Mouse in the house! Argh

[Mintsandthings]

NC'd as this is so embarrassing.

Last night whilst getting something from under the sink in the kitchen I noticed some marks on a pack of microfibre cloths...I looked some more and found two or three what appear to be tiny tiny droppings :(. I've heard unexplained noises coming from that cupboard twice in the last few days - no sightings yet (sounds like I'm talking about a ghost)

I am a bit OCD in the house and have never had mice or anything like that. We have no pets (well apparently we do now). I am so upset. I have an elderly relative here who I care for and I'm so worried he will get ill.

Other than traps etc and finding out their access point, does anyone have any advice? It's making me a bit paranoid and I'm worried they will eat all our things, clothes etc and cause damage :(

Disinfect all your sides every day in the morning. They can climb everything and their little feet will have been running everywhere. If you have a toaster make sure you empty the crumbs out after every use. They will go inside looking for them (found that out the hard way).

Other than that, the only way to stop them now is to kill them. A good quality resettable snap trap is good. Clean and quick and they die eating chocolate. I think that's about as humane as you can make it.

Leave them around where you found their poos because they obviously go there.

Ooh and store any food in packets in high up cupboards. Tins and stuff are fine low down, but they will chew into soft packets.

People will say tou never get one mouse there are always more but thats not nessarily true ime , we used to get one most years whenni lived near a river i agree snap traps and chocolate.

We got a professional in. Where there’s one, there’s loads. He fought 6 in the house in the first 4 days and it was money well spent. He blocked up access and sorted it in 3 visits. He was very thorough.

I'm so . I love mice. I've saw one in here I'd be cooing at and snuggling him and eating him all up.
Sorry not helpful.

If you have a pet then make sure no food no food is left out overnight on the floor. It took me a while to realise they were popping downstairs in the night to have a feast on the dogs food

Awlookatmybabyspider - I will let you know if I catch him and you can have him.

I had a pet mouse as a kid so thankfully I am not phobic (that would be awful) but it's unnerved me :(. I've had help for anxiety in the past so this might be a trigger. We live by a small river in a town. I'm just worried what they will do :(

Thank you for your replies. Going to be on a mission this afternoon

@Thehop your mice sound unusually ferocious if the professional you brought in fought six of them! You must have been doubly relieved to be rid of them

I'd make a lot of noise in the cupboard, bang the doors lots, and move things about at the front. this will allow the mice to escape back via how they got in which is likely the hole around your drainage pipe from your sink. Leave for a few minutes to ensure they've vacated. Next remove everything carefully, making sure no mouse lurking. Check inside the cupboard for any holes, remembering a mouse can suck its rib cage in to being as thin as a pencil! Fill any holes in with a permanent filler so it's difficult for the mice to dig it out. So not foam! Fill big holes with wire and seal with cement. Or crush some glass and add to eg polyfilla.

If you're not certain you've sealed all gaps, mice tend to run along the edges of rooms, cupboards etc, so place your trap along an edge. Something like chocolate or peanut butter works well. Snap traps are the most effective, and setting it in a cupboard it'll be out of the way of small fingers and animals.
Mice also dislike the smell of eucalyptus - olbas oil also works, so assume for now they're getting in to the room via the cupboard, check around it for any holes into the room, sprinkle the eucalyptus oil onto a piece of kitchen paper and bung up any cracks that are as wide as a pencil or wider.

www.wilko.com/en-uk/the-big-cheese-ultra-power-mouse-trap-2pk/p/0313556?nst=0&gclid=CjwKCAiAuMTfBRAcEiwAV4SDkXrOBp7emtEyEC7FBO3gf-tEV0groq99R6dbEM31bMXrHourrZzHchoCYq8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

We found these the most effective traps, peppermint/olbas oil wiped on the inside of cupboards (they were getting in the back) , wire wool in any gaps - they hate it and all things and packets now live in large lidded plastic tubs in the cupboards. The cat was not a deterrent, but did catch a couple.

Aa.i said Thehop thats not necessarily true we used to get one come in most winters only ever one .

We have cats - they don't have a cat flap because they do have a tendency to to bring things in alive to play with... they don't kill them! We have learned from experience - load some traps with peanut butter and/or chocolate. Mice love both. Place traps under your kickboards, or anywhere you have seen droppings. Mice will stick to skirting boards or edges of rooms if they can. If you catch a live mouse you'll have to kill it - if you just let it go it will come back as they do remember where they've been (unless you drive it several miles away!).

We haven't (touch wood) had a mouse brought in for years now, but we still keep two traps loaded under the kickboards just in case! ☺️

Get onto amazon they sell this gadget that emits a noise only they can hear and bugger off. Humane way and simple way of getting rid of them

Thanks for all the tips. I think we will invest in one of those noise emitting things. Might get one for spiders too as it was only last month that a huge spider came on my bed! It feels like the house of horrors and it's not even an old house. It is semi rural though.

I have set a trap under the sink and it's been back as there are more droppings....it had even bitten through a bottle of flash floor cleaner and bike oil!

It is awful, one of my cats does this, brings in live mice and bats them around the living room. Don’t get a cat it might make the problem worse rather than better