Re: Mice!

In case you are wondering why I am up this time in a morning. This is the

> THIRD time tonight I have re baited the trap and sh*tty thing has takn the > food and not got trapped! Its only taking from the one trap. The others > are untouched. ( and the cat is out. It seems to know when the cat is in)

There's lots of lore about this. We were suffering again recently, until I actually got my arse in gear and set the trap properly - got 4 in 2 days, which was I think the current lot.

The bait which worked was a lump of chocolate (cadburys, nothing nice). I heated up the little pin on the trap (bog standard conventional trap) in the flame on the stove, then pushed the chocolate on - this means it's now quite well attached.

Well, it works for us :-)

cheers, clive

Reply to
Clive George
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|!I have mice in my kitchen.

|!I have a cat. Seems mouse has been " stockpiling" cat food ( its dry food) |!behind the dishwasher!!!!!! I found a pile of it behind there when I took |!dishwasher out to look behind( so it doesn't have to come out into the |!kitchen?). Anyone seen this kind of behaviour before?

Tom and Gerry live again ;-)

Get mouse poison. In kitchens the version with solid bait in a plastic box so that the bait does not get spread around are IME best.

In my house the mice live between the downstairs ceiling and upstairs floor. I have that space permanently baited.

Reply to
Dave Fawthrop

Mice only need a hole about 6mm diameter.

...

I would guess that to be a sign of a nest.

...

If it hasn't brought you little presents before, it won't start now.

Colin Bignell

Reply to
nightjar

One of my cats bought mice in to play with. Sadly she didn't always bother killing them and so we have been faced with catching them and getting rid of them. Marginally nicer than finding one chewed in half but more more tricky.

My other cat only brings woodlice in and these are easy to catch. Oh and blue bottles.

I had a cat who bought a live pigeon in once.

The only real solution would be to not have a cat flap.

Reply to
Mogga

What are you baiting the trap with? Needs to be something nice and gloopy that the mouse is going to pull at.

Unfortunately, one of the best poisons (imho) "Sorexa CD" was removed from the market last year. Shame really as the stuff was the dogs bollocks...

Reply to
shaun

Wait till they bring in a live rabbit and turn your bathroom into a blood soaked slaughterhouse..

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

What's the difference between Sorexa CD and Neosorexa (which is what I have a 25kg drum of in the shed. The rats love it.)

Reply to
Huge

Different ingredients. Sorexa CD contained cholecalciferol, Neosorexa contains difenacoum. The replacement for Sorexa CD is based on difenacoum.

Reply to
shaun

We had a seagull pulled in through the catflap once - made a right mess and frightened me to death... I always knew they were large but having a dead one on the kitchen floor made me realise just how big! As I collected the bits up and went to the bin I found the head on the front doormat. Nice.

A dragon fly was another peculiar catch - it was being held firmly in the mouth but flapping its wings like mad - the buzzing noise was horrific.

And then there's the stones, crab apples and worms... I can't help but feel our cats are a bit odd.

Mathew

Reply to
Mathew Newton

I am so glad we no longer have cats.

But not as glad as the garden bird population.

Reply to
Huge

Thanks for the device. Rightly or wrongly I have bought some rat and mouse bait called "Ratak" which I got from a garden supplies. I also have some warfarin ( but a bit old from when I had a mouse , or two maybe in the same place about seven years ago). I have bought another mousetrap with a finer spring on it. I had wondered if the mouse/ mice concerned were small and thus not triggering.

I have both baited and set more traps, although still only ONE trap seems the source of interest and I suspect said mouse is coming in, getting food and scarpering back whence he / she came

However, I cannot find a hole of any size, not even a crack behind the dishwasher . Its my belief that said blighter is going under the sink unit and maybe even down and under the floor void there. If so it might have come in through the outside vents.

Failing that my cat, who can be an efficient hunter ( but lets face it, under the sink unit in a fitted kitchen is not an easy target, much better catches outside aren't there?) looses interest. He may be the source of this infestation bringing me a pregnant mouse to get into the house!

He has previously brought me other dead offerings and a rabbit .

Short of taking the sink unit out and looking under it ( its fitted kitchen and the only place not tiled and sealed and wall tiled is behind this unit and under it. This is because I was bale to tile the whole floor up to the walls elsewhere bad tile the walls at the back of the dishwasher, washing machine and fridge/ freezer but as the sink unit was in situ and I didn't move it, the back of it and under it I guess are plain floorboards and plaster wall ( and holes?).

