mouse invasion!

Igotadose

So, I went out to the shed yesterday and something had gotten into a bag of wood chips. Mounds of wood chips everywhere... I cleaned up best I could, the bag had been chewed at each end, and put out a mouse trap overnight.

Sure enough, caught a mouse which was promptly evicted far away. Continued the cleaning process in earnest, and found that there was a bit of a 'wood chip fort' under some cardboard. Lifted the cardboard, at least 6 mice went scurrying!

Did more cleanup, set a trap again, but that's a lot of mice. I'd rather not snap trap them (they've shown the ability to steal the bait from those without firing the trap.) Just put out a bunch of traps? Poison? There are various feral cats around, useless spongers the lot of them, but I am tempted to give them access to the shed. I worry that will yield cat poo in the shed, possibly kittens, and laughing mice.

Suggestions?

10-10-20

Hi!

Sorry to say - if it's a shed you may give up as they can get in without much difficulty. You'll never stop the invasion as there are endless counts of the critters in virtually every garden. I'd just store your equipment differently - put soft items into plastic boxes and keep birdseed well sealed in containers. That's about it!

Kurooi

+1 on above, get some plastic boxes for any food or potential nesting material they might use. This will help in the long term.

Then on the shorter term, well once they're there they are unlikely to move, seems they made your shed their nest. set 4-8 traps at a time and you will get rid of them quickly enough.

josip

Although I think they don't work, a few acquaintances swear by the ultrasound devices. If you have lecky in the shed you've nothing to lose plugging one in. Apart from a few Euro. Or maybe spray the shed liberally with cat urine.

Markcheese

Apparently those bucket traps are very effective , a tall bucket or bin , with a ramp up it - and a see-sae platform that drops them in the bucket ..

Either put water in the bottom to dispatch them or not ..

Also any idea what theyre eating? A fort made from wood pellets is one thing , but there'd have to be a decent source of nutrition

vicwatson

For the moment get endomice to bait the place

Trigger Happy

Have you considered burning the shed to the ground?

Doe Tiden

The sticky pads are great imo, not the most humane maybe but work well, you could also try poison if you have not pets or kids about the place

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121729678#Comment_121729678

Can one get them in Ireland? I thought sticky traps were illegal here?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121729677#Comment_121729677

Heh. No.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121729662#Comment_121729662

I've seen the videos of them as well, that might be the next step.

They got into the grass seed, and some cardboard (part of the nesting they were doing), that I had been saving for some no-dig beds in the spring. Also, unfortunately an unprotected bag of bird peanuts.

I've cleaned the shed out, washing shelving, sweeping up everything and vacuuming. The shed is a Steeltech shed, made of metal and it seems a lot of them have fled, but still some are there I hear them scuttling around and sometimes squeaking in the metal 'ribs' of the shed which are hollow. I've set out a few new traps.

Anything organic has been transferred to a plastic container within another plastic container.

Also, I've started leaving the door open during the day to let the various feral cats in to explore. One is very interested in the shed and its contents, hopefully it'll help drive off a few of them.

Last resort will be endomice.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions.

The Mulk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121730835#Comment_121730835

Can one get them in Ireland? I thought sticky traps were illegal here?

Amazon deliver these, very effective in my attic, when no ther traps would work

waterwelly

Buy traps on Amazon. Like 5 or 6. Bait them with peanut butter.

You will eventually get there.

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121730865#Comment_121730865

Peanut butter is the bait of choice. The mice go for it, and usually steal it without tripping the traps.

SEPT 23 1989

Wouldn’t worry about mice it’s the other lads I would worry about

DamoNolan

Sticky boards are illegal in Ireland but can be got online. Chocolate sauce on a trap is the way to go unless you get poison which should be in bait box so no cats cat get at it.

Mike_Hunt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121730884#Comment_121730884

TV Licence inspectors?😂

Doe Tiden

@Igotadose i not sure if they are illegal or not tbh last time I got them I got them in the north. I defo got some in the local hardware in the past

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121730869#Comment_121730869

Try a sliver of a Mars bar instead, the fun size are easier to cut to size. The mice stick to the toffee for that fraction of a second it needs for the trap to do it's thing. Also don't use the wooden traps that you see in cartoons - useless; I've had great success with the Rentokil ones.

phormium

I made one of those bucket traps with ramp/see saw etc, great fun making it but caught no mice! My Dad got a great laugh out of it anyway, they were in his house, cheeky enough to hop up on the table to get at the biscuits! We eventually just had to go with traps.

