Mice

Pussyhands · 18-12-2021 03:30PM #1

I live in a semi D and can hear mice scuttling about between the ground floor and first floor. I don't see any mouse droppings on the floor anywhere so how do I get at them? I can hear them in the walls too. They're quite loud, going back and over and can often hear things like dust/bits being knocked down the cavity of the wall.

I can hear them above the single story part of the house. I don't know much about construction of semi Ds but would there be a straight gap they could run from, from say the single story attic to between the other part of the house where it's 2 stories?

18-12-2021 03:35PM

Try putting a tiny bit of mars bar on the floor of your attic - if it gets taken, bingo, you know they have a path to the attic, so you can set traps.

Stigura · 18-12-2021 08:38PM

Why mars bar, specifically? Please expand. I'm fascinated.

maestroamado · 18-12-2021 08:47PM

Any hole big enough for your little-finger a mouse can pass... i t could possibly birds as they make noise in guttering...

18-12-2021 10:02PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344016#Comment_118344016

Its a cartoon myth that they go for cheese especially, there are more calories and sugar in chocolate, and the sticky caramel in mars bars allows that split second for it to stick before the trap shuts. Snickers would likely be just as good tho. Im sure there are others too. Ive just had a LOT of success with mars.

Wheety · 18-12-2021 11:33PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344472#Comment_118344472

I caught a load with one of those plastic traps which come prefilled with some bait. They were getting out through a tiny gap between the kitchen cabinet kickboard and the wall. I placed the trap right where they'd come out with no room to get around it and caught around 6 over something like 2 weeks. The first 2 were bigger, I presume the parents. Then the smaller ones. I imagined that one by one they came out to see what was going on and as soon as they squeezed out, they'd land right in the trap.

costacorta · 18-12-2021 11:36PM

Peanut butter also attracts them , caught 2 past week.

kennethsmyth · 18-12-2021 11:43PM

Those plastic traps can be either very good or crap depending on how they are made, however the bait in them is very similar to chocolate. What I do is melt the chocolate into the old wooden luna mouse traps (you can adjust sensitivity by bending the catch). The trick with any mouse trap is to ensure you have set them along a run (like along the kick board of the kitchen) but also put them with the tongue to the kick board ie that the mouse has to run over the trap as opposed to putting them lengthways that stops the mouse continuing to run.

kevthegaff · 18-12-2021 11:44PM

Normal butter is the business, had problems in the car and the house over the years. Butter they can't resist

19-12-2021 01:41PM

Just for the interest, whats your record catch ? We had new neighbours (semi detatched) and in the 3 Winters they were here caught 10, 10 and 12 which remains the record. Zero the Winter before and after. This Winter is also bad though, currently on 8 but none now for 2 weeks so hopefully thats it.

Igotadose · 19-12-2021 01:48PM

I saw one in my home office a week or so ago. Chased it around hoping to catch it in a waste bin and toss it outdoors. FWIW this worked with others in the past. It escaped by squirming under the doorjamb via a gap too small for a pencil.

Put out the wooden snap trap baited with peanut butter. Problem solved overnight.

First one of the year, which is low. Usually her 4 or 5 per winter but the outdoor temps have been pretty warm this year

Pussyhands · 19-12-2021 05:36PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118346280#Comment_118346280

Will the mice make their way to a trap? Like I haven't seen any around the kitchen floor although I did catch one there years ago in a trap.

I've only heard them scurrying about the walls and in between the ground floor and upstairs floor.

Igotadose · 19-12-2021 05:48PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118347233#Comment_118347233

In my experience they seek out the baited traps. This was true in Ireland, NYC, Washington state.... Peanut butter really draws them out.

Trondheim · 20-12-2021 06:07PM

In my experience, i have put the traps in the attic. The wooden snap ones. I have used peanut butter as bait. Never fails. Regardless of where they are around the house, they always seem to make their way to the attic. So regardless of where the noise comes from, i have always caught them in the attic. Nothing fancy needed. Just check the traps regularly.

Igotadose · 20-12-2021 06:53PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352785#Comment_118352785

Most success in Ireland: hot press

NYC: under baseboards

WA state: in a drawer in a cabinet in the kitchen.

Peanut butter in all cases.

21-12-2021 04:33PM

fwiw, we used to catch them in every room in the house. Once caught one that had got itself between the outer casing of the gas oven and the actual hard oven bit inside. Also one sat on top of the (very hot) Xbox power supply once in the spare bedroom and gave me a stare down. However since we put hard flooring down in all rooms upstairs, they are now confined to the attic or occasionally between living room ceiling and bedroom floor, suggesting that the hard flooring has now blocked what used to be a route.

Pussyhands · 21-12-2021 05:08PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118356872#Comment_118356872

They get around and they're quiet too.

I remember one I caught in the kitchen one year. I was sitting in silence in the living room and I had a trap in the kitchen against the wall. Suddenly I heard the trap snap. Caught one. Running around the kitchen during day light...would never have known they were at that without the trap snapping.

