Mice!

[CheeseDreamz]

We are having a bit of an issue with mice atm. They seem to have set shop in the understairs cupboard, which has got a bit stinky.

Largely dealing with it with traps, but thinking about getting a professional pest control person in. Can some one tell me what they actually do?

We have a dog so poison is an issue, and not keen on poisoned mice dropping dead and decomposing under floorboards. Also not keen on filling every gap with expandable foam. Please tell me they just come in like the Pied Piper and lead the mice away with a jolly tune!

Had this when moved in. I set traps and found peanut butter worked best.
None of the 'noise repellers' worked.
Have a good walk around your house and put your hands behind any soil pipes etc.
For me it was a massive hole behind a soil pipe which allowed the mice in. Sealed that up and not had the issue in years.

You’ll have to get keen on blocking up entry points!

You‘ll also need to make sure there is zero food or nesting material available. All food not in a tin or glass jar secured in sealed plastic or metal boxes. No piles of newspaper, rolls of wrapping paper or dust sheets in the cupboard.

They apparently don’t like change, so in the short term I’d be clearing out that cupboard or at least moving everything around.

I have had this recently, though fortunately ours was an 'itinerant' mouse and didn't bring his friends and family with him. The pest controller will inspect the house and find all the gaps and holes and advise on filling them. Wire wool is better than foam, apparently. Ours also looked at where our new kitchen was getting fitted and made sure the joiners filled up all the little holes in the units that are meant to be plugged up but often get forgotten, so that the mice wouldn't find their way into the food cupboards. They'll also lay poison and come back and inspect/replace it until the mice are definitely gone. They'll take into account if you have pets and children so they won't put the poison anywhere that's going to cause problems for you.

Thanks all, this is really useful. We cleaned out the cupboard at the weekend and ensured everything is sealed (they had a really nice set up where we had inadvertently provided food and bedding - like they were pampered pets!). We caught a few, but there are clearly still some present as the dog keeps barking and scrabbling at the door and the smell isn't going away.

Interesting to know about itinerant mice - we have definitely had those in the past - much easier to deal with. But this recent lot are just having a party for all their family and friends.

We have gappy wooden floors and all sorts - there is going to have to be a lot of wore wool.

I feel a bit more confident that the pest control people won't destroy my home and kill the dog!

Oh the other thing he said was make sure you dettol all the surfaces as it's easy to clear up the poo you can see, but there will be wee all over everything too.

I would get a cat, but that is my answer to everything.

I don't think the dog would be over keen

Yes we are doing that regularly atm, and wiped clove oil over all the surfaces in the cupboard, yet still they come.

If they're getting into the cupboard, but not out of it into the rest of the house (yet), then the pest controller might be able to find where they are getting into the wall or floor in order to access the cupboard and block that up from outside. When I was little my mum found a squirrel in our understairs cupboard, so there was clearly some kind of secret rodent door. You might also find it easiest just to lay a less gappy floor on top of the boards in the cupboard - google will tell you mice can chew through anything, but they probably won't bother if it's too much effort and there's no food in there.