Mice (Eeek!-o-friendly solutions?)
 

Suggestions please on natural ways to deter / eliminate mice without laying poison! Here in the heart of the country they tend to move in with the extended family!! Heard one last night - despite 2 cats - so need to do something before the party begins!

Mice the environmental way
 

You can get things to plug into sockets in the house and it emits a high pitched noise that keeps them away. My sister lives on a farm and it works for her. Have them where the mice might be getting in. You would probably need a few in the house. The brand name is Marley or Martley. They come in packs of four. Hope this helps.

I have heard the patter of little feet also, in the attic, despite having 2 cats. Of course the cats don't have access to the attic so today I will be putting them up there. Even if they don't find a mouse they will leave their scent and hopefully deter further invasion. Maybe this one was just sussing things out, like viewing the property before accepting it as a new home.

A few years ago when we were clearing a garage of empty boxes we found a box with a nest of baby mice, the other person felt sorry for the little creatures so he placed the box back in the garage and waited for the mother to return before he brought the box into the house. He secured it so the mother could not escape. Later that night he was going to bring them to a barn and leave them there in a ready made nest with straw and even some food. When he went to get the box to bring the family to their new home the mother was missing. Needless to say I was not impressed as this meant she was somewhere around the house. So once again he moved the box to the garage and waited till the mother returned, sure enough she did. He then brought them to a field at the side of the house and set them free.

A week later the Farmer cut the grass in the field and later that night as I sat at my computer I looked down and there was a tiny field mouse sitting at my foot, when I turned around there was another one and another one. They were scurrying all over the room -eeekk

I got my collie Zack in and he assisted in catching the mice, bringing them to us live and once we collected them all the mice were brought on a journey in a tin box. In all we caught ten mice that night. It seems that the mice we had deposited in the field came back for protection when they were disturbed by the farmer cutting the grass. I think they ran for the house because they remembered the kindness they had been shown, so best not to show hospitality to even one mouse because he will invite all his family and relatives to visit :)

Hi,

I too had a mouse in the house. Of all places to find it it was in the toilet. Still have the jitters and cant sit on that particular loo. Unfortunately I got such a big fright that I flused the loo. Poor little thing. Hopefully he was a scout for his family and they have not moved in. I have heard and this could be wrong that they don't like steelwool so I have plugged all holes around the pipes with steelwool and I have sealed off any other holes that I could with the expansion foam stuff. Hopefully I flushed the only one. I hate mice and get the jitters big time.

You also get a have a heart mouse trap now a days that catches the mouse alive and you can set it free again. Love animals and all but sounds like a bit too much as they will continue to come back. Have 3 little kids and don't want to take a chance with pests and jikky stuff so it will have to be the mice that goes in this house by any means (expect poisen) possible.

Hope I have not offended anybody but it is just my opinion.

Ta
Poppie

i had a nice warm clothes press beside the stove, of course the mices moved in and once when i was rumaging through it for a hat, and quicker than you could say aaaagh! a mouse shot out an up my arm, across my chest and down the other arm and disappeared into the press again! it took its own life the next day in a trap designed to catch its tail.. !
they could have been part of a sect tho cos the others all went the same way too.

Mice
 

Lol - well, your replies have brightened by day anyhow!! I have tried the plug in thingies - it was after that I got the cats!! I would have a severe problem with catching live mice - particularly if my 5 year old got to the trap before I did..... oops! I heard something somewhere (I think!) a bout using conkers to ward them off?

mice
 

Bait Boxes Are The Answer......mice Are Are Attracted By The Smell Of Chocolate And Peanuts(not Salted)........you Would Need Patience As Mice Are Suspicious, But Once They Are Trapped They Need To Be Released Within A Few Hours........about A Mile Or So Away As They Will Find Their Way Back To House........you Might Need To Try Internet To Get Boxes Although Some Hardware Stores Might Have Them...........got Rid Of All Ours Without Killing Them.......make Sure No Other Food Is Available Or They Wont Need To Use Bait Box! Hope This Helps.

Mouse trap
 

Have a look at this site http://www.smithsax.btinternet.co.uk/ it's how to build your own humane mouse trap. My mum had some mice in her house, I moved in for a couple of days caught all of them in a humane mouse trap that I bought in a pet shop and let them all out in a big field about a mile away. I was told they were wood mice and they were really cute with big huge ears, nothing to be afraid of. I forgot to add that mice are supposed to hate the smell of peppermint and if you buy peppermint oil and soak some cotton wool in it , place these around where you think they are getting in, it should put them off . You can also buy special pouches of peppermint mixed with spearmint called Mouse Away if you wanted to try that.

Mint Aero
 

Hi there

Bait boxes or mice friendly traps should be available but are seemingly more expensive than the good old trap. To bait it ... Yes Mint Aero or Chomp.. Seemingly they love Mint Aero! Hopefully it'll work for you. :) Good luck

Breeding like Mice!
 

Did you know that mice can live up to three years and they produce a litter every 21 days, each litter having up to 10 or 12 little baby mices........ do the maths!!!!

I've used the plug in deterrants since I moved in two and a half years ago and have had no mice, so far. We have a cat too, which helps. She sometimes kills mice outside and drops them at the back door. If I were to discover mice in the house though, I would have to use a trap, none of this humane nonsense!! There's no danger of mice becoming extinct, at that rate of reproduction!

look behind yuuuuuu.....

I have to say folks I have tried those plug in type electrical deterrants and found them useless. This was in a small boiler room outside. Left it plugged in all the time and the little blighters must have been deaf cos they were immune to it!! Only one thing for it - the good old fashioned mousetrap, sorry.

Mice
 

We had a terrible problem with not just mice, but rats too - it wasn't just a nightmare when I felt a rat run over my foot in the bathroom half way through the night a few years ago.
The quarry at the back of the terrace had been re landscaped, disturbing the rats who found their way into houses through tumble dryer vents and in our case a hole behind a rotten skirting board. We tried the special plugs which didn't work at first, so we had to resort to poison to get rid of them.
Then once we were sure we were rid of them, tried the plugs again, and there's been no sight nor sound of anything since. It seems that you have to be sure that they're not nesting anywhere. It's easier to keep them away than to get them out afterwards. Try the plugs again. Good luck.
I have heard that you don't find mice and rats taking up residence in the same house at the same time.

If you were hungry would noise stop you eating???? the plug ins dont work [trust me am married to a pest controller] best wishes Angie

Many years ago I noticed my cat playing with something in my garden in suburbia in Dublin. I went out and there, in an enclosed back garden was a white mouse with the cat playing happily with it. I did not think before I put down my hand and the mouse ran up it, I brought it in and put it in a hamster cage. It lived happily there until it died two years later.

Last year my two cats started leaving presents outside the front and back door for me - dead rats (Yuck), even grown men who were working here at the time would not remove the bodies, so I had to do that myself.

I attended a meeting with an animal psychologist once and he said that when a cat leaves something dead at your door it is offering you something in return for the care you give it.

I used the humane traps last year in the house for mice and forgot to check one in the hotpress. When one of the builders checked it he shook it and said there was nothing in it but when he took it outside and opened it out jumped a tiny mouse who charged as fast as he could across the yard and into the field with the builder chasing after him - that was comical - poor ickle mouse ;)