27 replies to this topic

[Moist Von Lipwig]

I have got signs of mice in my garage (droppings, things eaten, etc). I have cleared out the food sources and put down poison blocks and traps, baited with peanut butter and the dog food they have been stealing.  A few signs of nibbles on the poison but bait on and around the traps is going missing without the traps getting set off! Any advice on the best way to eradicate them?

[devonutopia]

mice removal = cat installation.

[Brijo]

If you try a cat, do please make sure all the poison has been cleaned up first...

Over the years, our various cats (too well fed, probably) have brought live mice indoors then 'lost' them, intending to play with again later.  We use a humane 'live' trap - essentially a plastic box with a triggered door at one end - baited with a few grains of fruity muesli.  It has never failed.

It does mean a 100 yard walk down the field hedge to release them, of course!

[yetifabia]

I use these http://www.primrose....house-p-36.html in my loft and my garage and they work.

[Babs]

Tried humane traps at my dad's, but mice were getting sneaky. Stealing the stuff from inside, somehow!

Got some proper poison down from a friendly exterminator, no further problems - the poison apparently dries out the corpse so there's no smell, and there certainly hasn't been any from what I've seen.

[Aspman]

Don't feel sorry for them just kill them, horrible little creatures.

[leepatrick01]

get a well trained cat with a steady hand

[jrw]

As said poison is the only way. Had them last winter in loft and airing cupboard.

Phoned council who do free pest control and came round with the poison and no sign since.

He reckoned the ultrasonic doesn't work at all. We got given one so have it plugged in anyhow for piece of mind.

[Chronicbint]

Poison works, though be careful, I killed a couple of mice and they crawled away and decomposed in some space we couldnt get too.

Had no luck with traps, human or otherwise but they gobbled the poison.

[nick74]

brijo, on 05 August 2012 - 09:24, said:

If you try a cat, do please make sure all the poison has been cleaned up first...

Over the years, our various cats (too well fed, probably) have brought live mice indoors then 'lost' them, intending to play with again later.  We use a humane 'live' trap - essentially a plastic box with a triggered door at one end - baited with a few grains of fruity muesli.  It has never failed.

It does mean a 100 yard walk down the field hedge to release them, of course!

You may need to go a bit further than that, some of them have an incredible homing instinct! Some friends of mine had a problem with mice in a downstairs built-in cupboard, used a humane trap and caught quite a few mice, or so they thought. One day they tried putting a tiny mark on the mouse's back with nail varnish before releasing it in a field down the road. A couple of days later they found a mouse in the humane trap, same nail varnish mark on its back.

Either they were continually catching and releasing the same mouse, or nail varnish use among mice is more common than they thought......

[GentleGiant]

A lot of cheap traps are not very sensitive, see how much pressure it takes to trip them. If they are the cheap tinplate type, you can bend the arm to make them more sensitive.

I dont know about mice, but for rabbits they suggest a minimum of 5 miles between home and release when using humane traps, although personally, rabbit tastes nice and the fur is useful!!!

(And these days, if I had a mouse problem, I would give them live to my brother, who could then feed them to his snakes!!!!)

[Moist Von Lipwig]

The garage is not connected directly to the house so a cat probably isn't the answer, other than giving the two dogs some more exercise!  Loads of local cats, but we live next to a big field so plenty of mice for them to play with.

Have looked at the sonic plugs, cheap ones get very poor write ups, the expensive ones still only seem to work half the time, so will stick to attempts at reducing the local population.

Have used poison trays before in a different house where we had them in the attic, wolfed the poison down them went off to die somewhere, not ideal.

The traps I have are nasty pieces of work, quite sensitive so I am really suprised they have not been triggered.

Spent most of today having a good old clear out of the garage and not seeing any fresh signs.

[sdenny]

I always tie the bait on to traps using either cotton or wire bag ties...

[sdenny]

I always tie the bait on to traps using either cotton or wire bag ties...

[Lazy Daisy]

Crush a pack of Aspirin and mix the dust in with some jam.

[yetifabia]

yetifabia, on 05 August 2012 - 09:28, said:

I use these http://www.primrose....house-p-36.html in my loft and my garage and they work.

I posted this because I have found them very effective.  People who make money from installing poison etc are quite likely to rubbish them - go figure.  I don't have any connection or anything to gain so I shan't post on this issue again.

