Mouse, mice, mouses... perhaps a rat?

[xanthe]

Currently dying of nasty bout of tonsillitis and whilst lying awake in bed I have met our newest inhabitant. He is brown, rather large with a long tail (would tick the "large mouse" box on the frozen snake food order form)

He only appears around 4am, so far has only got as far as our bedroom - supposition is because rodent likes chocolate and ate a box of very nice truffles I had lost and yet hasn't touched chocolate or anything else that was in other rooms (all now sealed away).

The house is very well ventilated but wondering if the beasties climb through windows.

I'm planning on getting one of those humane traps as I'm not good at killing things and we have way too many inaccessible areas to want to go down the poison route.

However are there any good repellents? Python can't have wild food and anyway live food is illegal in the UK; and husband is allergic to cats so that option is a no go.

 

[Zebra]

An owl?

 

[88v8]

Snap trap. You don't have to kill it, the trap does that for you.

Ivor

 

[xanthe]

I would love an owl - was once offered a horned eagle owl by a rescue, but they are lazy sods and I imagine it would just open one eye and say 'you expect me to get off my perch for that? :roll: "

Snap trap does the killing but I would have to deal with the body and what if it only half killed them?

Does it stop them coming in - ie the message gets out -or just kills whoever does?

 

[LadyArowana]

There are sonic rodent repellants. No idea if they work or not. http://www.sonictechnology.com/RODENT REPELLER.htm Some people with very sensitive hearing might be able to detect that range and therefore find them annoying, but if you are old enough to be restoring a house it's probably not going to be an issue. Or put a tasty treat in the python's cage, after all "accidents happen" don't they...............

 

[Penners]

Snap trap. You don't have to kill it, the trap does that for you.

Ivor

Well said, Ivor!

I simply don't understand the idea of "humane" rodent traps. These beasties cause disease, damage our homes, crap on our floors/shelves/furniture, pollute our food and cause many of us a considerable amount of nuisance, not to say stress. So, for goodness' sake, what's the point of just trapping the creature? What will you do with it then? Drive it somewhere and free it? It then either becomes somebody else's problem or makes its way back to your house and invades again!

Set a lethal trap and kill the bloody thing!

 

[Penners]

Does it stop them coming in?

Nothing will do that. Nothing.

No matter what precautions you take, rodents will always find a way in.

 

[88v8]

I've never had one half-killed in a good snap trap. A metal one, not those useless wooden things. But yes, they only kill those that come in. We have one in the bedroom cupbd, and one in the new attic that sometimes catches two or more a week, although not recently because, well let's not digress.
Not these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2Pcs-Rat-Catching-Traps-Heavy-Duty-Snap-Mouse-Trap-Easy-Set-Bait-Pest-Catcher-/351440498660?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item51d37c6fe4
which are horribly messy and become clagged up with body parts, but these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Selfset-Mousetrap-MADE-IN-ENGLAND-Vintage-metal-traditional-mouse-MF-rodent-trap-/261948666250?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cfd5b718a
Make sure it's a genuine Selfset, there are some cheap copies but this one is the real McCoy, so much so that I'm going to buy one. That will leave two, better be quick.

Ours like nuts, not cheese, btw.

You could try this, looks like a mini version of a fox trap
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-RAT-MOUSE-VERMIN-CAGE-TRAP-HUMANE-ANIMAL-CATCHER-PEST-CONTROL-NO-POISON-/261949063400?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cfd6180e8
but then you still have to kill it, no good just putting it outside. Wotcha gonna do, drown it? Hmmm

To eliminate them, you need poison.
We have these in which to contain it
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-x-Roguard-Mouse-Bait-Poison-Station-Secure-Locking-Box-boxes-for-Mice-/111706544039?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1a023a97a7

they're also good outdoors, and we put this in it as recommended on PPF
http://www.townex.co.uk/
which comes in sachets, the 25g is best for the Roguard container.

The mice/rats take it back to the nest, etc etc.

I can understand that you don't want them decaying in your nooks and crannies, but their mass is small so
they won't pong
for very long.

Ivor

 

[CliffordPope]

I can understand that you don't want them decaying in your nooks and crannies, but their mass is small so
they won't pong
for very long.

Better to smell it dead that to have it alive running about in your kitchen.

