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Original poster

To be really really happy at what I finally just caught...

145 replies

Maddiemademe · 13/05/2019 10:39

No not and STD that I am aware of!

We have been living in our large renovation project since last July. Since then I suspected we may have mice setting up residence with us but since Christmas I have been in no doubt at all.

The buggers have gotten so cocky that come 9pm they quite happily stroll past us without a hint of fear. They constantly steal food, the most recent being my DP finding one little blighter happily dragging a whole bag of crisps with him.

They have chewed through the back of kitchen cupboards and eaten a whole bag of porridge at the back. They are also partial to Jammy Dodgers.

We purchased the trap back in January with no luck at all. In fact they would eat the food at the front of the trap that was designed to entice them but would leave the bits where they would set the trap off.

Last night we were discussing what to do about the situation, looking at possibly hiring a company to come help. This morning when I came into the kitchen I noticed our dog acting very strange and scared of one particular corner of the kitchen. I was and am so pleased when I found this little bastard in there!

Anyone have any tips on how else to catch them? I am guessing we have a fair size infestation by now. I have been reluctant to use poisons but I suffer with a number of health conditions and am worried about the disease they may be carrying/could possibly cause.

Any help at all would be most helpful Smile (dog is absolutely terrified of them as well).

To be really really happy at what I finally just caught...
OP posts:
Thread gallery
9
VeganCow · 13/05/2019 13:39

To whoever used the glue trap shame on you.

steppemum · 13/05/2019 14:34

sorry but it IS relevant if it is a mouse or a rat, as I think the pest control use different methods.

For example (don't read if you are squeamish) rats are very dependent on running water, and can't throw up, so the none poisonous method was something that swelled in their stomachs. That doesn't work on a mouse.

I thought those glue sheets were banned years ago?
I saw them being used in a house in Indonesia, they thought they might have a mouse. Put down the elephant glue sheet and the next morning there were 12 rats stuck to it.....

Stifledlife · 13/05/2019 15:04

What ever you do.. do it now!

Mickey and Minnie move in today and 3 weeks later are cradling their first set of 8 newborns (19 days gestation and in 2 days Minnie is fertile again).
In 6 weeks (and 2 more litters) they get the exciting news that they are going to become grandparents, and 3 weeks later they are blessed with their first bunch of 32 grandchildren (assuming half of whom are girls).

By week 15 they get the joyous news that they are great grandparents 132 times over!

They will of course invite all 260 family members to the ensuing party.

2 to 260 in 15 weeks.. and then the real exponential explosion happens.

Mickey and Minnie are lovely in the fields where they belong, but in my house? Not so much.

Lllot5 · 13/05/2019 16:00

Poison, traps, sticky pad things, anything horrible repellent things ugh.
Better still get a cat.

Treaclesweet · 13/05/2019 16:08

That is a baby rat. You need snaptraps- many rats now are immune to the poison the professionals use and it will not work. Lots of snaptraps- it won't take long to get rid of them all.

Catchingbentcoppers · 13/05/2019 16:18

Aw your wee dog is adorable!

If you want to kill them, use snap traps. Please don't use poison or sticky traps they are unbelievably cruel and if you can kill them humanely, you should.

Emily1091 · 13/05/2019 18:28

Peanut butter is good to catch them. Would recommend getting pest control in as they will be able to find out where they are coming in. Had them in my old house and we’re getting in through a hole in the wall right under the kitchen unit. Had to cement the hole up as the pest guy told us using spray foam wouldn’t work as they would just chew through it and cement they can’t chew through

BelindasGleeTeam · 13/05/2019 18:32

Snickers. Best bait ever. Nuts and choccy.
Snap traps. Quickest and most humane way to dispatch them. It's not pretty but humane traps don't work and poisoning is dangerous for the dog and pretty grim.

