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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Bloody Mice!

29 replies

StopItAndTidyUpNow · 04/10/2018 13:26

Posting here for traffic..

I was rudely awoken 2 nights ago by the sound of mice having a fight above my head in the attic. Then heard them running around for a short while afterwards

I'm devastated, I'm due to sell my house in the next couple of months!
Went up into the attic the next day and yep sure enough, mice droppings everywhere :-(

I never had a problem before my new neighbours moved in, I regularly go up to the attic to put things away, bring things down as I don't have a huge amount of cupboards or storage space and have never seen mice droppings. Neighbours have rubbish out the front and back, garden is so overgrown it's now towering above my fence, the stench that comes from their property when they do bother to open their windows is just absolutely vile.

It's privately owned so council are not interested in the mess.

I rang the council again yesterday and they told me there is nothing they can do about it as its privately owned and that I will have to deal with the mice infestation myself!

I have spoken to next door about the mess, and yesterday i mentioned the mice and just got shrugs and "oh well's"
They really do not care that they are living in a pigsty ffs!

So my question is, I am just going to be flogging a dead horse by trying to eradicate them myself as they are clearly being attracted to next door and can get into my house via all the gaps.
Blocking all the holes up between my house and next door would involve me ripping up every floor, pulling out all my kitchen units, pulling out my fitted wardrobes so that's a no go idea.

I have set traps and put down bait - 10 blocks of bait have gone in one day but no traps have been set off as yet.
It's definitely mice btw the droppings are too small for rats or squirrels.

I rang rentokill but they are too expensive for me to afford at the moment, council also suggested rentokill as they don't have any non housing tenant facilities to offer.

What else can I do? Do i just resign myself to the fact that i am just going to be completely over run with them and there's nothing I can do??

OP posts:
flopsyrabbit1 · 04/10/2018 13:32

Sorry but are you sure their mice

Meandyoumake2 · 04/10/2018 13:34

You need to keep going with the traps maybe get ones that are more sensitive? I had mice a few months ago and I got the plug in to deter them and so far no more mice !

Original poster
StopItAndTidyUpNow · 04/10/2018 14:05

yes flopsyrabbit 100% sure, they are too small for rats droppings or anything else.

OP posts:
knittingdad · 04/10/2018 14:12

The pest control our landlord sent put down poison. It worked and we didn't have to empty any traps.

Original poster
StopItAndTidyUpNow · 04/10/2018 14:22

I'm using bait/poison but it seems to be disappearing by the minute!

OP posts:
ToadOfSadness · 04/10/2018 14:30

You need to find out where they are getting in and block the holes or they will just keep coming back. Wire wool/Brillo pads will do the job, or tin foil, block even the tiny holes, or use filler although they might chew through it.

Poison will also kill any wildlife that eats the mice but I understand your problem.

Try a selection of traps, the old fashioned snap ones are meant to be the best. Also the humane ones and electronic ones, they need to be put where the mice are most active which you can find by putting some talc down and then looking where the little footprints are. They can take a few days to go into the traps, so check them but don't move them for a while.

ToadOfSadness · 04/10/2018 14:33

Also remove stuff so they have nothing to nest in or make nests with, they will chew up your belongings.

Forgot to add too, sonic repellers, some people say they work. Read reviews first though. Use everything.

flopsyrabbit1 · 04/10/2018 14:35

OkSmilewhen i had mice thanks to the cat bringing them in and losing them i bought snap ttraps from the pound shop
3 in a pack with excellent and instant results and didnt have to go looking for rotting corpses
For outdoors use the bait
Oh god it sounds horrendous especially next door etc

flopsyrabbit1 · 04/10/2018 14:37

Use peanut butter ln traps they love it

MyArris · 04/10/2018 14:38

Best thing I used was snap traps and peanut butter. Place against skirtings and make a ‘corridor’ out of items which mean they can’t avoid it.

Had plenty of luck this way and am mouse free right now. Fingers crossed.

If you look up mouse traps on amazon and read reviews, there’s loads of really helpful tips.

Original poster
StopItAndTidyUpNow · 04/10/2018 14:39

flopsy thats what i'm worried about - if it were just a case of them coming in for winter I could probably deal with that but its the fact that they are coming in and will keep coming in because of next door so i feel like i'm going to be fighting a losing battle!

I think I need to stock up on more traps...

OP posts:
flopsyrabbit1 · 04/10/2018 14:44

Yes agree bloody hate neighbours that dont give a fig,similar here

Keep going snap traps are the way indoors,concentrate inside your home would be my plan

Good luck

ChooChooBeanz · 04/10/2018 14:47

I have caught mice with a humane trap - it’s really effective.

I have heard my Dad say traps don’t work that well & the glue is better. But I couldn’t bring myself to use one of them

flopsyrabbit1 · 04/10/2018 14:48

Might be daft ??? But is there a smell that mice dont like,thinking if there was say orange that you could bung over next doors garden or in your garden to deter

Probably daft but racking my brains lol

flopsyrabbit1 · 04/10/2018 14:49

Glue oh no.agree

ToadOfSadness · 04/10/2018 14:54

Glue may well leave you with patches of fur and half bald mice running around. Plus they are horrible things.

My suggestions are above in case you missed it.

SilverDragonfly1 · 04/10/2018 14:55

Flopsy, supposedly they dislike the smell of mint, but after having a brand new pack of wrigleys doublemint gum half eaten during recent infestation I'm dubious...

LaurieMarlow · 04/10/2018 14:57

But is there a smell that mice dont like,thinking if there was say orange that you could bung over next doors garden or in your garden to deter

They don't like mint.

I feel for you OP because I hate the little fuckers. The expensive snap traps worked best for us, they were too smart for the cheapies.

LaurieMarlow · 04/10/2018 14:59

The glue traps are for dire straits only. They are not pleasant.

Allthewaves · 04/10/2018 15:00

Snap traps from screwfix.

Original poster
StopItAndTidyUpNow · 04/10/2018 15:00

i think i would need a lorry full of oranges to throw next door unfortunately!! it really is that bad....

I thought about the humane traps but in all honesty once you let them go unless you drive miles and miles away with them they will just come straight back in once you let them go.

I have taken most of my things down that I don't want ruined but due to lack of space I've had to leave cardboard boxes up there. I need them for moving and there's just nowhere else to store them.
All that's left up there now is insulation and cardboard boxes nothing of any value.

OP posts:
Allthewaves · 04/10/2018 15:01

Check all the edges of your rooms for dropping too and put traps down.

Feellikeimthemaid · 04/10/2018 15:09

I so feel your pain! We had an extension built several years ago and for the last few years we've had a mice problem. We're not sure where they're getting in, but they have access somewhere and they get into the wall space and ceiling space, so it's really difficult to eradicate them. We can't put down traps because we can't access the space due to fixed floors and tiles. We've managed to put some poison in the ceiling via downlight fixings. It kills them, but a week or so later you get the smell and then the flies, then a few weeks later you hear a new lot of mice moving about. I wish I had an answer! Until we ever work out their access point we're stuck with the little blighters.

flopsyrabbit1 · 04/10/2018 15:33

SilverDragonfly1 that had me laughing

Scrowy · 04/10/2018 15:41

If you are using bait blocks you need to fasten them down so they can't carry them off. They take them to store them rather than eating them immediately and bait blocks 'go off' and stop being effective after a while.

If you have bait blocks with holes through the middle then screwing a few screws partway into a block of wood and placing the bait blocks onto them can work.

We find the sachets of poison you can get most effective though rather than bait blocks.

I thought that even privately owned properties could be made subject to environmental health intervention if there was a serious enough problem?

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