Now have mice and rats!

[StokiewareParticipant]

I have been told that chocolate is good for mice catching but you need to wear gloves when putting stuff out otherwise your smell will put them off

[NanaParticipant]

Twix biscuits worked very well for us – It needed to be attached to the trigger with a bit of wire in warm weather.
They can carry disease, so if you can do anything to reduce their hiding places or access to food it would be wise to do it, and they do so much damage too. We have only had mice here, but they chewed up so much clothing which had to be thrown away.

[OddsocksParticipant]

I’m very grateful for your replies! Practical suggestions rather than disapproval!   Having rats is disgusting. They are such a lot bigger than mice, and therefore more destructive, and more risk of illness to humans as well as chewing through cables!  If I told anyone else they would expect me to get in pest control at once. I dont want one like the last one who didnt help at all, just mocked me about the clutter..

It has helped with decluttering as anything absorbent where the rodents go may be contaminated.  Lots of ‘useful sometime’ cardboard boxes have gone!

(I have been trying the electronic traps as they are more humane than poison, and I dont have to handle dead mouse,but they dont go in, despite tempting bait like chocolate! And they are expensive)

Thanks again for the ideas!

[kaizenParticipant]

Hi Oddsocks,

So sorry this is happening for you! I’m going to toss in my 2 cents too.

We are not allowed to use rat poison here. The downside of poison is that it’s been killing our wonderful owl & hawk population who really work to keep our rodent population down. & Having a rat die inside your walls or somewhere else where you can’t get at it is not nice!

When our neighbour had a rat in their attic, the local governing body had traps that could be borrowed & returned — so we helped the elderly neighbour to do that. I wonder if there are places you could borrow a trap that would work for rats, or what it would cost to buy one? (Not that it would be pleasant to deal with the rat in the trap — but it’s doable.)

When we lived in the country, guests would always leave the screen doors open “for just a second,” so every time we threw a party, we had mice to get rid of.  We used “Tip Traps” baited with peanut butter that live-caught the mice — then let them go 1/4 mile from the house.

We also got a device that you plug in that emits a sound you can’t hear, but that apparently rodents find unpleasant, & it seemed to make a difference. (I have no idea how bothersome it is for cats or dogs.)

I tend to keep a lot of my food in glass jars or heavy plastic containers. I’ve done that since I lived in my first apartment & found insects in my can of cayenne pepper! I’ve found various plastic containers with a lot of gnawing marks on them, but the food is untouched. Mice pee continually, so I wouldn’t use a dish or utensil without washing when I knew they were in (or had been in) the house.

Apparently a mouse can fit through an opening the size of the eraser on the end of a pencil, & a rat can fit through an opening the size of a quarter (which I just measured: 24mm).

The house I’m in now had squirrels in the attic before I got here. The owners had pest control in, & they covered openings with screen mesh stapled over. The mesh is a strong plastic, but I’ve had to replace it a couple of times because flickers (birds) can take it out in a second — by rat-a-tat-tatting along in a line like a woodpecker — looking for a place to nest! I really need to replace all with wire mesh, but then I’m into rusting (-or the staples & mesh reacting with each other!).

None of my above stories had anything to do with hoarding (which I wasn’t doing at the time). Rats & mice & squirrels & raccoons are just looking for food & a dry warm comfortable place to live.

It’s all a continuous challenge. I wish  you success!

[chaosqueenParticipant]

Oh no! Maybe you need to borrow a cat from someone. I have no useful input. But you have my full sympathy and I am VERY proud of you for taking the opportunity to part with things. Keep it up!

[AnaParticipant]

Hi you guys. We saw a mouse tonight, courtesy I think of my husband’s intrepid piles, even though I got rid of them for months by scouring surfaces.

I’m just so angry and feel hopeless.

[NanaParticipant]

I keep a mouse trap set beside the cooker – a favourite ‘runway’ for mice.
The traps are metal and very efficient. There was one night I got eight after not realising there were any, which is why the trap stays there all the time now. I tie the bait on with a bit of wire, and find the best bait is a small piece of either ‘Twix’ biscuit or a chip.

[Author]

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