To bleach everything, burn the house down and then move?

[TwoDrifters]

Currently awake, terrified, as there's a mouse in my bedroom. I've never seen a mouse in this house in 16 years of living here.

WIBU to bleach everything then torch the place?

Been lying awake shaking for the last hour, now sat on sofa with blanket wrapped tightly around me. Arrrggh.

Blimey . Tell you have not lived in the country . We used to get field mice breaking in all the time. You will just have to find the access point. In ours they climbed up the ivy and in a vent. So we took down the ivy and put mesh on the vent. It's not a rat so don't panic too much

.. At least it's not a rat !

Get a cat, works instantly , i done it myself

IME cats work very well as a deterrent even if it's not there permanently.

Our current house used to be plagued with mice (old, city centre, next to a sub station...). We moved in with 3 cats. The mice clearly moved out the back door as we came in the front as we've never seen hide nor hair.

MIL had a flat she rented out. Also, repeatedly, plagued with mice. City Centre, above a bar. Tenants moved in, reported mice a couple of months later. They had a cat of their own but she was in quarantine (they'd move from overseas) and wasn't due to move in for 6 weeks. We lent her our biggest cat for a night. Now, this cat wouldn't know how to hunt for toffee, he's a big lazy lap cat but he's a big bugger.
That was the last they saw of the mice, and by the time her cat moved in they still hadn't returned.

We've used the same approach in business premises of ours. The occasional visit by one of ours does the trick every time.

Borrow the neighbours cat, let it mooch about and explore the house.

Should say, mine are house cats so they don't bring anything in!

We have cats. They would jam themselves against the wall where the mice were. The mice didn't care, they were safe inside the wall causing havoc with the wiring, no doubt.

Now we have salamanders in the walls. At least they don't chew stuff.

My b*stard cat brings loads of small rodents inside. He likes to kill them outside my bedroom so I know all about it - if I can I get them off him and put the poor little things outside. They are not scary. I've had them run up my arm and up the curtains. I was less impressed with the one that escaped and was found to be living on hula hoops in the cupboard 😂

We were staying in a tenement flat once (where mice often appear). DD1 toddled up to me stroking something furry in her little hand (she was about 20 months). It was a dead mouse.

I am not scared of mice like you OP, but I briefly thought that even if I bleached her little hands they would never be clean again. Ick!

I had a rat in the girls bedroom a couple of years ago!!!!! New build (ish) 10 years old and a small bedroom. Terrifying. I would never have believed it had I not seen it myself.

It had got in through a space behind the toilet.

I watched my arsehole cat eat a live (well just about) mouse's head off yesterday, you can have him.

Deeply disturbing, but at least he finished the poor little thing off.

I have 8 cats and am used to finding the remains of mice around the house. However one, at least, prefers to bring the mice in alive and drop them on the floor. I have rescued from the kitchen, the bathroom, the living room and our bedroom. I knew we had a mouse in our bedroom but it took a couple of days to get it as it would only move around when i was lying in bed. I managed to trap it with the cardboard roll from inside wrapping paper and posted it outside before the cats could catch it. I have no problem with mice but, if it was spiders, it would be a completely different kettle of fish as I do have a phobia of spiders.

I know how u feel! Poor u! I have a terrible phobia of rodents. They're so filthy and disgusting.

we don't have a cat flap because the cat would just bring things in if we did. Made the mistake of leaving our bedroom window open the other night because it was warm and was rewarded by having to catch a live mouse at 1am which was deposited under our bed. I don't think cats always scare off the mice, sometimes it's them bringing the buggers in! And the blackbirds, and slow worms, and dragonflies and...

Irrational over-reaction OP. In reality there is no way a mouse - or indeed, mice - could pose such a threat to you, on any level, that their presence warrants you vomiting in terror.

I have heard that phobia-specific cognitive behavioural therapy can have a positive curative effect, and feel very liberating. I hope you find a way to address what sounds like a distressing, consuming but unnecessary emotional response.

