how are they getting in??

budget1984

Hi, we are 3 years in our house and each year we have the same problem with mice. we have gone through the house thoroughly and sealed up any cracks /holes we can see.
We thought we had escaped this year but last night we heard the same rattling noise of mice in the attic.

we have no idea how they are getting in. any ideas??

thegreatiam

mice can get through a hole smaller than a 1 euro coin, and can chew through nearly anything. Its nearly impossible to stop them getting in. The trick is to not give them a reason to want to.

Make sure there is no food, not even tiny bread crumbs. lay poison or traps, get a cat or dog; the smell puts them off, use fox urine around your house perimeter.
Try to block up small holes with wire wool, but i think thats probably not really going to do much, you cant get every hole and they can just make more.

Mice tend to live and search for food in a small radius, if there is no source of food the can access in your house or near your house, they will leave. make sure your neighbors aren't providing food for them too. seal everything up in hard plastic, and keep the house spotless of food as best as you can

failing that, learn to live with them, or move.

Patrick2010

Is it possible they're getting through to your attic from your neighbours attic?. Have you checked if there are holes or gaps there?

budget1984

Patrick2010 wrote: »

Is it possible they're getting through to your attic from your neighbours attic?. Have you checked if there are holes or gaps there?

thanks for your reply. we are detached house- dormer. we have checked and checked but cannot figure it out. we have traps up there all day but caught nothing yet:(

LordSutch

From experience in my Mums house check all the water/heating pipes which go through walls!

I spent an afternoon with a tin of expanding foam and a tub of Pollyfilla going round all the central heating pipes - I think the mice were using the pipes like a squirrell would use the branch of a tree, then any tiny cap as the pipe went through the wall and Bingo, they were in . . .

Lift some floor boards if you can, check the skirting boards, check for gaps under doors, check the attic, and as I have already said, check for gaps around pipes. Start with the downstairs sink/washing machine outlet to see if there are gaps, then work your way around the house of an afternoon armed with the pollyfilla & the foam )

borderlinemeath

The smallest of small cracks are just an invitation to a mouse. Any wires coming in or pipes/drains -make sure that around these are sealed tight. Plaster/no more cracks type stuff is preferable. Expanding foam can work but needs to be checked periodically for mice eating through it.

Contain eating to the minimum amount of rooms. ie kitchen and dining room. If you bring a cup of tea and a biscuit into the living room or kids bring food up to their bedrooms it's just going to make catching them harder. If there's food particles/crumbs everywhere then you're going to have to lay traps everywhere.

In the kitchen, make sure all food is contained in either the fridge or a press that is sealed tightly, if possible to high wall presses. Check around bread bins and toaster crumb trays for faeces.

Do you have pets? Make sure there's no leftover food in their bowls. We had a mouse here a few years back that had a stash of dog nuts behind the fridge! We eventually caught him but you have to be really vigilant with food matter.

Use regular traps with chocolate/mars bar/peanut butter in them. I found it's the best bait. I tried cheese, bacon rind but chocolate and sweet stuff work the best.

thegreatiam

borderlinemeath wrote: »

We had a mouse here a few years back that had a stash of dog nuts behind the fridge! We eventually caught him but you have to be really vigilant with food matter.

Our mouse last summer was stealing oxo cubes. We couldnt figure what he was eating, I had all the cereal etc in plastic containers, and we we really anal about leaving any food crumbs, but the mouse was still there.

After a few days i found his nest, and it was filled with nibbled oxo cubes, most still in the wrapper with the corners chewed off. I really wasnt expecting them to be stealing oxo cubes, and was amazed they could drag them beck to the hole.

I tried cheese, bacon rind but chocolate and sweet stuff work the best.

Any high fat food is good for mice, the reason bacon rind is handy is you can tie it to the trap and another bit of bait. milk chocolate is good as you can melt it onto the trap and wait for it to go hard, the mouse cannot steal the bait off then,

But, if like us, you have really small mice they will eat the food off the trap without triggering it.

ABajaninCork

Once you've got rid of the visitors, try putting in some of the sonar repellents in. We had a visitor couple of years ago when we had the bad winter. Think he got in via the pipes in the kitchen. Got one of the pre-baited traps, and luckily managed to catch it. Then we got some sonar repellents. It's important to note you have to get rid of the mice first, otherwise they don't work.

Since then, no more meeces!

aujopimur

Don't use poison in your house, they'll die under the floors and make a terrible stink that will last for months.

arse..biscuits

thegreatiam wrote: »

use fox urine around your house perimeter.

Where can you get fox urine?

thegreatiam

arse..biscuits wrote: »

Where can you get fox urine?

set up traps for foxes, when you catch one squeeze it till all the juice runs out.

alternatively: search online. there are many sellers of it it out there, usually it comes in powdered form, but its not cheap iirc. Ive never used it so can't vouch for it.

arse..biscuits

thegreatiam wrote: »

set up traps for foxes, when you catch one squeeze it till all the juice runs out.

alternatively: search online. there are many sellers of it it out there, usually it comes in powdered form, but its not cheap iirc. Ive never used it so can't vouch for it.

I have a fox trap and have caught fox before. I usually shoot them in the head and throw them in a bush. I never tried to extract bodily juices before but might give it a try

thegreatiam

arse..biscuits wrote: »

I have a fox trap and have caught fox before. I usually shoot them in the head and throw them in a bush. I never tried to extract bodily juices before but might give it a try

This may be less hassle.
http://www.outsidepride.com/repellents/fox-urine.html