Mouse in the House

FX Meister

Title says it all, I've got a few mice loose in the house and so far have only caught one. This was with one of those humane ones that dont kill them. But now I've spread a load of the old style ones out with half of them containing cheese and the other chocolate in them, I'm not sure which is best. I;ve heard about an ultrasonic deterent which drives them away. Has anyone any advice or tips on these pesky little varmints

PH01

Not sure if those ultrasound thingy works or not. One of my sisters has one and mice don't seem to be detracted by it at all. However, my other sister was saying that if you put one of those things in a house were you know that there isn't any mice, that these devices work quite well. She said it was something about territory.
For bait on those killing machines I heard that chocolate was a good one. Another is cooked rasher.
Also, have a look around the house and figure out those little fells are getting in. Any hole wider than 10mm at ground level is a potential access point. These openings will have to be made rodent proof. Also check your vents - mice locate these by the warmer air coming from them.

Happy hunting.






WOOHOO!!! This is my 1000 post! Go me!

michaelanthony

Yeah, a bit of fried rasher in the old fashioned mouse traps will the get the btards

hewlett

We had the same problem 2 years ago. We caught loads with pre-baited traps. It's very satisfying when you hear one go off because you know you have got one more of them.

However, the way we finally got rid of the problem was by using the blue poison stuff that you leave out in trays near places that you find their droppings. After about 2 weeks we noticed that we couldn't hear them running around anymore and the poison was no longer being eaten. I don't know where they go to die but I never found and dead ones. Since then we haven't had any problem.

By the way, I do thing that PH01 is correct about those ultra-sound things. They seem to help prevent mice from moving in, but they will not shift them if they are already there.

Lex Luthor

on the conventional traps, I noticed that the end of the copper wire that is connected into the loop to set it was always showing a liitle lip on the end and the mice were able to eat the bait and the trap would not go off cos it got caught on the lipped bit. I used a small file and the traps were extra sensitive. Cheese caught them.
After we got rid of them, we got the ultrasonic unit and none have been back in 6 years.

FX Meister

Thanks for the reply guys. Well we have caught 2 in conventional traps, 1 in the live trap and another 1 commit suicide in the garden, drowning himself in a pot that was full with water. Haven't heard anything since. Will get one of those ultra sonic things soon, make sure they stay out.

Victor

Those ultrasound ones can be heard by some people (those that aren't industrially deaf). My house mate keep me awake with one for three weeks

Get some rats. It then becomes a territory thing.

luckat

Mice also lay a scent-track of urine as they go, so if you wash out all the cupboards and wash all the surfaces and floors with some citronella or something added, it helps.

They love laundry baskets, so keep doing your laundry every day while they're around, and keep stuff off the floors generally, and empty out the rubbish - for instance they really like snotty tissues.

PH01

luckat wrote:

Mice also lay a scent-track of urine as they go, so if you wash out all the cupboards and wash all the surfaces and floors with some citronella or something added, it helps.

They love laundry baskets, so keep doing your laundry every day while they're around, and keep stuff off the floors generally, and empty out the rubbish - for instance they really like snotty tissues.

If that doesn't put you off your lunch nothing else will

Victor wrote:

Get some rats. It then becomes a territory thing.

And then get a Cat to get rid of the rat.
Then a dog to get rig of the cat...
Then a Lion to scare the dog, and an elephant to take care of the lion. Then a mouse to frighten the elephant...
And pretty soon you're back at square one.

skittishkitten

The Ultrasound one can be annoying , I have one and I can hear it , I haven't notice that it deters mice much at all. Peanut Butter or bacon grease makes an excellent trap bait .

luckat

Oh yeah, and stale washing-up water - to a mouse that smells like the most wonderful perfume in the world... except, perhaps, unwashed dishes, pots and cutlery. Mmmmm!

Lainey

moved into an old house once and the gutters, attic were all ancient and always got mice.. even got a rat once (6 wks without sleep over that vermin).. mice were easy to catch compared to this.. rat lived between the floor or my room and ceiling of sitting room.. eventually had to use poison used by rentokil.

for your mouse prob, the cooked rasher is usualy the best.. i found using the old wooden traps were best and along with the rasher rind they were always caught.. they are a plague.. yeuch..yeuch.. also try to locate the place they seem to be getting in.. block this up as good as you can

good luck .. i don't envy you

shabbyroad

we had a few mice in our first winter in our house a couple of years ago, the missus got a pest control firm in (yeah I know I know...). Poison is all well and good but you'll be left with rotting dead mice bodies all over your house - do you really want that ?
I used conventional traps loaded with chocolate (cheese is rubbish, sausage is good, chocolate the pest-guy swore by). I now have a couple of different brands of those ultrasonic anti-rodent devices and have not had any mice in 3 years.

fiacha

digestive biscuits work the best for me. 14 mice in 4 hours with 2 traps.
I always put traps down in the garage towards the end of August / early september as the mice are starting to move into buildings. A couple of days of trapping and we are clear for the winter.

daveg

Someone told me mayonaise is the best thing to put in a trap for mice. They can't get enough of the stuff...

KoNiT

peanut butter, butter, chocolate & rasher (not all on the one trap!)

If you know the path they take then set one trap behind the other, mice get smart & jump over them. Place a box (big washing powder box) to ensure the mice don't go around!

The trap wants to be on a hair trigger, bend the wire to make it more sensative.

I have no faith in the ultrasound things. In a flat a few years ago, I had the sonic box beeping away on the counter top. I was setting traps under the sink & a mouse was sat watching me intently, under the sonic trap ...da bastard..

Drag00n79

shabbyroad wrote:

we had a few mice in our first winter in our house a couple of years ago

Same as that. Last winter was my first in my new house. Had mice in the attic. Must admit it freaked me out . I know some people wouldn't mind that but it affected my sleep a lot. The old mouse trap does the trick though. I tried chocolate as bait but it didn't work with these guys. But cheddar cheese melted onto the trap they couldn't get enough of.
Discovered too that there was a gap up at the eavrel where they probably got in. I also have one of the ultrasonic gadgets. Not sure how effective they are but they at least one can set your mind at ease a little. Be careful at this time of the year not to leave doors open for a few seconds while out at the car or getting coal etc. I wouldn't recommend placing any poison in the house either as the buggers can die in very inaccessible places — often leaving the attractive scent of rotting flesh after a few weeks.

gonker

Talking about leaving doors open...I work...worked....long story for an auctioneer and showed houses at the weekend most days during the winter I spent half my time chasing mice out of the houses :eek: once I was showing a couple how spacious the kitchen presses were when I opened one and there was a mouse cleaning his whiskers....shut it very quickly. Another day sitting in a show house and a rat wandered in walked around the room....and I RAN out My cat was tearing around the garden today chasing mice caught a few...so my advice is get a cat