Getting rid of mice in the house

[cactus]

We could always give it a go. Not sure if I know anyone with a cat but I'll ask around, see if it being in the house will convince them to leave!

[Queen Of The High Teas]

I'm sorry your still having trouble with mice. I would be getting rather desperate now too, as the longer their left there, the more likely it is they'll settle and make a nest - and start demolishing anything they can find to make it out of. If you can't borrow a cat, how about a dog like a jack russel or rat terrier? Or taking your hamsters to someone else for a few days and getting some of those sonic devices?

[cactus]

Luckily they don't seem to be destroying anything yet but we figure it's just a matter of time. We'll start asking around for dogs too, we're willing to try anything at this point. Moving the hammies might be an option if it comes to it.

[suga]

I too get mice in our house from time to time. I have blocked up all external entry holes (although did have some gaps previously). I use the snap trap that unfortunately kills and use poision too. They tend to get in to our loft and I could hear them scurrying around. Like souffle I don't tolerate them due to the type of construction of my house. Get a professional in if you are still struggling. Get the gaps externally blocked up and hopefully you will be mouse free soon. They can get in through the tinest gaps so check around your air vents, doors, windows, water pipes and services entry points etc.

[hammy2]

Poison is the most cruel way to kill them! They die of dehydration and in so much pain

[cactus]

I think we might end up having to get the professionals in which we're really going to struggle to afford but if it needs doing then it needs doing. I'd never use poison to harm an animal, if they must be killed then it will be in a humane and quick way. If we do end up with professionals in then I'll be telling them not to use poison either. I'm upset enough having to kill them at all, let alone make their suffering worse. I'm trying to be brave and do what's best for the hamsters and the health of me and my partner.

[racinghamster]

Depending on how many mice (if you know?) that you have coming and going, all these `professionals` would do would lift some floorboards and place traps and small bags of warfarin (a blood thinner) down. Warfarin thins the blood and is also used in human medicine (controlled) to patients who have had strokes or are at risk of clots. So basically, the mice die from an overdose of this and I can`t see it being a quick death but a low, prolonged one.

Trap devices would be quick, but only if they trap the full body and not a limb or a tail. I would still advise blocking any entry holes in the building and keep foodstuff well out of reach. Most houses have mice and unless they are really a nuisance, they learn to come and go without actually staying in one place. I`ve had a few get into the actual house, but mostly they run a mile if spotted and the majority will stay hidden and only come out at night mostly to look for food.

You either learn to live with a few mice or you just can`t stand the thought of them being around, so it`s never an easy decision, but unless they are proving a real issue like getting into food cupboards or you are actually seeing the mice in the rooms of your house, I would carry on with the humane traps and scatter some millet/hamster food inside. Using humane traps does mean re-releasing, but at least what you find in the trap will be a little face staring back at you and not a mangled one! Mice will learn to come back to the same feeding station over a night time if they know there is food left out.

[cactus]

We've been looking into professionals and I don't like the sound of them after what I've read online and what you've told me about their methods. It looks like that option is completely out. We've put down a humane trap in the front room with some of the biscuit they like to eat stuck up one end with peanut butter. They haven't gone for it yet but we're hoping they will. We're seeing them all the time in the sitting room and we've caught one going up and down the stairs, we keep the hamsters upstairs so we've blocked off all ways we can see for the getting upstairs including under the doors. We wouldn't mind them so much but they're coming out in the middle of the day and just staring at us. I'd never have thought they would be so bold if I hadn't seen it for myself. We're doing everything we can get the humane traps working to get them out of the house.

[racinghamster]

Oh dear, you do have bold mice! I do see one from time to time, but usually catch a glimpse under the sink or my mother will see a wee brown mouse outside near the wheely bins, but the only time I caught one in my room was last year when I heard the empty bag of Burgess Hamster mix rustling! I opened the cupboard door and nothing. I sat down again and the rustling noise started up again. I knew there was something there I just didn`t know what. Then I decided to move my storage box and out shot a wee mouse! It ran across the skirting board and out the bedroom door never to be seen again! They just seem to get in through little holes and gaps in the building really and I have found a few mangled bodies at the back door where the local cats have managed to intervene, but usually the mice keep themselves hidden.

Hope you can find a solution to at least reducing the sightings by going over the building with some expanding foam!

[cactus]

I wish we saw ours as little as you see yours! How cheeky of it getting at the empty bag of Burgess

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw one of them come out in the middle of the day to sit on the coffee table in the middle of the open and eat a crumb it had found. We see them quite often running around by the wall as we turn our heads and occasionally they go into the middle of the floor and just sit! We're going to be buying some expanding foam to block off their ways into the house.

I'm also happy to report that we caught one this morning in the tilt trap! It's been released far away from our house now and if we can get one out safely then we can get them all out safely