getting rid of mice

[grahoom]

didnt know where to put this.

recently, well over the winter - our flat had mice, its a really old flat, so plenty of places for the little fellows to hide, under the floorboards, between the walls etc.

anyhow, i did put some traps down but they failed to work (both humane ones and those snap traps) - then i read about using peppermint oil (essential oil) on cotton balls - just dot them about the place, apparently the mice hate the smell.

and it worked - ofcouse your have to make sure the cottons balls have the oil on them, but it was an effective way of getting rid of the little fellow.

i also read that you could use fox wee - but i wasn't sure if i wanted to put fox wee around the flat.

anyone else got any good ways of keeping those mice at bay?

 

[C_Claycomb]

I am curious as to how the snap traps didn't work? Did the bait not attract, was the bait stolen and the trap not sprung, or did you just find sprung traps and no bait?

I like the cotton ball and oil idea. Seems a friendly way of sending the mice to your neighbour.

 

[Buckshot]

Also works with cats - they can't stand the smell either.
If you have any problem cats a couple of drops of oil can get them to 'go' somewhere else.

Cheers

Mark

 

[grahoom]

I am curious as to how the snap traps didn't work? Did the bait not attract, was the bait stolen and the trap not sprung, or did you just find sprung traps and no bait?

I like the cotton ball and oil idea. Seems a friendly way of sending the mice to your neighbour.

well, we baited the traps (both snap traps and the humane traps) with different stuff, and the mice just were not interested in the bait. - which was weird. - didnt even attempt to take the bait, as far as i could tell. - maybe they had found a better source of food.

 

[C_Claycomb]

I have always found that mice like peanut butter can't think why. Its not the sort of thing they are likely to find normally. I have had great luck knotting string around the trigger and smearing in Sun Pat, has worked for mice on two continents

Any idea how long the mint oil will work before needing a top up?

Also works with cats - they can't stand the smell either

Not so good if your anti-mouse system is feline LOL

Glad you got rid of them anyway.

 

[grahoom]

we topped it up every 2 weeks or so. - now the warm weather is here, the mice have gone.

we used peanut butter, and chocolate. (not at the same time)

 

[Spacemonkey]

I had a victorian flat in Kilburn, and they demolished next door which was derelict, so all the little blighters moved in to mine... I found the cat cleared up the meeces, and tha dog saw off the rats. Problem solved. Word, well squeaks, must have spread as no more returned.

 

[Scally]

strange you got rats and mice together space monkey (in the passed the rats have arrived and the mice have gone ) both fun to sort!

When i was a keeper in hets we used to get the edible door mouse glis glis and i used tosel them to the boss in the early nineties loads of money!!!

 

[george]

I live in a 2 hundred year old cottage that's full of mice for most of the year - they get worse in winter though.

We vary the traps every couple of months as they seem to get used to one kind after a while and then start to avoid them. Ditto bait - peanut butter, chocolate, sesame seed and honey and the little soft pellets of dry dog food seem to work best for us.

The dogs are pretty good mousers too and there are times when I've come down in the morning to find several half munched mice stashed by the dogs in various places so they can come back for a snack later on!

We've given up trying to get rid of them totally - as long as they stay in the walls and the loft we don't worry too much.

I'll try the peppermint oil trick though.

George

 

[Motorbike Man]

Chocolate has always worked for me in the past. I used to use the humane traps and relocate the mice. Then I started finding the traps empty of chocolate and mice. One day I actually saw the mice going in, two together. The one in front would grab the chocolate and the one behind would hold the door up!!! so rather than trapping them, all I was doing was feeding them so I'm afraid to say after that it was some grey plastic snap traps that come preloaded with bait and they did the trick.

 

[Goose]

Chocolate has always worked for me in the past. I used to use the humane traps and relocate the mice. Then I started finding the traps empty of chocolate and mice. One day I actually saw the mice going in, two together. The one in front would grab the chocolate and the one behind would hold the door up!!! so rather than trapping them, all I was doing was feeding them so I'm afraid to say after that it was some grey plastic snap traps that come preloaded with bait and they did the trick.

LOL Got this vision in my head now, mice round a map model "right, you cover the back........

 

[Marts]

We've been through traps, poison and peppermint oil - none very effective and poison will never be used again in our house as they crawl under the floorboards to die and then you have to lift the floorboards to get them!

