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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be at the end of my rope with this problem

79 replies

TallTilly · 22/08/2018 00:27

Two pre school kids. Stressful job. House is not great following an extremely busy period at work (I can work at nights or I can do housework but I can’t do both) but I’m slowly but surely getting back on top of it.

We have mice. We caught some in traps but there are more of them. This issue is really really giving me a lot of stress. It gives me the creeps I feel like everything is filthy. Worried about the kids catching something. Constantly hoovering poo. The traps aren’t working fast enough. They do eventually catch the mice but it seems to take ages.

I know I need to get the council out with their poison. It is £50 to do this which we don’t really have but will need to just find it or credit card it or something.

Can anyone put my mind at rest re the use of poison when I have toddlers in the house? This is why we haven’t put poison down so far but I feel that there is no other option now.

Pleas help 😞

OP posts:
Passingwords · 22/08/2018 00:34

Where are they getting in? Can you silicone up holes and gaps? Mice can dislocate every bone in their bodies to squeeze through things, they are also incontinent and dribble wee as they go. Can you borrow a cat or a terrier from friends to catch/scare them? Are you entitled to a free visit by pest control? You have to get them seen to, don't put poison down with toddlers about you'd never forgive yourself if they ingested some, plus if poisoned the mice could go off under your floorboards, die, rot and stink your house out for weeks as they decompose out of reach

Original poster
TallTilly · 22/08/2018 00:38

Nope pest control charge you £50 even if they come out and do nothing. On the website it says to be sure you need them because the charge is non refundable. I can’t work out where they’re getting in but i will try to do this. If I go to b&q tomorrow what do I ask for to block off holes?

OP posts:
Original poster
TallTilly · 22/08/2018 00:39

I don’t think I know anyone with a cat. Or a terrier for that matter.

OP posts:
Blessthekids · 22/08/2018 00:51

I used metal mesh (stuff you scrub pans with) and stuffed it into every hole I could find. Put all food into plastic containers. Then I got a cat. He's quite the hunter so now the only mice I get are brought in by him 😞

Passingwords · 22/08/2018 00:55

It probably Depends on where the holes are brick from inside to out around waste or dishwasher pipes or in wood etc, think likely expanding foam or silicone, you may need to keep toddlers out of the way until it dries. I know hotels use sticky mats to catch them but I think it's inhumane. I did read somewhere that if you put flour on the floor you will see the footsteps, but then trying to work out the route may be tricky plus making time to sweep up before the dcs get covered in it.Can you try and do one room at a time and make something to wedge under closed doors to try and isolate areas and locate the source? Also re poison if you did that and one died somewhere, there are lots of flies about and urgh. Can you tell people that you'll look after their cat for free when they go on holiday? Sign in local shop?

ToadOfSadness · 22/08/2018 01:03

Wire wool/scourer stuffed in any gaps, check backs of cupboards, gaps behind sinks & toilets, everywhere where there might be a hole, even a tiny one. Around pipes, and in the loft too.

You might block them in and they will die and smell but it won't last long. Main thing is to block them from getting in. If you can contain them so they have no access to food or water you might be able to avoid poison.

Ensure there is no food left out, not even crumbs, and nothing for them to drink.

Hazardswan · 22/08/2018 01:04

Get the large humane catchers you can catch multiples at a time. Let me find the name.... Pest-stop multi metal mouse catcher. Less than 7 quid on Amazon. Bait with peanut butter.

Hazardswan · 22/08/2018 01:07

Sorry forgot to say you'll have to release them far from your house! or kill them yourself but I wouldn't have the stomach for it

Had huge success with this, the little shits somehow learnt to dodge the kill traps and had too many run ins with one's that had just snapped their tail Shock

TheFrendo · 22/08/2018 01:08

Little Nipper (kill) traps worked for us.

Charmatt · 22/08/2018 01:08

Bait with chocolate - it works quickly!

CheekyChinchilla · 22/08/2018 01:10

Plug in sonic scarers? My mum swears by them. Don’t use them if you have a small pet like a guinea pig or rabbit though.

Thesearepearls · 22/08/2018 01:20

I didn't actually mind mice when we had them

For sure I knew I had to get rid of them but I kept thinking of little mice families and it would be nice to trap them humanely and release them somewhere (where, they're presumably indoor mice, presumably they can't be trapped and released into the woodland, plus what happens if you trap the parent mice? Would the baby mice starve?)

My mother was pretty ruthless though. She said I was being ridiculous and we had to put down horrible traps. All of the traps worked.

So I guess I am saying that yes of course I understand that mice are vermin. But the traps will work and it's kind of good not to get horrified by mice because it will help you to relax.

AnnieAnoniMoose · 22/08/2018 01:22

Sonic Scarers or humane traps - anything else is barbaric.

Then clean the house properly & make the kids sit at the table for ALL food.

I get that working nights and having preschoolers is really hard, but keeping the house clean is not optional.

sobeyondthehills · 22/08/2018 01:39

Are you a terrace house?

We have been dealing with mice and rats for 5 years on and off, we finally figured out they were coming through the loft from our next door neighbour, we are in a terrace house. From the loft they were able to get anywhere in our house

billybagpuss · 22/08/2018 02:05

My cats are crap when it comes to mice, they are clearly nervous and won’t go near them

Lizzie48 · 22/08/2018 02:10

My cats are great at catching mice, and having cats does work as a deterrent.

Ariela · 22/08/2018 03:06

Where daughter keeps the horse, is an ancient cat, now deaf and eyesight poor, rickety on her legs. Although there are rats in the straw barn, nobody in the almost 20 years the cat has supposedly been there can recall anyone ever seeing a mouse.

rose69 · 22/08/2018 06:21

The Big Cheese traps are great. They come with some kind of gel that the mice are attracted to.

Original poster
TallTilly · 22/08/2018 07:02

Some really really useful advice here. Thank you all.

Yes I have banned all eating outwith the kitchen already and trying to keep the kitchen floor, high chair etc as clean as possible.

I’ll buy some wire wool today and stuff some of the obvious holes. See how we get on from there. Think I’ll try sonic scarer things as well.

I want a cat. DH does not.

OP posts:
DaphneduM · 22/08/2018 07:06

The sonic plug ins are brilliant - we have them all over the house and never have a problem now.

Original poster
TallTilly · 22/08/2018 07:12

Where did you get them daphne can you give me some details?

OP posts:
knittingdad · 22/08/2018 07:13

The poison does really work. When we had someone come to lay poison they put it down in inaccessible places - like underneath the kitchen cupboards.

Original poster
TallTilly · 22/08/2018 07:24

I know knitting but I read that the mice move it around, carry it back to their nests etc. I’m terrified of them leaving poison around and my one year old eating it. Which she would. She eats everything she comes across.

I really don’t want to use poison unless it’s an absolute last resort.

OP posts:
Yddraigoldragon · 22/08/2018 07:33

Have you made sure all dry kitchen food (cereal, pasta, rice, sauce packets) is sealed in hard plastic? They chew through card outers easily.

6weekstogo · 22/08/2018 07:42

use wire wool/metal to block the holes, not expander foam
apparently they will still chew that