Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Help we have mice!

45 replies

weddinggong · 15/07/2020 11:38

We live quite rurally and have found some droppings late April. Put up one of those humane traps that just catches them and caught 3-4 field mice over the course of a week. We kept the trap up over the course of the next 2 weeks and nothing else got caught. There were no more droppings or any other signs for weeks.
Fast forward to yesterday and I noticed droppings around the dogs bowl (luckily empty as we have been super vigilant to wash up and clear anything away since April).
Last night I was sat in the kitchen quite late reading and I spotted a field mouse scurrying over from behind the oven to the dogs bowl and shooting back when it noticed me.
We pulled out the oven as we suspected it as the most likely place they could be getting through as the old slate tiles behind it do not go all the way to the ground leaving an inch gap and you can get through into the walls there if you were something small like a mouse and to my horror we found an empty nest.
We removed it and cleaned up but now I know we might be facing an infestation since they clearly bred and I really need advice on what to do to get rid of them?
The humane trap clearly isn't working, I'm wary of poison as we have a dog and I don't really like the idea of it but I'll do it if needs must and take whatever precautions necessary. I can't really afford to pay for someone to come in at the moment but I can't live like this!

Can anyone advise please?

OP posts:
sleepismysuperpower1 · 15/07/2020 11:42

Do you know anyone with a cat or 2 that you could borrow? You need to seal all possible entrances that they are getting in. Try soaking cotton balls in peppermint oil, and placing 2 at each entrance, as well as getting these sound machines and plugging them in around the house.
all the best x

geojellyfish · 15/07/2020 11:45

Proper old fashioned mouse traps behind and under furniture/units your dog can't access.

Simultaneously you need to identify and seal all holes. Survey the house from outside, use mesh sheets to cover air bricks, etc. And fill other holes.

Good luck!

chunkyrun · 15/07/2020 11:51

Rescue a cat? In all seriousness though have you sealed up any gaps?

MrsFogi · 15/07/2020 11:54

Don't get a cat!! We have mice because the cats keep bringing them in alive and then just dropping them at various places around the house.

Onestepup · 15/07/2020 11:55

We tried the humane traps but no luck. I didn't want to use poison so went for snap traps, which worked (eventually). By a multipack and put them everywhere the dog can't get them.

Lockheart · 15/07/2020 11:56

Don't use poison if you can possibly avoid it. It may get into the food chain, and like you say, you have pets.

Those humane traps are fine but you need to release them many miles away - you can't just put them in the garden, they'll be straight back in.

I'd get some proper snap traps if it were me, and place them in areas of high traffic. You can get boxes to shield them from pets, if you can't put them somewhere inaccessible to the dog.

As other posters have said, you also need to block entry points. It might be worth hiring a pest controller who can help with this.

AramintaLee · 15/07/2020 11:58

I would 100% get a cat. My grandparents lived in the countryside and their cottage was infested with mice so got 2 kittens. Totally sorted it.

EmbarrassedUser · 15/07/2020 11:58

I feel your pain OP. Years ago I had this and after a while they got really friendly and would just stroll across my living room bold as brass and sometimes have a sit down 🤯🤮 I just made sure that I blocked all the holes and eventually I stopped seeing them. The first time I saw one I nearly pooped myself though!

Feetupteashot · 15/07/2020 11:59

Little nipper mouse traps and seal up holes bigger than 1cm

chunkyrun · 15/07/2020 11:59

Cats can be luck of draw. Mines an absolute killing machine. Even had a go at my mums chihuahua before

WhoWouldHaveThoughtThat · 15/07/2020 12:01

By humane trap I'm guessing you mean the sort that captures them but does not kill them?
If so you have to release them about a mile away otherwise they will just come back in (and sneer at you).

