Mice, a hand hold please

[OctoblocksAssemble]

I'm awake again after maybe 2 hours of sleep where I chased a sodding mouse in my dream. Was getting my daughter to sleep, lying in bed with her, singing a song, when mouse shoots into view. It must have gone under the skirting (we have some major floating skirtings) as we moved everything but couldn't find it. I feel physically sick, never seen one upstairs before. Known about them in the kitchen (directly below daughters room) for about a week. So far 2 mouse motels and 1 electric trap baited with peanut butter have failed to catch any. Will be stuffing wire wool under the skirting tomorrow, but that doesn't help me right now. Dd in my bed now, which doesn't make it much easier to sleep.
I honestly thought that the mice would stay away from us, I'm utterly shocked by how bold this one was. I was bloody singing at the time, it must have known we were in the room!

Financially moving is just not an option, or least, a move that would actually be better.
There are family reasons why we can't move too.

I wouldn't overreact to the mice. We've been in our house a while with no issues with mice. Just because it happens once doesn't mean it will happen again.

Cayenne Pepper (put some on your hand and blow it over areas you want the mouse to avoid) Peppermint Oil (buy it in places like Holland and Barrett, dilute with water and spray in places you want the mouse to avoid) obviously dont spray or blow on or near young children, and best thing to do is get a cat, or borrow a neighbours cat for a while (the cat scent will scare mice away) You can also buy things like dried snake droppings in pet stores I believe and because the mouse associates that dropping with a predator (smart these mice arent they?) they will steer clear of the area with the droppings in it.

I was alright until one showed in the bedroom. The loss of safe space really hit me. I can’t shake the idea of my kids catching something horrible from them. I'm prone to anxiety at the best of times, I really do depend on having a sleeping space that feels secure, and feeling that my kids are safe.

Sympathies OP. We’re currently going through it.
I’ve just heard the snap trap go off in the kitchen (under the kickboard) and the rodent has clearly just trapped some part of itself as it’s clattering/ scrabbling round and squeaking. Waiting for DH to arrive home to deal with it. I can’t bring myself to do
it. 🤦‍♀️

@LemonLimeDivine that sounds very disturbing, I don't blame you for waiting. Good luck, it's a nightmare isn't it

You have to secure the outside first, mesh over air bricks, gaps under outside doors, and holes around pipes stuffed with wire wool. Behind kick boards in kitchens are a favourite, also in piles of clothes or soft toys.
its more work if you’re a terrace house, especially if there’s cellars and lofts. Get pest control in, they can see where they’re coming from, ours detected a pipe the mice were coming through by the oil they were depositing from their fur around it.

OctoBlocksAssemble you have my total sympathy, I think I'm in a similar place to you mentally. I have started getting CBT based therapy because of the situation as I know my reaction isn't proportionate to the situation.

I am hoping when all of the mice in my house are eliminated I will start to feel like this is my home again, but right now I'd leave this house in a heartbeat if I could.

Thankfully you are addressing the situation with professionals, and although the mice may not be eliminated overnight you will hopefully see a real improvement and get your safe space back soon.

Hi, We live in the country so get mise on and off, as they are looking for places to excape the weather. We tried all the traps from Amazon that trap them but none worked. Then we tried the glue ones, that are open and they walk into them. They work every time! We've caught several that have got in over the last year that way. Now we have a set just incase we see any signs. The big downside is that they get stuck so you do have to kill them yourself. Grim but works. Trap: Multi-Use Pest / Insects Sticky Board | Efficient Pack Of Glue Boards | Effective For Home, Office & Garden - A4 Size Heavy Duty

@wornoutparent you're right, the way I feel is rather disproportionate, but it's exactly that sense of not feeling comfortable in what is meant to be my home.
Sorry you are going through the same thing, it is so hard feeling trapped in a house you don't like. Hopefully we will both be out the other end soon, and able to feel at home again.

Well there's still at least one behind the kitchen draws. I turned the light on and it's nose was poking out. Normally it vanishes straight away, but this time it waited for a moment before going. Either it's getting less afraid of me, or isn't feeling very well and is a bit sluggish.

I once got woken by the sound of a mouse trying to remove a mince pie tin through a hole in the wall. (Possibly don’t eat mince pies in the bedroom).

Just poison the little blighters, quick and effective and they are usually dead and dessicated before they get outside to cause an issue for cats/owls.

(We live in a farmhouse and cats/dogs are useless at small furries within the house!)

Oh eating anywhere except the kitchen table has now been banned. Been 2 nights now, disappointed the poison hasn't worked yet.

I would put glue traps down in the spaces under kitchen drawers and units. You do have to get rid of them once they're caught but a very affective way of catching the buggers

Don't get a cat. Bloody useless. They bring mice in and chase them at 3am, not take them out. And frogs. And birds.....

Glue traps are horrible and poison leaves a stink of dead mice for weeks. Block all holes. Use sifted flour on the floors to check footprints.

I think you did the right thing. I hate using things like pest control, everything in the garden is covered in slugs. But for mice, it’s just really difficult and they do spread disease. I also got pest control in.

I don't think I have the stomach for glue traps if you have to finish them off yourself. Some of my wire wool was pushed out under the kitchen skirting so I wonder if they are coming through from next door (it's on the party wall). Supposedly mouse proof caulking being delivered today.

Glue trap behind kitchen kick board, caught 4 on the same trap

Just get a pest control company in. They're very thorough, they don't use poison, and they will block up the holes for you. There is no need to stress!

@Colinfromaccounts I must have got the wrong sort of pest control 😏. Sadly I couldn't stretch to one that does anything more than chuck poison down.
I am much more stressed than many people would be. The thing is I don't like my house at the best of times, but I get by through a sort wilful blindness to it all. Dealing with this is forcing me to really really look at all the old unfinished badly fitted details that I loathe. The bits where tiles are missing, where the skirting dropped off, the draws with no real backs so that behind them is a dark an dusty void that invites infestation. I freely admit that in my head the mice have become monsters, purely because they exemplify my lack of control over my environment, when a safe and comfortable home was once so important to me.

Edited for typo

It cost us £216 for a couple of sessions with a pest control company that did all of the above, can you really not stretch to that?

@Colinfromaccounts do they cover London? I was being quoted £650 plus extra for the hole filling. We paid £240, which seemed to be the going rate for poison.

What did they use if not poison? Couldn't find any that didn't default to that

We had mice in August. I was traumatised. Put poison down. You have to wait at least 5 days ( quicker if it's commercial grade). It works but it makes them fearless so they come out during the day and appear drunk. We caught 3 in literally 5 minutes. I screamed the place down. I am getting anxious just writing about it. When we had dogs, we never had any.
By the way, poisoned mice do not smell when dead ( personal experience) but rats really, really do. The school I used to teach at had rats in the basement. The stench lasted weeks. I felt physically sick.