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Housekeeping

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Original poster

Mice, already tried council and Rentokil, now what?

27 replies

Kai1977 · 01/12/2016 21:50

We live in a Victorian terrace. We already had the council in who put poison down. That stopped them for a bit but then they came back.

Spent £450 on Rentokil with three trips, poison and blocked all holes apparently Hmm.

Six months later and the cold weather has brought them back. Saw one leg it across my living room and into the fireplace (which Rentokil said there is no hole inside).

Both companies said it is only one mouse!

We can't get a cat (allergic) and no point blocking air bricks as they can get in through other houses as it's a terrace.

Is there any point getting Rentokil again? We aren't the sort to be handling mouse traps ourselves.

OP posts:
mypropertea · 02/12/2016 08:18

Assuming you like cats but can't have one because of the allergy, have you thought about a low allergy cat? Like a Russian blue?

AwaywiththePixies27 · 02/12/2016 08:28

I tried everything too OP Sad I had the council out several times, poison down several times to no avail, there was an article in the papers once about them getting immune to the poison they use. I'm afraid you may have to resort to traps even if you don't want to. I got a good old fashioned trap in the end.

Bought a wooden one from a hardware store and got the ex to set it for me because I'm a wimp it was fiddly. Chocolate button fastened securely on to it and it was there the very next morning after months of trying to catch the bleeding thing. Rentokill quoted me a fair bit and the trap cost me £2! Smile

Not saying you're dirty so please dont think that but the advice I was given was keep floors clean and clear ar all times - tiniest scrap of food dropped accidentally can sustain them for a short while, they then get hungry and their only option is to go for the food on the trap (Mine started eating my bloody lino flooring!). Cover everything food wise, in cupboards if you can and lids on things you can't, and check for littering and that on any entryways you may have around the terracing that may be attracting them too. Pest control man told me it is very common, that they are always in the gardens and just come in to houses in the winter to keep warm. I know some people like them but I can't abide them.

Isitjustmeorisiteveryoneelse · 02/12/2016 08:33

Cats are not necessarily any use anyway. When we had a mouse, showed the cat who had brought the effing thing in in the first place and she just looked at me as if to say 'yeah, and?' . Going to have to be traps, I'm afraid.

PossumInAPearTree · 02/12/2016 08:42

Honestly grit your teeth and get traps yourself. Ideally snap traps but if you really can't cope then a humane one. Peanut butter is good bait.

I don't like handling traps but you don't have to touch the dead mice. Pick up the trap, carry at arms length to the bin and release the trap over the bin.

AwaywiththePixies27 · 02/12/2016 09:10

Possum My DS helped me. His older sister was on the other side of the room watching DS in gloves holding an Asda carrier bag and me in gloves with a long handled broom trying to sweep the whole thing up in one go Grin it was quite funny looking back but wasn't at the time when I had to do it.

Original poster
Kai1977 · 02/12/2016 18:41

Oh dear, not what I wanted to hear but needs must. Might try putting down the traps and then getting the council in. Surely they would have to remove them if they saw them!

OP posts:
Original poster
Kai1977 · 02/12/2016 18:42

Oh sorry and thanks for all the tips!

OP posts:
drspouse · 02/12/2016 18:44

Rentokil Advanced mouse traps, and use peanut butter, they can't get it off.
Traps have to go next to a wall, they don't go out into open areas

LordEmsworth · 02/12/2016 18:51

Have you looked at local pest control companies? Rentokil are pricey, I've used a local firm in the past who came and set the poison and traps, and came back and dealt with what was left... when they charged me £30 I thought they were joking, I'd have paid a lot more...

FrostNixon · 03/12/2016 18:34

Totally sympathise with OP here. Can be quite distressing.

Happened to me with new move. Ended up laying traps (on my landing!) every single night. Peanut butter was what worked for me. Caught two or three a night for two weeks! Not the best way to start each day. Had a bin bag, a bucket and a small shovel placed right by my bedroom door.

Then I went around sealing us as many gaps outside. Turned out there was a gaping hole at the rear of my house by a vertical waste stack. Cemented it up. Have poison down in the loft and replace/check every six months.

Keep at it and you can solve it!

Happyoutlook · 03/12/2016 18:39

Traps work chocolate or peanut butter.... remember where you put them no one likes surprise broken fingers or toes!