AlCalavicci · 15/07/2020 12:06

I know having mice is horrid , I had them for about 2 months when I moved into my current home but please dont use poison it can take days to kill them and there is the risk of birds foxes cats etc catching them and ingesting the poison too.
I kept polecats in the past and was knew i'd be getting them again once I had the house sorted so I speed up the process and got a couple , they are better mousers than most house cats ( farm cats are in a league of their own ! )

Do you know anyone that keeps polecats or ferrets ?
Failing that snap traps work quickly and as kindly as it is possible , bait with chocolate or peanut butter

AnotherEmma · 15/07/2020 12:12

We've had mice and our cats are useless!
One of the cats did catch a mouse but just played with it and didn't kill it.
I don't see the point of humane traps as the mice will just come back in.
Poison is awful, can you imagine if the mouse died in a hidden place in your house, it would start to rot and smell Confused
I think old fashioned mouse traps are the best, we bought some and left them (out of the cats' reach) with peanut butter, we have caught a few that way.
It's grim but necessary.

Also my local council will send pest control for mice infestations although last time I called they weren't going into houses due to coronavirus.

mencken · 15/07/2020 12:16

not humane traps, not sticky traps (horribly cruel) , not poison and not a cat.

snap traps - there are modern versions for not-very-much that are easier to set and empty. And look into blocking up the holes.

they'll be back in force in early autumn.

Cadent · 15/07/2020 12:32

Snap traps all the way. Quick death.

I like the Rentokil Advance Traps. My mum had no luck with the humane trap and glue sheets and I leant her my snap traps and they did the job.

AnotherEmma · 15/07/2020 12:33

I should point out that once our snap trap didn't fully do the job so DH had to finish it off Confused

CutCopyPastedLikeYou · 15/07/2020 12:40

Another vote for snap traps.

Any time I put them down, there's a dead mouse within 2 hours.

Original poster
weddinggong · 15/07/2020 12:49

I should point out that once our snap trap didn't fully do the job so DH had to finish it off 

^ this is my absolute fear! I would absolutely not be able to "finish it off" and neither would DP. I'm petrified if that happening and being in a complete panic and the poor thing being in pain.

OP posts:
Cadent · 15/07/2020 12:50

Then just live with the mice 🤷‍♀️

hardtimeuphere · 15/07/2020 12:52

I have a mouse problem too- things that help: snap traps (I would prefer humane but they don't work imo) just keep putting them down and emptying them. Foil can help temporarily fill holes until you can get something more permanent. Check absolutely every nook and cranny for holes they can apparently sneak in through something as small as the tip of a pencil?!?! If you can get a cat, and make sure there is nothing to tempt them outside near your house (loose rubbish etc) as once they get comfy in the garden with a food source inevitable they will want to come inside. Vigilance is key! Mine can get through an open window in our house so when I open it I stick a timer on so I remember to close it. Annoying but if I don't then I know there will be a mouse about Hmm

Whenwillthisbeover · 15/07/2020 12:54

You can’t get a cat just because you have mice especially when you have a dog! The OP said she can’t afford pest control, oh yes get a cat for the next fifteen years and the associated cost instead, anyway there’s no guarantee that a cat is a mouser anyway, I’ve had a couple that would watch a mouse walk past them and not move.

Remove any sources of food, clean scrupulously, don’t leave dog food out or in cupboards that aren’t completely sealed. Block up all holes even the tiniest ones.

hardtimeuphere · 15/07/2020 12:55

@weddinggong

I should point out that once our snap trap didn't fully do the job so DH had to finish it off 

^ this is my absolute fear! I would absolutely not be able to "finish it off" and neither would DP. I'm petrified if that happening and being in a complete panic and the poor thing being in pain.

It is horrible, and I regularly have dead mice pop up in my dreams, but I can't have them in the house and snap traps are the absolute best thing to get rid of them so it has to be done. Feel your horror though as it's not nice. Flowers
JorisBonson · 15/07/2020 12:56

Snaptraps baited with Dairy Milk have been the only things to work for me.

UncleShady · 15/07/2020 12:56

We got cats, which meant the rats went (lots of urban chickens) and we got blossom and fruit on trees again (because they scared the squirrels off) However we went from not having seen a mouse at all, ever, to getting 2-3 a week presented to us. Mostly dead, this morning not so.

okiedokieme · 15/07/2020 12:59

Just keep trapping once you have blocked the holes. It works

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

Join Mumsnet Log In

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.