F.A.O Ratter

[MissCommando]

Heya, sorry to bother you. Just after a bit of advice.

You may remember me saying about my sister having a mouse in her house a while back. Well, the pest control bloke they had out put bait down and a couple of really good traps. He confirmed that the droppings were that of a mouse and they'd left some sort of grease. They had been coming out of a hole in her airing cupboard. He told her that if they didn't catch anything after a week, to block the hole. They never caught any mice and apparently, there was only poo in the bait, it didn't look like it had been eaten. She blocked the hole then.

Roll on a few weeks and she is now hearing noises in all the walls, all night long - even in the loft. This week, after she changed her bed, she went up an hour later to discover mouse poo in her bed!!!

She is at her wits end. She's barely sleeping and is sure she hears one in her bedroom. She had the pest control bloke out again today who told her it's probably seagulls she hears at night in the loft. The next door neighbour hears all the scratching too in the walls.

After investigation today, Mr Pest Control thought the mice were now coming from the bathroom and he saw fur and droppings and droppings behind her cooker.

I am really worried about my sister, it's making her so ill with worry/lack of sleep. She has a 20 month old daughter so Mr Pest Control is reluctant to douse the house with poison as it would be dangerous. I think he's put more bait down (tucked away) and more traps.

What would you suggest? Do you think she will ever get rid of the mice? Do you think it's worth phoning a company like Rentokil, if so, do you know how much they are? We are happy to pay to try and sort this awful problem.

Many thanks!

[woofgang]

We have had really good service from Rokill in the past. they aren't cheap. but they sorted the problem first visit.

http://www.rokill.co....ns-for-your-home.aspx

[shoota]

We used to have mice - got a cat. End of problem and she's really lovely!

[wildwood]

Before ratter imparts his excellent advice, it may be of help if you say what type of house she has; free standing, terraced, apartment etc. that may indicate how the mice get into the walls.

[MissCommando]

It's a first floor maisonette. Sorry, she did have a different pest control bloke out at the end of May and he wasn't sure if the mice were entering through a vent in the downstairs flat wall? Can't be sure what he said. It worries me though that the neighbour can hear them in the wall as it'll prob be a matter of time before the mice get into theirs too. The walls must be infested/

[MissCommando]

Thanks for answers btw. It makes me laugh that ppl read posts intended for specific posters, we all do it lol! :)

[Brinjal]

I just buy rat bait from the supermarket. Hide it away so dogs cant get at it and keep topping up till they stop eating.

[woofgang]

If houses that share walls with your sis aren't tackling their problem at the same time, she might as well give up now. She can do all the sensible things (no food open anywhere, sealed rubbish bin, clear up dropped crumbs and so on and make the house inhospitable but they will remain while they can get a living. Sorry probably not what you want to hear. Is she a tenant? Can she get onto a landlord for help?
PS Seagulls in the loft?????? what's that all about?

[RATTER15]

Hiya, People assume that mice are easy to get rid of, they aren't that easy, unlike rats. in my view the biggest mistake was to block up a hole where the mice have clearly been evident, Closing up these hole usually compounds the issue by pushing mice into the cavity which means they have then to search to find other means of escaping the cavity. I would have kept a mouse bait station there permanent and kept it topped up with poison so the situation and infestation can be monitored.



Your pest controller should be putting specific "mouse poison" in your loft, dropping it down the cavity if that is possible from your loft. When you hear a mouse in the loft it is usually quite distinctive, it sounds very different to gulls walking on the roof, its more of a scurrying sound or distinctive scratching/knawing. He should also be putting down quite a few bait stations, mice are sporadic feeders and only take small amounts of food /poison at any one time so they need lots of bait stations to feed from. Personally I wouldn't touch Rentokill with a barge pole. They charge extortionate prices. You would better just ensuring you have a reputable pest control company registered with the BPCA and displaying their logo in advertising.

MissCommando, The pest control company should give you sister some assurance that their treatment is guaranteed to sort the problem and they should be coming back about once a fortnight to check the situation and to monitor the infestation until the problem is resolved. The Mice will be gone but I would expect it to take 2 or three weeks, if it were rats I would guarantee they be gone in two weeks but usually just a few days.

Brinjal, whilst rat poison will often kill off mice, rats and mice are different creatures with very different feeding habits, I have known mice eat all of buckets of rat bait with no ill effect, but as soon as they they touched the mouse bait it was "goodnight vienna!"

[RATTER15]

>>He confirmed that the droppings were that of a mouse and they'd left some sort of grease.<<

This is grease that is found along the bottom of walls and around mouse holes etc, it is a dirty mark left from the natural oils in their coats and more obvious in rats than mice.

[RATTER15]

Woofgang, I think they were talking about gulls on the roof and it sounding like the noise was in the loft. Generally speaking you don't hear much sound in the loft from mice but people do sometimes hear them.

[RATTER15]

wildwood, I gave up guessing how mice come into a house many years ago. We often get mice in our house (quickly dispensed with) Im convinced they just walk through the back door as it is usually left open, yes even during the night, but dont tell anybody.

If people get frequent mouse infestations have a cat then I would usually blame the cat! Dont ever get a cat to cure a mouse problem, they will rarely catch the mouse and if they do you can guarantee they will release it again. I will also guarantee that they bring far more mice into the house than they actually kill in the house.

[MissCommando]

Hey Ratter, thanks for taking the time to answer me.

Right, the Pest Control bloke is well into his 60s and my sister is sure his eyesight isn't that great lol. I had a look on his website but couldn't see that he's a member of the BPCA. The council use him though (it's a council property) and just because he doesn't think there is a big problem, the council couldn't care less. He didn't bother putting any poison in the loft, he thought he saw poo and then decided he didn't! He is stingy with the traps and only puts one or 2 down. Think we will have to buy some more. He didn't reassure her at all and hasn't said he will come back!

I will research tomorrow for a company/pest controller who is a member of the BPCA.

They are currently sleeping in the living room, so it's not ideal at all. I've told her to take pics if she finds anymore poo in her bed.

Thanks for your help, hopefully we'll get it sorted!