse. Stuff of nightmares...

A good bate is smooth peanut butter

Tried it all the only thing that worked was a cat. Managed to tie it in with as birthday present to dd

Apparently bushels of mint are supposed to send them scurrying, but I think buying bags of mint from your local supermarket may prove costly long term.

I have two cats, who bring them in, and release them for a midnight feast later. Had one in the cooker the other day, and it jumped out and landed on my fat cat.

Glue traps are cruel. I think they should be banned tbh. Killing things may sometimes be the only way but those traps are torture, I couldn't sleep at night with mice stuck on those. Am really shuddering at the thought of them, I think I'd rather live with mice.... If you must kill the old fashioned traps are better.

To those of you who shudder at the thought of the mouse in my toaster - I can tell you, I was a complete wimp. It was before DP and I lived together. My flat mate came and had a look too but then neither of us would go back in the kitchen (pathetic!) and so I had to get DP to come round (he lived nearby) to dispose of the toaster whilst we shut ourselves in the living room. You'd be amazing how many people were incredulous that I'd thrown the toaster out. The mouse was BEHIND the bars, and the toaster had been turned on! How the hell would one even begin to dig a dead mouse out of that? I'm incredulous that people would even have considered using the toaster again! My DP thought it was hilarious to wait till I was drifting off to sleep that night and do mouse running up my arm impressions with his fingers. Ha bloody ha.

That was the only time I ever saw one where I used to live, but as I say we used to have loads in this house on and off until we used "Block Mice".

I have a bit of a thing about small rodenty things - ugh. DP and the kids want to get a hamster/gerbil/guinea or suchlike. I've said no way - I spent large sums of money getting rodents out of my house, so I'm certainly not going to invite them in willingly!

after trying everything, a cat was the only thing that did work

I am having a battle with mice in my victorian terrace.
The first night I put down humane traps I caught one tiny mouse. Since then, nothing (though I have just re-baited with chocolate raisins).

They are running along a worktop & then dissappearing down the back of the range cooker, so have blocked off that route to try to get them to go onto the floor, where my terrier might catch them. He spends hours sniffing along the floor by the cooker, so he knows that they are there and wants to get them!

Re Toasters - it never occured to me that they would go into the slots at the top, but just after we first realised we had mice, I took out the crumb tray and found zero crumbs, lots of mouse poo.......toaster now wears a cunning hat (upside down biscuit tin) when not in use. That has worked.

Suggest you go check your toaster crumb trays.....good luck!!

I should not have been so blasé. Am now onto dead mouse no 3, should never have presumed there was only one. Had a big clear our today, and will be calling landlord in the morning.

Really enjoying these mouse anecdotes and getting mildly paranoid that I've got'em as well

A cat and a bucket trap. Suspend some tasty bait (peanut butter, snickers NOT cheese) etc on a string over a bucket half filled with water. You'd have to suspend it off something slippery that they hopefully can't climb (eg shiny metal lightstand/hatstand etc). Put something against the bucket to act as a ramp. They will jump for the bait, miss, land in the bucket of water and drown.

Get a cat. Seriously. Problem solved for ever!

Oh my god, I'm shocked by the toasted mouse story. Gross. Poor you.

Can the person who used the bucket trap come back? Does this really, actually work? How many mice have you caught this way?

I am sandwiched between two little old ladies. I think they're both hoarders. I have to deal with mice about once every 2-3 months. Ugh.

I think mine have moved away (fingers crossed). I bought some Peppermint essential oil and put some drops behind cooker and in doorway to kitchen.........

Not a squeek heard since (Friday lunchtime) and dog has stopped sniffing round the kitchen units.

Am going to keep the access to back of cooker blocked, and refresh the peppermint oil, for a month to make sure the blighters have moved to a new home. They must have been starving, cos there was not a crumb of food that they could get at for weeks!

snap trays are most humane mouse dead in seconds, humane traps are not humane to be rid of mice need to release at least a mile away, may then starve to death or maybe in another mouses patch so fight

poison slowly kills them glue traps cruel so my money for humane working soluuion is snap traps with chocolate or peanut butter spread check daily when we had a problem the first day we emptied traps 4 times but in a week or two were free of the blighters

Glue traps, seriously?!? That's got to be the cruelest thing, how are they even legal?!

I agree Damnautocorrect. I am shocked they are legal too. As to the inhumanity of non-killer traps, actually mice re-locate all the time, which is how they arrive in our houses to start with! They are well equipped to deal with it. Obviously it is stressful for them, but rather less stressful than being stuck on a glue trap and having to chew ones own leg off.
We get far more bank voles than mice here, and they are rather lovely, but get humanely caught and re-located to the woods with a stash of peanuts. They only come in when the weather gets cold, they are fine outside. With house mice we have sometimes used the snappy kill traps as they do kill instantly.

We tried all sorts of traps repellers etc. They were all crap.

The only thing that worked for us was putting a couple of these behind the kick boards in the kitchen.

The mice chewed through our phone lines, which cost is a fortune to get fixed.

Since we've put the poison boxes down we haven't had an issue and that's been a couple of years mice free, with other methods it was a constant hassle.