Mice

[walthamcross]

We seemed to have some rodent housemates - they started coming in after Xmas. I took this as revenge for having thought "glad that's not us" when the guy who rented next door described his mouse problem the previous Xmas.

We moved all food out the way. We blocked access to the cupboards. We laid traps and killed 3. The council came out and put down blue poison which gave us a clue as to how they were getting in.

Seen them in the kitchen three days running but no food has gone missing. Traps intact. A corner of the kickboards under kitchen cabinets has been gnawed at so presumably eating that. They ate the poison but am yet to find a dead one.

I've blocked up all I can - any other ideas?!

Check the outside perimeters of the house for any ways they can possibly get in. Trapping etc is good but only deals with a symptom.

Keep trapping use nutella or peanut butter as bait. keep putting down poison. Block around water / waste pipes with expanding foam. keep the bait and traps going behind the kickboards for a long time after you think they have gone.

Agree with Lincoln you need to keep going a long time after you think the problem is solved. You also need a lot of traps and/or poison laid at intervals on identified mouse "runs". If you can fit a standard pencil or biro in a hole then they can get through that and it needs blocking. Often they get in along gas and water pipes into the house and use them to runaround the house.

Mice are so random you could a big bar of chocolate sitting out and they might take one bite and then eat a whole bar of soap at the sink!

We did the expanding foam thing, but they ate through it. I've now replaced it with wire wool which seems hitherto undisturbed. I'm hoping the little blighters will just buzz off now it's sunny. They're not eating anything in here so assume they shelter somewhere?

Or alternatively get a cat. Our cats would invite them to be dinner.

You need to fill the holes with wire wool and then expanding foam into the wool- it's messy and painful, but it works.

Agree with Gosh - cat is best remedy, just the smell of cat tends to deter mice. However you do not actually need to get your own cat if you have a local friend or neighbour who is willing to let their cat come to yours to do a cat patrol every so often! My cat regularly does mouse duty for DD & SIL...

No poison though if you use a cat, or kitty will peg it too.

None of our friends or acquaintances have cats :( I love cats but couldn't have one as we're out a lot. Someone should set up a cat rental service!

I was talking to a builder today who uses a plug-in ultrasonic unit - he told me they are effective and non-messy. You can get them from some pet shops or from Amazon - I think they cost about £10.

Thanks Parrot - will look into these!

We have mice and a cat! I ve caught several in humane traps but then got pest control in after 3, months where they kept coming. He put poison baits behind the kitchen kickboards, came back after 2 weeks and reckons we had 3 or 4 and it's dealt with. I asked him to rebait and cleaned up all mouse shit behind kickboards. This was 2 days ago and I'll check tomorrow for any new mouse shit. I think I m going to ask him to keep the poison baits there for a while. I started off all kind and nice and now I fucking hate the buggers!

I ve read a few posts about those plug ins. Reckon I'll try too. I laid bay leaves and olbas oil soaked cotton wool which they are supposed to,hate and they took it all for their nests!

The plug ins don't work. Put them in every room of our house and they still returned. Poison and checking the entries making it hard for then to get in is the only way.

I used those plug in things that make a noise only they can hear, I was sceptical but it worked. If you have small pets e.g. hamster you can't use them though. And put absolutely everything you can in plastic containers.

If your neighbours still have them they might stick around. I was in flats and downstairs were rather messy students. I'm convinced that was why we had a few mice outbreaks despite being really clean and tidy.

In the traps, they loved a twix!

We had the council round, they left me some poison and they love it! They eat it, carry it about and seem just to throw it about. I figure I'm now feeding them so will starve them into leaving me!

The pest guy said there was no way of knowing how they were getting in, hence wanting the repellents as well! I think something's got dislodged behind my insane banging washing machine but I can't shift it to look. Ultra sonic devices have mainly good reviews so,hope work for me!

It might be obvious, but with the devices they need to be clear of furniture etc. If something is in the way it'll block it working. As the mice tend to like being close to walls, dark corners etc it can be quite tricky placing the devices in places that'll deter them, as you're limited to where your plug sockets are.

My main concern now is that we've trapped them in here! I can hear squeaking. Three traps have gone down but I'm willing to bet they are intact in the morning!

I still stand by my get a cat comment....