To ask what to do about this mouse

[OhHuck]

Yesterday evening we heard a scratching sound above the living room ceiling. It's been ongoing since, it seems to stop for ahort periods and then continues despite me banging on the ceiling with the broom. it seems a mouse is stuck somewhere under the bedroom floorboards. The scratching/shuffling sound is in one small area which makes me think it must be stuck and is getting desperate. It sounds like its gnawing away at a beam/floorboard and DC are getting anxiety about it getting into their bedroom. I'm more worried about the wiring and pipes up there being gnawed into.

I want to get the poor bugger out but I'm shit scared (DH is a bigger wimp than me), if it dies the smell will be unbearable and quite a challenge with being stuck at home all day.

Anyone been in this situation? What is the best course of action?

There won’t be one mouse, alas.

Please don't say that!

If you hear scratchings it's more than one making it's way in. Set traps and block all holes.

Can you lift a floorboard and put down a snap trap?

Call pest control?

Are you in the country or city?

@Cherrysoup I want to but I keep visualizing it (or they!) jumping out on me. I'm 11 weeks pregnant and hormonal and feel slightly crazed after so many weeks of isolation

@Shoppingwithmother a small town

I wonder if the council will come out. I know they charge but with the coronavirus I'm not sure what the situation is. I'll ring them in morning

Are pest controllers still working?
If they can get in they can usually get out. Are you're sure it's a live animal in there and not transferred noise? I thought I had rats in my attic once, but it turned out to be a partly disconnected satellite dish outside. Birds in chimneys can transfer noise weirdly, too. That said, if you're sure, I'd pull the carpet up in the nearest corner and leave a humane trap in the corner to see if you can tempt it out. If that fails, I'd lift a couple of floorboards and leave the trap in the cavity.
I worked in a converted barn many years ago where we had a rat die beneath the floor. You're right about not wanting the smell!
Hope you get it sorted. Good luck.

I would just call pest control OP. I had a rat in my kitchen cupboard (where my boiler is) last year. I could see its tale sticking out from underneath the door . I live right near a dual carriageway and they had recently done some work so I think it must have disturbed it. I think I paid around £120 all in all but they made 3 visits - 1 to set traps etc, then back to check and dispose of anything (which there wasn't) and then came back again to check over everything / make sure there were no more droppings etc. Luckily my neighbour offered to fill up the hole where it had come through as he'd been having the same problem. Good luck! I know it's awful they make me bloody squirm but their more afraid of us than we are of them (I think )

Sometimes in more rural areas or near fields etc a field mouse can come in, but not be actually living and breeding in your house. Unlike in city areas where house mice definitely do live in your house.

We had a similar situation where I believed a mouse got stuck inside the bedroom wall. There was a lot of scrabbling and scratching over 3 nights, which grew weaker and stopped.
My theory was that the mouse had got stuck and died. We couldn’t smell it though, as it was inside the wall.
Rentokil came out and found that field mice were getting in.
I keep getting junk emails from them at the moment, so they are definitely still operating!

We got a humane trap and caught our mouse. We called him Henry and dh released him some distance from the house. We put the trap back in and caught another and another. We were well past Henry the eighth by the time we were finished. Dh started marking them with tipex before releasing them so we could see whether they were coming back. Pest control might be your best option.

I've just checked the local council website and pest control is not currently doing home or business visits. So I'll see tomorrow if a private company will be willing to pay us a visit.

I'm pretty sure the mouse (I refuse to accept there are more than one at this time of night!) has come in from next door. It's a very old and poorly maintained rental property and I have heard strange scratching sounds from their side of the bedroom wall once.

We have a row of houses being built a couple of streets away and I'm guessing that has caused an increase in the mouse/rat problem in the area.

@VividImagination

Your DH sounds so much braver than mine. He's currently downstairs banging the ceiling with the broom.

There's no way I'd set a trap for an animal. At the same time I'm aware that no-one wants mice in their home because they can gnaw through anything. Also, the scuttling thing is offputting.

I had the same thing with noises coming from the loft area. Once a mouse appeared in the kitchen I checked out how to get rid of mice without trapping them (humane traps are in no way humane). What I did was place a low step-ladder against an empty bin, with an empty kitchen paper cardboard tube smeared with peanut butter balanced on top of the ladder over the bin. The bin needs to be tall enough for the mouse not to be able to jump out.

Very shortly there was a noise from the kitchen, and a mouse in the bin. The bin, with the mouse in it, was driven a couple of miles away to fields, and the mouse was let out. [Poor husband; following my wishes and probably feeling like a fool.]

@Shoppingwithmother we have field mice run in to look for food and then run out. We usually spend the day blocking up holes after.

If it happens when you are sitting quietly it may be a squirrel nesting. The noise tends to stop if you move or make a noise.
They leave the nest and go back again which means you can block them out, but it would be cruel to do that if there are babies in there. They do gnaw through rafters and things though.

On the other hand it might be mice, but I have only ever had mice during the colder months, squirrels at this time of year.

My cat keeps bringing in live mice. Then leaving them to roam around, like a day trip. Stupid bloody cat. Found a dead one under the sofa last night.... I think the guided tour gave the mouse a heart attack.

My daughter wants pet ones now. I'm not sure that's a good idea.

I dont think it will be a squirrel because it's a tiny space up there between the living room ceiling plasterboard and bedroom floorboards. It's got to be a mouse. It's only been a year since we renovated and had to knock the entire living room ceiling down so I know that there isnt much space up there. And lots of wires running in the particular area we can hear the sound which is making me nervous.

This may well be going against the trend, but just get snappy traps. You want to kill them. As much as they’re cute, and you want to be nice, just get rid.
3 or 4 snappy traps in key areas, and check them a couple of times a day. Get rubber gloves. You’ll soon get used to dealing with dead mice, I’m afraid. Use some wire wool/scouring pads in any gaps you can find.
I’ve had an infestation, due to my neighbours. It’s grim, and you want rid.
Good luck

We have just given up with the field mice in our house - it’s a very old cottage and we just cannot block up all the holes!

Rentokil tried to block them as best they could, but they still can get in.

What has made a big difference though is we just keep all food in plastic boxes, or in cupboards which they definitely can’t get into. They mainly come in to look for food.

I’d rather they came in, didn’t find anything and then left, than just have to have a load of dead mice in the loft (where Rentokil our the traps).

The field mice are actually really beautiful!