To be horrified at what I’ve come home to?

[deedeemegadoodoo]

I’ve been on holiday for two weeks and just arrived home to mouse droppings all over the house. My DH mentioned he saw a mouse in the hot bin composter just before we left and it seems to have snuck inside and run amok.

What can I do? I have a small dog so poison is a no no. I’m not scared of mice but obviously want a quick solution to get rid.

The pest controller that lives round the corner from me (very handy when your neighbour thinks she has Steptoes yard) recommends bacon or ham on the trap. As they give the meat a tug, snap! Also to leave them alone for a few days as they don’t like change.

I have used live/catch and release traps with great success. Put several down in case you have more than one mouse, bait with peanut butter. Glue traps are cruel and so are snap ones as they often don't kill straight away and dogs can get into them too.

Agreed. I have had Jack Russells and Westies and both were great at catching rodents. Very high prey drive.

Seriously, not worth it. We tried this, it worked for a short time but the mice came back. Presumably they get acclimatised to the noise and learn to tolerate it.

A few years back we had a shrew family living under a shower, we bought the traps linked below (not currently available in the twin pack) and some chocolate bait, the shrews ate the bait without triggering the trap. A 1p piece carefully placed added a bit of extra weight meaning the lightweight shrews triggered the trap. Caught 4 in a couple of hours and released them all down the road (we live in the country so a field).

As mentioned above wear gloves at all times when handling to prevent human smell on the traps.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08XM2DNJR

When we moved to our house there were mice.

I got a man in.

He sealed up every gap in the house as well as laying traps.

I haven’t seen a mouse since.

Having seen a cat which the vet thought had eaten a poisoned rodent I wouldn't use poison unless everything else failed and I was definitely dealing with rats not mice. Even if you keep your own pets safe I would be worried that something else might get to a poisoned corpse. I think it's fairly easy to keep pets away from snap traps, if you put them into a cupboard.

We use the electric traps - you charge them up, put some bait inside, the mouse goes in and gets an electric shock. When there is a dead mouse inside, a light flashes and you just empty it into the bin or wherever. We bought three off Amazon and it very quickly got rid of all the mice that appeared in our house after new neighbours moved in to the house on our adjoining wall with a dog.

They are so cruel- humane traps and then release them.

How are they getting in?? Don't panic

You also have to remember that poisoned rodents don't die instantly so there is a risk of your dog getting hold of a poisoned mouse. We had a difficult time getting rid of rats but cutting off any potential food supply and all access points into your home, every tiny hole, plug it with wirewool as they can't chew that.

Common sense should tell you not to use poison. It is inhumane to the rodents and a danger to birds of prey and other animals who eat them.

Are you sure it's literally "all over the house"? After only two weeks? If you have one or two, buy mouse traps. If you have a lot, get an exterminator.
No reason to be scared. Mice may creep you out, but nothing to be scared of.

Depends. We spent 600 quid to get rid of one rat. They didn't.

Back in the day when we had a rat issue (caused by the overcrowded neighbours and their food-waste hoarding teenagers) my lurcher was absolutely incredible.

He found the one point where they were coming into the house via the foul drain vent (roofspace, down the boxing in to behind the kitchen units) - I opened up the boxing in in the loo, blocked it from letting them go further down.

Then lurcher-face just lay in wait for the little fuckers and he could get 'em quicker than they could do a u-turn and go back up, he knew JUST how far away to lie to be out of their sight. I wanted to lob him in the loft too (they were coming across the loft and accessing the vent pipe boxing from there) but OH drew the line at carrying a wriggly lurcher up a ladder.

FYI, trap and release is not the humane option you assume - its nicer for you. If the area you release the victim in supports a rat/mouse population, the incomer is most likely to get driven out or savaged, and dies. If the area does not support a population... they die for whatever reason that area does not support a population.

Rats and to a slightly lesser degree, mice, are horribly territorial and pretty vicious to nervous newcomers.

That is after you take into account the stress of being trapped and transported and dumped somewhere new of course.

I've seen this, well, not the punches lol, but my old cat chased a mouse and it finally had enough. Stopped, stood up on back legs and just stood there facing him. My old cat didn't know what to do and walked away miffed.

My cats have seen off any mice. Might be worth seeing if your dog would accept one! Or put your dog in a kennel and borrow a cat for a week? The mice will soon scarper.

You can get plug in mouse deterrents. They emit sounds that rodents can’t tolerate but are safe around other animals

My dad has successfully rid his house of mice with humane traps. He caught 12 and let them out in a field.

DIY was an utter failure for us. It’s never one mouse or even a few.

all our cats were good for was picking up the mice and bringing them into the bedroom completely unharmed.

pest control tracked down a nest and every entry point in the house. They kept everything they used to kill the mice contained to isolated areas of the house that our cats could not reach and we could not reach without great effort. The problem was resolved practically overnight.

Well out of my 3 “working” pets (collie and x2 barn cats) I can send you Frankie who would not rest until he had the mouse under control 😆 his blood sister and dog sister wouldn’t finish the job but he would fully commit (though will bring it back to you as a very special gift)

edit: will send you his sister too, she will distract your dog with relentless attempts to snuggle… if the dog wants it or not 😆

I’d call in rent a kill or what ever mouse company you have close asap. We had a total infestation which was totally horrific (I’ve now a total phobia of mice) plus anything that moves fast (even a leaf can set me off in a panic attack). You need to work out where they are coming in from that’s the only way to get rid of them. Plus it’s never one it’s always several (plus the babies)

Strawberry jam (the one with the white and red checked lid) omg mice go crazy for that stuff! If you need anything to tempt them.

Also I had to get a knife and cut under the sofas as they can live under there too!

Good luck nice in homes are horrific better don’t delay as they are reproduce and the numbers increase daily.

Plugs didn’t work for us but we lived in London not sure that made a difference or not.

Try to find out how they're getting into the house. In my case they were getting into the house through a hole in the kitchen lino. Got the lino replaced, no more mice in the house.

BTW put poison where pets can't go, like the loft or under floorboards. But bear in mind it isn't a great solution. The vermin keep coming back, and the corpses stink.

I had both mice and rats. Rat problem resolved (touch wood!!!) by a 'gate' on a sewage pipe. I have a camera in the loft tracking any new movement.

Traps and one of those plug in radar prevention things