Heratnumber7 · 03/12/2016 18:43

Don't bother with humane traps. The little buggers can escape. And you've also got the bother of driving a live mouse miles away to release it. Go for the quick kill.

mintthins · 03/12/2016 18:48

These plug ins honestly do work. We had mice move in when we had to move out for a while. Cotton wool soaked in peppermint oil anywhere you think they come in/hang out plus as many of these as you need for the size of the house. mouse scarer

Sixisthemagicnumber · 03/12/2016 18:50

In a lot of areas councils won't do anything about mice. They will only come out for rats due to the significant public health risk.
We had a mouse problem in a terrace house, we could hear them running under the floor boards at night and scuttling from the pipes when the central heating came on. We could even hear them rummaging their way through from the next door house. We got rentokil out after trying to deal with the problem ourselves (was successful several times but the bastards kept coming back after a few weeks). Rentokil man told us that the whole terrace row was infested and unless every house was treated at the same time they would just keep coming back.
Fortunately we moved house a few months later.

specialsubject · 03/12/2016 19:38

Our winter attic population is too smart for humane traps. Screwfix do a two pack version of the spring trap which is less hazard to fingers and is thorough and quick. You can empty it without touching the dead mouse.

Sorry, but it has to be done.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 03/12/2016 19:45

Snap traps and don't bother reusing the traps if you're squeamish, just put the whole thing into a plastic bag and dispose as is.
You might get through twenty quids worth of traps but it's still cheaper than Rentokil!

Sixisthemagicnumber · 03/12/2016 21:20

If the whole block is infested you might need a combination of traps and poison. Mice mutiply really quickly and traps only catch so many. With poison they pouch it in their mouths and take it back to the nest to feed the others.

Longdistance · 03/12/2016 21:31

Does your home insurance cover it?

Have a look at your policy.

PassTheSatsumas · 04/12/2016 00:30

Snap traps and poison is good advice - but the big thing is stopping them getting in.

Check everywhere for gaps - esp pipes, airbricks etc and either seal yourself or get a pest company to do it for you - I have used environ and they did sort my issue

The long-lasting poison gel seems to work

Do you know how they are getting in? Can you seal off loft and into your kitchen/bathroom pipe work ? Wire wool will do for sealing gaos

Sixisthemagicnumber · 04/12/2016 07:52

I agree with sealing the gaps but when we had the problem in our terrace there was gaps under the floorboards where the house joined next door so the buggers had free reign between the properties. The voids under the houses also joined to some extent and as mice apparently only need a pencil width gap to squeeze through it is really difficult to stop them roaming between the properties. You might need to get a specialist in to fully seal all the gaps if your terrace was like ours.
Wire wool is apparently really good for blocking gaps as they can't chew through it.
I know some people are really anti poison because you have no control over where the mice die but when the problem is rife traps alone are not enough to solve the problem. Is it something like 2 mice become 64 mice in just eight weeks?

Angelitron · 06/12/2016 07:53

We lived in a terrace that had rats!! Running between the houses.

The pest control man said you will never get rid of them as they go between the floors/walls.

We moved.
Then our new neighbour got chickens....cue rats in the garden. Finally they got rid but it took 6 months of putting out poison to stop seeing them. I still put poison out just in case.

Feel for you. Seal everything and trap/ poison.

Original poster
Kai1977 · 06/12/2016 16:13

Thanks all.

Rentokil were supposed to have blocked all the holes before, got them in again for a survey this week (no charge) and now they reckon they might be coming from the fireplace - which I showed them before! Or the loft even though there is no noise coming from there! They are charging £500 on top of the £400 I paid 6 months ago. No chance!

We have wire wool down but I think we just can't see or find all the holes.

Also have loads of the plug ins already, they do nothing!

I found a local firm through a recommendation but they are busy at the moment so may have to tackle it ourselves.

The one good thing is that it is apparently one mouse, as it was before, so we have caught it early.

OP posts:
ChowNowBrownCow · 14/12/2016 19:59

we had mice and the bloody things had me in a right state. We used old fashioned traps with chocolate on them which did work. but the best traps were the ones I bought off amazon which gives them an electric shock on contact. instant death and no mess! theres a light on the top which indicates when one has been caught. I was getting quite good at just tipping them out straight into the wheely bin. we caught loads of the things and I now keep all food in airtight containers on lower levels and have my trusty traps ready at the first sign of one of them moving in.

NotAnotherUserName1234 · 19/12/2016 13:57

another fan of the electric 'cat' from Amazon we caught around a dozen mice with one when we first moved in.

Lemansky · 20/12/2016 11:37

We apparently have a mouse, my DH saw him at 4am last Monday. I found some droppings under the fridge & a couple under one of the kitchen cabinets but no sign of the mouse since.

We have put 3 traps out with peanut butter on, but none have been touched. Is it possible the mouse just popped in? I don't know whether we should be doing more, or just wait for a bit and see what happens?