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Mice in my flat!

Well, basically we have mice in our flat, we've set traps to catch them, and have caught a few, but there are more!
I don't think that there a big deal, they're harmless right? but my flatmate has bagged her bags and gone to stay a friends, leaving me alone with mickey and co.
Is she over-reacting? or am i under re-acting?
Not sure what to do next, we've had the letting agency out, and they laid some traps, and are going to return to asses the situation.

Please help!

Reply 1

member101

I don't blame her, I'd not want to live there either. I'm terrified of mice.
Are you not afraid of waking up with a mouse on your pillow, staring at you?

Reply 2

Loulabell

No, there tiny. I'd only worry if we had rats!
We've only ever seen them in the kitchen, and thats were we've caught them aswell, so I guess they stay there, and so probably won't be on my pillow in the morning!
I'm a country girl, not scared of wildlife, unlike these southern city folk!

Reply 3

*Sparkle*

I didn't want to go in my bathroom for two weeks after seeing a mouse in there.
I spent £36 going home for showers.
Then I realised I was being silly lol but we filled the hole and I felt ok to shower again in the house.

Reply 4

londonboym

Just look at it as though you're getting free pets.

Reply 5

Snakebite2000

You're not over reacting, mice are awful, they eat your clothes, they **** all over your work surfaces, they chew through your walls, cupboards, furniture. Get rid of them.

Best way (if you can't afford rentokil) is to buy an electronic mouse repeller - some are rubbish though you have to get a proper one, one which emits sound repellent through the walls. Some of the cheaper ones only do it for a small radius and they got blocked by furniture, so you don't want one of those.

And then in addition to the repeller, put trays of poison in places where it looks like there has been a lot of mouse activity; usually in corners behind sofas or wardrobes. Check the poison trays regularly and refill as needed, until the mice are gone.

Humane mouse traps are inefficient. You might catch a few mice that way but in the long term it won't solve the problem. And bear in mind that once you've caught them you've got to take them really far from your house to release them otherwise they'll find their way back.

Regular mouse traps are rubbish as well. They're a pain in the butt to set, and again you might catch one or two mice but it won't get rid of them all.

Reply 6

Persipan

The thing with mice is, if you can stick a biro through a gap (say, by a door frame) then a mouse can get through it. So, it's all very well catching mice in the flat, but you also need to work out where they're coming in and stop it. Those electronic things can be useful, and if the letting agents have been round and are taking the problem seriously then that's a good start.

Mice will eat all kinds of stuff, and can get into the unlikeliest places. Make sure all your food is stored in airtight containers to put them off (they may eat through a bag or box to get at pasta or cereal, but they won't eat through a jar or a tin). Don't assume that food is safe because it's in cupboards, and don't assume that they won't eat something as it comes just because you wouldn't - they'll eat Oxo cubes, for instance, given the chance. If you reduce the amount available for them to eat, they'll have less reason to come to your flat. They'll eat other stuff, though, so that doesn't solve the problem; you still need to use traps/poison.

I don't think you're under-reacting - it's not the end of the world - but better to take it seriously than find yourself overrun.

On the plus side, if you've got mice you know you don't have rats, as they don't tend to occupy the same spaces!

Reply 7

*starry_eyed_*

I'd react like your housemate. ewwwwwwwwwwwww

Reply 8

member101

Once a mouse ate my sock.
I think.
It was horrible.

Reply 9

fire2burn

Could just do what we did in my house? Catch them and keep them as pets?

Reply 10

keepoffthelawn

londonboym

Just look at it as though you're getting free pets.

Reply 11

jrl1017

I've got a mouse at the moment as well. Can't sleep. Just staying up to make sure it doesn't come near me. It'll be silent for ages then i'll hear a rustle under my bed. I have an ultrasonic mouse-repeller, 2 trays of poison and 4 humaine traps and still nothing!! I feel bad for the little guy but I can't live like this! I wish I could do what your housemate has done!!

Reply 12

sexbo

I have mice in my flat. You forget about them eventually. So long as I don't hear mine and they don't crap everywhere i'm cool with them

Reply 13

MancBoy

HAHA everyone is super scared! Chill out they wont eat you. I cant believe the lengths people go to just so they're scared of mice. I can sympathize though they are super annoying!

I have a mouse in my house once every few months because I live next to an alley way. I wasn't scared of them but when they jump out it does startle me because I don't expect anything to jump out at me in my house! The noise of them scratching and rustling is enough to keep me awake! And I could have sworn that one climbed on me when I was sleeping. Anyway here are some tips I have learnt from having mice now and again -

1. DO NOT USE POISON! - I cannot stress this enough. If you use prison there is a chance they can die under your floor boards (unreachable) and they emit a god forsaken bad smell. The smell is so bad its enough to make you leave the room and it lingers for about 2 weeks. I learnt the hard way :frown:

2. Buy a good ultrasonic pest repellent. Note these take about 2 weeks to work so be patient. I have one and I THINK it works. Not too sure though.

3. Move your beds away from the walls. Mice CAN climb beds and CAN climb on you while you are sleeping. Moving the beds will rectify this.

4. Peanut butter is the BEST thing to put on snap traps. The mice will be attracted to the sweet smell and most definitely go for it. Peanut butter is sticky so the mice will try hard to eat it and lean on the trap. Everyone who has a mice problems raves about peanut butter on traps.

5. DO NOT USE GLUE TRAPS - mice can get stuck on these and actually rip their stomachs trying to get off there leaving blood stains on your carpet and potentially dying in unreachable spaces.

6. Fill ALL holes with steel wool. Mice hate steel wool and cannot chew through it so you can block them out by filling these holes with it.

7. Super clean your house and keep it clean. Remove all crumbs from everywhere. Keep food off tables or places where mice can reach it. The mice will eventually starve and eat the bait on the snap traps.

8. Place snap traps against the wall (so the bait is next to the wall). Mice lean against the wall as a guide when its running about and their eyesight isn't that good. So they can stumble on the trap without actually having to eat the bait.

Hope this helps!!

Get a cat.

Original post by MancBoy

This is all the advice I was about to give - we have occasional mouse problems at home, invariably in autumn when the weather gets colder and they decide that they want to come into the warm! Anyway, the point is that the war can be won, but it's a war of attrition rather than having a silver bullet for the problem. Back-snappers are definitely the best traps to use - not only are they the most humane, if you are squeamish about removing the corpses then they are cheap enough to only use once and then just throw the whole thing away.