mice

[Aranea]

We have mice. And I think the problem is escalating. We have put down a Rentokil child-safe poison (one where the poison is inside a little tunnel) but the mice don't seem to be taking the bait. We've also been leaving a snap-trap out at night, but again they're not taking the bait.

If we call in Rentokil or similar, will they do anything we couldn't do ourselves? Any advice? I'm starting to get quite worried about it!

Do you know how they are getting into the house? We had to track down their 'runs' and fill in gaps (ours came in via really small spaces that the piping from outside came into the house), where they were getting in we left poison out in these areas. Also, remeber that they are taking the poison back to the nest so it does take a while. Maltesers and peanut butter were very good bait for the traps. Ours too seemed escalate and one night my husband trapped 14, then eventually it seemed to be working. It is horrible having them but they will go eventually, good luck.

I don't know if they're coming in from outside... I suspect they're coming in from next door. I was hoping they would take poison back to their nest, but they don't seem to have touched it! It's very discouraging.

We've just killed one field mouse which was running around in the attic and garage, using an old-fashioned trap baited with chocolate (apparently they love chocolate more than cheese). Then dh just double-bagged the whole lot - trap and mouse and chucked it out - dh saying he wasn't about to start recyling mouse traps.

It was easy to see where he'd been from the droppings...mouse, not dh.

The advantage of the trap with chocolate is that you're not using poison, although those more sentimental about vermin(!) will probably argue it's inhumane. It seemed to have killed the mouse instantly though - breaks its neck.

Not sure Rentokil will do any more than that.

Obviously you need to keep leaving traps until you're sure they're gone, and also try to plug any gaps so they don't return.

Try not to leave food around -we were keeping veg in the garage which is what it was gnawing, no idea what the attraction of the attic was other than it being warm and dry. It sounded like it was playing football in there!

Of course if there's any danger of your dc getting their fingers in that sort of trap, you can't use it - but can you put them on the mice's run but out of dc's reach?

We have been using that sort of trap, leaving it out in the kitchen where we know the mouse has been going in and out from under the cupboards, leaving it bits of chocolate and peanut butter - but it doesn't seem to be interested! Bah. Perhaps our mouse is on a diet.

Does anyone know if those sonic things you plug in are any good?

DD is only 2 so we are reluctant to put down poison or a killer trap, so we got these plugs that are meant to emit some special frequency sound that drives the mice away.

Does anyone know if these work, or have we wasted our money?

Aranea - try melting the chocolate and smearing it on the trap rather than just putting a chunk of chocolate on it. That's what worked for us - the mouse stole the chunk of chocolate without setting off the trap, but the chocolate smeared on it worked.

Don't know about the sonic devices.

Thanks diydemon - I will try that. They did take the bait without tripping the trap on one occasion, and have since completely ignored the bait! I think we are dealing with some kind of evil rodent genius.

I got mice once, next door but one was empty for a few months and they went into the walls when the builders moved in. I tried the snappy traps but found they were not being set off, so I tried the sticky traps instead. They got the results, and we no haven't had a problem for about 2 years now.

Make sure the trap is by a wall. They run close to walls and cupboards, not usually out in the open.

If you have access to a cat for a few days, your problem might be solved too.

Wire wool everywhere they might be creeping in, they hate it apparently and can't get through it. I use a sonic blaster and haven't had much trouble lately (though it is clearly Mouse Season again, so I will be keeping my eyes and ears open).

Sonic devices don't work I'm afraid.

Good to see they work for some though!

SGB - sonic blaster?? Tell me more!

It's a plug-in thingy that makes a noise they apparently hate - opinions are divided on whether they work or not. I think it depends if you have somewhere to plug it in which has enough uninterrupted space between it and where they are hanging out, to annoy them.

Sounds amazing. What do you mean about enough uninterrupted space?

Sound waves can't go through solid things. So if the mice are running in the kitchen, you need the sonic blaster in the kitchen, aimed rougly at where they run ie not hiding behind the fridge.

Oh, I see (I think). Does it have quite a narrow field of effect, or will it cover a room?

Pest stop electronic rat killer is excellent. It uses four C batteries.You apply bait (I've used peanut butter),when the mice go in for the bait, they get an electric shock and thats it. The batteries last for up to 12 kills, you need to dispose of the mice after each kill
You just need to make sure children and other household pets are kept well away so they don't get shocked instead.

Thanks, I hadn't heard of that. Will try peanut butter. They're not going for chocolate

I forgot to add, its more effective if you place the device near to where the mice entrance is, or if you know where they are likely to wander. The mice here also liked pistaciao nuts in shells, i guess the cheese days are long gone