It's not a mouse is it??....

[omega11]

I have been placed in temporary accommodation which was absolutely filthy when I arrived. Brown carpet that is actually light grey, food smeared up walls, greasy marks and hand prints everywhere etc. It's a long road where the houses are ALL connected - there must be at least 200 houses each side. We don't have bins so bin bags are kept in the garden until bin day when they are moved to the front.

Until last week I hadn't seen or heard any evidence of any kind of infestation at all (which surprised me as this was my first concern when I noticed there were no bins). I dropped a piece of pasta down the side of the oven last Thursday and didn't immediately pick it up. A couple of hours later I remembered and went to get it. The whole thing was gone. Didn't think much of it as I assumed I had picked it up earlier.

The same thing happened a few days later but it was a larger piece of chicken and I definitely hadn't cleaned it. This morning my daughter made a mess at breakfast and had thrown Cheerios all over the floor. We were in a rush to leave so I left it. When we got home the floor was clear... No mouse poo or urine patches. I've had mice before so I've seen the mess they make.

WHAT THE FUCK IS IN MY HOUSE????

I'm dreading the day I see it and have been hiding upstairs with the lights on. My friend suggested setting up a webcam but I'm bloody terrified

House trained mouse? Call to the council first thing op.

Well whatever it is, stop leaving food on the floor and feeding it.

Clean up after yourself and call the council.

I think I’ve read that ants will do exactly this and clean up completely, though I would have thought that you’d see some evidence of them - but I am not an expert!

I'd set up a webcam if you can. How many Cheerios were there? I can't see a mouse eating more than one or two. A rat maybe, but I think you'd see other evidence of it was a rat.

Nah, mouse can dart out, grab food (they’re stronger then they look) and go back down his little hidey hole without leaving a trace. They leave poo when they have to go further. If they are just darting out it’ll take seconds. I speak from experience. Our mice were getting in under appliances in kitchen in our poorly designed rented flat. If they weren’t able to find crumbs in the kitchen because we’d cleaned and bleached the fuck out of the floor, they’d venture further (to my handbag actually, where one ate an entire blister of multivitamins)

That’s when they left evidence in the form of droppings, when they had to charter a new area to go on a little mission.

I lived in a flat that had mice and there was never any visible mouse poo or piss. Sorry.

The odd thing is, I haven't seen any tiny holes or gaps that any animal could enter through and I've literally cleaned every inch of the house. I'm going to have another look after work tomorrow.

I've had mice before so am usually meticulous about leaving food anywhere but at least I know there's something here.

I will call the council in the morning, but if they're not even providing bins I can't see them caring

Mice can get in the tiniest of gaps and will make multiple visits a night to a food source so leaving food debris about will only encourage them. I still get mice in because I live rurally and my cat’s are rotten mousers.

Rats !

Rats. Most likely behind your appliances, probably living under all of the houses connected.