mice

[Penners]

Why would anyone want to pay £400 for a kitten when there seem to be so many sanctuaries that are knee-deep with dear little pussy-cats that need good homes?

Agreed - same goes for dogs. Give the £400 to the sanctuary.

I heartily agree. Our current puffball was adopted by us from a friend, who was posted abroad for his job. But prior to her we had always had rescue dogs, and were never disappointed with any of them. We've always picked mongrels, too, rather than pure breeds. They're much healthier.

Our last rescue dog, Daisy, was the best dog that ever lived, anywhere, anytime. She was intelligent, gentle, obedient, amusing and faithful. She died almost ten years ago and we still miss her.

 

[Moo]

Funny, isn't it, how there are some dogs that one just can't forget.

 

[Penners]

Not really surprising with Daisy, though. She was the nicest person I've ever met (outside Norwich, anyway).

 

[Zebra]

I'd love to get a dog. Outisde the supermarket the other day a sanctuary had a kind of stall, and there was a lovely little wiry haired thing with a jacket that said "I need a home." I could've taken it there and then. But it'd have to sit in the van all day while I'm working, and I'd have to find something to do with it when I go away for the weekend......

 

[Moo]

and I'd have to find something to do with it when I go away for the weekend......

Cue for some interesting Fred Drift:

Where does Zebra go at weekends that precludes her taking a dog?

 

[LadyArowana]

and I'd have to find something to do with it when I go away for the weekend......

Cue for some interesting Fred Drift:

Where does Zebra go at weekends that precludes her taking a dog?

I would have thought the more interesting question was "why does she have a van?" :lol:

 

[Feltwell]

There are 1001 jobs that require you to have a van.

 

[LadyArowana]

There are 1001 jobs that require you to have a van.

I know :wink:

 

[Feltwell]

I saw that Insect Circus Museum parked up in Holt in Norfolk (lovely place) last year. It looked very intriguing and eccentric - an old Bedford TK Horsebox that's been converted by the look of it. I'd have loved to have a look round it but alas it was just parked, and not actually open.

 

[Penners]

When we lived near Halstead, in Essex, there was an old ambulance that used to park in the high street every week on market day. Its sign had been modified to read "Mobile Haberdashery Unit".

Distressed maiden (dialling 999): "Oh, Haberdashery Man - my knicker elastic has gone!"

Haberdashery Man: "Don't worry, ma'am - our mobile unit will be with you immediately!"

Nee-naah, nee-haah, nee-naah....

 

[88v8]

Returning to the topic...we have mice in the kitchen of our notnew house and, I think, one of the attic rooms, unless the half-eaten acorn that appeared in there last week is something to do with my wife's nocturnal habits.

Snap traps baited with cob nuts catch the little beggars, and the carcasses are then decanted through the kitchen window.

I deduce from the inherited bait trays in various places, and the ineffectual plastic snap trap left behind the kitchen bin, that this is not a new problem. There were mummified carcasses in the closed roof space of the 1800 attic, and above the register plate of the inglenook. Moreover, in the attic of the new extension - well, 1969 - the pipe insulation has been well chewed and in one place removed from the pipe, which to me says squirrel. It could equally well have been the wiring.... and we are thatched....

The solution is to shut them out, which begins with finding where they're getting in.
We have solid floors, so they're not getting in that way. The doors fit well enough that they're not waltzing in underneath. There are no badly made holes for pipes drains & cables. But, there are plenty of holes under the eaves where the thatcher's wire has made only casual contact with the eaves boards, and many many years ago I saw mice walking up a vertical brick wall to get into the attic of my parent's 1959s house, so... that's where they're getting in.

Gradually, armed with a ladder and a torch and some staples and a hammer and some chicken wire, I'm blocking these holes. One has to be quite fussy, as has been said they can get in through a very small gap, and it can be difficult to find something to hammer the staples into. The wire must be well anchored if one is trying to exclude squirrels, they are tenacious in seeking entry to their accustomed haunts and will soon pull off any feeble fixings.
The end result is not necessarily elegant, especially where the eaves are little more than head height, but one can train oneself to not notice.

