Mouse in the house

Lewis_Benson

It appears we have a friend crawling around between the downstairs ceilings and floors upstairs.
I van hear scratching and scuttling about.

Off to get some traps this morning and lift a few floorboards upstairs to set them.
It sounds pretty loud at times when scratching so hope it's a mouse and not a rat.


I suspected we had something a few weeks ago as I found droppings on top of the washing machine (under counter).

What's the best bait to use?, I've read peanut butter can be very effective to catch the buggers.

Bombaby1974

Had a few just prior to Christmas. Tried the humane traps at first and caught 1 and then nothing for weeks afterwards. Even the bait was gone so it looked like the figured out a way to get it out without springing the trap.
Bought a few basic plastic mouse traps and they worked a treat.
got 5 in total within the space of a couple of weeks and nothing since. A few tips that worked for me.
1. Place them near where you see the droppings and hear the scratching, under counters etc if possible and against the wall as they tend to hug the walls a lot of the time.
2. You may never see where they are getting in. I know I didn't.
3. Chocolate is very effective as bait.
4. clean the traps after a successful kill.

best of luck.

Quackster

Bombaby1974 wrote: »

Had a few just prior to Christmas. Tried the humane traps at first and caught 1 and then nothing for weeks afterwards. Even the bait was gone so it looked like the figured out a way to get it out without springing the trap.
Bought a few basic plastic mouse traps and they worked a treat.
got 5 in total within the space of a couple of weeks and nothing since. A few tips that worked for me.
1. Place them near where you see the droppings and hear the scratching, under counters etc if possible and against the wall as they tend to hug the walls a lot of the time.
2. You may never see where they are getting in. I know I didn't.
3. Chocolate is very effective as bait.
4. clean the traps after a successful kill.

best of luck.

Had a similar experience a few weeks ago and I second all that. Those plastic traps are the job. Chocolate or jelly (cut a cube straight from the packet) works a treat.

CiaranMcDCFC

We had some a few weeks ago. Peanut butter with a bit of dark chocolate did the trick. We used the older wooden traps as the plastic ones we had were useless.

strandroad

We found this style metal humane traps very sturdy and efficient, catching more than mouse at once:
https://www.electric-fence.co.uk/mouse-live-trap-metal-with-window.html
The corridor style plastic ones were not helping at all.
Peanut butter and chocolate both worked well as bait.

thenightman

First thing to do is stop more coming in. Find any tiny holes around external pipes, vents, doors etc and fill with steel wool. Then seal hole with expanding foam.

For bait for traps you are better off using peanut butter or chocolate spread, as the little buggers have to lick it off the trap making it more likely to be triggered. I found that when usingg pieces of chocolate or bacon rind etc, the piece would often be taken from the trap, mice are cute enough like.

tritriagain

Put on an extension last summer and we were infested with mice. Tried everything but couldn't catch them . Bait always gone. I pulled the top off q-tip/cotton bud and smeared it with peanut butter . Used old fashioned timber trap. Caught 6 within 10 mins. Not joking it was slaughter. Actually started feeling guilty it was so easy. The cotton wool makes them pull at trap so the won't just lick it off.

taylor3

Put a tiny piece of after eight mints in the trap, they love it. Worked for me over the years. The gooey bit keeps them at the trap so allows enough time for trap to go off. Also any time I had a mouse you'd swear it was an elephant the noise they made. Now I have 2 cats and zero mice! Good luck.

Lewis_Benson

3 traps set last night between the joists in the ceiling.
Nothing caught yet.
Just heard some rustling around in the area where they are set, they make some racket!

Hopefully I'll hear the unmistakable snap of a metal trap soon enough.

coylemj

I don't have peanut butter but I find a small sliver of rasher incorporating fat and lean works a treat.

Lewis_Benson

Update.

Checked all 3 traps today.
They've been cleaned, and not triggered.

Anyone have any TNT?

Stigura

PM me.

tritriagain

Did you try the cotton wool?

intro

Try a little thread through whatever soft bait you use on the traps and wrap it onto the trigger plate. Long front teeth snag on it. Similar to the cotton wool. Don't use expanding foam to fill holes. They will gnaw through it. Bit of sand and cement or similar.

KaneToad

Lewis_Benson wrote: »

Update.

Checked all 3 traps today.
They've been cleaned, and not triggered.

Anyone have any TNT?

Are you setting them too 'tight',?
You need to have it so that the bar holding back the trap is barely touching it.

petejmk

Lewis_Benson wrote: »

Update.

