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Original poster

To be scared of these unwanted visitors and how to get rid of them?

99 replies

Cellardoor23 · 25/01/2018 01:11

Long story short, my flat has been taken over by mice in the past week. I live in a top flat of a 3 story building. It hasn't been an uncommon occurance at this time of year (over the past few years)

However, this year seems to be particularly bad. I've tried to cover up as many gaps as possible and put traps down, but over the past week there hasn't been one night where I haven't seen one. At one point they were running over my sofa.

I've never been scared of them, but since last week my anxiety has been through the roof. I can't relax in my own home Sad

Does anyone have any advice on what to do? Or how to get rid of them?

OP posts:
CheapSausagesAndSpam · 25/01/2018 03:18

Keeping food high won;t do it OP. THey can climb HIGH.

Get everything in tupperware. EVERYTHING. If it's open, box it up.

Put cereal in plastic tubs too or they chew in through the boxes.

Remove their food sources and they'll go.

CheapSausagesAndSpam · 25/01/2018 03:19
GreenTulips · 25/01/2018 03:33

The council will have pest control services and it's a fixed fee - so you won't be ripped off. It's part of the council services to council tax payers.

www.gov.uk/pest-control

Enter your post code to see what the fees are and get your neighbors involved -

safariboot · 25/01/2018 03:45

Mice are nocturnal and averse to bright lights. If you're seeing them then I think you might have a pretty bad infestation. If your own traps are catching mice but don't seem to be reducing the numbers then it's time to call in pest control.

safariboot · 25/01/2018 03:50

Read that your traps aren't working. Try different ones. I've found a lot of variation in how sensitive they are. The traditional wooden ones are usually very sensitive but that makes them difficult to set. Make sure any lethal traps you use have a good strong spring - killing mice that are caught but not dead in a trap is a very unhappy thing to have to do.

lizzieoak · 25/01/2018 04:34

Yes to employing a permanent cat companion. Cats are very useful in this department, attractive, amusing & affectionate. Ask your shelter to recommend a friendly beast who is a good hunter (the occasional moggy is dead idle).

The thing about a cat (aside from the company) is that once they’ve slayed all the mice, the problem does not reoccur.

noenergy · 25/01/2018 04:47

The rentokil traps with peanut butter worked for us.

1forAll74 · 25/01/2018 05:03

Best to get the professionals in I think if the problem is bad, although don't know how much they charge. I have three cats, and they bring mice in at times, sometimes I find a dead one in my little old kitchen, but mostly the cats will just get fed up with hassling the mice. and just leave them running about the house..

Its not good to have things running around your house/flat though.. I had a rat brought in by one of my cats last year,, dead though when I saw it, and last year a baby squirrel,, which I managed to catch and put in the garden, but thankfully no men can get through the cat flap.

Bowerbird5 · 25/01/2018 05:06

Although I don't like the thought of it we put poison down. They're not silly they have come in because it is cold. We've had quite a few in the last couple of weeks. It makes you anxious. I've only seen one but the rate the poison was going down there must have been loads. Also they take it back and they seek water so we've never had any smell from them when we've used it. They can get though a hole the size of a pencil. It might be that your whole building needs doing. I would put notes out and then it might be cheaper to do all the building. Otherwise you'll have to keep some down all the time. We keep it under the sink and under a dresser. A little lid ful behind a desk got a few in the sitting room that I didn't know we're there I found chewed up paper.
We seem to have got rid of them now as it hasn't been touched under the sink for about five days. Trouble is they breed like...mice! Good luck. Ours is pink wheats type it is for rats and mice.DH bought it. My friend lives on a farm( rented) and it is rife with rats at the moment. I don't go up there at night I can't abide rats really scared of them since a child. It seems to be bad all over there was a report in the local paper about it. Yuk!

Bowerbird5 · 25/01/2018 05:07

Haha 1forall
If they try poke 'em with a stick!

Calphurnia · 25/01/2018 05:11

I've got some of those plug in deterrents from our last visitors. PM me your location, and you can have them if you're nearby

Devilishpyjamas · 25/01/2018 05:17

Make sure you place traps right against the skirting. Not even a tiny gap. They’re unlikely to be field mice in those numbers (larger, with big eyes) - almost certainly house mice.

Poison usually works quickly - again place right against the walls, no gaps. You may get smelly dying mice but it will get rid of them.

claraschu · 25/01/2018 05:25

WE had lots of mice (and even rats) in our old house (near the open grain bins of a farm). Everything was nibbled, and there is no way to stop all the holes. Our cats completely got rid of them quite quickly. Of course cats also bring mice in, but then they eat the ones they bring in too. I hate the cruelty of killing the mice, but cats really are the experts- at least ours are, but they might be unusually fierce hunters.

I can leave food out in the kitchen overnight and nothing is ever touched. Haven't seen a mouse dropping in years. I used to have to put everything in containers.

XiCi · 25/01/2018 05:50

Call the council. When we had mice the council pest control got rid of them v quickly. I wouldnt be messing around with my own traps with such a big infestation

Pearpink70 · 25/01/2018 10:09

Sorry to say but they are probably living in the walls of your whole building. If that is the case there is not much luck of getting rid of them, they usually just keep coming back.

meredintofpandiculation · 25/01/2018 10:35

If you use a humane trap and release them a mile away, they won't know the area or where the food resources are, so you may just be killing them slowly through starvation.

Ivymaud · 25/01/2018 10:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bowerbird5 · 25/01/2018 16:46

Needs to be more than a mile. I know a vet with a story of a client who paint spotted a mouse!

Thymeout · 25/01/2018 18:52

Mered - I think rodents are pretty good at sussing out food supplies. I don't think there's much danger of them starving to death. However, I have a neighbour who left a humane trap in the cupboard under the stairs for storage and then found it full of dead mice when he was having a clear-out.

Not feeling v charitable towards mice since one of them ruined a sofa cushion by gnawing a hole to get at the filling for its nest.

Original poster
Cellardoor23 · 26/01/2018 00:04

Thank you for all the replies. They've been very helpful.

I'm currently staying at someone else's house for a couple of days and I've set up numerous traps around my home. Reason being, I have a 20 month old DC and didn't want him being near the traps. I don't think it will work long term as I believe there could be an infestation of the entire building.

Problem is, the building runs right along the street (very old building), I think about 9 blocks in total with roughly 15 flats in each.

OP posts:
GreenTulips · 26/01/2018 00:06

If there's that big a problem the council will divide and collect the fee from each flat/landlord

Original poster
Cellardoor23 · 26/01/2018 00:14

I don't know if anyone else has been having this issue or if it's just our flat or that they're just not as scared of house mice as me

I was thinking of putting a note on the main door to investigate and take it from there.

It's only in the colder months I've seen them. Particularly in January over the past couple of years (although this year has been really bad) but never during the rest of the year.

OP posts:
GreenTulips · 26/01/2018 00:21

Do you have any building work going on near by? Tends to send them running.

fleshmarketclose · 26/01/2018 00:36

Mars bar squished on the traps so they can't run and grab will help. Have you got the all metal traps rather than the wood and metal ones? It's worth paying more for better traps. I would call the local council and ask for their pest control services as they will come and bait the flat until you are clear and look for entry routes.

Carouselfish · 26/01/2018 00:36

Humane traps are great. Always used them when I lived above a cheeseshop! Released them far away with a goodbye food gift.
Now we have the plug in that sends a signal through the walls to put them off living there.
Don't understand wanting to kill them unless you've eliminated every single other possible method first.