Mice coming in from the cold

[dulwichrat]

*cancels Egypt holiday plans*

[Sue]

:)) :)) :))

[Countrlass22]

Sadly not all cats eat them.

Our elderly cat used to in her youth now brings them in as trophy our boy cat caught rata when neighbors tip of garen had rats.

Let all go again....hopeless catching taking out house eat.

Left do us to hunt bleeding things.thankfully none here at present.

Wondering how getting into your properties?

Usally holes in walls or very bad fitting door ig gaps suggest u fill them.

Or u have constant issue if ive next to badly unkept gardens.

[PeckhamNicola]

We found putting wire mesh over airbricks pretty effective. Helps if neighbours will do the same.

[intexasatthe moment]

excellent advice Nicola !

[BigED]

Make sure it's a fairly fine mesh - if you can fit a pencil through the gaps in the mesh then a mouse can probably squeeze through it too. Most local hardware shops stock suitably sized mesh. Tell them it's for mice and they will guide you to the right size.

[JohnL]

I caught another - the third. As I'm in a flat I'm filling gaps I see (pipes etc) with wire wool, but looks like I'll have to pull out the fridge/washing machine/dishwasher to do this properly. One mouse came out from under the oven too that'll be more difficult :(

[BigED]

It's a never-ending battle. You can never win in any absolute sense, but the more you make it difficult for them, the fewer of them you will end up sharing your home with.

1. Starve them out

- Put all mouse foodstuffs in sealable jars, tubs etc. Put them in a high cupboard if possible.

- clean up scrupulously - don't leave any crumbs anywhere. If you use a toaster, keep it in a high cupboard. And check the crumb tray from time to time. There may things that look lilke crumbs but aren't (says the person who once turned on a toaster and heard a sparking noise which, on switching off the toaster, turned out to be a mouse in his local restaurant).

- put traps out

- but if you want to keep the place tidy, store your mouse poison in a sealed container - mice love some makes of poison and will happily chew open the packets and distribute the contents far and wide.

- vaccum and clean (with disinfectant) surfaces regularly. Daily on food prep surfaces. (Mice follow their scent trails - they love the smell of yesterday's wee, a bit like an old tramp).

Block them out

- seal up any gaps you find with wire wool.

- keep checking - they will just gnaw a new hole next to the wire wool, given a bit of time.

- get your neighbours to do the same things - if they are breeding happily next door, at some point they will want to explore new territory for food.

- repeat the starving/blocking steps above.

Or

2. Scare them away

- get a cat. (not perfect, as some have pointed out).

- be nice to your neighbour's cat (difficult if it is using your outside space as its toilet). Let it come in for a wander round from time to time.

Oh, and get some thick gardening gloves to wear when setting snap traps. They hurt a lot when they go off prematurely with your fingers in the way.

Finally, if you have a rat, call a pest control person soon.

[Mick Mac]

I don't have a rat, thankfully

we have two gerbils though.

[JohnL]

Mick Mac Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I don't have a rat, thankfully

>

> we have two gerbils though.

We had one in work once - I got to storm the bosses office and say "there's a rat in the kitchen, what you gonna do"

[Sue]

BigEd, had a lot of mice, have you?

:))