mice... at least I hope they're only mice...

[Lancelottie]

Something is scritching and chewing under the floorboards on our upstairs landing. Any advice? Right at this minute we don't have any carpet down because the fitters are coming in two days so we could lever up a floorboard or two (though the house might fall down if I jiggle things too much!).

eeek.

and scritch, scritch, scutter...

Kill traps will see them off - bait them with chocolate. Expect you've just turned your heating on haven't you? Otherwise the council will charge you about £50 for dispatching the little buggers for you.

Sticky sweeties work better than chocolate - there is no way they can get the sweetie off without the trap going off.

Don't poison if it's indoors - you can't gather the bodies, they will rot and smell under your floor.

Try placing the traps downstairs behind sinks, understair cupboards or loft void, etc: if they've got to the landing, they started at ground level somewhere and come back for food.

Brutal, isn't it!

Chocolate spread makes a mess of the trap and beastie and melts off if warm, sweeties keep their shape better, and if its gone you know another mouse came along after the trap went off - so you need to reset your trap!

we've had traps down with chocolate for weeks the little f&^%$£s are just sauntering past them.

we've both seen them
and they're getting fatter!

Get thee to a sweetie shop for the stickiest sweeties you can buy - chewy sickly things like starbursts or those strawberry things whose name escapes me. Caught my last mouse with a midget gem!

chewits!

I like mice!

Oh dear! I use chewits because then I have the best chance of catching the blighters cleanly!!

Ka-thunk!

I was told by the pest control officer at our local council not to use traps as they only catch some of the mice. They will put down poison (and charge £70!)and recommended I buy some. So we've had poison down for weeks now, the mice have feasted on it and seem to have gone. No smell or bodies or anything. We also blocked up all the little holes we could find with wire wool which they can't chew. The only thing I don't know is when do I remove the poison? If any more get in the house somehow, I'd rather they were dispatched as quickly as possible, but I'm not sure if poison loses its effectiveness after a while, or if the smell of it is attractive to mice. Oh, I hate the dirty little beggars!

You can buy the poison yourself - same as rat poison but much cheaper than the council man! Make sure no birds or pets can get to it where it is stored or laid.

I think an instant death with a trap is more humane, but then I do use poison for rats outside (grain silo near so fluctuating rat population)

I detest rats even more than mice (see speared-rat-on-a-fork-thread!)

I read the rat-on-a-fork thread and am shuddering thinking of it. I have a full compost bin and am considering never turning it over!

It was my fork and my compost.

My heart rate has calmed down now!

Peanut butter is good on the traps.

I have caught two today using it.

Dh's record was two in one trap at one time then another in the same trap the same day.

(We are rural, thats why we get overrun with mice. I am not a grotty housewife!!! - well a bit maybe!)