Mouse catching advice
Discussion
Forget about humane, catch-and-release. They just come back - if you let them go in the garden they'll be back in the house before you are. Glue traps I consider cruel.
Snap-traps, baited with chocolate or peanut butter, and placed perpendicular to the skirting boards, plinth, etc. This means the trap will catch the mice regardless of their direction of travel. Mice stick the the edges of a space, rarely will you see them cross an open space as it leaves them wide open to predators (eg, Owls).
Look for any gaps with black, greasy marks - that'll be an access point.
Put down many more traps than you think you need. You might be surprised.
Snap-traps, baited with chocolate or peanut butter, and placed perpendicular to the skirting boards, plinth, etc. This means the trap will catch the mice regardless of their direction of travel. Mice stick the the edges of a space, rarely will you see them cross an open space as it leaves them wide open to predators (eg, Owls).
Look for any gaps with black, greasy marks - that'll be an access point.
Put down many more traps than you think you need. You might be surprised.
This trap worked for me.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000YPTFRK/ref=...
Caught 4 mice over 3 days. Released them all about 2 miles away and never saw them again.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000YPTFRK/ref=...
Caught 4 mice over 3 days. Released them all about 2 miles away and never saw them again.
Forget about cats, we were always catching mice in the house when I was a kid, until the cat died and the mouse problem mysteriously went away.
After lots of experimentation we found Cadburys Fruit and Nut to be the best bait.
Mice like to hug walls and hide in gaps, so any gaps behind radiators, furniture or kitchen units are good places for traps.
After lots of experimentation we found Cadburys Fruit and Nut to be the best bait.
Mice like to hug walls and hide in gaps, so any gaps behind radiators, furniture or kitchen units are good places for traps.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Procter-Pest-Stop-Trip-Tra...
I have tried several and this one works best. Peanut butter on bread seems to work well with our local mice.
Good advice about taking them a long way away. 1/4 mile is about right.
We havent had any since I got a decent gas fitter in and he found the shocking bodge in the closeing plate around the feed pipe left by the installers of the gas fire in the lounge. That combined with the parrots dropping seed made the gas pipe into the nouse M1
I have tried several and this one works best. Peanut butter on bread seems to work well with our local mice.
Good advice about taking them a long way away. 1/4 mile is about right.
We havent had any since I got a decent gas fitter in and he found the shocking bodge in the closeing plate around the feed pipe left by the installers of the gas fire in the lounge. That combined with the parrots dropping seed made the gas pipe into the nouse M1
The best way i have found is a little heath Robinson, but it does work!
get an old metal dustbin and drill two holes just under the rim, on opposite sides. Then do the same on both ends of an empty! can, get some thick gauge wire (I used 1.8mm fencing wire) and push it through both sides of the bin with the can in the middle, bend the ends so they can't fall off. now smear the can with peanut butter, and check its spins freely(ish). you can fill the bin with water if you feel vindictive, but it's not necessary.
Mouse (or rat) walks along wire to get to the bait, the can spins and you collect 1 mouse. you don't even need to empty it during the night as more will come along.
Disposal method is up to you.
(the best bait is a mixture of peanut butter, chocolate spread and mashed tuna, blended. just clean the blender afterwards
)
get an old metal dustbin and drill two holes just under the rim, on opposite sides. Then do the same on both ends of an empty! can, get some thick gauge wire (I used 1.8mm fencing wire) and push it through both sides of the bin with the can in the middle, bend the ends so they can't fall off. now smear the can with peanut butter, and check its spins freely(ish). you can fill the bin with water if you feel vindictive, but it's not necessary.
Mouse (or rat) walks along wire to get to the bait, the can spins and you collect 1 mouse. you don't even need to empty it during the night as more will come along.
Disposal method is up to you.
(the best bait is a mixture of peanut butter, chocolate spread and mashed tuna, blended. just clean the blender afterwards
)
Ikemi said:
shtu said:
Mice stick the the edges of a space, rarely will you see them cross an open space as it leaves them wide open to predators (eg, Owls).
Exactly. OP, are you sure it wasn't one of these?
I'm amazed it got in. There's a pronounced step at the front door, which leads straight into a staircase. There's nothing else on the ground floor, just a garage (very PH...) so either it's scaled the stairs or gone up the through the walls somehow. That must be like scaling the Eiger a dozen times over if you're a mouse - I almost feel it's earnt its place (again, sticking to the singular!)
We were inundated with mice. Droppings everywhere and many sightings. The best trap was the old snap one with chocolate or peanut butter and just before Christmas one trap got 4 mice in a day. Two caught at the same time.
I have never been a pet person but in January I got two kittens and since then there has been no evidence of mice in the house. The cats are getting bigger and have not caught any so far but I presume that their constant prowling is probably keeping them at bay or is it their smell.
Jessy caught and killed a big spider today so hopefully she'll bring down the moth population, which is our other problem come the warmer months
I have never been a pet person but in January I got two kittens and since then there has been no evidence of mice in the house. The cats are getting bigger and have not caught any so far but I presume that their constant prowling is probably keeping them at bay or is it their smell.
Jessy caught and killed a big spider today so hopefully she'll bring down the moth population, which is our other problem come the warmer months
Chris71 said:
Not really a cat person, though, and we don't have time to look after a dog. Not that having a couple of dogs lolloping around ever seemed to keep the mice out of my parents' house - but that's an ancient contraption in the countryside, not a new-build in suburbia.
I understand. Thought I wasn't a cat person either plus I have always been allergic. Couldn't even go into a house that has a cat or a dog but the allergy appears to have gone away, well as far as my cats are concerned Having two from the same litter means that they look after and entertain each other whilst the humans are not around and all I have to do is put out food and water once a day and scoop the poop each morning. They are still too young to go out.
Had a poisoned mouse die under the floorboards of the room that I was decorating to be our first child's nursery.
First it was the smell then one day I heard what sounded like a buzz saw coming out of the room. I looked in and the only window was black with loud angry flies whilst more were climbing through the floorboards and waiting for their wings to harden.
The horror.........
First it was the smell then one day I heard what sounded like a buzz saw coming out of the room. I looked in and the only window was black with loud angry flies whilst more were climbing through the floorboards and waiting for their wings to harden.
The horror.........
croyde said:
Had a poisoned mouse die under the floorboards of the room that I was decorating to be our first child's nursery.
First it was the smell then one day I heard what sounded like a buzz saw coming out of the room. I looked in and the only window was black with loud angry flies whilst more were climbing through the floorboards and waiting for their wings to harden.
The horror.........
Yep, that's precisely the sort of thing I'd like to avoid.First it was the smell then one day I heard what sounded like a buzz saw coming out of the room. I looked in and the only window was black with loud angry flies whilst more were climbing through the floorboards and waiting for their wings to harden.
The horror.........
To be honest, I'd like to avoid killing them full stop.
The other thing is, it's a rented house. I'm happy to stick out a couple of traps, but if it turns out we've got a vast colony of the things in the loft it possibly falls to the landlord to get it sorted.
I have three cats, and one of them bought a mouse back this morning to play with it. He got bored, and let it run off.
I spent an hour moving stuff around the room, while the cats watched me.
In the end, but best method to catch it was a Dyson. I had it on the bottom of an upturned sofa, and used the nozzle to catch it.
I spent an hour moving stuff around the room, while the cats watched me.
In the end, but best method to catch it was a Dyson. I had it on the bottom of an upturned sofa, and used the nozzle to catch it.
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