Help, Mice in attic - Can't get rid

Jayo11780

As the title says, myself and the wife have been woken up for the last 4 nights with the sound of pitter patter in the ceiling above our heads. Set 5 traps in the attic, but still nothing. Can it be anything else but mice?? This is driving us mad. Herself heard noise in the wall cavity yesterday and was convinced there was something running around in there..
What would u guys recommend?
They say the plug-in repeller things are good? Should i purchase a couple?
There doesn't seem to be any rodent presence in the house (2 storey with Hollowcore flooring at first floor level) itself.

Thanks all, andy advice would be appreciated.

Jayo

NapoleonInRags

Jayo11780 wrote: »

As the title says, myself and the wife have been woken up for the last 4 nights with the sound of pitter patter in the ceiling above our heads. Set 5 traps in the attic, but still nothing. Can it be anything else but mice?? This is driving us mad. Herself heard noise in the wall cavity yesterday and was convinced there was something running around in there..
What would u guys recommend?
They say the plug-in repeller things are good? Should i purchase a couple?
There doesn't seem to be any rodent presence in the house (2 storey with Hollowcore flooring at first floor level) itself.

Thanks all, andy advice would be appreciated.

Jayo

Almost certainly mice I would say. We always get a few visitors in the attic when the weather gets colder. It can be quite disturbing to hear them in the middle of the night - and hard to get back to sleep. They make a lot of noise for such small critters.

Traps have always worked for us. It's important that you place them in the area that you have heard activity - and make sure to put them down on the attic floor - under the insulation. We have found that they can;t seem to resist chocolate, especially if there's peanuts or toffee involved. Snickers is a winner - stick a pea-sized amount on the trap firmly so they will have to give it a good tug to get it off. We used to use peanut butter - but the feckers were able to lick it clean without springing the trap!

Not so sure about the plug-in thingys, some people swear by them -others find them useless.

Best of luck!

Gerry.L

Find yourself someone who has a ferret. And tell them the next time they are cleaning out the cage would they put all the litter (and bedding) into a plastic bag for you. Then just go into the attic, open the bag up good and wide (so the smell can get around) and put the bag down beside where you suspect the mice are living. Give it a few days and you should be mouse/rat free. Good effective method. No messing with traps, or messing with dead mice.


I know what your thinking. You dont know anyone with a ferret. Thats easily fixed. THe lazy way is to ask here --->

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1014

just ask is there anyone in your area who has a ferret and explain the situation. If that fails, go to your local hunting/shooting shop and if they are worth their salt they should be able to put you in touch with someone.

Failing that, ask your petshop. Most petshops dont stock ferrets, but they will know the local ferret dealers anyway because every now and then someone will be in ordering one as a pet.

And if all that fails. Try your local farmers market.

enfield

I had the same problem. I locked the cat in the attic for 12 hours, 2 days in a row. Silence pevailed after that

JonathanAnon

it could be rats... though you would notice the difference in noise.. Rats thunder round like a small child....

I had rats in the attic.. I wouldnt bother with the electronic repellers, whether they just annoy the vermin or not, it doesnt generally stop them from coming in ... traps are fun but you have to keep resetting them and you need to kill EVERY one in the batch.... I used Storm poison, and the issue was solved.. And that would be what I suggest that you use... poison, but put it in discrete and secure bait trays...

Also try to find out where they are getting in so that you can seal it up.

Buford T Justice

Don't posion them. They'll die up there or worse in the walls and the stench will be unreal, especially if you can't find them.

Max Moment

A colleague from work was telliing me a story very similar to this last year. It turned out that it was neither Rats or Mice but actually squirrels in his case!!! Have a look around outside at Eaves / Roof level for any gaps and plug these.

He had to get the professionals in for this one though

Gerry.L

Fingers McGee wrote: »

Don't posion them. They'll die up there or worse in the walls and the stench will be unreal, especially if you can't find them.

Exactly. Well said. Poison is the worst job. And if he dies in a bag in the attic thats full of your stuff I guarantee that you will throw that bag (and its contents) in the bin. There will be the rotted rat and maggots and flies everywhere, it stinks to high heavens... and then if hes inbetween a wall or something its just a nightmare altogether. I really wouldnt recommend poison to anybody. Its not worth it.

JonathanAnon

Fingers McGee wrote: »

Don't posion them. They'll die up there or worse in the walls and the stench will be unreal, especially if you can't find them.

From what I'm aware, the poison dehydrates them and forces them outside in search of water, so they die outside.. I havent had any die up in the attic anyway..

Gerry.L

JonathanAnon wrote: »

From what I'm aware, the poison dehydrates them and forces them outside in search of water, so they die outside.. I havent had any die up in the attic anyway..

Theres a big storage tank full of water in most peoples attics

JonathanAnon

Gerry.L wrote: »

Theres a big storage tank full of water in most peoples attics

Fair point. When I think about it, what I actually did was to leave three bait trays OUTSIDE (where I thought they were getting in), which hits them off at the pass so to speak. I may have left one or two pieces in the attic at the start but none have ever died in my attic, maybe I was just lucky..

All I can say is that from my experience with vermin, traps are good but you will usually need to re-set the trap as soon as you've caught one cos you have to kill them one by one.. The poison pretty much kicked in and worked straight away.. They seem to bring the poison back home with them, ensuring there is no house visits from anyone else in their family..

