Pest control

Leonita

Hi folks,

Hoping somebody can help me here. About 10 days ago thought I saw something run past me in the sitting room. Discovered that it was either a baby rat or mouse a few days later. Put down bait blocks last week and 3 traps. However the fecker is still floating around.
Just wondering if anybody could recommend a reliable exterminator to get rid of this pest. Had a guy out the other day and when he looked around it looks as if whatever it is has burrowed a hole in the corner of the sitting room by the radiator and is just coming out for food and exercise. He was totally unwilling to take up floorboard and remove whatever it was. The charge for this pleasure was €100 + vat grrr
I really need to get rid of this thing as we are expecting visitors during the week and don't want to freak them out if your man decides to go for a run.
Any help gratefully appreciated.
BTW most of these guys advertise as 24 hr service online but looks like in reality its just 9 to 5 Monday to Friday. Talk about false advertising grrrrr.....

Spudgun

I'd take away the bait/poison mainly because if the little critter dies in the wall the smell is horrendous. Place traps near the mouse hole at an angle facing into the wall and use some chocolate spread or peanut butter on the trap it works every time for me

Leonita

Thanks spud. Have them down near the hole. Just saw the fecker fly past me now and took a detour around 1 of the traps. They are loaded full of chocolate but he still wont go near any of them

alexonhisown

I agree with spudgun, i get mice every year. Got a company out to advise and see where they might be getting in, but unfortunately he couldnt find out where they are entering house, but he advised not to use poison, because if they die in walls and under floors, smell will be awful.

You might be lucky and just have one that got in when a door was open.
I find peanut butter works best, place trap facing skirting, because they run along skirtings.

Happy hunting

Leonita

This guy used to run along skirting but since traps went down he just does roundabouts around them. Did get a guy out but he didn't do much only reposition traps and that was it

Spudgun

he sounds like a waste of space that exterminator. Maybe swap the chocolate for peanut butter. you might have more than one mouse as well. When you catch the fecker block up the hole with expanding foam

Leonita

Yeah think so. Am beginning to think its baby rats judging by the size of the hole between skirting and floor. Thought we had him contained with bait, traps & poison.

Could anybody recommend a good exterminator that would take up floor board and just get rid of them please?

Have put expanding foam around front door and plenty of poison down a hole between gaps on floorboards. Its an old house with original floors so lots of gaps. If I see him again am going to have to put foam between gaps ugly as it looks.

Thanks for all advice so far

Spudgun

The foam can be cut back sanded and painted once it has cured so it won't have to look ugly for long.
have you got mouse traps down or rat traps?
Peppermint oil is meant to be a good rodent deterrent

phog

Have you had any holes drilled/knocked out on external walls since last winter? Check that they're sealed. Once the weather gets cold vermin will try and get indoors. Poison & traps work but keeping them out by having your house sealed is much better and probably easier.

Leonita

Have both mouse and rat traps down. Took away all bait and poison last night and put out bins. But still no joy. This is becoming a total nightmare.

Leonita

Also meant to add I didn't have any holes drilled since last winter. However new water pipes were laid by Irish Water and 2 sets of road works took place outside the house. The neighbours were also doing huge renovations in their houses. I reckon with all of these works going on the mice/rats were disturbed and got into the foundations of my house.

alexonhisown

i cant think of any other advice, Im surprised it comes out when you are in the room.

If he is going into wall cavity via skirting he is probably travelling to other rooms from there. Put a trap under kitchen kickboards against the wall, in utility room if you have one and in hot press, and try peanut butter if you havnt already.

I dont think getting a company out will do much good, they will probably only lay traps anyway.

Leonita

Ive tried the kitchen kickboards and they wont budge so he's definitely not coming out there. I'm also amazed that he comes out when I'm in the room that's why I'm starting to think its a young rat. The utility room is outside & have checked for any holes but everything is tightly sealed. Its the same in the hot press.

Its an odd one alright. What I need is somebody to come in & lift a floorboard in the living room to see whats going on down there.

alexonhisown

I guess you need someone that does floors, not pest control, they will just wreck the floor.

