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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ignore our mice

27 replies

TellMama28 · 08/12/2017 20:39

A mouse just crawled out from under the sofa I am sitting in with my baby... I screamed on cue. I have seen the mouse before. I have and seen a mouse crawl out from under my units in the kitchen. My house is pretty spotless and I keep any pantry foods like rice, flour and cereal in sealed containers. However our house is on a London terrace, it is Victorian and has a plentitude of gaps between the floorboards and other nice places for mice to enter and exit. I had a pest control man here last time and he put traps down but they were ignored and it was expensive and annoying. I can’t get a cat because I had one but gave it to my mother when I had my little boy who I predicted rightly to be a tail puller and prodder. So, AIBU to just live with the odd visit by mice? I have so much on my plate at the moment and things are stressful so the last thing i need is to get upset about this.

OP posts:
MyBrilliantDisguise · 08/12/2017 20:42

Put down some pellets. Whenever I've done that I've never seen them again. Try to seal up any gaps, too - easier said than done, though, I know. I have a handyman who will make rooms mice proof - he sees it as a challenge! He throws tons of pellets under the floorboards, seals up grids outside with mesh and tries to make it impossible for mice to get in and live in the house. Otherwise you'll have a much bigger problem on your hands.

HangryHanderson · 08/12/2017 20:45

Borrow the cat back for a couple of weeks.
Alternatively buy the electrocution boxes, they are fast, less cruel and less messy.
Leave it and they will breed every six weeks and you will have a real infestation along with rodent mites, chewed wiring and unseen structural damage.

FizzyGreenWater · 08/12/2017 20:45

Well I'm fine with them. I love rodents. Everyone says once you have a mouse that's it, they'll have a hundred thousand babies and that will be IT. Well, we had a mouse a couple of years ago. Saw her/him a few times, got quite fond. Then she was gone! No more mousey. None since. The end.

Bluntness100 · 08/12/2017 20:47

I have poison traps down from amazon, behind sofas etc. I heard peppermint oil they hate, so put some on cotton wool balls and hide in places and top up every now and again.

You can’t live with them as they piss and shit everywhere and are a health hazard plus the little fuckers chew through your electrics. But it’s a complete battle to get rid of them. We have them. We live rural in an old listed building and they are the bane of my life.

I even have one of these sonic Plug in deterants and my fave moment was watching one saunter past it.,sigh.

Agustarella · 08/12/2017 20:48

I ignored a mouse once, and then had lots of mice, too many to ignore. It's a constant battle, but with traps and poison you can at least keep the numbers down.

HarrietKettleWasHere · 08/12/2017 20:50

Well.... I used to have a house mouse called Boris. He didn't bother me and I didn't bother him. I actually enjoyed having him around. I didn't have a pet at the time.

But I'm weird. I get excited when I see Tube Mice. I just love seeing them scuttle about on the tracks and on the platforms Blush

BWatchWatcher · 08/12/2017 20:52

Mice have no bladder control.
They are covering your house in pee.
Does that help?

Anymajordude · 08/12/2017 20:52

We've got mice. We bought humane traps of Amazon and caught two last night. We release them in the woods. We had them a couple of years ago and this method solved the problem until I heard scratching last night.

chattycathy1 · 08/12/2017 20:54

Use any kind of trap and catch it. We stay on a farm and caught 40 one weekend. They were all through kitchen cupboards and drawers. Spring clean needed. No fun!

Original poster
TellMama28 · 08/12/2017 20:57

I don’t see any droppings?

OP posts:
piglover · 08/12/2017 21:21

Try to teach your little boy about the importance of kindness and respect to animals and get the cat back? Mice are just not a good idea IMO.

ButDoYouAvocado · 08/12/2017 21:24

We had one, then we had shitloads. Caught them with humane mousetraps tgen let thrm go in the field.

Butterymuffin · 08/12/2017 21:24

Take the cat back on loan for a bit and teach your son that you aren't unkind to animals (or not those doing until a favour at any rate)

Bumdishcloths · 08/12/2017 21:32

They pee everywhere, and are carriers of Weil's disease amongst other things. I'd get them seen to.

edwinbear · 08/12/2017 21:33

What was stressful (and expensive) was when our little fucker chewed through a wire, leaving us with no electrics in the kitchen and a £350 bill for getting it fixed. Imagine that stress on Xmas morning.

ToadOfSadness · 08/12/2017 21:36

I have a mouse, maybe more, no sign of droppings either. I noticed cat food was missing from the bowl when it shouldn't have been.

Put talc or similar down near edges of rooms, near gaps in walls and leave it for a while. You should see little footprints which will tell you where your visitor/s are.

Humane traps scared it back into hiding, the Rentokil ones are useless. I am going to try Trip Trap humane trap followed by every other thing available if it doesn't work. Steel wool in holes.

Auvergne · 08/12/2017 21:37

Cats are the way forwards. It isn’t so much that they kill them, but they are a natural deterrent. My mousey problem was solved within hours of my (very fat, lazy, chilled cat) killing one grey looking fella who looked on his last legs.

gamerchick · 08/12/2017 21:38

We've got mice. We bought humane traps of Amazon and caught two last night. We release them in the woods. We had them a couple of years ago and this method solved the problem until I heard scratching last night

Yep this is the way. Catch them and stick them in an unfamiliar territory where they die a slow death instead.

Ignore them at your peril OP. I would be especially alert at brave mice that don’t show fear. Toxoplasmosis does that so they get eaten by cats though.

CheshireChat · 08/12/2017 21:42

All children pull tails, you just teach them not to!

Only thing that solved my mouse problem was a cat which we got when DS was around 8 months I think. I'd ask to borrow the cat if your mum is willing at this point.

Caught a couple using peanut butter on traps, but didn't actually sort it, just kept numbers down.

lill72 · 08/12/2017 21:43

Oh my gosh please don' ignore. They leave droppings everywhere, pee and they can be crawling all over your tables etc when you are asleep. They will eat through anything - a bag with food left in it. They can chew through cords and they will multiply.

Sorry only telling you as we had a terrible mouse problem in an old Victorian terrace with a new baby. I could not put DD on floor, always had to wear shoes and had to disinfect the kitchen table etc every day as I saw droppings on it. Not to mention being kept awake every night by their scratching and fear they were going to jump on our bed. They crawled under my DD cot. Ugh. It ruined our life for a few months. I felt like a prisoner. We called a company who seal the property. They keep coming as many times as it takes. They use traps as a last resort. The guy came over six times but success - he stopped the problem. It was amazing.

I can message you his details. he is London based.

Please please do not ignore

bridgetreilly · 08/12/2017 21:48

You don't have to see the droppings. They urinate in a constant flow. I really think you need to sort the problem out. Call the council.

I have mice in my attic pretty frequently, but they don't get into any part of the house where I live. I wouldn't want them in my living space at all.

Crumbs1 · 08/12/2017 22:51

They could be nesting in your sofa. They will multiply. I couldn’t live with them but up to you.

Mumof56 · 08/12/2017 22:55

Disgusting not to get rid of them. Is your baby crawling through thier piss/ sucking thier hands which have touched the floor/ playing with mouse piss toys...

Layla8 · 08/12/2017 22:59

Are you serious ? Mice constantly piss everywhere and carry disease. Teach your child to respect animals and get a cat.

greendale17 · 08/12/2017 23:11

No way in hell would I live in a house with mice

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