Help please - we have mice!

[Popsandpip]

So I've found a few signs that we have mice as unwelcome visitors to our house. Do you have any sure fire recommendations about the best way to get rid of them (short of calling out Rentakill)? Though if Rentakill is the best approach I'll do that. I have a toddler and am pregnant but no pets (just in case that makes a difference) and I'm keen for our new housemates to be gone ASAP!

Also, how much will your suggestions cost?

Thanks!

Our local pest control company cost £50 per visit and come within a few hours of call out.

You usually need two visits, at least.

Our council has a team who are cheaper, but take a few days to come.

We've had the council out four times now to lay poison down (they put it behind the base boards in the kitchen so DD can't find and eat it).

They keep coming back. They avoid traditional and humane traps like wily little mouseketeers, regardless of bait. Peppermint oil made no difference. Haven't tried a sonic repeller, or glue traps yet (apparently v inhumane, but frankly, mouse shit all over the kitchen every day makes me less concerned with this).

The council said they've been to this house numerous times (we're tenants) - unless every house in the row has poison put down at once, they just move a few houses away and then move back later. I've tried blocking holes with wire wool, but it's a very old house, and I'm sure I've missed some holes (there are tons - badly laid carpet, woodwork a bit hit an miss).

You have my heartfelt sympathy. Until my DD is old enough not to drop food - sweeping and hoovering never seem to get every crumb - I think we have to learn to co-exist with the feckers.

We had endless trouble, tried all the various traps etc. then I bought boxes with poison in from b&q and put them behind the kickboards in my kitchen. No more mice.

Get cats.

Get (or borrow) a cat.

Seriously. just the smell of a cat gets rid of mice.

we have them

have tried traps but this lot- it's a wily batch we have at the moment- don't go NEAR them

can't put poison down because of dogs-bought a sonic repeller thingy but can't use that effectively because of hamster

am now resigned to coexistence with the smelly little fuckers, till the weather gets warmer and they piss off back outside

I would caution against glue traps. Ime everyone uses them- once

Traps. Traditional ones not the boxes that trap them.

Use peanut butter for bait.
And block ups very hole.
Worked for us!

They are really difficult to get rid of. The sonic things are useless. I had Rentokill to the house once every eight weeks, forever. It was impossible to block up all the nooks and crannies (old house) so it just became a chronic situation which was just about kept under control by the pest control people.

My long term solution was to move house and since I had to have the whole place stripped back and renovated, I had everything hermetically sealed at the time. No mice here in 5 years. If I had the same problem again I'd think about getting a cat.

ooh we're hoping to get a cat -for the sake of having a cat, not to do for the mice, but that would be a cheeky bonus...

mind you I'm a bit squeamish so will have to steel self to get rid of the heaps of tiny corpses

Hmm, thanks for all of your thoughts. I called the council and they've negotiated a rate with a company for £39. They're coming out on Wednesday. They can't come quickly enough! Found some droppings in my baby bag and a half eaten gag if Cheddars. Yuck.

Calling pest control for mice is very expensive and a couple of visits will not solve your problem. You need to go at them all guns blazing. Use traps ( the plastic reusable ones, not the wooden little nippers as they get messy and tricky to reset once you have caught a few). Mice love nutella and peanut butter - don't put too much on. Also use poison (not where pets /kids can get it). Keep replacing and resetting traps - there will be more of them than you think!.

Don't bother with Sonic things they do not work.

As Lincolnchimp says, traditional style traps (but the plastic ones - they are washable), very cheap from Amazon. Put lots out, try different baits peanut butter or cheap chocolate worked well for us. We caught 14 in 2 days in January - none since. At least you get the bodies rather than leaving them to die in some hidden place. I kept putting the traps back until I was absolutely convinced there were no more of them left.

I'm sure the council people will soon have mice sorted, but it's not a nice experience, and they paid me two visits , giving general advice and the name of some chemical which would probably be just as effective if the pests did come back later - Nesorex Throw-bags, which are to be thrown into unreachable spaces and therefore safe to use with children about. Incidentally, I later used a completely different council (after a move), when I had a wasps nest, and can again recommend council for an effective job at a reasonable rate.

My dad had this problem. He got a cat and they never came back :)

Peppermint oil. Do it, do it, do it! Spray everywhere around noticeable entry points, regularly. I read something that said put it on cotton wool and refresh once a week, but I do it daily

I tried it out of desperation and it actually worked. Been using it for 3 months now, I get a 100ml bottle of peppermint oil and it lasts me a little over a month.

It's tricky to properly get rid if you have nearby neighbours (eg in a flat, terrace) as they will just run between properties. Wire wool and expanding foam can help slow them down/limit entry points but it's nigh on impossible to identify every gap as they can get in through such small spaces, so sometimes a combination of deterrent and traps is the best you can go for.

Well the pest control people came and haven't seen signs of the little blighters since. Phew. Thanks for all the advice though. Much appreciated.