OP, I have 3 cats now since we saw a little mouse scurry across our lounge and under the door into our kitchen and then disappear.
We had 2 cats at the time but only one was in and to be honest he looked at it as if it was a old friend haha, which didn't go down to well with my OH as I remember him muttering something to the cat about never feeding him again .😬
Anyway the mouse never reappeared and my OH still feeds the cat and our other two cats and since that night we have never seen that mouse .

I'd get a cat like OP have suggested. However, I just wouldn't bother to feed it. Then it would be absolutely starving and eat any rodent, plus anything else lurking around. Starving them in my experience does make them
more determined to get and eat any critters going, including mice.
So whilst your cat wouldn't have a tin of whiskers for breakfast, he could have real deal whiskers instead.😂

We have a cat, and live near fields. Based on experience, mice seem to have very weak hearts and usually die of fright even when otherwise totally uninjured - if yours survives, surely he deserves a chance?

You need a cat. I can't imagine being scared by a mouse, they are adorable. They have the cutest little faces. Obviously rodents in houses are a bad thing but I could never bring myself to be mean to a mouse. Hence the need for a cat.

Ignore the poster who advises getting a cat and not feeding it! Cats will catch prey for sport even when they are not hungry.

Oh good grief why am I reading these comments? Mice in bed nibbling on your hair?!?!

I shall never sleep again.

I could never bring myself to be mean to a mouse. Hence the need for a cat.
What exactly do you think a cat does to a mouse? Stroke it to death? Domestic cats are known for playing with their prey, causing an agonising and protracted death. Don't kid yourself you're being any kinder by leaving the anihilation to another animal. Poisoning is horrible but it's over more quickly and at least the population of garden birds stays unthreatened.

It's only a mouse and one hell of a lot smaller than you. Get a cat or better, buy one of those humane mouse traps, put a bit of chocolate in it and you will have it caught in no time. Then take down the road somewhere and let it out. I caught 2 like that recently and lived to write about it
if it had been a rat I would have hit it over the head with a cricket bat...hate the buggers

Oh good grief why am I reading these comments? Mice in bed nibbling on your hair

When we were out in the middle east many years ago we used to put bricks on the toilet seat at night because apparently rats could come in through the plumbing. We heard stories of people who had been on the toilet when a rat had come for a visit. Makes you think. If they can do it over there maybe they can do it here. Hopefully you won't dwell on that thought too much next time you're taking a pee!

MyannaStarktheWolf, I'm truly not advocating starving the cat all the time, just once. Anyway judging from the state from the cat's pretend mouse, I don't think we need to starve her at all. I think if she finds anything like a mouse she'll pounce on it quicker than you can say "Jack" yet alone anything else.
Anyway I thought you really ought to know what I heard from a radio between a BBC reporter and an expert in a job within the sewage industry. Apparently, he said, there are far more rats than people in this country. So that means we have in excess of 60 million rats. I'm feeling a tad worried, tbh.
Ever since I've been walking around in a pair of Wellington boots, with the tops stuffed with spare socks just in case the critters jump up and into one of my boots. They're getting bigger too, this expert mentioned too, because of all the food waste in the sewers too.
That's why I've seen the odd huge one around because it wanted its daily dose of vitamin D. They had huge sharp teeth and claws longer my nails, I noticed before running for the hills.
That was before I realised they don't mind hills, particularly if their grandad was the Duke of York.
So I jumped in the car instead. I drove down to Brighton beach, (thinking about safety in numbers), jumped out, such was my enthusiasm to get a suntan and cool in the sea.
I'm still stood here three days later. Nobody seems to noticed me still standing in the water. I'm petrified now because I can see dark shadows with a rat sized silhouettes probably eating peoples left over fish and chips and left overs from picnics. Flipping heck, they've got an inevitable massive feast down here in Brighton!
I'm just wondering if I should stay here until morning (although my toes are more than prune like, than I've ever seen before). The sea is definitely getting colder though... Or maybe I should just wait until they're busy and make a run for my car.
Gosh, this such a huge decision to take on my own. Any ideas anyone? It seems my brains gone dead with the cold water..🤔
I NEED HELP DESPERATELY!

Totallybonkersmum

You know rats can swim right?