Ginormarse · 13/05/2019 19:08

Haven't read whole thread as need to go on school run.
Rentokil will charge lots of money and just put down poison. You need to find out where the rodents are getting in. We have had issues for 2 years with rats in loft and cavity walls, they managed to get into the kitchen, then we sealed all the holes in kitchen floor. Recently I found one in the airing cupboard!
They have chewed through wires and plastic heating pipes. We have had 3 different pest control companies and had floors up downstairs, drain survey and needed to pay plumber to repair damage as had water leaks from chewed pipes.
It has been extremely stressful to say the least. The loft insulation is full of rat poo, and when we got the floors up there was piles of it under the floor boards. I have wanted to burn the house down! The stink from a dead rat under the floor is horrendous, then 2 weeks later the flies come! We now have another pest control company coming later this week from London (we live in the Midlands). This company say on their website that they will do a full survey of house, drains etc to find where they are getting in and then repair, seal or do whatever they need to. They are pretty much our last hope, if this doesn't work we will have to move house, although god only knows how we would sell it.
Snap traps work but you must find out where they are getting in, otherwise they will keep coming back. Good luck!

Ginormarse · 13/05/2019 19:12

Just realised start of my reply says I need to go on school run. I started replying just before 3, then ran out of time and have only just sat down again!

SuziQ10 · 13/05/2019 20:31

That is a Rat ?

Likethebattle · 13/05/2019 23:17

We found mars bars were great bait. Mush it up between your fingers till it's sticky then stick it onto the trap really well as it’s not so easy for them to get any without setting off the trap. My gran caught one in a trap and it seemed dead so she threw it in the fire. Poor thing was just stunned and shot out of the fire place and under the sideboard with flames flying from it....ick! I caught one in a humane trap and the stink was unbelievable 🤢

Jasging · 13/05/2019 23:36

That's a bloody big mouse! Rat??

I would also borrow a cat for a few days to sniff out where they are ... sorry doggy.

gamerchick · 13/05/2019 23:50

Please don't kill them as others have suggested, they're doing nothing wrong hmmangry

Continue with the humane traps and release them far from your house so they can't come back. Block up absolutely all and every hole

Really? So releasing them far away from their home to die a slow death instead is more preferable because you don't want to get your hands dirty? Hmm

The best thing you could do with that trap is stick it in the freezer and get a dude in for th rest of them OP.

PickAChew · 13/05/2019 23:56

Those big cheese traps are great. If you're worried about pets or children touching them (because they're quite vicious) you can get ones in boxes.

InspectorClouseauMNdivision · 14/05/2019 00:10

HRTFT
Most humanes are proper snap traps. Proper strong ones.
And that's coming from animal lover who had few sniffles when I caught few, but I know that releasing them outside 5 miles away from the house will most likely end up with them dying anyway.
Glue traps should be illegal.

Go around and concrete all holes. Anything else they will chew through. If you are not 100% where to put traps, sprinkle flour around the areas you think they might be using. Or follow the poo trail. It's usually by the walls.

InspectorClouseauMNdivision · 14/05/2019 00:11

Also.. After trying 6 different baits I found out that the best is simple bread🤷‍♀️

Ladybirdbookworm · 14/05/2019 00:18

That looks like a rat to me ....

user1498581287 · 14/05/2019 00:20

Another person saying please release it/ them at a distance. It can't help being a rat, and they are quite intelligent little creatures. I would just take it to some rural-ish place and carefully let it go, my daughter said they might like by a river, it would have a chance then. my daughter said probably at dusk would be best. and like people said, find how they're getting in and make it so they can't get in.

Ladybirdbookworm · 14/05/2019 00:26

If that's a rat ..which I definitely think it is
The least of your problems is getting rid of it humanely ...

TinselAndKnickers · 14/05/2019 00:43

I also think baby rat Sad this thread has made me paranoid!!! Grin every noise I hear is now a big fat rat coming to get me and my biscuits

QuestionableMouse · 14/05/2019 00:46

I'll lend you my Jack Russell. He's fab and catching and killing mice and rats.

Hollyhobbi · 14/05/2019 00:58

I'll give you a loan of our cat op! She's a great mouser and she has also caught two pigeons and brought them off the roof and down two flights of stairs!

Orangeballon · 14/05/2019 01:10

They are not adorable they are vermin which carry disease, I can’t understand why you have let it get so bad, totally disgusting, buy industrial strength poison from a farm supply shop, they will be gone in days.

TooManyPaws · 14/05/2019 01:10

A builder told me that expanding foam from the can has some sort of deterrent in it so use it to plug any tiny hole you can find. The council pest controller told me to put mesh of less than 5mm over all my air bricks to stop them getting in.