The residual issue, is the visitors trapped inside after the means of egress have been closed. Being thirsty &/or hungry they will hopefully visit the snap traps rather than chew the wiring. If we catch fire, then this was a bad assumption.
But an emphasis on exclusion rather than trapping, is what is required.

Ivor

 

[Lime]

With which I agree Ivor.

I had a similar problem in an old school many years ago.
The building was very extensive and neglected.
Animals of all sorts treated it as home.

I sealed each room individually.
That meant sealing the hollow partition walls at their tops where they entered the attic, taking up all the floorboards and sealing around every joist, any brickwork hole and oversize central heating pipe or electric cable hole, sealing ceiling light and wall light openings, removing some skirting board and sealing behind it, filling holes in ceilings where mice had attempted entry into cupboard below etc.
Then I tried to seal the outside of the house too... but only against large animals.
Mice were not able to be stopped.
I made the house uninviting by rigorous removal of any food where it might be accessed and storing all foods (that would fit) in glass sweet jars.

It took about 4 months for the smell to dissipate.

 

[Penners]

Mice were not able to be stopped.

I agree. You could encase your house in a monolithic concrete shell and mice would still find a way in.

They hold the secret of teleportation.

 

[LadyArowana]

Mice were not able to be stopped.

I agree. You could encase your house in a monolithic concrete shell and mice would still find a way in.

They hold the secret of teleportation.

That's why elephants are scared of them.

 

[Juju]

Well, our mouse never came back (unless it came back very quietly) so we didn't get round to putting out poison until today. We went in the attic very tentatively but only found minor evidence in a big box of xmas decorations - some chewed polystyrene, chewed decs, a few poos, etc. Not too bad at all. I reckon it was just one mouse who happened to visit on the day I stupidly left chocolate on the floor by the attic hatch! There's no chance of making our old attic mouseproof but we have done some quick repairs to the roof felt. More repairs are needed after xmas but the roof isn't in bad nick. Just gotta get the ivy off the wall which has reached the roof. I won't get complacent though...
Juju

 

[Feltwell]

I recommend these if you're still worried - I dispatched 4 of the little blighters in my garage within 12 hours of putting them down this week. My fault, I left some bird seed in an open container :roll:

I did put a tiny sliver of Mars bar in each one rather than just relying on the pre-loaded bait. Cheap, very easy to set and empty.

http://www.diy.com/nav/garden/garde...ack-BQ140-Cream-9410924#ancBVReviewsContainer

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Will have to try those. Our little blighters are eating all the bait off the tradtional wooden/spring traps without setting them off. :evil:

 

[LadyArowana]

Will have to try those. Our little blighters are eating all the bait off the tradtional wooden/spring traps without setting them off. :evil:

You know that somewhere there is a family of mice bemoaning the fact that the human trap they set for you with the tractor arm as bait and the collapsing wall was similarly ineffective. They are resourceful little blighters, so I would be careful. You never know what the other rodents on their forum will suggest next.

 

[Feltwell]

Will have to try those. Our little blighters are eating all the bait off the tradtional wooden/spring traps without setting them off. :evil:

Mars bar slivers are a bit sticky, so they hold to the trigger bit quite well. Apparently rats are even more cunning - sometimes using their tails to flick the bait off the traps first. A pest controller on a programme I saw was supergluing chocolate to the traps to stop this!

You know that somewhere there is a family of mice bemoaning the fact that the human trap they set for you with the tractor arm as bait and the collapsing wall was similarly ineffective. They are resourceful little blighters, so I would be careful. You never know what the other rodents on their forum will suggest next.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

If I could use Photoshop, I'd post up a picture of a Kirsty Allsop cardboard cutout standing provacatively under the remains of Mr Wiggs' outhouse. But I can't, so I won't.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Did someone mention the lovely Kirsty?