Checked all 3 traps today.
They've been cleaned, and not triggered.

Anyone have any TNT?

Had a similar problem a few years ago. Poison was the only thing that worked.

tayto lover

I saw one in the kitchen around Christmas time.
I put down two traps, one with bacon and one with chocolate. He went for the chocolate and got done.

Dtp1979

Melt the chocolate and press it into the grooves of the trap where the bait goes. When it sets it takes mousey ages to eat. SNAP

Lewis_Benson

KaneToad wrote: »

Are you setting them too 'tight',?
You need to have it so that the bar holding back the trap is barely touching it.

They were set a little tight.
I have them right on the end of the pin now, so hopefully I hear s snap soon.
I can hear the ****er as I type, hes right beneath the floor st my bed.
I'm tempted to leave a small gap open in the floor and let one of the cats into the house.

Mousey come out, mousey get dead.

enfield

OK Lewis I had the same problem and here is how I sorted it. This works!
The rod that springs your traps has a slight bend on the end of it, that is what is stopping it from going off. Use a pliers to straighten it out. It is tricky to set the traps now but it is worth it, they are very sensitive. Now then use chocolate fr bait. Take off the bait plate, heat it on the gas or with a cigarette lighter and put the chocolate on it while it is hot. It will stick to it and then replace it in the trap. Mousies love chocolate. You will have to reset the traps several times during the day. Using this method I dispatched a family of mousies one after the other in a 24 hour period. Never had one since, but the traps are still set for them if they decide to return.
Let us know how many you have caught, I would expect results rapidly.
Cheers.
Tom.

enfield

mousetrap.JPGI meant to add those instructions are for this type of mousetrap. Some of them have a brass bait plate.

enfield

Like this one.

enfield

How goes the mouse hinting?

FixitFelix

Caught 7 around my house last year, Nutella is the way to go the mice love it, also put the trap Jaws facing towards the wall, supposedly mice stay tight to walls/skirtings when moving and worked for me. From 1st sight to catching them all was 1 day.

I used these
https://www.screwfix.ie/p/pest-stop-sure-set-plastic-mousetraps-2-pack/70203?gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=CjwKCAjwgbLzBRBsEiwAXVIygFOrjyV7YagAGvGvzk_j5sU7h3AXXTWdZFrYAETuKY4ZpRdFonkfMxoCJdYQAvD_BwE

Treppen

Fine white pepper.
They'll sneeze so hard they bash their heads off the floor and kill themselves.

Lewis_Benson

enfield wrote: »

How goes the mouse hinting?

Buggers are still rummaging around.

L1011

I definitely had some in the subfloors and possibly inside the walls in autumn, and a random pattern ultrasonic repellent repeatedly moved to wherever they were moving to has stopped any sounds from them at least. Never had any markings inside the rooms though.

The random pattern bit is essential for any form of effectiveness, which I suspect is minimal anyway but was just enough in this case. They get used to ones that are basically just constant sirens very quickly.

We had an infestation in February, ultrasonic repellent only shifted the issue to another part of the house. Discovered they were squeezing underneath bedroom doors and so affixed skirting board to block gaps. Next I found entry point from adjoining gap near relief pipe from kitchen, filled with wire gauze and plaster. Now we had the craturs isolated in kitchen itself (behind cooker and fridge), set four traps near each with a combination of chocolate and cheese mashed in so there would be a second nibble if first didn't catch. Then tweaked the spring to severest setting. Left kitchen, within an hour five had been trapped and that was the lot scooped into the outside bin. Job done. I wish you luck Mr. Benson, keep tweaking the traps and if they're not going off then try a different model. Don't give up, it's easier than than think.

enfield

Di you straighten out the bend at the end of the rod? If that is not working I would also put a bit of oil on the end of the rod just to help. Make sure there is not a burr on the end of the rod. Sometimes when they cut it to size it leaves a tiny lip. If it is there use a bit of emery on it. I am surprised it is not working, but the best of luck with it.

Dtp1979

I find these traps to be by far the best. Melted chocolate onto the yellow bit. When it hardens, the mouse has to really work. I’ve caught about 20 mice in this 1trap and I’m still using the original piece of melted chocolate.

Darando

rasher rind wrapped around the bait hook. Never failed me

Dtp1979

Dtp1979 wrote: »

I find these traps to be by far the best. Melted chocolate onto the yellow bit. When it hardens, the mouse has to really work. I’ve caught about 20 mice in this 1trap and I’m still using the original piece of melted chocolate.

Works so good I actually got 2 in the 1 trap.