Mice in the walls! Solution or just live with it?

[Lindsay81]

I live in a very rural setting and have been here for 2.5 years. I see small field mice run across the roads or on paths when I am out and about but never worried about them getting into the house... Until now!

Recently (last ~2 months) I can hear them scratching in one of the walls late at night or around dawn. It sounds like a badger it's so loud! I have no droppings at all in the house so don't have proof they are actually getting into the house, but I swear I heard one rustling about in the cupboard under the sink one morning just as I put the light on.

What do I do?! If I place traps (which i am dreading!) am I really going to stop the problem- they are obviously getting in somewhere. Apparently you can get someone in to go around the perimeter of your house, cementing up any tiny gaps but that sounds an expensive solution for something which isn't really causing me a lot of bother.

Or am I overreacting and I should just accept this is part of rural living?!

naphtha mothballs/ Olbas oil / anything pungent near holes/regular runs will deter them; they rely on scent trails - got rid of ours in days after cat had failed for months
any smell fades very fast

Oooh, thanks Julia! I can handle the smell of Olbas much better than a squished mouse in a trap! :-(

You're never going to get rid of them altogether, we have a cat who is a pretty good mouser and hopefully our 5 month old kitten will be too. However we still hear them in the walls/ceiling at night from time to time. I have never tried Julia's suggestion so might give it a go but I am just used to them now. To be honest I don't think cementing holes is going to work, they can get in the tiniest holes. As long as you are not noticing poo everywhere (along skirting and corners) or chewed up boxes/books/clothes they are not a huge problem.

We had only moved into our house a month or so before we heard lots of scratching activity at night and a chap who had come to look in our loft at the roof said we obviously had rodent problems as he had found loads of droppings. We had a pest control chap round and he baited in the loft, kitchen, airing cupboard and understairs cupboard. The bait needed topping up in less than a week. So I also sent off for a sonic and electromagnetic 'plug-in'. Apparently it is the electro-magnetic part that actually works. Within 2 days the noise had reduced significantly and in a week had stopped completely. The bait now remains and has not been touched since. The plug-in comes with a guarantee that if it doesn't work you can send it back for a refund. Absolutely marvellous - but I won't dare to switch it off in case the rodents quickly scamper back in.

Thanks sweetpea! Never heard of this plug-in... looking it up!