Grawns

JonathanAnon wrote: »

All I can say is that from my experience with vermin, traps are good but you will usually need to re-set the trap as soon as you've caught one cos you have to kill them one by one

Maybe I'm unusally squeamish but I just used tongs to pick up the trap with mouse and all and fired it in the bin. Had to do it twice recently. Shudder!

My Dad was all for recycling the trap - mental !

Oh and plus 1 for the choc - they can't resist it.

JonathanAnon

Grawns wrote: »

Maybe I'm unusally squeamish but I just used tongs to pick up the trap with mouse and all and fired it in the bin. Had to do it twice recently. Shudder!

haha.. you'd want to see the rat I pulled out one of the traps, when I was using traps... The body of it (minus the tail) was the length of a Miller bottle.. I didnt know whether to just throw it out or report the death to the coroner.

Chocolate isnt bad, butter is pretty good too, but I found that if you put rasher on the trap (because of it's elastic nature)... it's great for putting up enough resistance to set the trap off your intruder is pulling at it.

CBYR1983

JonathanAnon wrote: »

it could be rats... though you would notice the difference in noise.. Rats thunder round like a small child....

I had rats in the attic.. I wouldnt bother with the electronic repellers, whether they just annoy the vermin or not, it doesnt generally stop them from coming in ... traps are fun but you have to keep resetting them and you need to kill EVERY one in the batch.... I used Storm poison, and the issue was solved.. And that would be what I suggest that you use... poison, but put it in discrete and secure bait trays...

Also try to find out where they are getting in so that you can seal it up.

Traps are fun? Haha I wish I had your constitution!

danjo

Could also be birds. We often have starlings in our attic. Create an awful racket. Thought it was mice at first. Keep a watch early in the morning and look around the eaves.

Grawns

JonathanAnon wrote: »

haha.. you'd want to see the rat I pulled out one of the traps, when I was using traps... The body of it (minus the tail) was the length of a Miller bottle.. I didnt know whether to just throw it out or report the death to the coroner. QUOTE]

I have spent too many hours comparing pictures of mice and baby rats. Very hard to tell the difference. I'm calling them mice and leaving it at that

mfceiling

Peppermint aero will get them eveytime.
They love the smell of the mint and the taste of the chocolate....

Oh_Noes

Fingers McGee wrote: »

Don't posion them. They'll die up there or worse in the walls and the stench will be unreal, especially if you can't find them.

That's a myth. I used poison annually in my old place and it always solved the problem. I didn't once have any stenches or stray rodent corpses in my box of Christmas decorations.

JonathanAnon

mfceiling wrote: »

Peppermint aero will get them eveytime.
They love the smell of the mint and the taste of the chocolate....

We had a crowd of posh mice one year, so we put Ferrero Rocher in the traps.. boom boom.

Oh_Noes wrote: »

That's a myth. I used poison annually in my old place and it always solved the problem. I didn't once have any stenches or stray rodent corpses in my box of Christmas decorations.

Yeah from my experience, I have poisoned quite a lot of rats, and none have died inside. But like I said above.. I usually try to leave the poison outside whereever I think they may be getting in... They will come across it either on the journey in or the journey back.. But I guess poison is not practical in all cases..

oraiste

I have caught both mice and rats (using different sized traps) in my attic. We have terraced cottage and although there is party walls in the attic separating the cottages, they find their way between the houses. I have caught about ten rats / mice in the last 18 months.

If you hear a relatively loud scuttle, it is most likely rats .

I use chocalate in the traps - the key is rub it into the bait holder so that it is completely bedded in (don't leave it any way loose).

Best of luck!

TequilaMockingBird

I had an awful problem with them in a house I rented years ago. The only thing that got rid of them was blocking any tiny gaps with wire wool and sealing that in. Then we used glue traps, they had got too smart for the spring traps. They stick to the glue traps and scream, very cruel but effective. You need to be able to bash them quickly to get it over with.

The sonic plug-in things are badly advertised I think. They WILL NOT get rid of rodents, they won't stop them coming in for a look, but they WILL stop them nesting.

deelite

mfceiling wrote: »

Peppermint aero will get them eveytime.
They love the smell of the mint and the taste of the chocolate....

Are you serious about the mint? I read that mice hate the smell of mint and the way to ensure that no mice get into your house is by washing the floors with a "mint essential oil solution". Please don't tell me I've actually being inviting them in by using this method.:eek:

gaeilgegrinds1

Can I ask a really stupid question? How do they get into the attic? We have had two mice in our house this week, my nerves are shat. I moved back to my parent's house! I just am so paranoid, spent about 50 hours cleaning and am pretty sure there are none left, caught both in the sitting room in traps but there was poop in the airing cupboard and on the landing too. I think they probably got in while I was gardening with the patio doors open. We have six traps set. I am just so nervous!

Oh_Noes

gaeilgegrinds1 wrote: »

Can I ask a really stupid question? How do they get into the attic?

Sorry, I know this won't calm your nerves but: they climb up trough the inside of the walls. You might hear them sometime :pac:

sky6

my son had Rats and mice in the Attic 2 years ago. We caught a few mice but the rats were to cute for the traps. We found out that they were coming in through the Cable duct inside the wall which ran all the way up to the attic. We filled the hole where the cable duct with Concrete,and then put in one of those plug in electric units bought in Dunnes. It took about a week but they disappeared.