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.

It's certainly not advisable for many reasons but I don't believe it's illegal. Where do you get the information it's illegal?

Following your update it does sound like you have an infestation, so professionals probably required. I havwnt had any back ( touch wood) since i had my guy out. His service even included him leaving Traps and coming back to make sure there were no further mice caught...so worth it.

Obviously watched Tom and Jerry lol

...a rural neighbour of mine killed their dog leaving out poison for rats or mice ....cant remember which . Didn't protect the poison from other animals and so their dog ate some of it and sadly passed away. Poor animal. 😪 I couldn't believe how stupid they were.

The most useless Mouser in the History of Earth Before Time Began .

His sister brought in the mouse I had carefully released -obviously not far enough away
I'm sure it said "Oi, moggy . I'm bloody freezing and she's left a tube of Skippys Crunchy under the stairs . Take me back"

I second that cats are often crap at catching mice.

I once lived in a house with two cats while at uni. One was a very keen mouser but was fond of bringing them into the house to toy with them. Alive.

Of course one or two inevitably got away. What was particularly funny though was the mice would then eat the dry cat food. I looked up one time to see a mouse IN THE CAT BOWL no doubt with cat food breath.

Bold... But also still very much alive.

Yeah rodent poison is awful stuff. Most of the main problems with it have been mentioned but one you might not be aware of is that rats and mice are often either immune or really good at avoiding it. Rodents are pretty clever things. Far better and easier to kill it with a trap and at least then you know exactly where it is once it's dead.

I’ve emptied out the cupboard under the sink and bleached it then added traps. I’ve also noticed there is a space where a mouse could have got through from outside, so added wire wool. We also kept dog food in there(kibble) in a bag, but have been away with the dog, so there has been no food. I think the mouse (mice) has then gone to other parts of the house to try to find food. Everything now cleaned up and traps are set. If I continue to see the droppings, I’ll get the professionals in.

@deedeemegadoodoo keep setting the traps after each mouse is caught, we had 2 and kept the traps baited for a week. We haven't had anymore for a couple of months, I was feeding the birds out the back garden on the ground so we thought thats what initially attracted them. I was paranoid cleaning daily, pulling the fridge, freezer etc out urgh. Hugs to you they give me the heebies x

It is illegal to open bait in the Uk. All poison for mice and rates must be in a secure bait box. This isn’t difficult information to find so look it up yourself if you want to argue it.

The illegality comes from it being accessible to any other type of animal or wildlife. Which is pretty much always is, so it must be in a bait box.

When you buy poison in the UK, it will also tell you in the description and in the direction that it must be used in a bait box.

One of the reasons why it is illegal.

A cat is no guarantee of having a mouse free home.
We have lived in our house since 1998 and got a couple of cats in 2018. No mice in the house until 2022 even though we have the cats and they have caught several between them. DH has caught more in traps. About once a year they are back.
We keep all food in plastic containers but mice eat the strangest things. They chewed right through the sleeve of a Nike hoody and ate wheat from a heat pack you can microwave.
I recommend snap traps and bait with peanut butter topped with some nice mixed seeds.

...on strange things mice have eaten....mine was a packet of paracetamol....not sure if they died of paracetamol poisoning eventually 🤔

I’ve had a look in the dog’s toy box and, sure enough, there’s droppings in there. There’s a couple of old chews which I think the mice have been going for. Straight in the bin!

I tried. I could find no evidence it was illegal if used inside in open trays. I was just asking because I'd looked and couldn't find it being a legal requirement.

It's certainly good advice but also advisable to use all other methods first.

The BCPA for example only advise it to avoid poisoning non target species. I think they'd point it out if it were law.

Rodent baiting for pest controllers and environmental impact

I've worked with pest contractors for over 20 years. I've seen them use baits in sealed off areas when it's been absolutely a last resort and not put them in bait boxes because of the location. Of course when used in open locations they're in bait boxes but still bad practice as a first line of approach. Common c. 15 years ago.

My bloody cat is the one bringing the bloody things in the house .. wants to play , bats them around a bit then they hide under something he can’t get his fat arse under and I’m the one trying to save the bloody things .. I like it best when they run up the middle of the curtain liner .. shake that out the window and off they go

My cat brings in mice!

In my experience female cats are superior hunters.

Im so shocked at the number of people here that would kill them!

When we moved into our house we had some, we ordered the clear humane traps from amazon and used peanut butter. It caught them and the next morning we drove them to woodland and released them. They obviously seemed scared, but we covered them with a tea towel over night and im sure they were happier to be released than they would've been if we poisoned them or killed them in a trap!

I want to give you an update of our situation OP and what we learned just in case it helps. I think we've more or less resolved the problem. Mice are creatures of habit. They will travel along predictable corridors. They like to travel against walls. Set several traps perpendicular to the walls that you believe they're travelling along. Adults will usually fall first. If you start only catching juvenilles you're probably near the end. Cats are bloody useless at sorting the problem even if they're good at hunting. What they are good at is telling you how they're travelling. Our's pawed at certain points of the walls/skirting which alerted us to the fact that there was a slight fault in our loft roof and they were getting in through here and travelling through the cavities. Even so a pet isn't something you should commit to just to solve an infestation so that's silly advice really. Good luck. It's horrific when you first find them but it can be solved quite efficiently if you know what you're doing. If in doubt get an exterminator in

Oh and a word of warning... the snapper traps are effective and instant but can be grim. DH referred to one as a mortal kombat fatality 😬

That’s what I did as well and we found where they were getting in.

My dog was the best mouse catcher (the cats brought them in alive).
Get an exterminator in. They don’t cost a lot and will put traps in places you wouldn’t think of - they look to see their running route (and yes if you’ve seen one you have more).
Then clean your house thoroughly- mice pee as they run and the urine will be everywhere.

I got a professional exterminator a few years ago. He was excellent.
dealt with everything. Blocked entry points. Did all the gross stuff so I didn’t have to. Highly recommend

I would strongly advise a pest controller who investigates entry points and blocks them rather than just poison. Having suffered with rats below the floor which came from an unblocked sewer pipe under next door, unless you can find and block entry points more will come! Pest controllers that just put poison down are pretty useless.

I have 2 females.one is too lazy, the other will catch mice outside, bring them in and play with them then get bored and leave them

Ginger tom I had before was an ace mouser( and koi carp from neighbours pond). No playing just in for the kill