We got cats. Now only our neighbours have a mice problem. Unfortunately the cats aren't all that discriminating and once they finished with the mice they moved on to the garden's frog population... They are now eyeing up next door's dog. i pity the poor thing

 

[C_Claycomb]

How nice that everyone seems to have cats that cause mice to vacate. My parents don't have mice in the house, unless the CAT brings them in and lets them go!

As good bushcrafters I feel that we really should be exercising our minds a bit more with regard to traps. Last time I bought a regular mouse trap it seemed such a cop out!

 

[george]

How nice that everyone seems to have cats that cause mice to vacate. My parents don't have mice in the house, unless the CAT brings them in and lets them go!

As good bushcrafters I feel that we really should be exercising our minds a bit more with regard to traps. Last time I bought a regular mouse trap it seemed such a cop out!

Ok how about a "bothy mouse trap"? I read about it somewhere and tried it out - it works.

You need a bucket, a piece of fence wire thats long enough to span the top of the bucket, a beer tin, some water and some bait.

Peirce the tin through the centre at the bottom and the same at the top. Thread the fence wire through so it travels top to bottom and the tin can turn easily like a roller on the wire.

Half fill the bucket with water, smear some bait around the beer tin and then sit the wire across the top of the bucket. Place bucket where mousey can get easy acces to rim or place pile of objects so mousey can climb up.

Mousey comes along, smells tastey bait and climbs up pile of objects to rim of bucket. Climbs on to spinny beer can to get bait, can spins round, mousey falls in bucket of water and is either promptly rescued and set free at least 500m from house or allowed to go down three times.

I used this once in a bothy that was so overrun by mice that It was hard to sleep. The beauty of the trap is it resets itself as long as bait is smeared right around the tin.

We caught about 12 mice in 2 days.

George

 

[Motorbike Man]

How nice that everyone seems to have cats that cause mice to vacate. My parents don't have mice in the house, unless the CAT brings them in and lets them go!

As good bushcrafters I feel that we really should be exercising our minds a bit more with regard to traps. Last time I bought a regular mouse trap it seemed such a cop out!

I do agree with you hence trying the humane traps, but much as I'm afraid to admit it, when it comes to health and safety in my own home, they've got to go. If anyone else was to come up with an idea I'd love to try it as I don't enjoy using snap traps

EDIT - missed the post above, not sure I'm to keen on them drowning while I'm away though

 

[Andy]

Some (now dead) relitives of mine built mouse traps that wouldn't hurt the birds in the cage. I'll just go and see if the old trap is around and take a pic.

I can't find it. anyway it was basically a glass milk bottle which you put some food in the bottom which was attached to a pivot. when it was emty it was on it's side and the was a bit so mice could get in, as soon as the went past the pivot it turned the right way up and they couldn't get out.

 

[leon-1]

All of the traps that are used are dependant on Bait, if you have mice there will be sign including droppings, this will give you an idea of the routes that they use, what they are feeding on and where they are feeding.

I have before now caught mice in an electric toaster feeding on the crumbs in the tray at the bottom (no mice were singed as the toater was switched off ), they will eat grains and seeds, but if they have a favourite it is better to use what they are normally heading for. They like peanut butter as it holds fats, protiens and salts which are pretty much everything that a mouse could desire

Rats are the same, look for what they are eating, cereals are quite common, but if they can get treats like bacon rind then they will

Identify what they are eating and where. Then trap the access routes and steadilly remove what they are feeding on, if the source of food dries up they will tend to move on.

 

[EdS]

I've given up trying to beat the mice. Now I just empty the peanuts out of my boots every morning.

God knows where the nut are coming from as I now had any bird food for a month or so.

 

[Emma]

Just to add some more baits - try raisins or soap. (Yes soap, mice and rats seem to love the stuff.)

 

[Stew]

Some (now dead) relitives of mine built mouse traps that wouldn't hurt the birds in the cage. I'll just go and see if the old trap is around and take a pic.

I can't find it. anyway it was basically a glass milk bottle which you put some food in the bottom which was attached to a pivot. when it was emty it was on it's side and the was a bit so mice could get in, as soon as the went past the pivot it turned the right way up and they couldn't get out.

I use a similar method but using a wine bottle.

Bait is put in and the neck is slightly raised with something leading up to it. the mouse goes in and can't get out as the glass is too slippery. The simplest yet most effective I've seen.

If you want to go more complex then Adam Hart-Davies describes a perpetual mouse trap in a Local Heroes book. It's basically a box with a flap that alternates side to side, a couple of one-way doors and a big space for all the inhabitants. It's quite ingenius but maybe a little overly complex.
Anyone want a picture?