Mouse infestation

[Munkul]

if you can get some used cat litter from someone a bit rank i know, but bag it up and put it under kitchen counters etc... sounds daft but it definitely keep the mice away at ours, dont like the smell i guess

That smell would keep me away from yours as well

Little nippers and cats are the two things we know that work... cats keep mice population down around the farm, and little nippers under the floorboards in my parents farmhouse.

They need to be killed, not set free... in some respects its more humane to kill them anyway, as if you release them close by, they will be back, and if you release them into the wild, you've removed their food sources and left them exposed to predators. The world is a cruel place...

 

[ukracer]

Cat is the way to go...I've not seen a mouse in 15 years.....my neighbours complain about them though

My dad is 87 what happens to the poor cat after that.

 

[JEZGUZ]

It's an offence to release vermin after they have been caught, got to kill them if you catch them.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Taken outside to the top of the garden and emptied over the wall, one by one.

And probably back in the house before you

 

[slim_boy_fat]

My dad is 87 what happens to the poor cat after that.

Persuade your Sister to adopt it

 

[badabec]

My dad is 87 what happens to the poor cat after that.

You've always wanted a cat

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

My dad is 87 what happens to the poor cat after that

I was thinking get some cat treats and just lure a neighbourhood cat into the garden to hang about...ours will do anything for those treats....he can hear them a mile away when I rattle the bag! You just need the smell of the cat about the place....the mice will soon clear off.

Ours isn't a hunter...but no self respecting cat will tolerate mice in their territory.

 

[plantlife]

We've used the old type but ours broke after many years of use, they were lethal too. They use to cut mice in half!!! Smash heads in etc.
We we're stuck and quickly got some from screwfix/maxwells diy. They look like this

Error 410 | Screwfix

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They work, they kill. Had many mice over a few weeks. ( we used chocolate spread, it worked) As long as you get rid of everything edible

I checked outside of the house for broken bricks/damaged/holes in any brick work. Couldn't see any, we've got open vents all over the house...about 12. Some around dpm height, others up near roof height.
I know I shouldn't but I blocked the lower vent surface with a piece of old plastic from a window job.

It seems touch wood, that we've had no more!! (We've had an influx of wood lice and slugs, grrr)

We found the mice were nesting in our loft, lots of them. They were eating candles, Christmas decorations etc etc.
So, we ended up checking the whole house top to bottom. Boxed everything in plastic containers, cleaned everything

We placed traps under the kitchen sink, loft, walls near radiators as the carpet moved where the pipe enters through the floor board. Any cupboards where pipes enter or exit Some pipes weren't put under our floors boards, mice tend to poo where they eat and they seemed to return to the same areas, so bait and trap those areas.
One bedroom is far away from any food or food source and there was no entry points for the mice but we found poo under the bed.
Good luck

P.s, they ate soap in the utility room!

 

[Bobupndown]

We have 2 cats, one is a serial killing mass murderer, the other is more lazy and spends most of her time indoors. There's not a mouse, rat, bird or squirrel safe in the vicinity of our house.

 

[Parm]

They go mad for Nutella.
Stuff any gaps with wire wool, apparently they hate it.

I’ve done this, used a load of cheap metal scourers from the pound shop

 

[Kayos]

I had a serious problem a few years ago, including rats. A neighbour had a hoard in the garden and turns out the kitchen as well.
I was away for 4 weeks, so several bags of poison distributed about the house the night before I left

There was a smell when I returned, next door neighbour told me about a week after I went the smell was horrific, but it was dying down now, didn't tell him I was the cause.

No more mice or rats, the house was cleared by the council shortly after

 

[AVI_8]

I find that most years around late Autumn, early winter time is when I’ll get a few mice, my Jack Russel is usually the one to alert me of their presence if I don’t hear them myself trying to climb up the inside of the lathe and plaster wall. I’ll normally catch 3-4 over the period of a few weeks then that’s it for another year.
In the OP’s case if he’s got them at this time of year they’ve probably been living in the house all winter, especially as he’s noticing lots of droppings.
Ideally they need to be caught before they nest and breed.

 

[reb78]

We had a problem (I don't think it is totally solved) and someone recommended these - https://www.screwfix.com/p/stv-pest-free-plastic-metal-rat-traps-2-pack/27499

They seemed to work well - I caught one a day when I started using them - less now but I am still using them. I use some smelly dog food in them and that seems to have worked.

 

[Fastdruid]

Not seen many whole mouses in a long time - only head, or back legs and tails left at the back door by one of the moggies.

Ditto. Typically we find a tail and an unidentified organ in a small puddle of blood.

The rabbit one of the rescue cats dragged back from the park was probably a bit much - from the row the rabbit was kicking up, it didn't think much of the idea either . . .

Ours caught and ate most of one once. We found a rabbits head and half a rabbit left. It was rather grim.

 

[brightspark]

ive cleared them out of our house .use the big cheese bait blocks some in the draws under the plinths in the airing cupboard and attic round the house and in the sheds even in roof voids and under the floor .not had any in 6 month now and no activity on the blocks sometimes set mk4 fentraps outside to catch any rats

 

[nickk]

We get them in one corner of the kitchen even in the warm weather!
We find the only effective traps are the traditional “little nipper” ,always peanut butter.

 

[Robotstar5]

Would you like to hire our semi-feral stable cats? they are professional assassins of the local wildlife and leave us a "present" most days in the tack room.

 

[the snooper]

Only real way to get on top of it is to find the entry point and deal with that first, most common places are in the kitchen where builders, plumbers and kitchen fitters don't give a stuff as kitchen units cover all the bodging they leave, like pipe entry holes far bigger then needed, floor boards missing where pipes enter, alterations from the past not done right etc, search everywhere, block holes with wire mesh / wire wool, they don't like to chew through it, leave no area or new mice will appear, also skirting boards missing under units with gaps between floorboards and walls

 

[Maker]

I've never known a trap to not work, like Avi said put it near a wall as that's where they tend to stay.

Never bothered with a live capture one (Much to the dismay of my ex, who thought she could keep it and train it ).

 

[plantlife]

I remember living with my parents, my step dad had an Avery full of different types of birds. We had a spaniel and he use to sit outside near dusk, he use to catch mice and skin them!
We often come in with a mouse tail hanging out of his mouth. So it's not just cats