Page 1 of Just had the living s*** scared out of me!

I`m sat here messing about on the PC when I spotted something moving by the door out of the corner of my eye. I look over to see a fekkin mouse dash behind the bed! I`m running around the house closing doors to try and stop the little bugger escaping, and when I get back upstairs and head to the comp room he dashes out in front of me and heads into the bathroom, which was the only door I hadn`t managed to secure. Seems he must have come down from the lost by coming down the pipes behind the wall, then coming out through the gaps around the wash basin and/or toilet!

First time I`ve had any mousey visitors in the five years I`ve been here, and it scared the hell out of me at first. It`ll be a right pain in the arse trying to catch it, and you can bet that it`s not alone... Off to B&Q tomorrow to get some humane traps, but how the hell do you know when the mouse problem is over?

You`ll know its all over once you stop finding small bite marks in the cheese :D

I guess the only real way of knowing is when you find traps empty after a week or two. Make sure to polycell up those little holes real good.

No chance of that, because they`re fecking great holes cut around the toilet and wash basin. I live in a house that`s a bit of a 70s nightmare in terms of the way it was thrown together, and we haven`t had the money to redo every room yet. Worst of all we`ve got timber frame walls so the little buggers could be up and down in there with no problem. I haven`t found any holes in walls yet though, which is a good sign. Still, they could just as easily be coming out from behind the kitchen cabinets if they can move through the walls...

Sorry to say if you`ve got 1 mouse, you`ve probably got more :(

Don`t bother with the humane traps. We had mice in the kitchen not long after we moved in. House had been a repossesion and we`d replaced the kitchen, but not done the floor - so it was just bare floorboards. They came in under the sink at the gaps round the pipes.

I did not take it well!

We got a couple of humane traps and baited them with jam (chocolate is good as well), but we hadn`t really thought it through. Checked the traps in the morning, evening and before we went to bed. Thing is they work like a rocker. Mouse goes in, weight tips the trap and the door closes. But the things would often close on their own if they overbalanced slightly. So one night at 11 he goes to check the trap and it`s closed, goes to reset it thinking it`s just tripped and realises it`s heavier than normal...

Then the next question. What the sod do you do with a mouse in the middle of winter at 11pm??? We ended up taking it to the bottom of the garden and letting it out - it was probably back in the house before we were!

One of my work colleagues has a slightly different approach - uses the humane traps as they don`t upset his kids, but then brains the mouse out of sight! >:( :D

We ended up getting our council environmental health in. They didn`t charge anything and the guy put down poison and visited another couple of times. He also gave us some advice as to how to prevent them getting back in - filling all gaps in brickwork etc. The only problem is we live in an end terrace - so they could get in under the houses anywhere and it`s impossible to close all the gaps around pipes etc.

Have a look at your council`s website and see if they do anything - might as well get something for your council tax!

I was thinking about this actually, but I`ll need to check it. I`d rather it was done right. I could actually hear the little bugger scratching around in the roof tonight. Sounds like a bloody alien, not a mouse! It was the last thing I was expecting to see while playing around on the PC. There was this short moment where it knew I`d clocked it, when time just stood still as we stared at each other, then the little sod legged it! Strange thing was that I was saying to the Mrs the other day that I could smell a rabbit/hamster like odour in the kitchen etc. I thought I was going mad... I`ll try the council website.

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You`ll know its all over once you stop finding small bite marks in the cheese
:D
actually, it`s a phallacy that mice like cheese, they much prefer belgian chocolate :/

Ste.

...hey, who nicked me hat and JD??

get/borrow a cat, trust me, my first job was in a seed merchant/pet shop, & it was an unavoidable fact that we would have mice (+ we had a big field right behind the shop) and the only thing that controlled them was a cat, in a housold setting i reckon a week using poison + a cat should get rid of the problem. (the cat won`t usually eat the mice if the cat is well fed)

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general nobody @ www.dvdreviewer.co.uk

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Make sure the cat isn`t a pedigree they are lazy bar-stewards. If a mouse came up to ours the cat would probably look at it and say......"The chocolate is in that cupboard over there, get me some as well"

Remember a mouse can get throught a hole the diameter of a Bic Biro!!

Good luck!

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The 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California, less than 100 were made. My father spent 3 years restoring this car.....it is his love.....it is his passion....."it is his fault he didn`t lock the garage!"

My friend had mice at her house last year - she woke up to find one in her hair!!!

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because they`re fecking great holes cut around the toilet and wash basin.

Was going to suggest when you are filling in holes - if the hole is big enough to fit your little finger in then fill it - a mouse *will* get through a hole that size.

Don`t bother with humane traps - they just shift the problem next door or wherever else you chuck the mice to. They are also a bit simple for clever mice to get the bait out without trapping them. Use a good old-fashioned trap and bait it with chocolate, not cheese. Gross, but it`s really the best option.

Whatever you do don`t use poison - my school had a rat problem (was a *very* old building) and the dumb caretakers put poison down and the rats all died under the floors... smelt *lovely*....

Get a cat or a pet rat - apparently wild mice and rats won`t go into a pet rat`s territory (well we`ve never had a mouse - except bits of mice the cats bring in!)

Edited to add: just realised I`ve put what everyone else already had.... will learn to read the full thread! :D

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www.soundalikes.com

This item was edited on Saturday, 8th January 2005, 12:51

I take it you`ve seen Mousehunt -so be afraid, be very afraid!
Sorry sympathy really-been there...once watched The Rocky Horror pic and realised that a mouse was watching it with me. I only got concerned when he dressed up :D :D
Sue Davies

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