Shriek! A MOUSE! Help help help what do I do?

[madamez]

Last night, noticed small brown furry animal on patio while looking idly out through kitchen window. It looked like a gerbil or something and, when I took a step towards the back door, it ran through the fence into next door garden. SO I kindly knocked on their door and asked if they had any small gerbilly pets that might have esscaped. They said no. So this morning, when I came down into the kitchen, something small and brown and furry and DEFINITELY F*ING MOUSE!!! ran across the floor.
Yuck. Help. DOn't want to call in Rentokill because a) they will put down poison and I have a 2 year old DS who wll find and eat it and b) I can't afford them.
So, what works? Borrowing neighbours cat? Sonic blasters? Humane traps? Please advise...

We are leaving tomorrow. How many mice will we find on our return???????

It is really common you know. As in happens frequently, not the other meaning. Once I admitted it to people, I was hard pressed to find someone who had never had them.

The secret to getting rid of them is obsessive cleaning, sonic traps and blocking holes. Boring but effective.

franca70 - can you install the sonic traps before you go away. I think they really do work.

obsessive cleaning, that's the problem

The obsessive cleaning bit was hell for me - I don't have any doubts as to why mice would find this a perfect home.

We were literally finding them everywhere. They were scratching around our room at night, they were peeping out from the fireplace in the evening. One night dh had two run past him in the kitchen within 5 mins.

I was squeamish at first, but it was amazing how quickly I got used to our little visitors.

Oh oh oh AAARGH! Well if they have been shitting in the cutlery drawer for ages neither DS nor I have suffered from it. Obsessive cleaning is ... erm... well it';s not really going to happen very much in this house.

And there's no "they". You're just trying to scare me. I saw ONE fucking mouse ONE! And I am going to buy a SHOT~GUN!

Mice don't come in ones I'm afraid and even if they arrive singularly, it'll be a preggy female looking to build a nest (they nested in my food processor overnight - and no I didn't turn it on). Sorry.

BTW, I wouldn't worry though, you'll have less spilled food to clear up if you have mice. But of course there is the poo and wee everywhere issue - but you have kids, you must be used to that by now! ]