After he died we discovered they had actually burrowed up through his couch no doubt to get at the biscuit crumbs he invariably dropped between the cushions when having his tea and bickkies.

Maybe try biscuit, they seem to really love them!

The Mulk

The worst part with the glue traps is when you get 3 or 4 stuck to it, and it's hard to pick up.🤮

We had them in the attic and after we got rid of them I started getting rid off bags of clothes and teddies, belonging to the kids.

The kids had some teddies that were filled with some beans\grain and were made for heating in the microwave. The mice had burrowed in to the bag , through the teddy and were eating this.

I leave a glue trap with a piece of Snickers bar up there all the time, been empty over a year now. It's still sticky!

DC999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121738764#Comment_121738764

I'm similar, I've several behind the cooker just in case after 2 batches of them in the house last year. It's 'death row' there for mice, but safe from pets or kids - only I can get to them when I pull the cooker out. Then love all the crumbs that drop down from the cooking

TheCrank

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121730869#Comment_121730869

That's down to the traps, not any sort of mouse stealth tactics. I bought a load of traps recently that were useless. You could push the baited part halfway down without springing it and they were cleaned out by the mice every night. I also have older traps that are lethal. You can barely breathe without tripping them and they have blitzed the enemy. Rentokil Advanced Mouse Trap, that's what you want.

I bought humane traps on Amazon recently, catch and release type. Seems some field mice found their way into our utility during the cold snap. Caught 2 so far, fearing a nest now.

I spent the day pulling out the washing machine and drier and trying to get under the presses. Droppings everywhere and this putrid odour that I suspect is piss.

2 bottles of bleach later I’m hoping the place is disinfected!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121719926#Comment_121719926

Considering a mouse is capable of entering any building it likes through a hole no wider in diameter than that of a pencil, they absolutely will get into the house next and definitely should be stopped asap.

OP you would be very wise to immediately contract the services of a professional pest control expert. You won’t sort out 6+ mice yourself and the little fcukers breed like wildfire.

A mouse can give birth in as little as 2.5-3 weeks, being capable of getting pregnant immediately after birth. Point being the chance it’s only 6? Slim and slimmer every day.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121755434#Comment_121755434

Looks like my war on mice continues this morning, fresh droppings in the press under the sink 😩. So I must have some sort of infestation.

I wonder if the catch and release is the problem, would they have the sense to make their way back? I’ve put them at the very back of a field furthest point from the house possible! ffs!

Not a fan of killing things but if it continues up I’ll have no choice.

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121756577#Comment_121756577

The further away, the better imo. I'm walking them about 1km from home and dropping on a trail. If they can make it back (perhaps I should tag them with food coloring or some such), well, fair play I guess.

FWIW in the last few days I've only been capturing what I think are 'juvenile' mice, smaller than the ones I was capturing earlier in the week. Even though I'm using the live traps, the most recently captured juveniles are dead in the traps in the morning. Herself thinks they're dying of shock. They eat the bait before dying. I think once they realize they can't escape, they freak out.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121756577#Comment_121756577

they’re not likely to be making their way back but as I said yesterday a couple of mice becomes a massive population very fast.

OP I think you need to hire a pro by the sounds of it this is far bigger than you can handle with at home pest control (traps etc).

tomhammer..

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121730865#Comment_121730865

Problem with setting traps is you'll be continually trapping them as more mice will enter shed

I successfully stopped them getting in by closing the gap under the door

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121756717#Comment_121756717

Thanks for the advice. The shed (a Steeltech) is 6mx3m and holds gardening stuff and tools. I don't think it's worth it to pay for someone, we don't keep food in there and will no longer store birdseed in it (fool me once.)

I also leave it open from time to time during the day for the local tribe of feral, but spayed&neutered, cats to cruise through. They're very interested in it. I don't refer to them as 'worthless scroungers' anymore. And fair play to my neighbour who went through all the trouble to get them (a half dozen) sterilized. *shameless plug* The Irish Cat and Dog Protection Association can help with TNR.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121756751#Comment_121756751

sorry when you said under the sink I thought they had come inside your house. That would be my primary concern above their living in the shed.