Check all rooms, including bedrooms for any tiny gaps beside wardrobes etc. If you find any, put traps there

hopefully its not a baby rat, not that it makes much difference, you still need it out

Maybe keep living room door closed, towel up against outside and unoccupied for a few hrs, hopefully you will get him

Leonita

Hi alex he's definitely not going upstairs. He's living on the ground floor. Even if I closed the living room door he would still manage to get through the gap between door and floor. I know that his run is between living room and kitchen. Have all food removed as well as bait. We are going to be out for the day so hopefully he might decide to go into the trap today.

If not I will have to get somebody that deals with floors to come in. Do you have any recommendations? Preferably somebody that doesn't charge an arm and a leg. Had planned on getting the floors sanded and varnished anyways so would have been on here looking for recommendations in the near future.

GrumpyMe

leo78 wrote: »

Could anybody recommend a good exterminator that would take up floor board and just get rid of them please?

Not much point in taking up a floorboard or all floorboards - the rodent is hardly going to sit below until caught! And you really don't want to poison it - might be acceptable outside but not inside!

leo78 wrote: »

Just saw the fecker fly past me now and took a detour around 1 of the traps.

Don't put A trap down. Put loads of traps down. The basic wooden ones still work very well and bait with something that sticks like peanut butter. If possible set them as barely set as possible! You'll know if you are setting them properly if the odd one goes off as you place them! Put traps in the gaps between traps. Surround the entrance hole with traps and another line outside the first, if necessary. It's not going to willingly get caught! Best catch him (or her if you are unlucky!) as soon as possible. You don't need a family of freeloaders moving in!
Good luck! And be aware killing this one won't necessarily prevent another taking its place...

Shivi111

This will sound like I'm joking but I'm really not...

Do you know anyone with a cat that's a mouser?

Borrow it for a weekend.

Sometimes mice make it into our house, they are very quickly dispatched.

orm0nd

leo78 wrote: »

Thanks spud. Have them down near the hole. Just saw the fecker fly past me now and took a detour around 1 of the traps. They are loaded full of chocolate but he still wont go near any of them

try peanut butter or a grilled rasher rind or cheese as bait,

pablo128

GrumpyMe wrote: »

Not much point in taking up a floorboard or all floorboards - the rodent is hardly going to sit below until caught! And you really don't want to poison it - might be acceptable outside but not inside!

Don't put A trap down. Put loads of traps down. The basic wooden ones still work very well and bait with something that sticks like peanut butter. If possible set them as barely set as possible! You'll know if you are setting them properly if the odd one goes off as you place them! Put traps in the gaps between traps. Surround the entrance hole with traps and another line outside the first, if necessary. It's not going to willingly get caught! Best catch him (or her if you are unlucky!) as soon as possible. You don't need a family of freeloaders moving in!
Good luck! And be aware killing this one won't necessarily prevent another taking its place...

As above. If he's not willingly going to the traps, make sure he has to go over them to get out of wherever he is.

black & white

I've used these guys in the past, John is the name of the guy who I dealt with.

http://ie.kompass.com/c/sean-curtin-pest-control-ltd/ie8312445/

Sean Curtin Pest Control Ltd
Rosmadda Business Park Ballysimon Road
Limerick Co Limerick
Ireland

+353 61 419901

gotasmoke

If it's avoiding the traps, it means that it can smell you on the trap. Try set it again but this time wear rubber gloves.

As for bait, as other posters have said, peanut butter works but I've had mice that would like the trap clean without setting it off, even when it was set as lightly as possible. I've had better luck with nuts or seeds jammed into the raised metal part of the catch and then press the metal in place over the nut. This means that the mouse has to tug on it to pull it out and in the process will set off the trap.

And again as others have said, set loads of traps, they might avoid one or two but if you set enough, you're bound to get lucky with one.

Leonita

Hi folks,

Just a quick update. It would seem that the mouse/rat has gone. Haven't seen or heard him since Saturday. The traps are still in place. I had put down some flour on the floor to see if he runs through it. That is also undisturbed. I guess the next thing to expect is the smell which should start in a few days. That said however he did disappear for a few days at the start of last week but was back running around the place again by midweek.

Thanks to all of you for the advice. Hopefully that's the end of him now.

Spudgun

get some peppermint oil (you can get it from holland and barrett) and rub it around where the mouse used to go they hate the smell so it should help keep them away. it keeps spiders away also