Help! MICE - Poison or no?

[carrotfaery]

We have mice, DP seems to think the humane traps will sort it and that there's only one or two as he's just seen one. I know that there will be many more that we can't see and want to use poison, but have a few concerns.

Will we get that awful dead mouse smell once they go away and die some where inaccessible? And is poison really safe to use if you have children? We have a 3.5 yr old, and I read on another thread that, even though it was placed away from children's reach, the mice moved it about and bits were found all over the house...

We live in a fairly small flat, can't get a cat and I'd like to avoid using the old fashioned traps as I'm too grossed out by the idea seeing them, and worried that DC will end up seeing them as we live in a small place.

Anyone had experience of using poison without ill effects, or any tips?

I wouldn't feel able to use poison.
Too soft!!

The idea of it doesn't make me feel too good either , but I'm more worried about chewed wires and mouse poo everywhere...

You might find little poisoned bodies around the flat.

We had rats when we lived in London and put poison down, wouldn't want to again. One was decomposing in our cupboard under the sink I disgustingly found by accident. And another under floorboards which we couldn't get out. Yuk.

And humane traps don't always kill immediately. Also yuk.

Buy one of those electronic beepy things that you plug into a socket. They emit a high pitched noise that we can't really hear but the mice don't like it. We had a terrible infestation and they were completely gone within a week of using this.

We got ours from a hardware store.

Poison:
I would be very nervous using it in a house with small children
slow agonising death for mouse
poison affects any creature that eats the mouse corpse (not a problem if it's a spider, big problem if it's someone's pet cat)
rotting mouse underfloorboards

Humane traps leave you releasing a mouse into the wild (where it might get die, if it's a house mouse) or you set it free near someone else's house and pass the problem onto them.

I had a mouse recently (I was amazed it was a single mouse, but I do think usually you have a mouse and all his mousey friends) and I caught it with a snap trap (RIP)

If you buy cheap wooden traps, you can just pick up the whole thing in a bag and bin it, if you don't want to touch anything.

I used a plug in thing but the mouse I caught appeared after I'd plugged that in. However, it's staying plugged in, just in case it is now working, and I just had a deaf mouse!

I also found out they hate the smell of peppermint often, so I put peppermint oil on tissues under sofas etc.

My parents used poison before with no dead mouse smell, but they live in a house so maybe the size of the building makes a difference, I don't know. The one time they had dead mouse smell was from my cat fatally injuring a mouse that got away from him and died under the washing machine...

I know exactly where they're coming from, it's a hole in the corner of the kitchen under one of the cupboards, we also get ants coming out of there every summer. I just couldn't stand to even look at the traps, and our flat is very open plan which is why I worry that DC will see them.

I've heard about the peppermint oil, will definitely be sprinkling that around. Heard about the plug ins too and will give them a go, but also heard many say they don't work. DP wanted to get the ones where you can release them, and said he'd release them in the forest.

www.amazon.co.uk/Cheese-All-Weather-Moisture-Resistant-Poison-Rodent/dp/B00A2NVJKU
I used this stuff, pop the blocks under the cupboard near the hole, replace as they disappear until they are no longer being taken. Got rid of our problem within a week with no bad smells and no dead bodies.

You need to block up the hole - use lots of wire wool because they can't chew through it easily. If you can put some sort of airtight sealant on top of the wire wool, even better. Mice come in when they can smell food, and an airtight seal will stop any smells getting through.

We caught a mouse in a catch and release trap just before Christmas. We released it and it was clearly traumatised but it may have been in it for a few hours. I preferred that to killing and definitely not giving it a chance though. You obviously have to checked frequently, or they die a grisly death anyway.

your humanely caught mouse will almost certainly have died a grisly death too thickandthin

if the stress of capture and release did not tip it over the edge, then being released into an unfamiliar area will have meant it had no idea where it was or where to find food or shelter. ....More stress and

starving to death.

Poisoned mice (and rats) tend to go back to the nest to die. Some don't make it but your unlikely to have dead mice all over the show. Can't guarantee no smell because it depends where the nest is but it's not that common. Once those living inside are gone you need to block all the access points. Wire wool and expanding foam or a sealent will do the trick.

Poisoned mice in houses don't tend to have the same impact on the ecosystem because their nests are usually in the foundations where scavengers can't get them.

I can't speak for off the shelf without looking at the ingredients but the professional use poisons my OH uses (he's a pest controller) contain a substance that makes it taste awful to children and pets. It's not unheard of for a dog to wolf some down but on the very rare occasion a child eats some its a tiny amount which they spit out and not enough to hurt them.

That said if your actually seeing the mice around the house I'd advise getting a professional as it's likely to be a significant problem

I had mice in a previous house. The house permanently stank of peppermint oil. Made no difference to the wee buggers. Same as the sonic things. Total waste of money.

@icclemunchy that's what I'm afraid of, that the fact we've actually seen one means we have loads

DC has thankfully passed the stage of having to chew on everything, and I'm guessing the poison is too small to be of notice if any did go astray, but it still makes me anxious.

I don't know how far away their nest is with this only being a small place. The smell of dead mouse is amongst the worst smells you can get IMO!

They tend to go right down under the floors. Tbh OH tends to get maybe one call every 2/3 weeks about a smell, and he's doing 20ish jobs a day in London. Usually it's because the mouse has died under the kitchen unit and once removed smell goes too