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121756759#Comment_121756759

Aha. Was someone else who had them under the sink, not me.

FWIW, we occasionally get them indoors, they weirdly love the hot press, and fortunately trapping them has been sufficient, plus it's easy to clean out the hot press.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121756717#Comment_121756717

I just noticed them after the snow mid jan, are they that fast at repopulating?

Igotadose

6 weeks is enough time for a couple of litters

niallb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121756764#Comment_121756764

The hot press has heating and water pipes going in and out of it. Our boiler runs straight into the hot press from outside and there was a gap in the seal through the wall. Unless the hotpress is really well sealed it's like their central train station to the rest of the house!

DC999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121756812#Comment_121756812

I caught 11 in the house. Took several weeks from the 1st one to the last one. The last one was much harder to get - could here it in the ceiling around the house. From ground floor to attic - they travel the whole lot.

And the time after that was something like 7 caught until they all disappeared - but I had some traps set the whole time behind the oven so I was faster to react that 2nd time. Can smell it in the trap after a few days

The Reader

Yep had a similar problem in my attic years ago. I found that the "luna" make mouse traps did the business for me I placed my chocolate sweet as the bait and consistently reset my trap in a sharp setting. I had all my little visitors cleared after about 3 weeks. You have got to stick with it and keep your trap active on a daily basis after a hit. Worked for me ? .

Caught my third one today. The first two were small and brown this one was bigger and a bit greyer. Would this be a litter I wonder? They looked so different.

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121777212#Comment_121777212

Of the 11 I've caught so far (haven't been out to look yet today), 2 of them were 'rounder' looking and smaller and darker. Their noses weren't as pointy. Despite being caught in a 'have a heart' style trap, they were dead in the traps. No poison around, I think maybe simply stress did them in or maybe banging around in the traps they did themselves in.

These 'rounder' ones might've been juveniles or another variety. The rest all pretty much looked the same.

Daisy 55

Told by rentokil “can you see light? Then the mouse can get in!” In reference t a tiny gap under a door…..

10-10-20

Here's a good video on it. Jumped to the wrap-up.

https://youtu.be/pNaz4keivMk?t=429

Igotadose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121779300#Comment_121779300

Depressing.

I think I've seen one in the house get through a gap smaller than 13mm when I was chasing it - it squeezed in under a doorway saddle that at best was a 10mm gap.

None caught today, that's 2 days in a row without captures in my shed. I am hoping the resident population has been trapped or moved on. Will keep the traps in place though for a few more weeks at least.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121779387#Comment_121779387

they have potentially just figured out the traps are dangerous.

Traps activity is irrelevant do not worry about it what you are looking for is evidence of their continued presence (ie droppings, knawing marks etc)

its actually unreal how smart they are despite having such tiny little brains. 🤣

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121779572#Comment_121779572

Definitely, the first 2 I caught so quickly, the third danced and sh@t around the trap for a week before I caught it.

endacl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121756812#Comment_121756812

I hear they breed like mice.

greasepalm

I do wonder if the ultrasonic s need to be down low to work at ground level as the buggers run around the floor.

Bucket and ramp worked with water and peanut butter and 1 mouse only.

poison worked and got rid of 2 others.

Using a bigger Ultrasonic unit upstairs which also goes through the house wiring and none seen or heard since plugging it in.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121779624#Comment_121779624

That’s a good point, we have it plugged up high in the garage. Makes zero difference. They’re happily dancing around it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121779624#Comment_121779624

No they just do not work. Google it it’s widely known they are a scam.

Look, if you think a silly beeping is going to deter rodents you should give your head a shake tbh. They are not bothered by it in the slightest.

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/reviews/pest-control/do-ultrasonic-pest-repellers-work#:~:text=Ultrasonic%20rodent%20repellers%20are%20not,behind%2C%20under%2C%20and%20in.

greasepalm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121781242#Comment_121781242

Well not seen a mouse since i used one on the landing .

+ I sealed up a few more holes with copper wire and silicone which also reduced drafts.