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gonker

A mouse can get through any hole that you can get a ball point pen through so seal up even the tiniest holes....and get a cat seriously.

craggel

There goes the trap again and another mouse to add to the list.!!!!
Can't say I'm fond of cats but it's starting to sound like a plausible idea (the wife and kids would love it!!) The ferret thing sounds good also, unfortunately I don't know anyone with one. If any one out there fancies letting one off under my house for a couple of hours fun just give me a call:) .
As regards the the food side of it we keep the place pretty damn clean putting special effort into it (if thats possible) since the scratching started.
We have a dog for whats thats worth but to say that she's afraid of her shadow would be an understatement so not much of a deterrent there.
I've scoured the house for holes where they may be getting in and I think I've covered everything without going down the road of pulling up floors. I'm toying with the idea of getting some of those IR spy cams and shoving them down the back of the skirting to see what the hells going on down there.
Thanks for the advice and keep it coming - I'll try a few more things in the morning.
Cheers

gonker

My other half hated cats too. But we used to live in the country where a cat is nearly an essential part of the household so we got one from one of the farmers. Well... you should see him now since he has seen her in action. He loves her to bits. She is a great mouser.
We moved about a year ago and when we moved in the place was full of mice. Within a week there wasnt any left.
The other night I was pottering around the kitchen, cat following me getting under my feet when I walked past the patio doors the light was on in the kitchen and it was dark outside so I could see nothing outside but the cat stopped and started "barking" at the window (she was abandoned by her mother as a kitten and was raised with a collie poor pet thinks she is a dog she even barks when someone knocks at the door:D ).
I got a fright thinking there was someone in the garden so hubby comes in to the rescue and opens the patio door, cat flies out and sits looking up at the wall. There was a mouse climbing up the wall and she had seen it..... she got it....havent seen any since

boroughmal

The smart trap consists of a little slope with a razor blade across the top.
The mouse is so smart he runs up the ramp and shakes his head to & fro and sais " What no bloody cheeze"

dark_jedi_ire

hahaha funny,

Well got another one yesterday, seem to be coming in to the hotpress somehow, Anyone know What size holes these guys Can get through?

Am getting some expanding foam and going for all the tiny holes I can find at the weekend.

Cheers

Rob

hadook

Mice can fit between the bars on a standard hamster cage - so anything from a half inch to an inch gap should be enough for them to get in.

Rats need more space but not by much. A young rat would easily get through a 2-3" gap.

dark_jedi_ire

Righto,

Thanks for that, Will have to investigate more into it,

Didnt get any last year, So ,. but did get the oil heating in this year so maybe there is a Small gap Somewhere, that needs attention

Thanks again

Rob

gonker

Rats can get in through half inch openings....scary half an inch.....:eek:

Sigma Force

We have a fierce porblem with mice at the moment, it's gotten out of hand it's not just the occasional one now we are infested and it's not funny anymore, we do use the humane traps but they are too smart for them and to be honest they don't work that well in catching them. There is however a humane mouse trap called a trip trap that works a lot better but can be hard to get your hands on think it's available online. We now have to use a combination of humane, regular traps and unfortunelty a small amount of poison in non occupied sheds. I don't like using the poison it was a last resort and has to be carefully used as it's nasty stuff obviously pets and children can be at risk if it's left willy nilly and cats or wildlife could consume a poisoned rodent. However our problem is that there are no cats to kill the mice hence the infestation. Not that cats are always the most humane way esp. if they like to play with half dead mice. The regular traps are one of the most humane ways to kill a mouse it's quickly done esp. if you sellotape the bait to the trap. It's not a pleasant buisness at all though.
We currently have them in the sheds, in the attic, in the kids room, in our room in the sitting room in fact every room bar the bathroom at the moment. It's gone so out of control that I was going to get in some professionals.
If living esp. in the countryside your bound to get them but with no cats in our area..well ok theres one a few fields down and unfortunetly not much wildlife eg owls and foxes around here and no cats of our own plus having lots of pets outselves where no matter how well you clean there is always going to be bits of seed dropped etc.
They are doing my head in, the also spread all sorts including salmonella and meningitis so a rodent infestation is no joke.
They can also spread diseases to your own pets. I have wee pet rodents and guineapigs, rabbits, birds etc so it's I don't like having to do it but one of those things I guess.

morgana

GPR, we have some stuff called eradirat (got it in the local coop and is also available for mice) which claims to work by dehydrating the animal. It is non-poisonous (maize based) and safe to use around farm animals and domestic pets. There is no danger of secondary poisoning. We haven't had reason to use it yet but it sounds plausible. It is a foodstuff to be taken by the little buggers and won't kill them immediately. How well they actually take it and its success rate I can't say. But it might be worth a try.

RotalicaV

We get alot of mice in work during winter, we bought these like shoe polish tins, you open and are fillied with poison. Apparently it won't kill them till they've eaten it, then drank water.. so they die outside. It worked really well anyway.