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

[Maddiemademe]

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 (dog is absolutely terrified of them as well).

And that is definitely a rat.

The only way is to get a pest control company in. When we had mice the council pest control officer said that if you see one mouse, you should multiply that by 300 to work out how many there are! He also said if you catch and release, take them at least 5 miles!

Apparently they don't like the smell of mint - I was told to basically put lots of peppermint oil down (on cotton wool)-

I can’t understand why you have let it get so bad, totally disgusting

Don’t be so fucking judgmental. Maybe she didn’t know what to do and put off asking for help in case she had to deal with judgmental wankers.

Maybe your local zoo/ wildlife Park would like it for owl/tiger/snake snacks?
Also it's a baby rat.
🤢

Best thing we ever did was pay someone to come round and block any potential access. Poison and traps are all very well but they'll keep coming back. You need to physically block all the places they can get through. We had mice running across the living room while we were watching TV and across the kitchen in the middle of the day!! The company we used charged a flat fee to come round, with as many return visits included in the price as necessary until they were gone. I think we had them back about 3 times, this was about 8 years ago and not had any issues since.

I'm a rat person and that looks like a house/field mouse. Regardless though you need rid.

Your options are - lots and lots of traps (doesn't stop them getting in), poison (might die under your floorboards and smell), getting a cat (might be useless).

What I would do - block any small holes with wire wool and tumble dryer sheets, put all your food in glass jars or air tight containers. ALL of it, this includes dog food. Wipe down the walls/cupboards with neat bleach then once it's dried sprinkle peppermint oil and cinnamon at the backs of all your worktops, inside all cupboards etc. You'll have to keep doing the last two steps pretty consistently. Also DECLUTTER. You want to eliminate hiding places.

The only other reasonable option is calling pest control.

It's a good time of year to try humane methods because it's quite mild outside so they shouldn't mind moving out. If it's a big infestation pest control might be the best option.

Are you in semi or terraced house? You should tell neigbours you caught a mouse because of you call in someone and they sort your house out it will be just temporary until mice from neigbours come. And if your houses are connected there is a massive chance they are in all nad will just keep moving from one to another depending on where the access to the food is.

ours, whatever they were, were nesting in the attic, and coming down to the kitchen in the night, and day , ate all the bag of bird food from the cupboard,
terrible.
but they are gone now

oh we had route outside blocked up

Isn’t it a bit big to be a mouse? When we had mice our cat ignored them! We considered all the options but eventually used a break back trap and maple syrup. It worked.

Buy an electric plug in device that emits a signal which nice can't stand. It's the only thing that works in my experience. Humans and pets don't hear it

joystir59

Does yours make a clicking sound? I bought a set and they all make a slight clic every few seconds. I don’t know about the mice, but I find it bloody irritating. 🙉

Rats can really be surprisingly big, my 2 girls were easily puppy-sized when full grown and boys can be bigger again, that still looks like a mouse to me :)

Snap traps aren't infallible but are the best option. You might need to be prepared to dispatch them if the trap hasn't completely done the job. Poison is inhumane. Humane traps are pointless. Why would you release a problem into someone else's back yard.

Don’t use poison as they and their babies will die slowly of poison or starvation and rot under the floors. We’ve had mice twice and both times used a sonic noise thingy to make the house unpleasant to them. It took a couple of weeks but if they choose to move out they will take the babies with them. We needed two sonic transmitter things to cover the whole house. Our dog didn’t seem to mind it. Humans can’t hear it. Any yes, make sure all holes and pipe runs are stuffed with wire wool after they’ve gone.

Are you semi-detatched or in a terrace? Check with your neighbours as we had rats in our previous house. They were running from attic to attic. 🤢

I forgot to mention we had a plug in device from a DIY shop that emits a noise that rodents can’t tolerate. Bit like those dog whistles. It got rid of our rat problem while the house was vacant.

Only issue with it is it would interfere with a wireless burglar alarm. If you don’t have one of those it will be fine. Doesn’t harm the rodents, just makes them move house pronto.

Get a cat.

I'm not really joking.

That's definitely can mouse. Two types:

House mouse. Example in photo. Scaly tail. Longer nose.

Field mouse. Smaller. Bigger ears. Very skinny tail. Cuter.