Mice problem

jo187

Hey guys

Not sure if in right area but looking for help.

We noticed the past week noises coming from inside the wall. Were pretty sure it's mice/rats as it sounds like then nibbling away. We put down traps but so far noting and notice no sign of them actually inside the apartment.

Were on the third floor and share walls with our neighbours. I kinda thought we were safe on third floor from rodents.

I'm just wondering if anyone has experience/advice on this it would be great, should we talk to our neighbours? Ask them do they hear it? Or seen any inside.

Thanks

mickdw

In my experience, bait boxes placed externally seem to be very effective so I'd suggest arranging with management to have this done.

jo187

I got a few in the shop. Are there better ones? Do you think I should contact management? Thanks

Mrs OBumble

Do you own or rent?

jo187

Rent

Mrs OBumble

Speak to your landlord then. The management company won't talk to you.

Jmc25

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118409760#Comment_118409760

I was an owner in a development and the management agent were happy to deal directly with tenants over certain issues - rodents being one of them.

Depends on the management company I suppose but for these types of issues we found it was nearly always easier to deal with the people actually living there.

jo187

Thanks guys, last night was awful

We found evidence there in the bedroom

The property agent is off today

Were laying down more traps and getting a sonic thing aswell and contacting them tomorrow too

If anyone has any advice happy to hear that too

knockoutned

If you're not squeamish about cleaning up after, a bit of peanut butter on an old fashioned mouse trap is very efficient in getting rid of them.

sligeach

Very often it's mice, not rats that are the culprits. No need to kill them, you can catch them with these:

https://www.woodies.ie/pest-free-zone-live-mouse-trap-2-pack-1142190

Use peanut butter/chocolate and a bit of grated cheese at the entrance. They really work, you may have to reset them a couple of times as they may not go in the entrance first time and inadvertently set them off. Very easy to setup and clean afterwards and nobody has to die. Just release the mice in a park or a good distance from your apartment once they're caught.

spaceHopper

I costs about 150 euro to get in pest control. They will have it sorted in a couple of days to week where you will be at it forever. Talk to your LL or Management company. The sonic youkes are useless save your money and get pest control.

JimmyVik

We always get mice every year between September and January. Even got a rat once.

Traps do the trick. Catch the 3 or 4 that get in and you are done for the year. Old fashioned traps with peanut butter. They get in anywhere.

And use the killer traps because they know their way back if you release them alive. You can can transport them from live traps far away, but be prepared for your traps to be covered with mouse p!ss while you are transporting them.

Dont bother calling pest control for mice. Cheaper to burn your house down to get rid of them :)

Caranica

It's the landlord/management company's problem. Get on to them.

jo187

Thanks guys

Last night we heard nothing. But noting in the traps.

Give it one more night and if we hear anything get on to management and get pest control in

Pawwed Rig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118420389#Comment_118420389

It is the Ops problem No? They are the one that have to live with it. The LL/mgt co might be the ones tasked with getting rid of them officially but still the Ops problem.

Anytime I had mice I put chocolate in a trap and resolved the issue in a week or 2. Most we had was 9 corpses going into the wheelie bin

Chris_5339762

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qk8W5uf-Dw

Build one of these.

Ger Roe

In my experience, for mice, traps are the only way to go. Poison results in them dying in places where you are aware of the smell and then have to go hunting to find their remains.

Put down traps and count the bodies ... the only way to be sure. I leave baited traps in discrete places around the house, all year. The bait being taken is an early warning system that they have returned.

JimmyVik

There will be a million of them by the time the management company gets in on the action. Sort it out yourself right away with traps.

jood22

We recently lived in a terraced house and it was like a train of mice at night there were so many in the walls. We were renting and had to get pest control ourselves (it was in the lease). Tbh it was a total waste of time and money unless everyone else also got it in the row of terraces. The mice were running from house to house. Mouse traps never worked either for us unfortunately.

we were leaving anyway but I was so glad when we did as on our last night I could hear them next to where I slept! 🥺

1874

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118420389#Comment_118420389

A very simplistic answer, it might well be the tenant attracting them or someone else nearby,Id say it is in their interest not to take the view you do, because they have to live with it or help sort it too, cant just throw your hands in the air and expect the landlord to sort it if there is some problem drawing them in, for the live capture, I'd consider that so they dont end up rotting behind a wall, then Id dispatch them, just letting them loose, they will get back in surely.

jo187

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118494326#Comment_118494326

We got a lend of a cat and seem to make them piss off. The traps were empty. We went over every inch of the bedroom and moved back in because I thought we were safe.

Unfortunately the first night back in the room I heard noises and saw one of them.

I contacted property agent the next morning. Weren't super bothered, said they send Handy man over to have a look.

I contacted property management and lot more helpful. They were well aware of the problem as other tenants complained. Pest control are coming regularly.

On top of that caught one in the trap, the one I saw that night. Hopefully the end of it.