I had mixed results. I only caught one, that one referenced above. But I used to hear them in the walls of the living room and beside the fireplace the tv unit is placed. I can't move it because it's all connected and balanced on each other but I remember I could hear a mouse scratching at the bottom of the wall, inside the room.

But they would run back and then I'd hear scratching from behind above the fireplace. There must be a hole but I can't get at it. I actually had traps at the bottom of the wall set. I melted chocolate onto the trap but it never caught any.

Sleeper12 · 22-12-2021 09:04AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118346258#Comment_118346258

Not a single mouse in 10 years. Last year I put up a bird feeder hanging on the back wall of the house. I caught 18 last winter. Needless to say I moved the feeder to bottom of the garden. So far no mice

Murph_D · 22-12-2021 09:16AM

What do people think of those electronic repellants? Installed one in kitchen after previous infestation a couple of years ago. So far so good but it could be a coincidence. If we get through this winter with no mice I’ll be more confident.

Pussyhands · 22-12-2021 09:35AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118359547#Comment_118359547

I was thinking of one of them and all the results were saying they're a scam. That they might work for a couple weeks but they'll be back again.

Would like some real life experiences.

Murph_D · 22-12-2021 10:22AM

I’ll keep you posted so! We did buy one of the expensive ones that are supposed to distribute the signal all around the wiring as well as the plug in unit. I was as sceptical as yourself, but so far so good. It’s a holiday house though so am not able to monitor constantly. Will know more in a couple of weeks.

22-12-2021 10:25AM

Theres an electronic device that plugs in to a socket and supposedly sends waves around the wiring of your house. I have one. It doesn't claim to keep them out, it makes it uncomfortable for them to settle so they don't nest.

Theres a button on it that you're supposed to press every week (and yes I do) to change the signal from solid to pulse, if the signal stays the same they get used to it, so by changing it they again dont get comfortable.

Does it work ? Impossible to say. Cant hurt though.

Not sure if thats the same as the one you're talking about ?

Murph_D · 22-12-2021 11:27AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118359758#Comment_118359758

Yes, that’s what I’m thinking of. Must press that button more often myself, but seems to have been working well now for over a year. Will know soon enough when I head there for the new year - house is in the middle of nowhere and the mice love to settle in at this time of year usually.

whisky_galore · 22-12-2021 11:54AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118359591#Comment_118359591

They'll learn to ignore it when they cop it is just noise and not a threat. They will put up with noise if moving means they'll lose out on food and warmth.

Well placed and attractively baited traps ftw. Poison is harmful to wildlife and you'll probably end up with a smelly dead body you can't find and remove. Cats are hit or miss, they may be great mousers or they may be useless.

Igotadose · 22-12-2021 12:04PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118360140#Comment_118360140

Cats also get old and less good at it. Mine were amazing mousers when young, by the time they got into their teens, the mice were stealing their catfood.

whisky_galore · 22-12-2021 12:18PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118360186#Comment_118360186

Plus you have to actually like them as well, for their lifetime. Not just for Xmas or their rodent control contract.

artvanderlay · 28-12-2021 11:57AM

I've a similar situation to the OP. There's a mouse/rat in the floorboards between ground and first floor (detached house). I've laid traps everywhere but the little bastard is still there every night scratching and waking me up. He's been there a week and I don't know where he's getting in/out and what he's eating. We keep the kitchen spotless so there's no food there for him. We even have 4 feral cats outdoors that we look after/shelter and they are always bringing us rodents (a dead rat yesterday, for instance) so I don't know how he's staying alive with them around if he is popping his head out. Doesn't he have to eat at some stage and come out? Could he have gotten in through a drain pipe? That's the only way I can see him getting into his present location.

Thanks!

Furze99 · 28-12-2021 12:32PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118381138#Comment_118381138

There's never just one! Rats in particular are fantastic climbers. Traps best in a house, avoid poison as if they take it, you'll likely have rotting and smelly bodies in inaccessible places.

SeeMoreBut · 28-12-2021 12:37PM

Peanut butter is great. Heard one 2 nights ago behind the fridge. Placed a trap behind kick board and next morning there he was.

Trondheim · 28-12-2021 02:10PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118381138#Comment_118381138

On balance of probability, it is most likely a mouse. We have had lots of rats in the garden over the years and never had one in the house (but have had plenty of mice). They seem to be fairly shy and tend not to come into the house. That is not to say that it definitely isn't a rat, but just much more likely to be a mouse.

Stick with the traps. Try putting them in the attic. It will work, you just need to be patient, although i know that is easier said than done when you are listening to that noise at night.

artvanderlay · 28-12-2021 07:46PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118381618#Comment_118381618

Thanks for that. Do they come in and go out? He's got to be getting food from somewhere and it's not from us! Probably deliveroo :)

Mice

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