Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder what the hell this is!?

72 replies

Ansumpasty · 05/04/2019 14:33

Every day, this weird stuff is appearing from under my skirting board.
My first thought was termites but I’m in England and apparently they’re really rare here?
We’ve been in the house a year and this only started about a month ago. Every day I hoover it up and every night it comes back:

To wonder what the hell this is!?
OP posts:
RatherBeRiding · 05/04/2019 15:11

Not mouse droppings. I too think some kind of wood eating insect.

Purpleartichoke · 05/04/2019 15:15

You need an exterminator. I would be concerned about structural damage. If so, it will only get worse the longer it continues.

Poppyinafieldofdreams · 05/04/2019 15:20

They live in the skirting and only come out at night to throw their rubbish out. Can you put a little dustbin in place as a gentle hint.

MadisonAvenue · 05/04/2019 15:29

Thisisthelaststraw are you not familiar with the horrible little bastards that are flying ants?

I think I’d get an expert in to investigate and give you an answer as to what it is, just in case it’s something that could eventually cause structural problems.

holly873 · 05/04/2019 15:29

They live in the skirting and only come out at night to throw their rubbish out. Can you put a little dustbin in place as a gentle hint

Grin
holly873 · 05/04/2019 15:32

It should be quite simple to remove the skirting to have a peep. You can put it back together quite easily with adhesive. I'm intrigued what it is anyway. Perhaps open it up with a hoover and/or some anti-bac spray to hand though. Just in case whatever it is needs zapping.

Thisisthelaststraw · 05/04/2019 15:48

@Madison no, I’d never heard of them until this thread. Had to google and found they’re real!

That’s another flying thing I have to add to the “things to run away from, flapping hands in the air as though on fire”!

Nature would be just fabulous if it didn’t sting or bite or fly about your face Angry

Sufferin’ fuck! (Said in Billy Connolly voice)

Confusedbeetle · 05/04/2019 15:50

That is not mice droppings. More likely ant excavation or other insect

ClosdesMouches · 05/04/2019 15:51

Possibly ants. We have similar every spring in a corner of the utility room.

Fresta · 05/04/2019 15:57

It's too small for mouse droppings- it could be a large spider's droppings!

MeadowHay · 05/04/2019 16:01

I had a flying ant problem in our previous flat (pre-dated us, and we couldn't get rid of them, letting agents and landlord weren't interested and wouldn't do anything about it and neither would the local council pest control people). It was mostly confined to one bedroom (we basically just used that room as storage and kept the door closed all the time so they hardly ever got out). I never saw anything like that in the room though, but then maybe I just didn't notice as it was mostly just loads of boxes.

ToEarlyForDecorations · 05/04/2019 16:01

They live in the skirting and only come out at night to throw their rubbish out. Can you put a little dustbin in place as a gentle hint

Tell them to stop making a mess.

MyFamilyAndOtherAnimals1 · 05/04/2019 16:02

Deffo woodlice. Don't worry OP - one of the large loft rooms in the house I grew up in had millions of the things - it was like a graveyard of decades of woodlouse. They're totally harmless and I felt sorry for the little things

PigletJohn · 05/04/2019 16:28

If it is woodlice, then you have a damp problem. They have to lay their eggs in damp conditions, and only eat damp, mouldy wood.

I think you need to pull off that skirting and see what you find.

Is it a concrete floor under that laminate, or wood on joists with a space underneath?

What have got gor nearby that contains water, such as pipes, drains and radiators?

What's on the other side of that wall?

Alsohuman · 05/04/2019 16:31

Mouse droppings are darker than that - I know from long and bitter experience.

Original poster
Ansumpasty · 05/04/2019 16:36

The front of the house is against that wall. We have a log burner, so have lots of wood around and I guess that could have brought something in...

OP posts:
clairethewitch70 · 05/04/2019 16:42

Spider shit

DobbyTheHouseElk · 05/04/2019 16:52

Does anyone know how to get rid of flying ants? we are plagued with them in the summer months. Last year was epic.

Poppyinafieldofdreams · 05/04/2019 16:59

You are not alone in your home. You share it with a multitude of other species. You are the one providing them with a home. They live rent and mortgage free. You cannot outwit their superior intelligence and financial acumen. Ultimately they will devour your house and move next door. Yoga on.

Peakypolly · 05/04/2019 17:05

Deathwatch beetles maybe? Does it feel gritty if you rub the frass between your fingers?

CaptainButtock · 05/04/2019 17:10

Ants. We had exactly the same.

Notthatsimple · 05/04/2019 17:11

We’ve out ours down to being spider poops. Similar to yours, but different. Ours are actually falling from the ceiling (old, boarded ceiling...) it’s about a week since that corner saw a vacuum, admittedly. Lived here 5 years, and they’ve been falling out all that time BlushEnvy

To wonder what the hell this is!?
Notthatsimple · 05/04/2019 17:12

Oh yes! Ants! We get them about once a year, but I seem to remember they kicked out quite a powdery residue Confused

mummmy2017 · 05/04/2019 17:13

Mix bicarb and icing sugar together and stick it where your droppings are.
Safe for the children, it will only make them fart
If it is ants it will kill them all.

TwoleftUggs · 05/04/2019 17:16

I have quite a large spider living in the conservatory who leaves dropping that look like those. However given that you’ve seen wood lice around there, it’s probably theirs.