Uninvited Guests

[Redeye]

We appear to have guests in the loft of our 250 year old house in the form of mice and flies, both of which are a bit irritating.

I've only noticed the mice recently because of scratching noises on the bedroom ceiling, but inspection in the loft reveals quite a bit of mouse poo along the walls so they may have been there longer than I thought. I'm fairly sure they've not got anywhere else in the house, which does raise the question of how they got in - I'm guessing through the neighbours loft space somehow. Anyway, has anyone any suggestions on getting rid of the them?

Likewise the flies - it's not an infestation by any means, but they do get into the top floor of the house we have a fly buzzing round the landing light nearly all the time, which is quite annoying.

I suppose a really good clean up in the loft might help a bit. We've got spiders the size of the palm of my hand up there and on top of the plaster and lath ceiling beneath the insulation is a lot of fine rubble and leaves (which I think is from when the roof was done 7 or 8 years ago). That won't be a pleasant job though...

Any ideas/suggestions?
Thanks,
Redeye

 

[plumbers mate]

If they are the small flies with very blue backsides ((is that the thorax or abdomen?) then they may have been living on a dead mouse.

I wouldn't worry about the spiders, they are friendly ("If you wish to live and thrive, let a spider run alive" is what my Grandma said).
The spiders should eat the flies, or at least keep the numbers down.

If the mice get no food, they too will die so make sure they can not get access to any seeds, bread, food of any kind.

Or get some Longworth traps - these catch, but don't kill the mice so they can be taken to a new home miles away or euthanised in some way acceptable to you.
Trap eg --- http://www.alanaecology.com/acatalog/Field_Trip_Trap.html

 

[sarahj]

Yes, my 'humane' mouse traps are made by Rentokil - odd, really....

 

[Carol]

Re: spiders

Our eminent Building Surveyor told us spiders were the best 'conservation method' to discourage Death Watch beetle, once we had stopped the rain coming in. So don't clean out your attic!

 

[Redeye]

The spiders in our loft are big enough to discourage most humans, let alone Death Watch beetle!

 

[Tom]

Oi, who's wanting to discourage me?? The very thought...... :lol: :lol:

 

[Penners]

As others have said, if you've just got the odd fly, then leave it to the spiders!

As to the mice, your chance of preventing them from coming into the building is just about zero - particularly in a period property which is likely to have many "informal" entry routes.

How to get rid of them? Well, I'm sorry but I can't be doing with these "catch-'em-alive-and pass-'em-on-to-someone-else" methods. The traditional mousetrap is perfectly humane. Mr Mousey has a nice nibble of peanut butter (much better bait than cheese) and - ZAP! He is no more; he has ceased to be; he is a late mouse.

When I go, that method would suit me (except I'd prefer chocolate, please).

 

[middi]

How about putting a few tarantulas and a couple of rattle snakes in the loft.

 

[worms]

Although we currently have no mice, I spent some time recently idly perusing the mouse trap section of a little high street hardware shop locally. Amongst the poisons, the live-capture traps and various permutations of the usual mouse trap, was what can only be described as mouse-paper - like fly paper only bigger. That seems a particularly inhumane way to get rid of mice - stuck to paper and wriggling to try and get free until exhausted!

Personally, I'm with Penners and the ZAP! approach. With his exotic past, I'm sure Penners may also have something to say about the wisdom of encouraging house-snakes to keep down the rat population in the thatch.

 

[sarahj]

we have mice and wild bees. Infact there is a stain in the corner of the back bedroom ceiling right next to where they go in and out, and I'm sure if I drilled a hole i could have honey on tap!

By the way, do mice like honey?

 

[Tom]

I'm with Penners, too. I have to use traps in my shed to stop the beggars making nests in my horse rugs!! I've found the best bait to use is chocolate raisins - they stick nicely on the spike, not to easy for the mice steal quickly and don't crumble and fall off like the traditional cheese does. For those who wonder, all the mice I've ever caught (and there are lots and lots of them) have all died instantly - the best method ever, in my opinion.

Jaqy

 

[Lime]

If your roof space is connected with a neighbours then ridding yourself of mice will be very difficult.
Making your loft uninteresting and inhospitable to mice will tend to put them off.
Anything that looks like bedding material or food needs to be removed.

However flies getting into the house is another matter.
Any small opening through the ceiling will allow them in.
Most openings can be found at night by switching on all the upstairs lights, going up into the loft, closing the loft hatch behind you and then switching the torch or loft light off.
In a short while all the openings will become obvious.
IME the flies often enter the house through the holes behind the ceiling roses where the wires go through into the loft. I blocked the holes up with a non-conducting mastic which solved my problem.
However do not use putty or similar material because mice enjoy eating it.

 

[Penners]

With his exotic past, I'm sure Penners may also have something to say about the wisdom of encouraging house-snakes to keep down the rat population in the thatch.

Worms, the only thing exotic about my past is the sheer quantity of it.

 

[R King]

If you live in the country and have a period house yuou are bound to get mice.

We found the best way to keep the mice away was to make sure that all food in the house was inaccessible to them. This has worked in our case much more successfully than mouse traps, which we also tried, although I would use these initially if you have a real problem. We use our cellar as a larder and put anything that may be tempting to a mouse into tough plastic containers which seems to have done the trick(also same in the kitchen).

Our daughters have been banned from having any food in their bedrooms, which includes their advent calendars! Mice can smell chocolate a mile away! Oddly enough the mice also ate kids lip gloss which was left in my daughters' bedrooms! We think the sugar content in the gloss attracted them.

We can still hear the mice in the walls after harvest and when the weather turns in Autumn. The mice then seem to disappear after a couple of weeks, probably due to the lack of food in our house.

 

[NT]

Mice dont eat lip gloss, they use it to keep their lips soft and shiny.


NT

 

[Nathan]

I remember from my student days living in a terraced house flooded with mice that sprigs of mint seemed to keep them away quite well.

Find where they enter the house and lay it there, the smell is supposedly quite pungent to their sensitive noses.

 

[worms]

the only thing exotic about my past is the sheer quantity of it.

Hmmm... I was working on the assumption that anyone that can post on here in proper, coastal Kiswahili has had a rat in their makuti!

 

[Penners]

I was working on the assumption that anyone that can post on here in proper, coastal Kiswahili has had a rat in their makuti!

Frequently. I didn't mind mind until one of them nibbled my mpira.

 

[Redeye]

Thanks for the suggestions folks.

I've gone for a battery operated electrocution mouse trap. Despite it's inhumane approach, it seemed kind of appropriate to electrocute the mice who are gradually chewing through my upstairs lighting wiring.

As for the flies - i think i'll just have to figure out where they're getting into the house (a badly fitting loft hatch is my best guess) and hope they don't breed like mad up there in the summer.

 

[worms]

nibbled my mpira

Pole sana!