[jrw]

yetifabia, on 06 August 2012 - 18:57, said:

I posted this because I have found them very effective.  People who make money from installing poison etc are quite likely to rubbish them - go figure.  I don't have any connection or anything to gain so I shan't post on this issue again.

chill out. The chap who told me was employed by the council and I didn't pay for the service. They do all sorts of pest control so hardly think he's going to lie and in fact said if it gives peace of mind they're worth it. And also as I said, I have one plugged in.

[Moist Von Lipwig]

yetifabia, on 06 August 2012 - 18:57, said:

I posted this because I have found them very effective.  People who make money from installing poison etc are quite likely to rubbish them - go figure.  I don't have any connection or anything to gain so I shan't post on this issue again.

Never said or thought you did.

When I looked into them, on a variety of sites there was a consistent pattern:

1.  Cheap ones got very poor write ups
2.  Expensive ones generally got better reviews but still only about 50% of users found them effective.

From my perspective the pro of mouse removal did not outweigh the cons of cost, noise issues for me (I am very sensitive to noise and changes in my environment) and for my dogs (just because I possibly can't hear it doesn't mean they can't!).

Feel free to avoid posting in the thread if you wish, it is your right, as is mine to not have to instantly follow what everyone suggests.  That said I'm still looking for a kitten with a firearms certificate!

[Irvtheswerv]

If you poison them they will just crawl somewhere die and stink the house down.  Speaking from experience here I had to rip the floorboards up to get at about a dozen that ate poison in the cellar but died under the bedroom floorboards.  Never again.

Since then I just use an old fashioned wood and wire trap.  Melt chocolate onto the nail.  Place the trap alongside the wall leaving no gap.  Never fails.

[VWD]

Will be field mice. Only cure is a supersensitive trap. I tried the wooden ones .They treated ir like a take away. Changed to plastic type and got them. But  never had any problems for three years. Not since I rehomed a terrier.

[Aspman]

[edit]

Edited by Aspman, 08 August 2012 - 08:18.

[Suffolk Gerry]

Yesterday, was doing a spot of gardening, when we spotted a mouse running along the edge of the flower bed we were working in, I stopped to watch, and was surprised at how it wasn't too bothered about us, kept watching and it disappeared down a hole, to re-appear a minute or so later carrying a young one, which she (must have been the mother) carried across the patio out of sight, shortly she was back and down the hole again, obviously to get the rest of the litter, we quietly left her to it for an hour or so. Sorry, but while she's out there and not in the house, I'll leave her be, anything that she'd be interested in in the shed is off the floor, or in tins, so not too worried about what she's doing, she's a hard enough life as it is, I'm not going to make it any harder.

[dbg400]

Last time I saw a mouse in the garden one of our hens did too - which she proceeded to catch, kill and swallow whole within a few seconds. I know they like foraging for food but was surprised at that. Turns out it's not that uncommon.

[VWD]

dbg400, on 10 August 2012 - 20:26, said:

Last time I saw a mouse in the garden one of our hens did too - which she proceeded to catch, kill and swallow whole within a few seconds. I know they like foraging for food but was surprised at that. Turns out it's not that uncommon.

Prefer one of these

Better than a hen, has a diet of foxes/ rats/ mice and other pests.
Man more looking for a rescue forever home at http://www.cairn-rescue.co.uk/
The older ones are the best.
This one at 11 took a mouse dropped by a cat in three feet. Mouse did back flip - cat looked on helpless.

For any sort of pest hunting ,these are the guys to get. OH-they make great pets, and love kids.

[nickguzzi]

They do look quite cute out in your garden.  Especially when about some activity we can identify and have "sympa" with.  Come those cold nights... "I'LL BE BACK".

[seboni121]

This is easy mice will always run along a wall, get a trap which they have to go through bait less mouse trap looks like a tunnel and you don't need to fiddle with springs it's got a lever on the side, main reason mice will not get caught is because you touch it with bare hands always wear gloves latex ones, also if you've got a ferret or similar leave in garage over night

[MattHunt]

We had mice, lots of mice, in our flat and then it got worse because the people below used an ultrasonic thingy...which merely moved their mice into our flat. Humane traps did not always work so we settled on the wooden spring jobs. The ones we had were incredibly sensitive. I hated setting them because they would just trigger at the slightest thing. However, 90% of the time they hot the head or neck of the mouse. A few times though they just amputated a paw and I found the bled-out mouse a few feet away

Poison: Not a fan after finding a mouse struggling around our kitchen.

[Yearofthegoat]

Mice can be a real problem.  Controlling their food source - their reason to be there - is crucial.  This video shows what happened in Oz when food was overabundant: