So yesterday I was in the kitchen when I heard a very loud rustling sound coming from the cupboard under the stairs. It's where I tend to throw all my plastic bags for re-use and I could hear something moving in them. At the time it was so load I was convinced it had to be the neighbours cat who'd got in when the back door was open!
I was too scared to look so I perched myself on the kitchen work top and waited for my partner to come home (luckily he was already on his way).
After laughing at me for a good few minutes he opened the cupboard door and cleared all the bags out. No mouse there but lots of mouse droppings.
Has anyone any tips on how to get rid and keep them away? We called the landlord and he's been over and set a trap but nothing happened as yet. I didn't want to kill it but I can't have mice in my kitchen. We have no idea how its got in or if there's more than one. I thought about putting poison down but what if it eats the poison then goes off into some wall cavity and dies there? It'll stink.
I like mice, but not in my house. It's sad that it has to die. If I catch it I'll take it to the field but I think the trap might get it first.
Are there any deterrents to stop them getting in in the first place? We can't get a cat as we're renting.
Probably just coming around after a long winters' nap.
The best deterrent is cutting off the reason why they are coming into the house.....usually food. So scrupulous cleaning, all food off the floor, and all worktop food storage secured.
I guess the other thing is to try and identify where it is nesting - often a pile of leaves in the yard, or some such. If you chase it away it will probably come home.
Have had a good look in the yard, can't see anywhere they could be nesting or where they could be getting in. I wondered if they could come from next door? There is literally nothing in our yard, we live in a small old cottage and everyone's back yards are joined on, nothing to separate them.
There's no food to tempt them that I can see, though it did seem to enjoy eating those carrier bags in the cupboard, which I have now got rid of. I've left one in so I can hear it rustle when it's there and hopefully catch it.
Unless your garden walls are brick, a mouse will be digging under them, but its keeping it out of the house that matters. Ours was coming in through a neighbours house, we have suspended floors, replaced a skirting board and it was sorted.
Hi Avrielle! I know I've not been around for a while, been quite ill and super stressed, moved house, work a nightmare....but finally feels like life is settling down again so libido is on the increase :D
Thanks everyone for advice, I wish I knew where its getting in, had a good look and can't see anywhere. Need to catch the neighbours and see if they're ever had a problem, could be sneaking in from their house. We're very careful, we never have the door open unless we're taking rubbish to the bin, other than that its locked.
Will have a look for those traps AA, sound much nicer than the one the landlord brought.
Dh, that sounds grim. Bet you're glad you're out of there.
Lol Smartie...I don't know. That's what we said last night when landlord arrived with a trap that had bread as bait. We were surprised it wasn't cheese...maybe watched too much Tom and Jerry when we were younger.
I have only found droppings in the cupboard under the stairs where I heard the rustling. I've done a search of the house today and can't find any elsewhere, so it's reassuring that it/ they seem to be confined to that one space. I haven't actually seen it, I've only heard the rustling and found the droppings....I'm assuming it is a mouse? Hope it's not a rat!!
Yes, as Avrielle says you can get speficially designed mousetraps that don't lopp off rodent's heads, the poor things. I couldn't bring myself to kill a mouse or rat to be honest.
I've always been told that mice prefer chocolate to cheese and have a deep respect for them for this, because I don't like cheese either lol.
Hope your little problem is sorted soon sexynurse09, and good luck with finalising everything in your new home! :)
Keep all food ie cereals, pasta, bread, wheat anything that comes in carton/plastic bags in airtight containers with a lid.
Keep your place clean, including washing up (at the end of the night ) emptying bins and such.
I have worked in 5-star hotels in London with serious mice trouble, and it is safe to say, that if you live in any bigger city or town, you are bound to get them.
Try your local council, did this once, you will have to pay (about £45 I think it was), but they will come around every week until the problem is gone.
A catering tip, which is not recommended but is effective, is 'sticky strips', wich you put down on the floor in strategic areas, so when the mouse runs over it it will stick. Obviously in the morning... it will still be alive so, you will have to take care of that... (not to everyones taste)
And remember, if you see one mouse, he is not on his own.
Good luck, and don't be scared, they don't bite (unlike rats)
Mice can be really smart, we tried a number of traps and watched them, they purposely set the trap off in a way the food popped out of the trap, and they ate the food then went away. Cats might not actually help, they can sometimes play with them and leave them alive so they can play with them again.
Soryr to hear you have mouse issues. But your not alone. I've experienced them too, and working in hospitality, we have issues at work. The truh is, if you have one mouse, then you have many mice. And they can fit in through gaps as small as your pinkie.
The best advice is to buy this.
Clean, clean and clean again. Mice will eat anything except steal wool. Tey LOVE peanut butter, and popcorn. Also, they piss and shit everywhere.
Traps don't work. Contrary to popular belief mice are suspicious of boxes with holes, or cheese on wooden boards. The only traps that work are the glue paper "rattraps". Those things stick to EVERYTHING. When caught, you will hear the mouse make a high pitched sqeel. You cna buy these form the pound shop.
Electronic mouse deterents dont work either. WE tried these to no effect.
Buy some expanding foam spray. This stuff is amazing, and can fill the tiniest of holes.
Remember, even if you catch one mouse... there will be many more. It will take time to get rid of them all. Also, mice live everywhere... so it's nothing personel.
Thanks for the advice guys. Checked the cupboard this morning to discover the bait gone out of the trap, but no mouse!
How will I know when they've all gone?? Still can't figure out where they're getting in :(.
Foxy Stoat, I had thought about borrowing my sister's cat, still might if we have no luck. It'll need to be when I've got a few days off though. We both work shifts and I don't want to leave it in the house alone doing god knows what.
Thanks for the advice brockleyfox, I had considered the glue paper. I'm just so soft when it comes to any animal I don't want them getting hurt. We ordered a trap from amazon this morning that had good reviews, it doesn't harm mouse in any way. I don't have much hope but I'd like to give it a go before we have to move on to harsher tactics.
When I had a mouse infestation the only thing that worked was the poison the council put down. One of the horriblest things I've seen was a mouse in a spring trap that had been caught by its nose, was still alive and running round my kitchen squealing with the trap on it. The live traps don't work becaue they just either a) come back in or b) die if you put them in the country side. Housemice can't survive out in the country.
The poison is slow acting and the mice go back to their nests to die. I never smelt anything bad, which the pest man said I wouldn't. Something about the way they die and their size makes them mummify and not smell I think.
It depends on your type of house whether you can block them out. I was in an old terrace row and both the floors and rafters where open across the full row so blocking these was not possible.
i have the same problem it is in the floor somewere got a thing that you plug in the wal lof the internet and all so bought some 100% pepermint oil they cant stand the smell of it have not heard any thing for a couple of days untill today i heard it scream and ran that fast i am suprised it did not smash thur the wall it was that load you would think there was a dog up stares
) emptying bins and such.