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Original poster

mice

38 replies

ghostspirit · 29/11/2014 22:35

hi i have mice in my house. i got them last year around this time as well. last year i used the snap traps. this year the mice did not seem to be taking it. so i ended up putting poison down. just heard really loud squeaking. so had a look and there was a dying mouse. seemed to take a while to dye. so im wondering if it would be better to go back to the snap traps but maybe use the posion as bait on the trap. so then they will die fast. i has been using chocolate and peanut butter. worked last year. and also i think i would rather see them dead in the trap and not rotting where ever they end up

OP posts:
Scotlandfordogs · 30/11/2014 00:35

You could try humane traps? You get them from B&Q, bait them with peanut butter and check every 12 hours, If the door's shut, you have caught one. Take the trap a good distance away and release them - too close and they just come back. My DH used to drive them to work 2 miles away and release them there.
You need to work out how they get in - any gap the size of a 50p piece is enough - and block of their way in. Its often under steps or door/window frames.
Poison is cruel and can endanger humans and pets. Snap traps are also a bit barbaric for my liking..

Original poster
ghostspirit · 01/12/2014 09:22

thanks i dont want to use the human ones. i dont drive so its not going to be that far that i could releases them just end up getting in again. my house is full of holes. but my landlords are useless and i cant do it on my own. there is a hole near my radiator and front door. i guess i could do them on my own. but theres also a large hole under my stairs. yeah i dont like the poison either i tried it bit the mouse was screaming and took a long time to actually die so dont want to use that anymore. least with the snap traps its fast.

my friend has said he will have a look to see if he can help me seal the holes so hopefully we will get it sorted. one ran up my bedroom curtain last night could not sleep after that :(

OP posts:
OwlCapone · 01/12/2014 09:25

any gap the size of a 50p piece is enough

Um... they can get through far smaller holes than that! Think 5p size or maybe smaller - they squash apparently.

Fill any holes you can see with wire wool as they don't like to chew through that. Block airbricks with fine wire mesh.

I put poison down to get rid of mine and then got a cat.

Mustangspirit · 01/12/2014 09:27

The best way to seal the holes is to stuff them with wire wool then expandy foam. Shouldn't cost too much.
They hate the wire wool and won't attempt to know through it to get back in as it hurts their mouths.
Everyone seems to have mice this year!

marne2 · 01/12/2014 09:29

We had them in the loft last week, I put poison down and havn't heard anything for a few days now. Sad?y I think poison is the best way, I tried humane traps but they were not interested.

Mustangspirit · 01/12/2014 09:30

Oops cross posted with owlcapone must be good advice tho Smile

Typo - know = gnaw

Inthedarkaboutfashion · 01/12/2014 09:34

Some local councils will send out a pest controller for a small fee. I just checked one councils website and it was £80 for three visits for mice infestations.

SuperFlyHigh · 01/12/2014 09:35

get.a.cat.

SuperFlyHigh · 01/12/2014 09:36

a mouse can get through gaps width of a pencil. And you can get field mice (teeny and russet coloured) and proper house mice - dark brown/greyish IIRC and larger...

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 01/12/2014 09:38

There's nothing humane about humane traps they are awful things and the mouse will starve anyways when you take it away from its 'food runs.'

Poison and traps are the way to go.

SuperFlyHigh · 01/12/2014 09:39

Dame - cats aren't humane either but they do the job eventually...

Original poster
ghostspirit · 01/12/2014 09:45

i did think about a cat but then at first its going to be a small kitten would probably be a good few months before it bothered with a mouse :/

and yes the holes can be really tiny there is a tiny hole near my radiator i cant get a pencil down it but mouse got down it. was watching it last night it was coming under the door from under the stairs running the hall and then down the hole near the radiator and back from under the stairs again. so i out a snap trap on its route but it was jumping over it. they seem very tiny as well. i had them last year and they were bigger maybe theses are babys :/

super.... yes im not sure if the mice i have are house mice or filed mice. they seem much smaller than i had last year. they are like the size of a 2p or maybe they are young/baby ones.

OP posts:
SuperFlyHigh · 01/12/2014 09:50

ghost - get a semi feral rescue cat (they have rescue ones), they will be on the whole excellent mousers.

Mice come into houses at this time of year due to cold and also for food.

They're probably babies. Field mice are very cute. they tended to be russet colours.... but they (field ones) are tiny.

SuperFlyHigh · 01/12/2014 09:51

apparently also the smell of a cat keeps mice away.

Original poster
ghostspirit · 01/12/2014 09:52

not sure if thats such a good idea as i have a dog :/ and also i live on a main road so not sure a rescue would let me have a cat.

the mice seem quite dark in colour.

OP posts:
SuperFlyHigh · 01/12/2014 09:54

the mice could be house mice if dark.

oh yes, main roads and cats... not great. You can always have indoor cats.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 01/12/2014 09:56

Cats sometimes work but I've seen mice practically laughing at cats , depends how brave the mice areGrin

Inthedarkaboutfashion · 01/12/2014 09:58

In you are seeing that many mice as you describe then it is probably a good idea to get pest control in. Isn't it the case that mice breed so quickly that 2 mice can become 64 mice within a week?
It sounds like your problem has gone beyond needing a few traps.

marne2 · 01/12/2014 10:30

We have a cat, he's the reason we had mice in the summer after he brought one in and dropped it in my kitchen, the bloody thing was alive and lived happily in the kitchen for a month before I gave in and used the poison.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 01/12/2014 10:32

Marne- yes, quite Grin

I think I'd rather have mice in my house than a semi feral cat tbh...

OwlCapone · 01/12/2014 10:33

It took 3 visits to get rid of my mouse infestation (I could hear nibbling and scratching and saw a couple). Pest Control blocked up the air vents, I got cat and the house has been mouse free for 5 years. As has my neighbour's!!

I think the cat is a deterrent as I rarely see any dead ones. I think he's only brought in about 2 per year on average and we used to have way more than that.

As an aside, I never had a corpse problem when the poison was down. Apparently most (but not all) go back to the nest and tend to mummify rather than rot.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 01/12/2014 10:43

I've never had corpse problems either, the poison dries them out iirc and we have had a few huge infestations, at one point we were catching 5 a night in traps!

Original poster
ghostspirit · 01/12/2014 15:07

well i have seen the one that was dying and the one that was in my room last night. i dont know if it was the same one that had been running up and down the hall or not. i just checked the posion and its not been touched again.

i was wondering if i have them does that mean my neighbours do as well my house is terrace. but then my house is like a sieve

OP posts:
Inthedarkaboutfashion · 01/12/2014 16:07

It is possible that the whole terrace is affected and that every house needs treating. Mice use the voids under the houses and the loft spaces to move between properties.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 01/12/2014 16:19

Yes, ours have always come from neighbour's houses.