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Original poster

The mice are winning. Any advice?

148 replies

User534 · 01/04/2023 09:54

We have a mouse infestation. There are droppings. I put a humane mouse trap near the droppings and caught about 10 mice and released them a long way away. Fine. Then the mice learned how to get out of the humane mouse trap. I don't know whether they chatted with each other about how to do this. I caught one of them in the trap, repeatedly hurling itself at the entrance side until it almost managed to get it to open enough for the mouse to slip through. I got that mouse, but others have taken the bait and forced their way out of the trap. So I got two of the killing traps and put them down. This morning the bait had gone from both traps. One trap was open and the other had sprung, but the mouse got away.
Should I move on to poison now? Won't that lead to horrible scenes of dead and dying and decomposing mice all over the house, including under the floorboards and in the ceilings?

OP posts:
BlackForestCake · 01/04/2023 10:00

Mice are so small that when dead they just kind of dry up. Obviously still pretty horrible but you're not going to have rotting carcasses.

Could you borrow a cat?

NotTerfNorCis · 01/04/2023 10:01

Can you find out where they're getting in?

samantha0709 · 01/04/2023 10:02

Get a couple of kittens of a cat.

These sound like very sneaky mice.

NotTerfNorCis · 01/04/2023 10:02

Have a pest controller visit. They aren't expensive.

Redebs · 01/04/2023 10:02

Spring traps baited with raisins. Just keep resetting any that get triggered without result.

nighttalker · 01/04/2023 10:05

Get a cat.

Ours was from a local farm and is the best hunter, they wouldn't stand a chance against him.

BMW6 · 01/04/2023 10:07

Get plug in Sonar deterrents. They got rid of mine overnight.

Original poster
User534 · 01/04/2023 10:14

Great suggestions everyone - thanks! I already have a cat. She catches mice outside and brings them in and releases them, but doesn't do the reverse - lazy sod.
I'll try the raisin thing and look into the sonar option too. So so fed up with this problem.

OP posts:
mintbiscuit · 01/04/2023 10:16

get a snake!!

shggg245 · 01/04/2023 10:21

Yep get a cat. We're surrounded by fields and my 2 are ace hunters, during harvest we get loads of mice....we've also had the much larger house mouse which are hamster size. I used to feel bad for them, but they're constantly pissing, like continually, I've heard they dont have bladders?

You just don't want them in the house. They caused well over a £1000 worth of damage eating through washing machine pipes and dishwasher twice causing flooding our ground floor with dirty water.

I love my cats, they're brilliant hunters, I guess that's why we domesticated cats in the first place.

shggg245 · 01/04/2023 10:23

Haha op just seen your update....

averylongtimeago · 01/04/2023 10:26

You need the plastic snappy trap sort of mouse trap. I get the best results from a blob of chocolate as bait.

Look for where they are getting in- through pipe holes under your sink is a favorite place, they then can run about behind the kick board on the kitchen cupboards. See if you can see the route they take - it may look grubby or greasy . Position several traps along the run. It may take several days but you should get them.

Live traps are no good as they learn to escape, and normally manage to find their way home again when released.
Personally I don't like poison because it is a slow death- and the poisoned bodies could be eaten by other animals. Glue traps are just horrible- at least snap traps are quick!

You can also get ultra sonic deterrents which you plug in- they do help but are not the total answer.

shggg245 · 01/04/2023 10:28

This thread will be like 'cancel the cheque'

Responses 'Get a cat'

OP - 'Yeah I've got one, it's shit'

100 more get a cat posts.

Good luck op 😁

Beamur · 01/04/2023 10:29

Persevere with the spring traps and look for all the spots they could be getting in. My Mum had mice in her kitchen that were squeezing through a tiny gap by the sink outlet into the outside drain. Stuffed it full of wire wool.

Butterfly44 · 01/04/2023 10:29

Problem with poison if they then go off to die and you will have a horrid smell to live with for couple of weeks or so. Near impossible to find dead carcass- could be inside walls etc. Traps still best bet

BobBobBobbing · 01/04/2023 10:29

Electric mouse trap by the big cheese. Bait with nutella and put a raisin at the entrance to entice them in. Quick, no mess and easy to empty.

The rats required the rat reaper trap to eliminate them.

Can you tell we had a plague of squeaky feckers?

samantha0709 · 01/04/2023 10:30

Could you keep the cat indoors just for a couple of days to get her smell around the place and perhaps she'd take an interest in getting the mice if she's got nothing else to do?

anon90210 · 01/04/2023 10:30

Snap traps with short bread, that will kill tjem all. Leave a sachet of poison down too then find the space they're getting in.

WobblyLondoner · 01/04/2023 10:32

averylongtimeago · 01/04/2023 10:26

You need the plastic snappy trap sort of mouse trap. I get the best results from a blob of chocolate as bait.

Look for where they are getting in- through pipe holes under your sink is a favorite place, they then can run about behind the kick board on the kitchen cupboards. See if you can see the route they take - it may look grubby or greasy . Position several traps along the run. It may take several days but you should get them.

Live traps are no good as they learn to escape, and normally manage to find their way home again when released.
Personally I don't like poison because it is a slow death- and the poisoned bodies could be eaten by other animals. Glue traps are just horrible- at least snap traps are quick!

You can also get ultra sonic deterrents which you plug in- they do help but are not the total answer.

Don't give up on the traps just yet. We've been trying to catch one for a few weeks now, using old traps we've had for a while. No luck until yesterday DP got one of the newer plastic ones described here. Came down this morning and mouse no more...

cityle · 01/04/2023 10:33

Sick of all this humane shit.

Of course if you release them.. they will come back lol.

Just fucking kill them

WobblyLondoner · 01/04/2023 10:33

Ps peanut butter as bait worked for us.

ArtichokeAardvark · 01/04/2023 10:34

Call in pest control if it's an infestation. It's not expensive and they should be able to sort the problem fast. Putting down your own traps is fine if there are just a couple of mice but you need to bring in the big guns for a big problem.

ApocalypseNowt · 01/04/2023 10:34

Get a couple of pet rats. Mice hate the smell of them and will leave your house alone. 🐀 🐁

Emigratingimmigrant · 01/04/2023 10:36

You might need pest control if you have that many. Keep on snaptraps. Chocolate worked here

Re humane traps. You are just killing them slowly out of sight btw. Not really humane. Humane for the human who doesn't eant to clean up bodies more like

thegrain · 01/04/2023 10:36

Pay for proper pest control.
I'm afraid humane may not cut it