Anyone had a mouse infestation ?

AndyCroft1982

AndyCroft1982

AndyCroft1982

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Started a couple of days ago when we noticed a packet of biscuits had been eaten/chewed. Then that evening we heard scratching in the walls and ceiling. Got some rat snap traps the next day and baited one with peanut butter at the place i thought they would be coming in from (the bathroom).

That night it caught one so i re baited and laid it in the same place. The next 3 days we caught 4 altogether, then last night we didn't catch any so presumed that we had got them all. Turned out we hadn't, the mrs had left some bread in her work bag and the mice decided to eat that instead of the peanut butter, also found some mouse poo in the kitchen today.

Problem is ive already spent the day filling in all the holes with steel wool and putting wooden beading down at the bottom of skirting boards where they could possibly get under. I also filled in the hole in the bathroom as i was hoping i wouldnt need to leave the trap there anymore.

Just wondered if any of you have experienced anything similar and have any advice. I think im going to buy a couple of cats tbh as most people say that is the best option.
 
Yea - had a few at one point but found it was cat bringing them in alive then dropping them. One had made a nest at back of kitchen drawer with plasters.

Just kepp putting down the traps - Or get a cat.;)
 
My cat brings them in live and drops them pn the floor for me. I've become pretty adept at catching them my hand now before they run off!

They're mostly field mice so I use humane traps if I miss them because field mice are cute :)
 
Yeah, keep a track of where you see them and lay traps on their routes. If you have a family of them, once you kill the parents the young will come out looking for food, these are normally more erratic and won't really keep to certain routes (they will run across middle of room for example)

Once they are sorted it's time to really look for a way they got in. Even filling holes around your house will make it much tougher for them to get about.
 
Keep using old-fashioned spring traps and peanut butter. The humane traps are rubbish.

We had a family in our loft years ago and this was the quickest way to clear them. We were catching 1 or 2 a night for a couple of weeks. I'm convinced our useless cat caught a pregnant female and then let it go ....

You have to keep at it until the night-time scurrying noises stop.
 
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We got it real bad one year (They knocked a old school down one street away) I was killing 4/5 a night for a week. Horrible!

Whole street was infested.
 
Honestly just get a pest control company in - sometimes your council will offer pest control services. If you've got rodents in your kitchen they you have a big problem. Even someone like Rentokil will be cheaper and less hassle than a couple of cats.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I went out yesterday filling all the holes/vents inside and outside the house. Traps have been empty now for a day and the night time scurrying seems to have stopped, well for the time anyway. Fingers crossed. I've been really impressed with the victor power traps I got off the rainforest. Still going to get cats as well just incase. Even if they don't catch them their scent might keep them away. I've got a feeling they were getting in through the old Victorian vents outside.
 
My mum had a ton of mice that would feast on the poison that she bought from b and q lol.

I ended up buying her 8 snap traps from a Pou d shop and a jar of peanut butter.

It was a slaughter for a few nights.

I had the gf over from Sweden and we were staying with my mum. It was quite embarrassing at the time. There must have been 20+ mice.
We woke up one night to the sound of a rustling paper bag that had some cookies in we had in the bedroom. I had never laughed so much seeing the bag wiggling around before it went flying out the window.

Check all your air bricks if you have any seal up any holes anywhere. The damn things were crawling up behind and into kitchen units. They really are relentless on the search for food.

Invest in Tupperware and a cat.
 
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Far better than a cat...a ferret. rodents are terrified of them and just their scent will keep them away. A ferret will also be pretty tenacious at catching and eating them.
 
We decided to get 2 kittens in the end. Gandolf (as he is a grey long haired cat) and Frodo (as he is the adventurous one). We have got some mouse toys to start training them lol
 
We have two big tom cats, one of which turned up as a stray and looked as though he'd been living rough for a while so you'd expect him to have that killer instinct, but nope, they will both catch mice, they are good at that, but they tend to just carry them about and tap them with their paws until the mice makes another run for it. Then they will bring them indoors, dump them on the floor, loose interest and bugger off, catching a mouse is very difficult and the cats will just watch you making a fool of yourself, I swear they do it on purpose!

If I hear a squeal in the garden I'll go out there asap, take the mouse off them and release it before those pesky cats can bring it indoors!
 
Good point about councils, if you are a council home owner they can sometimes get the pest guy out, but all he does is lay traps and come and see few weeks later.

You can purchase a bunch of rat traps from the pound shop, you can even buy the bigger box units from flebay/rainforest that trap and collect dozens of them.

What I did was use filler pots from the pound shop and just fill up as many gaps in cupboards and anywhere where there was droppings, then stuck flat chipboard or wood boards or even a plastic square piece on top so it acts like a barrier and its solid.

You may have to undo your kitchen work tops to see the other side and underneath but only if you suspect they are there, sometimes at the bottom or worktops and cabinets is a plank of wood so you could see if it comes off and shine a torch there.

You have the right idea also using steel wool in gaps outside the house, I did that and filler on top just go around the house and look for any gaps really, stopped all the pest issues right away.
 
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