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Original poster

Dreaded mice

27 replies

Cluelessfirstimer · 31/07/2023 07:28

Help. I've seen one and droppings in the living room.

I am absolutely terrified of them and with a 1 year old I need them gone!

We had an underground leak so our kitchen is a construction site right now. That's obviously how they got in. I've blocked up any holes best I can but until it's finished I fear this is pretty much guaranteed.

What can I do? Which traps work best? Can't get a cat as I'm allergic unfortunately.
All droppings seem to be concentrated in the living room.

Sorry if this offends but i dont care about killing them. I'd rather not have glue traps though

I saw one about 3 days ago and haven't slept since...

OP posts:
Allmyghosts · 31/07/2023 07:30

Snap traps were the only thing that worked here, unpleasant but had to be done, wish the darn things weren't so cute. We have a cat now and I'm sure she would be over the moon to have an infestation, endless entertainment.

Twiglets1 · 31/07/2023 07:32

We just bought a humane mouse catcher off Amazon and it worked well. Put some cheese in it. Released the mouse in some local woodland 🤷🏼‍♀️

LemonLimeDivine · 31/07/2023 07:34

My sympathy. We’ve got this going on at the
moment too. Been dousing peppermint oil around the kitchen (they hate it apparently). Caught a couple in traps but they seem wise to those now. Tried the plug ins - don’t seem to have any effect. I’ve given in and bought poison. Need the buggers gone.

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 31/07/2023 07:34

Snap trap with chocolate- forget humane traps imo- I’m petrified of mice and lived with them for years in my old flat- you have my sympathies

DappledThings · 31/07/2023 07:43

Snap traps baited with peanut butter.

mycatsanutter · 31/07/2023 07:47

I'm terrified of them too , ridiculous I know but I can't help it. We had them a bit ago they were in our wall cavity so putting traps in the house was pointless . I got pest control out it was £160 but it sorted it.

Original poster
Cluelessfirstimer · 31/07/2023 08:00

Thanks all. I'll order some traps today and give chocolate and peanut butter a try.

It's sounds so ridiculous but I feel like an absolute prisioner in my own home. Making babys breakfast this morning and honestly was shaking thinking about it.

I'm happy to give pest control a try if needed I guess. Will try some traps myself.

@Twiglets1 I'm happy to try humane ones, I'm not a monster. I don't particularly want them dead but I do want them out of my home and all advice I've read is they aren't the best.

I'll get a humane one too but being afraid of them I truthfully think I can mentally deal with a dead one over a live one being brutally honest....

OP posts:
birdsongismyfave · 31/07/2023 08:01

You need to find out how they are getting in. You can have all the traps in the world but they breed so quickly you'll never kill them as quickly as they can breed.
We got a motion sensitive night vision camera on Amazon, think it was about £30. We set it up pointing at where we thought they were coming in, and connected it to our phones. Sure enough, they alerted in the night with a pair of bright beady eyes. So my husband blocked that hole. Then we kept moving the camera around on different nights and in the backs of cupboards until every last hole was blocked up.
At the same time you have to be so clean with food. Don't leave a single crumb out, no fruit bowl on counter, put the toaster away, make sure there's no way into cupboards and drawers.
We do have a cat who is an excellent hunter but she could never have got into these tiny spaces.
The professional companies just wanted to put down bait stations with poison which would have been a danger to our cat and children, and kept them coming back to refill on a contract as the rats kept breeding. What we actually did has ended up being a permanent solution. It was an AWFUL lot of work at a time we really didn't have time or energy for it but I'm so glad we did it.

CutesyUserName · 31/07/2023 08:02

Our cat brings mice in, but for the first time in 15 years she obviously let a live one go because we now have mice in the kitchen.

We bought these traps and so far have removed 24 (yes, I've been counting) mice in the last 10 days. The traps come in a two pack and work brilliantly well.

I use a blob of jam in the trap end because it's best to use something that they can't just pick up and run away with.

They are easy to wash and reset for the next little blighter.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08G5BW1Y8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

birdsongismyfave · 31/07/2023 08:03

And I absolutely understand the horrible feelings you're having about it, I remember feeling so disgusted with it, not wanting to cook or eat in my own kitchen, needing to bleach or sterilise everything and just eat microwave meals because it was the only thing that felt clean. So horrible and I hope you resolve it soon.

Twiglets1 · 31/07/2023 08:06

Cluelessfirstimer · 31/07/2023 08:00

Thanks all. I'll order some traps today and give chocolate and peanut butter a try.

It's sounds so ridiculous but I feel like an absolute prisioner in my own home. Making babys breakfast this morning and honestly was shaking thinking about it.

I'm happy to give pest control a try if needed I guess. Will try some traps myself.

@Twiglets1 I'm happy to try humane ones, I'm not a monster. I don't particularly want them dead but I do want them out of my home and all advice I've read is they aren't the best.

I'll get a humane one too but being afraid of them I truthfully think I can mentally deal with a dead one over a live one being brutally honest....

Our humane trap did the job. But if you can’t face seeing a live mouse in the trap and having to carry the trap to some woodland to release it, that’s understandable.
Personally it horrified me more the thought of dealing with a dead mouse but we’re all different.

Jujubes5 · 31/07/2023 08:08

I would put some bait outside. Eg under garden shed, under a slate . Only space for a mouse to reach it, not a bird.
I think you’d hear them if they had a home in the loft or walls.

Original poster
Cluelessfirstimer · 31/07/2023 08:10

I've ordered some human ones (the ones suggested above ) so I will give them a go too.

Will see how we go. Thanks for all the suggestions and not laughing at me being a bit of a wimp with it all.

