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Original poster

ONG scurrying noise tonight

148 replies

StormCattitude · 05/12/2021 00:15

Tonight I'm upstairs crafting, so sat still for ages. My children downstairs directly below me watching TV, also unlikely to have moved for ages.
I heard a weird noise around 11pm, couldn't place it as I had music on low. Wondered possibly if it came from the chimney breast but unsure.
Next thing my DC shout that they're coming up to bed, they'd heard a scurrying noise in the living room. They couldn't place it either, but said the cat looked alerted (she's old so this just means raising her head in the direction of suspicious noise these days).
I went to the living room & we quietly stood for a moment. The noise started again, but moving location. Basically it sounded like something moving around in void between the downstairs ceiling & upstairs floor.

It's got to be a mouse, or mice, hasn't it?

What do I do? What can I do? Actually have rodent poison as we're not far from a park, but I've never used it as it was more bought with the garden in mind. Wasn't expecting this. And if I used poison inside and a mouse died in the void it'd stink wouldn't it? I'm post covid with no smell so might not even notice!

Just me & my DC. No experience with this & no one to help me / us. Don't think I'll sleep tonight anyway, plus DD is in my bed & has said she wants music on all night as mice don't like noise.

Thinking back, the other day I saw the cat sniffing at a new doorway to the extension which hasn't been fully plastered yet so possibly open to the void. I thought she was just being weird. And I remember waking about 2-3am a couple of months ago & hearing something which sounded like something was moving possibly in the loft (I never go in there) but I was half asleep & after I'd got up to try to place it, it stopped, didn't hear it again so I'd forgotten about it.

OP posts:
Original poster
StormCattitude · 05/12/2021 00:16

Title should be: OMG not ONG 🤦‍♀️

OP posts:
Cleebope2 · 05/12/2021 00:17

We get this all the time especially in winter. If u have cats they won’t come in the house and if they do your problem will soon be solved naturally. Don’t worry about it so long as they aren’t rats. Rats are louder and heavier and need getting rid of asap. Mice are harmless really.

Original poster
StormCattitude · 05/12/2021 00:24

Do mice and rats sound different? How could I tell which I'd have if I had either? Not seen droppings but our house is cluttered to the rafters so could be something out of sight potentially. Hoping to start a declutter tm.

Not convinced our cat would do more than just look at a rodent. She's quite nervous & old.

OP posts:
Paperdove87 · 05/12/2021 00:27

I've got mice again at the moment and watching this with interest as I want alternatives to poison etc. We're going to try humane traps. Apparently mice love peanut butter? DH is convinced they're going to chew the electrics but he's also scared of them so... I'd love a cat!

gingerscot · 05/12/2021 00:29

Mice aren’t harmless if they chew. Get snap traps tomorrow. Set one on the loft and one near where the cat was sniffing.

Maybe a tray of bait in the loft and one somewhere near the door where the cat won’t get it. Rub some peanut butter on the bottom of the tray before you put the poison in. That’s what pest control did for me. The poison makes they go outside searching for water so they don’t die in the walls.

gingerscot · 05/12/2021 00:31

Humane traps are less “humane” than snap traps. Mice live in family groups and if they’re house mice then they can’t survive outside. If you release them outside and away from their family group they will either starve to death or be eaten by predators. Both of which are longer and more painful than a quick snap trap.

Paperdove87 · 05/12/2021 00:33

Didn't know that, thank you. It's so hard to try and do the right thin but I'm glad I asked. SadI used to have pet mice and I love them but I also don't want them to chew the wires.

JessieOh · 05/12/2021 00:35

I can't offer a solution but I'd worry about putting poison down and the cat potentially eating it. Sad

Original poster
StormCattitude · 05/12/2021 00:41

Can't do peanut butter, DC have nut allergy. Any alternative? Got my poison from Screwfix, guessing they'd have snaptraps too then.
I was so chilled crafting earlier, first evening I've taken to myself in months, now I'm a bag of nerves. Lived here over 20 years, never had a problem before!

OP posts:
Double3xposure · 05/12/2021 00:42

Mice are not harmless in your house , they will eat things like curtains and clothes and leave droppings.

If you are putting down poison yourself it needs to go in a special box, so it can’t be accessed by pets / children.

House mice are MUCH harder to get rid of as they are more fussy than field mice. If they have just moved in in the past few weeks they are more likely to be field mice.

