Mouse or rats in the attic

SaintHubbins

Well my title says it all. I've got one or the other my attic and the little feckers have been keeping me awake for the past few nights. I was thinking of burning the house down but my wife persuaded me to try something a little less drastic. I'm after putting 3 mouse traps baited with a little bit of peanut butter as I read they like that stuff and I have Storm poison whichI have to apply yet. Can I just put the poison straight down or do I have to mix it with something to attract them? It says to apply the poison in covered bait trays - what are they and are they necessary?

Also, I'm renting a house so should I be annoying my landlady about this?

Thanks for any advice yada yada...

RKQ

IMO mice love mars bars! Chocolate & carmel is irresistable. It sticks well to the metal on the trap - then make sure the trap is very sensitive - barely held back, so any movement will set it off. Cheap timber traps are fine.

Poison is a more difficult, as some make the mouse or rat very thirsty - so ensure all water tanks are covered. Leave it on a saucer or similar. Hopefully the mouse or rat will go outside to die. Both will really smell if they die in the house, especially in a concealed place difficult to open up.

They say mice and rats won't live together! But I've seen them very close by each other. You need a bigger trap if its a rat. Put something tasty on it - cooked chicken or beef. But they'll eat anything, even each other!

Hopefully its just mice! God I hate rats.:eek:

Get on to your Landlady if its rats! Good hunting!

Limerick91

Burn some dark chocolate, the smell attratcs mice. Set dark chocolate in the trap then.
A person who works for Rentokil told me that mice and rats won't live together.
If you get rid of them mice/rats you need to try to find out where they got in and block the hole.

wazzoraybelle

Find someone who keeps ferrets and get a bag of faeces from them, pop it into the attic and the vermin should clear off.

dlambirl

get a cat!

No seriously - i'd use traps if at all possible cos as another poster said with poison the rats/mice wont die there and then and could die anywhere in the house (including between walls) and the smell is unbearable after a while.
Good luck btw!

SaintHubbins

Thanks for all the advice. I'll see does the peanut butter work and if not I'll swap to some of the suggestions given. I was thinking of throwing my neighbour's cat up in the attic as she is a good hunter but I don't think I'd be able to motivate her to stay up there for long. Grrrr! It's such a pain in the arse. My biggest problem is the bloody noise they make when I'm trying to sleep. It's not that they are excessively noisy, it's just that it's so quiet where I live, like a graveyard, so any little noise wakes me up. I had to play amazon sounds cds just to fall asleep!

SpitfireIV

I found what they like also is a bit of the fat off a rasher or such, once its cold its solid enough so there's a bit of tugging required to get it off the trap!

Just as a precaution, maybe tie a bit of string around the trap and put a tack into a joint or such and tie the other end around that, you dont want the poor fecker getting his leg or tail in the trap only to scamper off (bringing the trap with him!! Can happen if they're big enough!) and dying elsewhere.

Neighbour cleared a load of old garden cuttings out of the laneway behind my house recently which must have had mice living in it because now I seem to have a feckin' dose of mice in the shed!! :mad: So I can understand your problem somewhat! :P

dubtom

Advise I got from an rat catcher once although probably not suitable for an unlived in attic and probably concerns rats more than mice. Shove newspaper into any holes about the house,inside and out,no matter how small. Don't stuff them in,just lightly placed in the hole so that with a little effort it will move. Judging whether the paper is in or outside the hole you can tell where the rats are coming from. rats usually follow a pattern and will the use the same entrance and exit,with a bit of effort you can determine which area they are living in or at least how they enter the house. rats will leave to get water everyday if there isn't a source inside so the with the paper you can tell exactly their route. Don't block the holes untill your 100% their not using them or are outside. If it is rats,and you'll know by the droppings,get your landlord to get a rat catcher, not an exterminator who will just put down poison and leave.