Trapping Clever Mice
Discussion
Oh, just for the record, mars bar squished onto the snap traps was good, but ended up using leerdammer as it gave them something a bit harder to nibble on and possibly spring the trap. The live catch one just got a lump of cheese, and worked within half an hour of baiting. It continued to work well after that.
ps, were not posh, just had some s
te leerdammer kicking about 
ps, were not posh, just had some s
te leerdammer kicking about My answer is to discourage mice from coming into the house in the first place.
I'm in a semi-rural location, in an old house with a suspended wooden floor and lots of gaps in skirtings / pipe conduits, etc.
I've blocked all these with tin foil, and any foodstuffs which may attract mice are stored in Lock and Lock plastic containers.
'Bob' is the final line of defence.
Bob with mouse (blurry, but you get the idea):
I'm in a semi-rural location, in an old house with a suspended wooden floor and lots of gaps in skirtings / pipe conduits, etc.
I've blocked all these with tin foil, and any foodstuffs which may attract mice are stored in Lock and Lock plastic containers.
'Bob' is the final line of defence.
Bob with mouse (blurry, but you get the idea):
Edited by Mobile Chicane on Wednesday 10th October 21:15
Sorted.. at least the first one
He seems to have taken a run at it and tried to dive through nicking the bait as before.. ended up a good distance from the cardboard tube.. I'm mystified as to how he managed it, the only thing that concerns me is that he's not as big as the one I saw a few nights ago.. must be a group of them!..
He seems to have taken a run at it and tried to dive through nicking the bait as before.. ended up a good distance from the cardboard tube.. I'm mystified as to how he managed it, the only thing that concerns me is that he's not as big as the one I saw a few nights ago.. must be a group of them!..
Mobile Chicane said:
My answer is to discourage mice from coming into the house in the first place.
I'm in a semi-rural location, in an old house with a suspended wooden floor and lots of gaps in skirtings / pipe conduits, etc.
I've blocked all these with tin foil, and any foodstuffs which may attract mice are stored in Lock and Lock plastic containers
Exactly, mice colonies will always breed up to the food potential available and can reproduce at a rate to deal with any predation. So your puny efforts will just get dialled out. Start looking for the mouse motorway. You have plenty of guidance on here, generally its where any services enter or leave the house, any ventilation holes, remember these can be buried deep in that attractive shrubbery you inherited that nestles against a wall. Under the floorboards is also mouse country, you will never secure that so check all pipes, when we plumbed our Amana in in the kitchen I made sure the rising main feed was secure where it dived under the floor and where it emerged behind the fridge. I'm in a semi-rural location, in an old house with a suspended wooden floor and lots of gaps in skirtings / pipe conduits, etc.
I've blocked all these with tin foil, and any foodstuffs which may attract mice are stored in Lock and Lock plastic containers
I use expanded aluminium rather than silver foil. Havent I written a lot about this, those mice really get on your radar dont they/
SMGB said:
Exactly, mice colonies will always breed up to the food potential available and can reproduce at a rate to deal with any predation. So your puny efforts will just get dialled out. Start looking for the mouse motorway. You have plenty of guidance on here, generally its where any services enter or leave the house, any ventilation holes, remember these can be buried deep in that attractive shrubbery you inherited that nestles against a wall. Under the floorboards is also mouse country, you will never secure that so check all pipes, when we plumbed our Amana in in the kitchen I made sure the rising main feed was secure where it dived under the floor and where it emerged behind the fridge.
I use expanded aluminium rather than silver foil. Havent I written a lot about this, those mice really get on your radar dont they/
I'm worried now.. These mice are totally different to the mice our cat brings home. He brings in the smaller field mice, these ones are twice the size and have much bigger ears.. House mice if there are such a thing rather than outdoor types, I use expanded aluminium rather than silver foil. Havent I written a lot about this, those mice really get on your radar dont they/
Added to that my youngest son is a crumb machine.. he just liberally spreads food around like nobodies business..
bacchus180 said:
I'm worried now.. These mice are totally different to the mice our cat brings home. He brings in the smaller field mice, these ones are twice the size and have much bigger ears.. House mice if there are such a thing rather than outdoor types,
Added to that my youngest son is a crumb machine.. he just liberally spreads food around like nobodies business..
Its nothing to worry about, if you think your son encourages them you should see the floor of our lounge after the parrots have finished feeding, moustopia. The last cheeky one we had was entering via the gas fire. Our pet sitter clocked him, we were away and got a text telling us she was sitting in the darkened lounge while the birds settled down for the night and he just popped out from the grate and stood there scoping the room out. When I got back I ,natch, got a Corgi registered fitter out and discovered the last Corgi registered fitter had cemented the feed pipe in about 3 cms off course and the closing plate was just dangling on one screw, probably messing up the draught as well Added to that my youngest son is a crumb machine.. he just liberally spreads food around like nobodies business..
. I was able to cut a new slot with an abrafile and blank off the factory one, refitted it and the sunflower seeds lie around all night undisturbed now. As I said before I have aly mesh around water pipes and boiler vents and various other stuff like the boiler flue, that was PITA to find, they were romping around in the loft keeping us awake at night 
. I tried a few things then one day I was up there moving the traps around and thought, dont say they are running all the way up there. Well an hour of dusty fiddly work later I had ally mesh between the flue and the duct it runs in and we regained control of the loft and no probs since.
Hmmm - I though this was going to be an easy one: "Use chocolate not cheese", or "get a cat", but seems you've tried those...
I have used one of those tunnel with a crink in it with some success. Unfortunately I've thrown away my delicious tennis shoes which mice seemed to find irresistible.
I have used one of those tunnel with a crink in it with some success. Unfortunately I've thrown away my delicious tennis shoes which mice seemed to find irresistible.
If the cat has brought one in - usually and most thoughtfully in the darkest hours of a rainy night - we rely on an old container such as an Ice Cream Tub, kept aside specifically for the purpose. That and storing leftovers obviously. Once caught, after varying amounts of time depending on the room and its furniture combination the creature gets to go free on a handy embankment over the road. Should I tag and fit it with a radio collar to check if it the same one which invariably turns up again within a day?
CarCluster said:
If the cat has brought one in - usually and most thoughtfully in the darkest hours of a rainy night - we rely on an old container such as an Ice Cream Tub, kept aside specifically for the purpose. That and storing leftovers obviously. Once caught, after varying amounts of time depending on the room and its furniture combination the creature gets to go free on a handy embankment over the road. Should I tag and fit it with a radio collar to check if it the same one which invariably turns up again within a day?
I keep a bottle of Tippex by the front door: anything that survives the cats' 'catch and release' programme gets a white dot on the back of its head.We have had a couple of rabbits that acquired a second dot, but nothing smaller.
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