Mice in the house

[marychristmas22]

I've just found definite evidence of mice in our attic. Went up to get some elf props and there was droppings and nibble marks over some stuff in the attic. We have a dorma bungalow and the attic runs around the upstairs room but is separated by a door.

We live rurally with woods and fields around the house so it's not surprising really but I'm very grossed out. As a rule we don't use the upstairs room but surely if they are in the attic they can get anywhere in the house.

Dh has shrugged and said he'll get some traps off Amazon. I feel like we need pest control but not sure if we'll be able to get anyone this close to Christmas. Should I be really worried?

Pest control seems a bit drastic as a first step. I would go with half a dozen traps baited with peanut butter. You may get 4 or 5 and then nothing for a while.

Yes husband said that too. I think I just freaked out.

It's not like they are running among us or in our living space as such, but I'm still really worried we're going to get a huge infestation!

I would feel the same as you. They don’t live off fresh air so they may well be going down your walls in between the insulation etc

Can you borrow a cat?

I live in a ground floor flat and I can hear mice/rats in the ceiling at night. It's horrible!
Are they just there for shelter?

Buy some traps, use peanut butter (add some chocolate chips too if you can!) hopefully there's just one and you can catch it! We had a mouse in our house last year and luckily we caught it and never had a problem again

We've had the little blighters move in most winters. I just set traps. Tend to catch several in the first week then things go quiet.

If you're using snap traps, avoid the "clamshell" style, they don't reliably kill the mouse. The traditional wooden traps are reliable but a bitch to set, the plastic traps where the arm makes a decent swing down are also reliable.

I can't speak for live catch except you need to take the mice bloody miles away or they'll find their way home. Glue traps are extremely cruel and should be outlawed.

AFAIK pest controllers tend to use poison because it's more set-and-forget, but it's not their house that could end up with a dead rodent under the floorboards! In any case I'd only get pest controllers in for mice if it was severe. Seeing the mice during the daytime is a sign things have got bad, since they're normally nocturnal.

They grossed me out so much, I brought pest control in imeadatly. They arrived the next day, so may be worth a try tomorrow. The sound of them scurrying around literally made me want to vomit.

I haven't heard them or seen evidence of them other than the dropping and nibble marks in an old Christmas decoration. We once had one downstairs but dh plugged up the gap it was getting through and I assumed they'd gone. Clearly not. As I said it's not surprising really since we live in the country but I'm just worried about the damage and disease. Op has bought some traps. The sticky glue sheets are barbaric I would never use them.

If it’s in an attic make sure it’s not squirrels, there are laws around their “management” as pests.

Wait a few days, I've heard they don't stir on the night before Christmas.

I hate to be the bearer of unwelcome news, but virtually every dwelling, house or building occupied by humans is also home to mice, whether that be in a rural or urban setting, an office, factory, shop or supermarket and there are as many mice in towns and cities as there are in the countryside. They just keep themselves to themselves much of the time, minding their own business and usually go unnoticed.

I have one particularly tame one in my house - a long tailed field mouse which comes out every evening for a small heap of biscuit crumbs. It does no harm and is more entertaining to watch than the crap on the television!

I just walked into my living room and there was a mouse just having a leisurely meander about. I screamed, it dived behind the telly and I retreated to the kitchen. I saw one last year at this time but despite investigating couldn't find where it was getting in and I didn't see it again. Live in the country so suspect they are around all the time just don't see them. This one must be thick because they are supposed to be nocturnal. Going to get a humane trap which I know already won't work and if it does I will have to drive effing miles to drop it off because otherwise it will just come back. Ho ho ho merry Christmas 🎄