 

[skier-hughes]

It is illegal to drown them once caught.
We had cats when we moved in, when they all died off we had rats, now we have a cat and we don't have rat's or mice indoors anymore.
I would go for killing traps and poison in boxes. It doesn't matter if you have inaccessible places, the poisons these days do a pretty good job of mummifying so you get no smell.
Mice are grazers, so tend to run round eating a bit of everything, rats tend to eat a whole meal in one go, so mice needs lots of poison boxes along there chosen route.

 

[kreyszig]

we tried some humane traps (for mice) - they were supposed to catch the critter by tipping over as they crawled inside to get at the bait. Every morning - food gone, trap untipped.
We could only go so many mornings of "oh, they've been crawling over this now, have they?" (you shall know them by the trail of their poop) before the hesitation about killing a cute little mouse vanished rather rapidly.
Snap trap got one the first night. we used a plastic one which made no mess whatsoever - no sharp teeth on it.

 

[Keithj]

We had a sudden inrush of mice in the previous house - about when the folks over the fence gave up on chickens and removed the chicken shed.

Clever blighters, mice. They even crawled through the drain hole and into the fridge, which was when I was given carte blanche in rodent elimination technology. Snap traps, baited with bacon rind, proved the best. Cheese is useless: either they don't like it, or can lift it off without setting off the trap. Bacon rind, well hooked on, takes a tug .... SNAP! Gotcha!

My old traps have disappeared, so there's only one of those good snap traps left on eBay now...

 

[kreyszig]

peanut butter seems pretty irresistible too. worked for us, and no need to sacrifice any bacon. mmm bacon

 

[bennoa1]

The plastic traps in B&Q are very good and fairly good value. A slither of peanut butter is what you want. I get them in the 2nd car foot well in the garage - luckily not eaten any cables as yet but had one next in the boot and chomped at my picnic blanket and carpets. Also left an u pleasant smell where it had peed which took months to get rid of. Always put traps now in the boot also. They'll get in through a hole the size of a pencil so don't need much. Best to find out where you have gaps and leave one facing into the wall as they run around the edges. Be careful where you put them if you have pets though.

 

[xanthe]

No pets except small child and python - but she (python) isn't allowed out unsupervised (the thought of losing her in this house... :shock:, I've lost her twice before and took 3 weeks to find her each time. She might well be interested in a mouse trap if a mouse had been near it though which would not be a good thing.

She'd probably eat the blighter, but I'm far too scared that it might injure her and put her off food again... Royals are a picky lot and anything and everything can stop them eating. She recently went a year without food and needs fattening up, so no nasty scares allowed!

You are all beginning to convince me that a killing trap is a good move. I shall negotiate with husband over dealing with contents.

Am suspicious it may be a rat as no little trail of droppings or wee everywhere... but father swears it must be a long-tailed field mouse.

Traps are more humane than poison I imagine.

 

[Flyfisher]

The plastic traps in B&Q are very good and fairly good value. A slither of peanut butter is what you want.

I can second both those suggestions from personal experience. I've found that the classic snap-traps are not always reliable as they seem to need too much force to set off. We had a mouse problem last year and despite setting a number of snap-traps the critters managed to remove the peanut butter without triggering the trap!

A couple of B&Q plastic traps dealt with them within days. For the more squeamish amongst us, they also very easily release the corpse into the wheely bin and if there is any blood involved they are very easy to clean. Highly recommended.

 

[xanthe]

There isn't any squeaking is there? I grew up with a gazillion Siamese hunters running about and have never had to deal with mice before.

 

[mattice]

Set one of those snap traps in the loft and found it empty in the garden the next day.... go figure.


:lol:

 

[LadyArowana]

Don't try and use brocolli as bait https://video-sin1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/h...=38bb4c62b24a46ddb1c40a505dd4f41b&oe=55936F3D

Oh and for any with pet ratties, brocolli is not good for them, kale family gives poorly tummy, rattie knows best

 

[xanthe]

Most amused. Husband decided to build a trap using a cardboard box, a ruler and a piece of chocolate.

I asked what he planned to do if it successfully fell on the creature given they can eat through cardboard and he proudly waved a Lego base mat at me.

He did at least get a plastic box in order to contain the captive while it was driven away.

Cue much swearing at 4am... mouse took the chocolate without triggering the trap and then spent an hour evading capture round the room. Husband gave up and went back to bed and enjoyed the sound of chocolate being unwrapped and eaten

Have been ordered to purchase a trap - non kill at the moment.