There's a fucking mouse in my house

[DerelictWreck]

Help me

Battery powered electric rat trap. It's an electrified tunnel shaped thing that they run into and get zapped. Killed instantly, no splattered guts anywhere. I put chocolate chips in mine to tempt them inside. It has a switch so you can turn it on/off as you need.

I killed a few mice that way while I went around and filled up any holes with steel wool. I didn't feel bad about killing them - they wee everywhere as they run, poo under cupboards, carry disease and eat my food. I now live in a (currently) mouse free flat but I still keep food in jars and have steel wool on standby!

Forget the humane solution. Mice and rats are not cute, they are filthy vermin, when invading our homes. They piss and shit everywhere, carry diseases, cause damage to walls, woodwork, to wiring, which could cause fire and a lot of expense to fix. If one has got in it's very likely more will come as they follow the scent. You must find where it has come in, block with metal/wire wool and clean thoroughly. Leave bait or traps down until you are sure it's resolved.

@DeralictWreck you are not being naive.
You don't need to torch the house cause you have a mouse lose but I understand the fear.
One mouse or even more than one will not posion, ectrocute you and your loved ones within a few days. Talk about overkill?

Save money on pumping poison into your house and try the tip traps first

Oh I love a mouse thread. 😀
I live in a barn conversion. Yes they were here first but it's my house now.
There is never only one mouse.
Plug in things don't work.
Humane traps are inhumane.
Snap traps do work but can be tricky.
Poison will eradicate them.
Cat is useless as they get in between floors, although I do have a friend who lost her cat when he went after a mouse under a loose floorboard. She had to rip the floor up.

AndSheWas85 I grew up listening to that song on family favourites.

@NotWavingButMNing
We are not old cough we both just have great memories of that song being played, down through the years, from THE OLD RECORD PLAYER😁

Right next question. Do I block up all gaps now meaning it might trap them in walls / in the flat? Or wait a few days and then do it?

The skirting boards have big gaps under I should seal but what if I seal it in?!

They can slither through very, very tiny gaps so I'm not sure it's possible to close them all. I'd just put lots of traps down.
Or get pest control in if you can afford it. Councils are usually cheaper than private companies but won't do it free unless there is a live rat in a house.
Sealed in mice die and then you have the Dead Mouse Smell which lasts about a week. We've had several of those.

Ask your mgt company if they have a pest control contract. Most in London do.

Re: the kill v. catch debate.

I will try my very hardest to catch and release the many mice my cat brings in. I am very adept at just grabbing them by the tail and putting them back in the field opposite. HOWEVER, when one manages to get behind the kitchen cupboards and refuses to be caught, I get a snap trap. Believe me, once you have had one make a nest in your spare oven, put it on on xmas day, and realise the bugger has died and is now being slowly incinerated somewhere in your cooker, you will change your mind about the live and let live scenario. I haven't yet had the courage to re-start the oven yet, the smell was unbelievable.

Sorry but if you've got one, you've got more than one.

And if your flat is connected to other flats within the same building, unless you can agree action that you all take, you'll never get rid of them altogether.

Do you own or rent? If you rent, ask landlord to arrange pest control. If you own, you'll have to pay for it unfortunately.

When we had mice, I used snap traps, repelling plug ins and filled every hole I could find but the real solution ended up being a cat! Now I have two! My first cat is a real mouser which does unfortunately mean he does bring them in now and again alive , but apart from that I have never seen a mouse enter my house willingly

Yeah Snap traps are fantastic when you come down to find a mouse half caught and squealing in pain so much you have to finish it off... Good luck with that op.

@MonkeyToesOfDoom I haven't bought any snap traps

The only way we got to sorted was pray control.

You do need to block all gaps into your house from the outside, but once they're in they have probably burrowed underground under the floorboards and can easily access the wall cavities therefore have full access to the entire house.

The strong poison pest control uses will kill them very very quickly. There will be a horrific smell for a week or 2 then you need to concentrate on closing all access points into your home.

We had a drain inspection which was thankfully clear and just put it down to gaps in the brickwork and patio. Once they were sealed and the pest controllers did their thing it was resolved very quickly.

Check the holes around your radiator pipes. Block it with wire wool if it’s big enough for a mouse to come through.

My parents had mice in their house a couple of years ago. I could not kill them so bought some humane traps and then released them a few miles away. Once I'd caught 6 mice and could still hear them scratching i got pest control in. I take people's point about the snap traps, it's just something I couldn't do.

We live in London, I had mice a few weeks ago. My Dad taught me the best way to catch them humanely (I released them in the park ... London has LOADS of parks!) You get a plastic transparent container. Should be at least 12 by 8 inches or the mouse will escape. Snap a cocktail stick in half and pierce a nut with the sharp end. Put the container on the floor against a wall and prop the side nearest the wall up with the cocktail stick ... the nut will go on the floor. If the mouse wants the nut it will be forced to go inside the box, when it tries to get the nut, the box will drop down. To get the mouse out, slid some card under the box and put it into a bigger box with a lid. We caught 4 mice in 4 nights! Hope this makes sense!

Honestly I had to give up my fantasy of capturing them and releasing them into a meadow to live a fulfilling life eating berries and snoozing in the afternoon when they kept me awake for a month and wrecked my original chestnut floorboards.

Pest control £150 and they are gone. It is NEVER just one mouse.

Also poison isn't the best because they could, like mine did, die underneath the floor and emit a putrid smell as they decay, before they succumb to the cycle of life and then you get to deal with a swarm of carrion flies (huge fuckers)

They gave poison nowadays which just dries up the body so no decay/smell/flies.

@ClanMcLeod that makes perfect sense. Humanely trapped and released
We live in London, I had mice a few weeks ago. My Dad taught me the best way to catch them humanely (I released them in the park ... London has LOADS of parks!) You get a plastic transparent container. Should be at least 12 by 8 inches or the mouse will escape. Snap a cocktail stick in half and pierce a nut with the sharp end. Put the container on the floor against a wall and prop the side nearest the wall up with the cocktail stick ... the nut will go on the floor. If the mouse wants the nut it will be forced to go inside the box, when it tries to get the nut, the box will drop down. To get the mouse out, slid some card under the box and put it into a bigger box with a lid. We caught 4 mice in 4 nights!

Get some pet rats. Mice hate the smell of them and will soon vacate the premises

These coments are not vile, when you have an infestation and young children you quickly realise you can't piss about humanely capturing them and releasing them. You need to get rid as quick as.

If you'd like to come to my house, capture them all humanely and pay for my wiring to be replaced, furniture and children's toys that weren't salvageable then go ahead.

Can guarantee theres one than one. Look for holes& block them up asap! Traps and poison will work but unless you find the entry points then they will just keep coming

I put the cheapest poison pellets down all the holes before I blocked them off with wire wool, within a week the mice had gone, the environmental health person told me that if there arent many there wouldn't be a smell after they died as they just dehydrate. Also check all your walls outside to see if any pointing is missing or if you have any holes where aerial or sky leads have previously been, that is how ours got in. If you live near any overgrown areas or if any of your garden is overgrown that is where the mice live & breed. Move your furniture round as this upsets them as they are creatures that don't like change & they go away because they are scared.