If all else fails I will have to beg my husband to take said unit out and replace it so that I can get in behind and seal walls and floor with tiles the same as the rest of the room.

Some other customer in the garden centre today ( buying rat poison of same make as my mouse and rat poison) told me she has those sonic things in her house and highly recommended them for keeping the rodents out.

Anyone else any experiences of these? I gather there are two types, electric and not. How do the electric ones work. Do they have to be wired?

Reply to
bluebell

"nightjar .uk.com>"

He has brought me presents before including a rabbit. One of the possibilities is that he brought me a pregnant mouse who got away and hid under my sink.

Another is, since he has been catching a few in recent weeks , he is actually catching them in the kitchen and not bringing them in?

I dont think they have been in long. I had a new dishwasher and washing maching after Christmas and there was no sign of mouse activity ( droppings) in the kitchen then berhind anything as I had a clean out at the time. I know the cat lost something which I couldnt find about two weeks ago. I thought it had crawled off to die or cat had taken it back out.

Reply to
bluebell

The Natural Philosopher wrote in news:1179488177.21297.0 @proxy00.news.clara.net:

You mean like after one of my special occasion wet shaves...

mike

Reply to
mike

We've always found bacon rind tied on with thread to be effective. The mice love it and have to pull hard...

Look on the bright side though Bluebell, its only mice. When we were in London we had a rat in the kitchen. I knew it was a rat, no mouse could have dragged those potatoes and wedged them under the cooker. Denying him food other than poison either killed him or induced him to go away. The kitchen door did stay firmly closed at night though ;-) Won't work with mice unless it fits VERY well.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Ashby

A mouse can get through any hole it can squeeze its head through, a vent brick is no barrier. A hole the diameter of a ball point barrel is big enough. You will not keep them out, you can only deter or deal with them.

Look carefully through your food cupboards, lift up all packets, especially those in low cupboards. Mice will tunnel into cereal packets through the back corner. Remove all food low down for the duration of the 'emergency'.

Peter

Reply to
Peter Ashby

How did you get in? through the floor of the upstairs hall cupboard?

Peter

Reply to
Peter Ashby

yes, if we had cat I would think twice about putting squashed snails and slugs in the space behind the roses for the blackbird to find.

Apropos of birds, summer has arrived in Dundee, saw the first swifts of the year yesterday :-)

Peter

Reply to
Peter Ashby

|!A mouse can get through any hole it can squeeze its head through, a vent |!brick is no barrier. A hole the diameter of a ball point barrel is big |!enough. You will not keep them out, you can only deter or deal with |!them.

Standard air bricks have been able to keep mice out for decades.

Reply to
Dave Fawthrop

|!Dave Fawthrop wrote: |! |!> On Fri, 18 May 2007 02:50:23 +0100, "bluebell" |!> wrote: |!> |!> |!I have mice in my kitchen. |!> |!> |!I have a cat. Seems mouse has been " stockpiling" cat food ( its dry food) |!> |!behind the dishwasher!!!!!! I found a pile of it behind there when I took |!> |!dishwasher out to look behind( so it doesn't have to come out into the |!> |!kitchen?). Anyone seen this kind of behaviour before? |!> |!> Tom and Gerry live again ;-) |!> |!> Get mouse poison. In kitchens the version with solid bait in a plastic |!> box so that the bait does not get spread around are IME best. |!> |!> In my house the mice live between the downstairs ceiling and upstairs |!> floor. I have that space permanently baited. |! |!How did you get in? through the floor of the upstairs hall cupboard?

I have taken up the upstairs floor boards several times. One small (16 ins) easily accessible piece of board is not screwed down, but does not move when walked on. The bait goes under that.

Reply to
Dave Fawthrop

Quite likely, although he could also be bringing them in and they manage to get away once indoors. One of mine does that - apparently cats notice that their pet human does not go hunting, so they bring in live prey for the human to practice with, as they would for a kitten. However, I also have two indoor dwelling cats that will catch anything that does escape, so it isn't a problem for long.

One answer might be to keep the cat in at night. That is when they catch most small mammals, so if he is brining them in it ought to stop and if they are residents, he will probably catch them for you. If the mice are coming in from outside, they most usually come in through air bricks. Covering the air bricks with a fine stainless steel mesh will prevent that. Removing any foliage within several feet of the wall, for example building a footpath right around the house, will also deny them cover and thus deter them, but that is not always practical.

Colin Bignell

Reply to
nightjar

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