Mice - what don't they like?

[Pierre]

We have (at least) a couple of unwelcome visitors in the house.

When we moved in, the house was clean and empty. Looked good. About three months later, we first saw a mouse running along the skirting board and into a gap in the floorboards. I made a mental pact with it: if I don't find any of your poo, I won't put traps down.

Recently the mice have been getting bolder and bolder, coming out into the middle of the floor while we've been sat eating at the table, although we've been amused to notice that a sudden loud clap can make them jump with all four legs at the same time, a few inches into the air, before scurrying away. I say "mice" because unless we have one incredibly fast-travelling mouse that can run the length of the living room in a second and then come up through the boards to be scared off again, we've got more than one.

This morning I swept behind the sofa and found the distinctive trails, and the poo and dust didn't smell pleasant. I hope the bleach has cleaned away the source of the smell instead of just overpowering it.

I don't particularly want to put traps down, mainly because they're a hassle. We don't want a cat. I'm fairly sure if I kill a few mice, others will take their place.

So I'm asking the sage advice of the ED forumites: what can I do to deter mice? Is there anything they don't like the smell of? (anything, that is, that is either undetectable or inoffensive to human noses) Do those plug-in ultrasonic things actually work or will it drive the dog two doors down crazy? Will simply bleaching the floorboards do enough to convince the mice that they're not welcome?

Thanks in advance for your help!

: P

[*Bob*]

They don't like being killed - that's for sure.

Talk of ultrasonic repellers and humane traps is just monkey talk. Bring them death.. swift and true. Before it's too late.

[Keef]

Apparently you can get snake shite (seriously) in little pellets, but our local pet shop don't do them.

[Brendan]

You could get a snake...

[*Bob*]

Keef Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Apparently you can get snake shite (seriously) in

> little pellets, but our local pet shop don't do

> them.

You can also stand on a stool in the kitchen chanting 'la la la mice mice go away' but that doesn't work either.

[Pierre]

...hitching my many underskirts up and shouting "Thomas! Thomas!" ? ;)

: P

[Jeremy]

We saw a mouse in our kitchen... put a couple of ultrasonic repellants out the next day, and never saw one again (or any evidence of mice).

Might just be a coincidence though.

[lordship_bod]

get some rat/mice poison. that usually does the trick as well. i say kill the buggers (6)

[Ladygooner]

I have killed 10 so far with traps - quick and painless! Sonic repellers don't seem to have any effect in my experience nor mouse poison - rat poison seems more effective. Glue traps are just cruel - they wait there all day for me to come home and kill them off.

[*Bob*]

Whoever invented these ultrasonic contraptions is a genius.

They've managed to tap-into a desire not to kill wikkle animals and obsession with 'futuristic' solutions.. all to sell a product which is proven to have absolutely no useful effect whatsoever.

The latest version of the 'Pestclear' device has two flashing lights on it (so you can see the science at work) and costs ?5 more. Still doesn't work though.

[AcedOut]

Cleaning products.

[AcedOut]

I'm going to invent a device that makes a clapping noise on sight of a mouse. Genius!

[*Bob*]

Interesting things, mice.

Did you know that they urinate almost constantly, and if you shine a UV torch you can see all the trails of little mousey piss they leave wherever they've been? (which invariably is 'everywhere')

Bless!

[AcedOut]

And they can collapse their entire skeletal system to craw through spaces a tenth of their height (or something along those lines). So forget trying to fill in all the cracks - they will find a way in.

Seriously though - keeping the place spotless will eventually do it. I bought a pack of those bag clips, as they were even getting up in the cupboards.

My girlfriend had to move out of her place in Mayfair, as there was a complete infestation. She tried traps, bait, ultra-sonic devices, but to no avail. Once things are that bad, professional help is needed. She was living in an apartment block though, so the whole place would have needed sorting out. I think it was due to the way the rubbish bins were being stored in the basement.

[Pierre]

A quick search of the interweb suggests that they aren't too keen on the smell of peppermint or mothballs. I'm not too keen on mothballs but I'm sure Mrs. Pierre has some peppermint teabags at the back of a cupboard that haven't been touched for ages.

I'll leave a couple of those behind the sofa and let you know how things go.

: P

P.S. a) AcedOut, if you get chance, you really should try the clapping thing, it's very funny; b) *Bob*, isn't that the way they solve more or less all cases on any flavour of CSI? "Get out the sperm light, I mean UV torch..."

[*Bob*]

Ace.. Are you saying Pierre is.. dirty..?

[cdonline]

Is there anybody that would lend you a cat for a while?

Never had a problem with them when I lived in a house with a moggy, while the soap-dodging, let's-live-rustic neighbours had them always on the go.

[AcedOut]

No, but my girlfriend is. Oh er ;)

I'll try it at work. There are several here! I've heard of water-cooler conversation, but I wasn't expecting to be sharing the space with a mouse yesterday. It was a brave little mite too!

[PeckhamRose]

Not all cats are hunters! My cat's bloody useless, terrified of the pigeons and squirrels that come up on the balcony and runs back in.

She's brave with moths but only because she knows they can escape and fly away, and she can make out it wasn't her fault.

Sorry but I say kill the mice. You can get mousetraps in black boxes so as to spare your feelings....

[Pierre]

I'm not trying to spare my feelings. I eat meat; logically, I have no problem with animals dying. It happens.

The main problem is the hassle. Dead mouse mess isn't nice to clean up, especially if it's been there a while. We used glue traps when I used to share a house with some friends, they're effective but you can hear the stuck mouse squealing to get away, we had to keep a brick outside the back door to quickly dispatch them (it was kinder).

Just thought that deterring them from coming in in the first place might be a bit less messy. Unfortunately the only cats around here seem to be a gang of dodgy-looking types who fight each other and compete to leave the biggest piles of poo in everyone's gardens...

: P

[AcedOut]

What you want is a mouse trap that once activated beeps, to let you know it's been triggered. Can't you buy them?

(Copyright AcedOut 2008, patent pending)

[*Bob*]

The only way you can stop them from coming in is by either never leaving a crumb of food or drop of water anywhere in your house, ever.. or by blocking every hole and gap larger than the width of a pencil with wire wool, expanding foam and anything else that will fit.

Buy a few packets of Difenacoum for 99p each instead - and go to the pub.

[AcedOut]

Hire a happy clapper. That's what I'm doing in the future. Class!

[????]

Do they actually like Cheese?

[*Bob*]

Peanut butter and chocolate, ????.

But their absolute favourite is tasty, wholesome poison.