Original poster
StormCattitude · 05/12/2021 00:42

I am a bit worried the cats food could be a food source for mice too, she has dried & wet food laid out plus water.

OP posts:
Double3xposure · 05/12/2021 00:44

Yes the mice will indeed eat the cats food. You need to clear away the dishes once the car has eaten.

Original poster
StormCattitude · 05/12/2021 00:45

Thanks for all the replies so far, keeping me from spiralling into a major panic just to reach out & have feedback.
Looks like our council do residential pest control, rodents around £90-100. I'm guessing they'd be cheaper than rentokil.

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Original poster
StormCattitude · 05/12/2021 00:48

Right, thanks. I'm too scared to go downstairs again tonight (don't judge. !) but will see to this tm. Cat won't be plsd, she's used to grazing. Can't take her water though, is that an issue do you think?

OP posts:
Original poster
StormCattitude · 05/12/2021 00:50

Sorry, should've said that last reply was for Double3xposure

OP posts:
Thelnebriati · 05/12/2021 00:58

If you can't use peanut butter as bait, they like milk chocolate.

audweb · 05/12/2021 01:00

@JessieOh

I can't offer a solution but I'd worry about putting poison down and the cat potentially eating it. Sad
The council came and put poison down in my house in places the cat couldn’t get to and even if she could wouldn’t get into it but the mice still could. Did the trick. The mice came into my house despite the cat and the cat just brought me them as gifts in the night time.
Original poster
StormCattitude · 05/12/2021 01:03

Thanks about the milk choc idea. Deffo can't use any kind of nut product and also I've moved the choc advent calendars from downstairs kitchen area to be safe.

OP posts:
FitnessFad · 05/12/2021 01:03

I recently had this problem too. My advice - get pest control out ASAP tomorrow and get some heavy duty poison down. Don't bother with shop bought, you need the good stuff. I'd get a private local person/company rather than the council or retokil.

You need to find out where they are coming in from - any obvious places I'm the walls outside? Do you have decking? If you've heard it in the loft are they getting through via the neighbours house? Someone should go up there to check for access.

Make sure all cupboard food is in tupperware. crackers, cereals, even flour. This needs to be a permanent thing not just to get rid of them.
Also make sure no food is in bedrooms etc, and wipe up any spilt crumbs etc immediately. It's food they are looking for so need to remove anything that may tempt them.

It's awful, but act quickly and it will be over within a week. Good luck.

Original poster
StormCattitude · 05/12/2021 01:06

Luckily (I think) we have a door separating the upstairs from downstairs so the cat sleeps downstairs each night with a firmly shut door, purely for fire safety reasons but also no way for her to deliver 'gifts' if she was tempted! Phew!

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TimeFlysWhenYoureHavingRum · 05/12/2021 01:09

Could be a poltergeist.

PissedOffNeighbour22 · 05/12/2021 01:12

We've just dealt with this same issue. We caught a few ourselves with an electronic trap as they're supposedly more humane. Then I found mouse shit all over the spare bed and called the council in.
We spoke to rentokil who quoted about £600. Decided to use council instead as it's £150 for 3 visits (we had 6 in the end).

We have a cat and it made no impact on the mice, they still wandered wherever they wanted and the cat didn't even seem to notice they were there until we were 'infested'.
The mouse man said we'd probably had them several months and it takes that long to start seeing enough droppings etc. They were running in wall voids and loft plus behind the (brand new Angry) kitchen cupboards.
We did discover they had been eating cat biscuits from a pack we'd forgotten about in the hallway.
The poison was put out of the way of our cat and child, but is apparently harmless to them if ingested.

In our first traps we used jam and cheese and the mice loved it.

Original poster
StormCattitude · 05/12/2021 01:12

@TimeFlysWhenYoureHavingRum

Could be a poltergeist.
I'd rather a poltergeist!
OP posts:
Original poster
StormCattitude · 05/12/2021 01:18

Pissedoff did you or the council find out how they got in? I've read mice can get through gaps as small as 0.5cm, I'm sure the gap under the garage door is bigger than that! My walls are solid double brick no cavity except in the extension where there's a cavity.

OP posts:
AlmostAJillSandwich · 05/12/2021 01:24

I've had mice for a little over a year now, they seem to be super intelligent and avoid the snap traps or some are just too light to set them off.
AFAIK none have touched me, no wires chewed etc, so try not to worry too much, they won't imminently harm you.

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