mouse in the house

[SuziQ]

Bloody hell! I have just discovered we have a mouse or mice in the house! I keep my table place mats by the bread bin in the kitchen and was just getting some to put on the table when I noticed a shallot there. Weird I thought, then saw little bits of the outer parts of the onion...moved the place mats and saw two other little shallots, peelings and the dreaded droppings. I was on the phone and telling someone, when I went into the kitchen in time to see a mouse tail disappear down where there is pipework that runs through the worktop. It has been cold recently, I live in a victorian house with a suspended floor and there are airbricks. I guess that is where they get in. I know they come in because of the cold and to look for food, but I have to get some poison. I tried in the past, about 6 or 7 yrs ago, to deal with them with humane traps, but we became overrun with mice here and it was horrible.
I have had one of those ultrasonic things to deter them since our big attack, but obviously it doesn't work totally, because mickey is here.

 

[Liberate_Yourself]

Have you considered getting a big cage and starting a Mouse farm?

 

[SuziQ]

horrid thought, lol
It means I have to bleach everything all the time again. They are incontinent and wee everywhere. I hate it. Cute to look at though, but don't want them so close up and personal.

 

[dc2k08]

SusiQ, 2 easy no-fuss humane methods below. I've been hoping for a mouse just to try them out !

how to catch a mouse with a cardboard tube.

how to catch a mouse with a jar and a coin.

 

[ZambucaLu]

SusiQ, 2 easy no-fuss humane methods below. I've been hoping for a mouse just to try them out !

Now I've seen everything dc....lol

So after the mouse is under the jar....what then? I'm sure the answer is nothing I'd ever want to try! 8-o

Lu

 

[dc2k08]

slide a magazine under and drop him by the golden arches.

 

[SuziQ]

I had little plastic traps where the door shut when they went in to get the chocolate, peanut butter etc that I left. After a very short while, they stopped going in the traps, the clever little buggers. We then had a house full of them - they were even in the attic! I had to resort to poison. Never found a body though. I guess they were under the floorboards. Thanks to the suspended floors and airbricks though, never smelt a thing. I remember having to suspend food in carrier bags from hooks in the ceiling. What a nightmare that was until it got sorted.

 

[MagusSteele]

2x4 works great

Only thing that bites about poison, you cant get to the bodies, and sometimes you get that lovely aroma of decay.

Peanutbutter and a quick snap are still the best. EVen if it can be cruel.
Probelm with live traps, you have to take them for a ride, or else they just walk back home

We had field mice everywhere, outside, only ever found a couple in the houses garage.
In the shed, they were into everything.

They can get in anywhere, the obvious places are almost never where they do come in.
Pipeing however is a favorite highway it seems.

Gl with Mickey, and his friends.

 

[SuziQ]

Thanks magus and woohoo for suspended flooring with airflow, lol
Yes, I used to take them about a mile away in the car to the Thames and let them out.

 

[Frankie]

We used to have mice when we were childless. Our sons have 2 at the moment. They have names and are cute as small cats Most of the time they clean themselves, licking all over, etc. But they do smell, even the tame ones, even when you change their bedding almost daily.

 

[SuziQ]

Frankie,
I am not a cruel person and tried to get rid of them without resorting to poisoning them and having them die in pain, but it just didn't work. It isn't their fault, but they cannot be here living with me. I know they just come in for warmth and food at this time of year. Pet mice are a different thing. Not the same, but I used to have a hamster for my daughter. He was lovely, old Harvey. He was invited though, lol.

 

[MagusSteele]

Just thought of something, are you a Cat Person?

 

[smokindeuce]

slide a magazine under and drop him by the golden arches.

Ahh that's cruel Dc- at least give the poor blighter a half decent chance of survival... somewhere like the Ritz would be be preferable! You never know, if you dropped him outside the Golden Arches he might end up in someones burger!

 

[SuziQ]

No. Not at all. Until recently, I had two dogs (border collies). Three years ago, my mouse catcher boy died of old age and middle of September this year, my lovely girl died of heart failure, which was old age again.
Ben used to give them a little nip in the neck and then lick them until they looked as if they had been drowned. Yukky.

 

[smokindeuce]

Not that I want to put you off the poisoning idea, just another thing to consider with it.. I know with rats the poison can take up to 3 days to kill them which means that in the meantime they wander about in a confused state whilst being prime targets to local neighbourhood moggy's etc. The problem being that if the moggy decides it's snack time it's highly likely that the cat will ingest the poison too. 8-o

Also, the chances are that the mouse will wander into a very hard to reach part of your house whilst intoxicated, die and then continue to emit foul smells and be a constant stinky reminder!

Perhaps this is another use for high strength e-liquid - if dogs and cats are potentially at risk, a little peanut butter laced with a lethal dose of 36mg might well do the trick! Would be a shame to waste the liquid gold though...

Disclaimer: please don't take anything I say seriously!

 

[SuziQ]

Yeah, I take your point, but I am away for a fortnight over Christmas...can you imagine what it could be like by the time I get back??? He/she will bring the other half "I've found this great place for us", they will have children etc, the neighbours will come over etc etc. Carnage. My daughter, who is a grown up, has already declared she is not willing to share the house with a mouse over Christmas. I have no choice. I don't have any 36mg fluid, or I would try it. Actually, perhaps 14mg would work a treat.
Killing a cat is not a good thought. I should be a buddhist. I hate the thought of taking a life, whatever it is. I know it is perhaps a bit stupid, but what gives us the right? (not talking about cats only here).
I've just remembered, when we had the mice and I was poisoning them, I spoke to the local rentokil people because I was worried about my dog getting poisoned(they were p*ss easy for him to catch at that time when they were woozy). I know a border collie is bigger than a cat, but the woman told me not to worry and that it would be ok. (she might not have been a dog lover though )

 

[PeteMcArthur]

I used to catch them in the "humane" traps then take them into work and release them there to wreak havoc on my employers Humane traps can be anything but when you forget about them for a week

I hate using poison on them, apart from it not being a very pleasant way to go, they tend to crawl away an die, then smell, a lot.

If they get back with us, we do actually borrow a cat for a couple of days and tends to solve the problem for a bit.

Unfortunately we have a dog now who is terrified of mice, can you imagine, a hulking great Labrador being chased by a tiny mouse

 

[Kate]

I was going to suggest borrowing a cat or adopt one from a shelter. The scent usually drives mice away.

 

[Mr.Darcy]

surely there must be an Lolcat for this situation Kate...

 

[SuziQ]

I cannot adopt a cat purely to chase away mice. I am not a cat owner at all, more into dogs really. I want to have a dog again soon.
The funny thing about this is, and I am not sure if I am going nuts or not, but the other night, my other half was over and wanted to use a socket for his laptop. In the dining room (the other side of the wall where the mouse currently resides), where we were, is a double socket. One for the standard lamp, one for the mouse chaser ultrasonic thing. Had to remove the mouse screecher. Said "I might get mice". Did it anyway and we have one. Are they queuing up outside on the off chance??? lol.