Selfsufficientish.com

Hi all
We seem to have a problem with mice (i pressume) under our cottage (well i hope its under and not above as our loft is jam packed with the contents of our garage from our old house) any way about now 2.30-3.00am every morning i hear them (and only then i may add) under or above our bedroom (front onto roadside room) now there is evidence of problems on a previous occassion with rodents due to there being a proffessional bait box under our hot water cylinder in our lounge so its been attempted to be eradicated before it would seem?
However when i took it up with our housing landlords rep, all she said was and i quote "what do you expect, you live in the countryside?" which was clearly not very helpfull! (but as expected really it seems to be greatly the attitude of a lot of Highland authority figures sadly, i/we have yet to find a truly helpful one, but thats another story )

Anyway back on subject, we have brought from our previous home our cat who used to at our previous home go out and bring us mice almost daily but here seems very reluctant to step foot outside the house sadly were hoping that come summer she will want to go out again, so she is out of commision as a mouse catcher, but we also brought 3 x these electric plug in devises that appeared to stop the invasion at our last home when we had then fitted all over our loft, the type that give off a noise, using the wires in the property to form a sheild all are plugged in two in the lounge one at the side of the cupboard where the pro trap is and one on the front wall, and one on the front wall in our bedroom, almost right under or below the little blighter dependant upon where he/she is but he/she doesnt seem to be put off by these devises is it that Hieland mice are tougher than lowland mice? or could it be something else altogether im hearing every morning?

Suggestions on A - How to track both what amd where it is, going, nesting and moving about in, so as to effectively deal with it and B - How to effectively long term keep both them and other similar critters out of the house..

We have had a look around as much as anyone can and thus far have been unable to find where they are entering the house, we have the number of the local pest controllers but fear it will be like our previous housing association where we would of had to pay out a reasonably large sum to get them to deal with it, when for not a lot we should be able to diy it ourselves, so any help, hints advice or such would make me a very happy man as they really are annoying little blighters if i was able to make our home unattractive to us i would be estatic.


Slanj

A good old fashioned mouse trap and a mars bar!

We tried the humane traps but they simply got in, got the food and got out again so we ended-up with the usual snap traps. It is a fact of life that you'll have mice moving in, nothing you can really do as the weather gets colder and they can get in through unbelievably tiny-weeny holes (as small as your little finger nail!) so really snap traps usually do the job.

Guys thanks for that.

We do have some snap traps as you name them we fortunately brought from our last home (phew) however the question was more how do i stop them coming in, in the context of how do i find out where they are coming in? so as i might look at ways of stopping them, im sure once our crazy resident cat starts earning its keep we should be fine at least those we find will be already dead? its more a case of where do i put the traps??? as we have a cat and a puppy to consider here also, we had great success with straight smooth peanutbutter before (gladly cheapo own makes will in most cases suffice )



Slanj

It's prcatically impossible to find out where they are getting in as said before, it only takes a tiny hole but airbricks can be one place. You can get a metal mesh cover for them which should work but there could be other places they enter. Peanut butter was the delectable delight we used to lure them to the 'snap' too, Mars Bars are far too precious in this house . You may have to try and put the traps somewhere in the loft even if it is full of stuff, just look for their droppings to see where they go frequently.

Guys
liking the idea of the mesh for the airbricks though as i have had a look around certainly at ground level and cant see anywhere else they could be getting in but am well aware they can and do get through very small spaces sadly.

One slight observation as i say from the noise created i beleive they are below floors, with no cavity wall insulation how would they get to the loft? where would i get these meshes for the air bricks any ideas?


Slanj

They're surprisingly good climbers.

Give Google a try and yes, mice can climb brickwork easily. We have dry-lined walls and they get between the wall and the plasterboard......little sods!

Em ok doky, food for thought indeed? we dont have drylining so thats one place they cant go and dont have cavity walls i dont think either so another one ticked of to look in! so narrowing it down sort of slapping anti climb paint on our entire wall surfaces ?? looks likely the easisest route would be the underfloor.

We have upon miliscule inspection found the edge of one of the airbricks has a bit missing a very small hole butnits now widely known (as i didnt before) they can get though tiny holes, so it will be rapidly getting filled back in and mouse grills put on all vents as soon as Ebay suppliers deliver.

One thing that springs to mind however is will normal mastic, silicone do to seal the gap or will it need to be cement/concrete to ensure they cant dig back through it all again if this is their route in?


Many thanks again


Slanj

I wouldn't bother with silicone or anything soft enough that they could eat. I scared to say we have been okay up to now this winter but then it hasn't got too cold yet. Good luck with it and I hope your cat pulls his paw out .

Spider8 - Many thanks looks like i shall need to source a small bag of sand/cement and repair it correctly once and for all ........

Wondering might sound crazy but if a closed bait safe box hard against the wall at said location might bring results as it enters and leaves so far no obvious locations to access under the floor has been apparent we worry about trapping the silly sods inside so they die and rot inside the property.

Any ideas on how to encourage the dashed cat to go out


Slanj

Don't know about the bait box idea but I guess you could try it. Rotting mice bodies doesn't sound good but being so small the smell might not be too strong.......still not nice though . As for the cat a swift kick up the furry little ar*e could do it - only joking, just have to wait I guess and hope for the best.

Thought of the ass kickin sadly its not my cat its my missuses i have no intrest nor control nor want as regards it, wouldnt hurt it but equallybdont like it, fleabitten, hairball that she is! my baby dog is mine shes a cutey pie lol


Slanj

scotsmart wrote:
Any ideas on how to encourage the dashed cat to go out


Slanj

Don't feed it. It'll soon go out hunting for food.

Zoe

Hadnt thought of that, she is certainly well fed.
We have deer around here (poet and i dont know it ) and we wonder if maybe she has found one when out, as there is nothing else different she is 4 yrs old now and apart from the house move the location as in type is very similar so were at a loss as to why she is reluctant to go out, i meam likes of today we were out in the back garden erecting a temp fence to keep the dog in and the cat was sitting at the kitchen door watching every move but wouldnt come over the threshold? so we are unsure what else we can do the proffessionals tell us not to force her that she will go out when she is happy to do so