Mice making me anxious and can't sleep

[PandaAtTheZoo]

Found out we have mice about 11 days ago. Put down some traps and caught 3 in my downstairs toilet/ laundry room. Called the council pest control and they came round for a small fee and put down some bait station boxes last Thursday. Also told us to put mesh over ventilation bricks once the mice have gone. No more mice found in traps and no dead mouse smell. Thought that might be it until I went into the downstairs toilet and saw a live mouse standing between my two snap mice traps. Have they become trap shy? Council pest control not returning until Thursday. I feel very very anxious and losing sleep. Feel like I might burst out crying. Any advice? Thanks

Hi OP we recently had mice too so I know you feel. We tried snap tracks, electric shock box, poison. NONE had any effect. Pest control were useless. We then resorted to sticky traps which I really was against but when it came down to it, it was them or me (and my newborn, toddler and ten year old) so we laid them and they worked.. to a point.

Now we have had our kitchen ripped out and meshing all around the bottom of the walls behind the units as that was their entry point.

Oh I forgot to say we also tried a plug in thing that emits noise to deter them. Didn’t work

Waveysnail I used gloves and wiped down the trap with an antibacterial wipe. Do I need to clean them better afterwards?

The low point was the night we bought our baby home from the hospital and I saw one in the bedroom when we were about to go to sleep. Was the first time I’d seen one upstairs and I was inconsolable. Literally crying and couldn’t breathe, I know that sounds dramatic but that’s how I felt. It’s horrible because your home is like your safe haven, but having rodents there just makes it no longer a safe space if you know what I mean

Dull proof way I found of catching them was to set snap traps overnight at the opening of a door between rooms.

Eg: open your laundry room door just over an inch or so and just outside it place the trap. That way they run straight through and SNAP.

If they don't see the trap they run straight into it as they go between rooms they are used to running between.

Try not to worry too much, just make sure they can't get onto your kitchen surfaces. I get the odd one in occasionally and one time I trained one to come up and take food from my hand. It visited every night for a month or so after that. Always wonder what happened to that wee fella. They are sweet little things really.

You just jump out a your skin when they jump out at you when you go for a pee in the middle of the night lol.

Get one of those plug-in mouse deterrents - about £20 on Amazon - I haven't seen a mouse since I got mine, and I was plagued with them on and off last year. I never did find how they were getting in.

@pinkbonbon you trained it??? How? And why? The ones we had wild run 100mph as soon as they saw us.

Pizzaaddict thats horrifying, Id be in tears over that.

@onlyfoolsnmothers I know. I mentioned it to our new neighbours to prepare them for seeing them and they were so calm about it “ah it’s pretty common”, I wondered how on earth can people just see it as a mild annoyance rather than utterly terrifying

I fully sympathize. I'm currently battling an infestation in my kitchen. Council pest control (I'm in a council flat) have been helpful with putting poison down but they keep coming back. I'm literally on first name terms with the pest control guy

As Pizzaaddict says, try glue traps. I've only ever caught one mouse with a snap trap and I find snap traps very difficult to set up. Whereas I've caught 25 - yes, 25! - on glue traps over the past year.

Glue traps are brilliant but it's horrible seeing the mice wiggling on them. I put a foil box on them so I don't see them and to keep them securely glued on to the glue trap. I then sellotape the box onto the glue trap and throw it out in the rubbish.

I recommend these: www.pestcontroldirect.co.uk/shop/household-pests/pest-control-direct-rats-mice/traps/mouse-catcher-sticky-boards-pack-of-4/

And before anyone complains - yes I know they are not humane and frankly I don't give a shit. I'm fed up of finding droppings and urine stains on my kitchen tops. I'm fed up of having mice run across my lounge scaring my child. Mice cause me anxiety, stress and sleepless nights. I just want rid.

@allabouthallowseve I can’t deal with seeing them on the trap, my partner has to deal with it. The pest control man said the most humane way to deal with them once caught is to do a hard whack on the head with a screwdriver, instant death so they are put out of their misery. I wouldn’t be able to do it myself but luckily my partner can

Yeah I dunno if trained is too strong a word but this one would get quite close. Their sight isn't good, not sure about their hearing either tbh and it would come alongside the sofa (probably for food crumbs on floor) while I'd be there and mosey on past my feet, provided I moved slow.

So I started leaning down slowly to it and putting little bits of food near it and slowly pushing it towards him with a finger and it would come forwards and take it.

Then after a few times doing that I held out food and it hesitated but then came forwards for it. Then after that it would visit and if I was eating I would offer it some. Sweet little thing always took the food so gently :)

Obv if I moved fast or stood it would run off but as long as I moved slow it stayed. Have had a couple of others over the years get close too but obv don't make a habit of feeding them lol.

Pizzaaddict I know what you mean, hard to know how horrible until you have them in your house. They have destroyed 2 of my toddlers teddy bears he left behind a cabinet. Worried about his other toys. Have I cleaned them enough? Where and what have they been on?

@pinkbonbon well you’re braver than me.. but you do know they carry diseases so please don’t! Also if you feed them surely they are going to see your home as a great place to be, I really really wouldn’t

Ours laughed at standard traps and took the bait and ran. We then got the super sensitive ones and nailed the little fuckers.

Oh gosh yes, I have no qualms setting traps when they show up. Luckily they can't get onto my kitchen counters anymore since I put in the new kitchen or it would be more of a problem.

Only ever get one at a time too. Usually about every six months one will show up for a few weeks, every day.

Blocked up holes in the bathroom successfully it seems too tf as there's nothing worse than being on the loo and one jumps out at you.

Definitely not saying don't kill them. And sorry but snap traps are pretty much the only thing that have worked for me.

Just saying, try not let them scare you so much. They are just as scared of us. Usually xD

Pizzaaddict yeah mice certainly not a mild annoyance. I feel like an anxious mess

@PandaAtTheZoo unfortunately I have now discovered they are very common where we live (by the sea) and literally every one I tell the sorry tale too says yes they’ve had them too. Would never have moved here if I’d known!

To*

Buy some polyfilla and fill ALL the holes you can see. It doesn’t last, they dig through it BUT you will then know the entry point and you can use a more permanent method such as mesh to block it

1. Be grateful it's not bedbugs (!)

2. It's vile, but sticky paper is the only things that's worked for us.

I heard with sticky paper they can try to chew their own leg off to get free and you can find a mouse with a missing leg? Is that true? I feel sick at the thought of that.

@PandaAtTheZoo I've never seen that. They do wiggle if you find them still alive and it's not pleasant. But the ones I've caught have just laid flat on the glue traps, unable to get free. When you've caught as many as I have, you do get a bit hardened to the sight of them. I've tried so many other traps and the only ones that work for me are the glue traps.

The good thing about the ones I linked to is you can fold them away when not using them.

You kinda get used to it. We live rurally and when I first found a mouse I was freaked. Now I don't really bat an eyelid if I see one. I can't deal with the traps myself, my husband does it, but we did have a traumatic evening the other night.

I'd seen a mouse in the living room, so we baited a trap, in the evening we were sitting there and heard it snap shut. But for the first time ever it had caught the mouse by its legs. I don't know how. So it wasn't dead, but it was shaking and on its way, was awful. My husband had to take it outside and off it with a shovel. It would have been cruel to let it die slowly,

We then put the same trap back and literally it snapped again, this mouse had been taking the bait and died instantly.

None since, but it's cold and wet, and in an old house they will come in, so I have to assume there will be another visitor at some point. 😔

Did you use Rentokil Advance Traps, OP? We found them to be the most effective.