Pretty sure it's happend because of the kitchen work. I've done what I can to block holes etc and hopefully they sort it properly ASAP.

OP posts:
Original poster
Cluelessfirstimer · 31/07/2023 08:11

Jujubes5 · 31/07/2023 08:08

I would put some bait outside. Eg under garden shed, under a slate . Only space for a mouse to reach it, not a bird.
I think you’d hear them if they had a home in the loft or walls.

So I havent heard any scratching or anything but I have seen one in the house and all the droppings have been in the living room. Possibly the kitchen but it's hard to see as that's a bit of a construction site!

OP posts:
Rathouse · 31/07/2023 08:13

Get pest control in now. I've had a rat issue in the loft in my house, loft is in my bedroom and each year it flares up. It's pretty noisy at night to the point I can't sleep at times. Pest control told me if there is 1 rat there will always more... poison you buy yourself won't be as good as what pest control use.

Lots of building going on in my area, a pipe burst and now we have a bloody rat infestation. I'd be terrified too. Can you get those outside box things to trap them?

AuntieJune · 31/07/2023 08:14

Humane traps leave the mice to infest someone else's house or die slowly in a strange place.

You want a bait box with a snap trap inside it. They either get trapped or take bait and it's child safe. A rat one should be big enough for a trap inside. Chewy sweets on the trap are better than choc etc - they can snatch food faster than the trap snaps so you end up just feeding them.

You can also get child safe electric traps - they step on a metal plate and are killed cleanly and instantly.

Rathouse · 31/07/2023 08:17

CutesyUserName · 31/07/2023 08:02

Our cat brings mice in, but for the first time in 15 years she obviously let a live one go because we now have mice in the kitchen.

We bought these traps and so far have removed 24 (yes, I've been counting) mice in the last 10 days. The traps come in a two pack and work brilliantly well.

I use a blob of jam in the trap end because it's best to use something that they can't just pick up and run away with.

They are easy to wash and reset for the next little blighter.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08G5BW1Y8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

You've got a serious breeding issue within your house if you have 24 mice in just over a week. Seriously I'd have to leave my home I couldn't cope with that. Rats are a fire hazard, they get into your walls and chew through everything costing a lot of money.

CutesyUserName · 31/07/2023 08:33

Cluelessfirstimer · 31/07/2023 08:10

I've ordered some human ones (the ones suggested above ) so I will give them a go too.

Will see how we go. Thanks for all the suggestions and not laughing at me being a bit of a wimp with it all.

Pretty sure it's happend because of the kitchen work. I've done what I can to block holes etc and hopefully they sort it properly ASAP.

Once you put the bait in the trap (use something sweet like jam, or peanut butter/chocolate spread also works well), place the trap along the edges of your room which is usually where a mouse will run rather than the centre.

I'd put one against a wall in your living room (maybe behind a sofa) and another against a wall in your kitchen where it joins kitchen units.

Original poster
Cluelessfirstimer · 03/08/2023 09:24

Update - I haven't caught any yet despite trying jam, peanut butter and chocolate.

We cleared the living room (having carpet laid Saturday anyway ) and it cannot be coming in there. No holes at all.
I did however discover a gapping hole in the kitchen the work men had just left which goes down probably to the sewers. DP filled it with concrete.

Spoke to pest control - lovely man. Said he has never been so busy in the summer. As it's so wet they are entering everywhere. He said he's happy to come out but as we have filled what he thinks sounds like the entry for now we should save the cash and just lay more traps to catch any still around. Call him back in a few weeks though if needed.

Haven't seen or heard the devil's for 2 days, but I'm not confident. Laying more traps now so fingers crossed.

OP posts:
Helpwhatwouldyoudonext · 03/08/2023 09:30

@CutesyUserName and @Rathouse

I would suggest you are trapping the same mice, not 24 new ones.
How far away do you release them? (a mile at least, or near your garden?) They leave scent trails to follow - they're probably beating you back home tbh.
Maybe you attach a race number to the back of each captive...

AuntieJune · 03/08/2023 10:09

Mice are very squishy, they can get through a hole the size of a pencil, their ribs kind of squash down to let them through. The big hole through to the sewer would have been an obvious route for them but they really can get through small crannies!

Steel wool is a good cheap way to block up holes.

I used wine gum type chewy things on traps, they have to pull at them a bit and then the snap trap gets them. If you put eg crackers or bread with peanut butter etc, you might just end up giving them a picnic.

Badbudgeter · 03/08/2023 10:13

Twiglets1 · 31/07/2023 07:32

We just bought a humane mouse catcher off Amazon and it worked well. Put some cheese in it. Released the mouse in some local woodland 🤷🏼‍♀️

A mouse dropped in unfamiliar surroundings is highly unlikely to survive. Not sure how humane it is to have it starve in the local woods.

Whaleandsnail6 · 03/08/2023 12:07

Really badbudgeter? I didnt know that! I have had either a couple of mice or rats in my garden last year and caught them in humane traps and took them to the local woods. Thought I was doing the best thing, didnt realise they would probably die there.

Grapewrath · 04/08/2023 14:00

Snap traps are more humane it’s instant death as humane traps leave mice to die anyway as they are obviously compromised from the stress and don’t survive outside of the nest

Badbudgeter · 04/08/2023 15:52

Whaleandsnail6 · 03/08/2023 12:07

Really badbudgeter? I didnt know that! I have had either a couple of mice or rats in my garden last year and caught them in humane traps and took them to the local woods. Thought I was doing the best thing, didnt realise they would probably die there.

It’s illegal to release rats into the wild without a licence so we will call them mice! However no nest, no familiar scent trails to food to follow in unfamiliar territory that’s probably occupied by other animals. That mouse isn’t surviving long.