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.

I was going to say - they love peanut butter and chocolate. The peanut butter is sticky so they can't whip it off the trap quickly enough to avoid getting trapped.

IME the mice freed from humane traps just come straight back.

Borrowing a cat is usually effective too IME

Get plenty of traps.

Cat! Male cats seem more keen to hunt and kill from my experience. Our issue is that they leave them on the door mat or play with them in the house when they've killed them off - but we have no problem with live mice or mousepoo indoors :P

Potentially you could get a cagetrap that doesn't kill the mouse, it goes in, steps on a leaver thingy and the door shuts behind them. I'm sure someone has mentioned it with the proper name, I have no idea what they are called :) Also release them quite a bit away from your house :P

My cat actually brings the mice in and helpfully drops them in the kitchen, where they run between the washing machine and cupboard and set up camp. useless fucker.

No amount of poison/traps works as he just brings another one in.

i didn't have any wire wool, so stuffed brillo pads in all gaps, especially round pipes. We have field mice that tend to move in when the weather gets cold.

Snap traps are the best. Always worked for me. I buy lots so I don't have to empty them, use tongs to pick up and put in carrier bag, then bin. Mice tend to run along walls, so position trap accordingly. Peanut butter and chocolate best for bait.

We have tried humane but with little success. The good old nipper traps works best for us. They are cheap and throw them out with mouse afterwards. Peanut butter is the best bait. They don't seem to mind organic or standard but if you are using crunchy leave off the but!

…nut!

Get a male and female cat for complimentary mousing characteristics and enjoyable pets. End of vermin problems.

Get them done, though, if you don't want small cats.

The only way of keeping mice out of your property is to block all entrances..they can squeeze through 1/4 inch gaps, if not smaller. It can be a long painstaking job especially if you have a large property but do bit by bit, over time. Otherwise more will come in to replace the ones youve killed. Block gaps with steel wool, plaster over any large holes. Make sure you check for cracks in skirting boards too. Mice hate peppermint oil, stick it on cotton wool balls and leave around your home (& inside your piano!). They hate mothballs too, Id try a combination of those and the oil. Agree with peanut butter as best bait for traps. I prefer the humane traps..let the mice out quite far away from your home or theyll just find their way back to you. The council around here are useless, a friend had mice they just came and put down bait which didnt work.

Avoid Superproof, doesn't work and they don't honour waranty. We used Superproof because we fell for the clean, no traps, no poison salespitch. Our experience wasn't good. They charge a lot more than most companies, and really all they do is seal up any openings with some kind of special caulk, and put some nasty-looking plastic strips down at some floor edges -- this is only where they see a gap, so the strips start and end randomly all over the house, and it really looks bad. They also leave caulk all over everything, including carpets, and put a big ugly piece of industrial mesh in front of the whole fireplace, so it's not usable and looks like it's been condemned. Worst of all, we got another mouse/mice a few months later, but the company decided it had come in from outside when the door had been left open so there was nothing they could do (we don't leave the door open, as we have dogs and children!). So we are much poorer and back to using live traps (with which we have caught exactly one mouse in six months...). But putting all cereal and dog food in plastic boxes and keeping bread in fridge seems to have helped a lot more.

Yes, call the council, they may charge but it's worth it, and they come out again to check and remove traps/bodies etc. They will also give advice. If you have home emergency cover like Homeserve they will also come out, we had them recently and they were very good, came 3 times over a period. Forget the humane stuff, this is vermin we're talking about, very injurious to health and to your home/wiring etc. You want them dead.

Forgot to add, if you have airbricks on the outside of your house, cover them with metal wire mesh - we do this routinely every time we move now just as a precaution!

Hi saw a mouse a couple of nights ago plugged in three of those electrical things and saw nothing else, although I am not around much. However just went upstairs and there was a mouse...a different one or had it just moved upstairs? Has anyone got any experience recommendation for these devices....really cannot stand the thought of having to handle mice dead or alive and can't afford these private companies...council just as expensive . Thanks