Help me get rid of mice please!

[Charles11]

I’m at my wits end. I have family coming to stay next week and I have mice!
I’ve put down traps with peanut butter, ready baited boxes, poison in bait boxes and they’re not taking anything except scattered poison pellets so I’ve just chucked a load under the kitchen cupboards.
I’ve stored all food in plastic containers but there was no sign of them in my food cupboard. I’ve gone around and blocked holes with wire wool. There was a fairly big hole around a pipe so I’m hoping that was the access point.
I’m strict about hoovering every night to make sure there are no crumbs around.

They’re still around though and I keep finding droppings (5-6) in the mornings below the tv where there are lots of cables.

I’ve had one die at least as there was a revolting smell for about 2 days. Now I’m scared of further stench but I don’t know what else to do.

Can someone tell me what else works? Apart from getting professionals in which I can’t afford at the moment. The council only put poison down and that’s it

Anyone able to help?

I don't think theres any immediate fix to your problem. You will just have to keep going with the traps and poison. Or get a cat? Lol. Sorry I can't be of any more help.

We live in the country and have an ongoing problem with mice. We are not sure where they get in but use the under sink cupboard so we continually have poison in there. We had some then they stopped for a couple of weeks the cold weather came back and so did the mice🐭
Like you I keep food in Tupperware boxes and luckily we have only found evidence once in any food cupboards. I'll be interested to see whether we can do anything about it when we get our new kitchen.

Bowerbird did you have foul smells as they die and what poison did you use?

I have mice and rats at the stables, but the only thing to do is be constantly vigilant and use poison constantly from autumn through to spring. They come in from the cold weather. Alternatively get a cat. However you can't use poison in that case obviously. You can get some good poisons from the local agricultural store.

Call the local pest control officer at the Council. We had a rat problem, and he used a much stronger poison than was available to us. He also knew where to look for access points.
The smell of a dead rat is appalling!

I agree knitted fairies we have only ever had one. I was nearly sick with the smell.
No I only had the smell recently for the first time so must be behind the washing machine.
Can't remember what it is called but it is in a yellow box and the grains are pink. It has a rodent name. I threw the box out and we have two packs which they are munching through. I don't like killing things but I like mice in my kitchen p...ing and Sh....ing over everything even less.

I’ve just put some mars bar and oats squished together onto traps. Let’s see if they work.
I’ve also thrown poison under the cooker and behind the sofas.

I’m so fed up with it. It’s taken over my life!

Big cheese pre baited mouse traps are fab. You need to think where the mice are moving around (they normally run along by skirting boards) and put the traps there. Also move anything that they may want to use as bedding.

Placemarking as having the same problem :(

I haven't used this but it was highly recommended to me. Probably too late for you to get one before your visitors come, but it might come in useful later?

Twww.intruderinc.com/products/the-better-mousetrap

Obviously the T in the link is redundant, sorry

Today, I moved the cooker and found a small hole in the floor (I’d previously just checked around any pipes and outside the house)
I shoved wire wool into it and the hole was huge. For a tiny entrance, I managed to shove tons of wire wool into it.
I’ve got everything crossed that that was it.
None of the traps have been touched again (I’ve got 3 different types with different baits) and I found that the poison I’d put down yesterday had been partly eaten except the poisonous outer bits had been discarded! There’s a nice pile of the powdered poison.
These are some pretty smart mice.

@Charles11

I know this is an old thread but I hope you're OK and you've got the little buggers.

I have had mice three times (am currently suffering with them) and the only thing that has ever killed any in my house is this

www.amazon.co.uk/Pest-Stop-PSERK-Electronic-Rat-Killer/dp/B000FII3YW/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=electronic+rat+trap&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1523632535&sr=8-3

I currently have one of these traps loaded with peanut butter and about 8 others (2 types of snappy traps) under my kitchen counters and this trap has got two of the little buggers this week (and four on previous occasions) - none of the others have caught any.

When we first got them I did loads of research and two things I read might help you (if you haven't already done this)

1. They like to wander around the edges of rooms so put the traps next to walls
2. They can smell your hands on things so use rubber gloves when setting traps.

I also bought some wire wool yesterday but read they can push this out of the way so you'll need to use a caulking compound to set it. That's dh's job for this weekend.

I hate them so much.

How about glue traps? We find they work best for us. Many people find them inhumane but, to be fair, I’m not sure that ending up trapped in one of those little boxes marketed as more ‘humane’ would really be that much better. If I understand the law correctly, you are meant to check the traps frequently and make sure that any mouse caught there is either freed or killed quickly and humanely, but this requirement is the same regardless of the type of trap – unless you have one of those that ensure an instant kill.

In every single property we have lived in, mice would enter through huge holes in the kitchen, because builders did not fill all the holes after installing the plumbing. If I won the lottery, I’d strip the entire kitchen, seal all the holes, and put the kitchen back, but I can’t afford it. We tried sealing the holes but there must be more holes (call a builder and have them filled with cement – pest control guys are useless in my experience) we cannot access without removing the entire kitchen because the little bastards kept coming. That’s why glue traps are the best. We put them behind the small wooden panel at the bottom of the kitchen. If a mouse finds his way there through some hole we haven’t filled, and tries to enter the kitchen, it MUST step on the traps. The wooden panel means there is no chance our toddler could possibly ever get to the traps.

We don’t use any baits. Baits may be counterproductive because they may attract mice which would have otherwise minded their own business and gone to another flat through the mouse superhighway left by the excellent builders who built our development.

The thing with mice is that they are filthy and can carry lots of diseases. With a toddler roaming all over the house, there’s no way I’d ever risk our daughter getting into contact with a rodent. As much as I love animals, the welfare of our child comes first.

I have heard of this company SuperProof that looks for all the possible entry points and tries to seal them; I have never tried them, but feedback is mixed.

A cat. Only thing that ever worked for us