Ger Roe

I had an issue with light scratching noises in the wall recently. I put down traps with peanut butter in them but found that they were hardly touched. I saw fleeting glances of something running across the floor, but it looked small and explained why the noises were low. After a few weeks, I decided to give up on the untouched peanut butter and was puzzled that it wasn't effective. I replaced the bait with some small meat scraps and within hours a trap was sprung.

I was however surprised to see that it was a pygmy shrew that had been caught. I never saw one before - apparently they are quite common, but elusive.

Pawwed Rig

The poor pygmy shrew 😥😢

For the first time in 8 years in my house (I own it) I have had an infestation of mice! In the attic and kitchen mostly and between the walls and floors. The noise at night has been the worst! I tried the humane traps setting them with peanut butter and crackers. Next day the peanut butter and crackers were gone but no mice had been caught! Clever or what!

I also have 2 cats, one is useless and one is brilliant when it comes to mice. The brilliant one had her work cut out, she stuck with hunting them for the best part of 2 weeks an finally after killing about 5 and scaring off the rest I have a mouse free home again! There seems to be a lot of them around this year.

Patrick2010

Always used to use a piece of rasher in a trap tied on with string so they had to tug at it. Also placed the trap in a "tunnel" like betwen 2 boxes or against a wall in such a way that they had to walk onto it. Once caught 8 mice, every morning there was another mouse in the trap. Once I found out how they were getting in (a gas pipe in the garage going in through a wall to underneath the kitchen floor had a small gap that I sealed) we never had any more.

crossmolinalad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118421216#Comment_118421216

if you buy the right poison you wont smell anything

we use poison standard every november each year when they want to come inside the house ad never smelled or heared them

Ger Roe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118558948#Comment_118558948

I think you have just been lucky that they have died somewhere else. What is the right poison that prevents the smell of decay? I used poison for mice once and then had to search through the hot press the for source of a smell, before finding two mice bodies. I vowed to never use it again after that.

One of the other risks with poison, is secondary poisoning when other animals or birds may eat a dead mouse or rat. Poisons circulating in the general environment, is never a good thing.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/rat-poison-linked-to-decline-in-birds-of-prey-1.480144

10pennymixup

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118531490#Comment_118531490

There's an invasive species of shrew that came in recently from Europe, twice the size of the native Irish Shrew and is eating the native shrew out of it's natural habitat to the point it no longer exists in some parts of the country.

They are also more likely to enter houses.

If that was one of the non native species then I say fry the badstard.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118414284#Comment_118414284

That's downright cruel. I love little furry things!

I use chocolate,

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118559919#Comment_118559919

That is likely to be ones based on warfarin. supposedly causes intense thirst so they head off to find water.

10pennymixup

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118562241#Comment_118562241

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and finds the domestic water tank in your attic, falls in and well...............

A nice thought to have when you washing the teeth in the morning

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118563024#Comment_118563024

I have a cover on mine, I'm not an idiot.

10pennymixup

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118563110#Comment_118563110

Same here, but you'd be surprised how many houses don't and the occupants don't even know.

My point is the warfarin based poisons aren't a good idea.

cbreeze

A trap baited with a peanut well jammed in works well, also a trap with a flexible bait platform such as the 'Luna' brand is better than the fixed version.

BorneTobyWilde

https://youtu.be/wNaNGH_hnEE?t=122

Peppermint oil works

Ger Roe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118562168#Comment_118562168

This was a native pygmy, i'm afraid. It was a surprise to see it, but still not welcome in the house all the same.

Teacher2020

If you're not catching mice check that your traps are sensitive enough. We had a mouse infestation over Christmas and we had precautionary traps set but they had caught nothing. Husband figured out that traps were not sensitive enough when the peanut butter and butter were disappearing off them but no mice caught. We got The Big Cheese plastic traps an caught 10 mice in 2 days. We haven't caught a single one since and all droppings and scratchings have stopped. We found the traps with butter were more effective than the peanut butter traps.

cnocbui

We have a cat problem, so don't have a mice problem. One the moggies did for a large rat, which surprised us.

gmisk

Is it worth while putting out some traps around the place....I have heard some noise in floorboards only....or is it a case of me needing to rip them up?

I was considering getting a professional....but got a quote of 350+ euros...so might try traps myself first...

Teacher2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118573412#Comment_118573412

Yes it is worth it. We only heard scratching in the attic but caught them in the hotpress and under the kitchen sink. Look out for areas with pipes as they will come up through those. Check outside for how they are getting in.

Ger Roe

If you hear any noise... put out traps. Mice will find their way to sources of food and heat eventually. As said previously, I leave sample traps in secluded locations all the time, if the bait is taken, I know they are back and then the full arsenal of traps is deployed.

crossmolinalad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118563024#Comment_118563024

We have a lid on them so no mice will fall into the tank

10pennymixup

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118581112#Comment_118581112

So!

Why you telling me, so do I. Jeesh.