Mice in the house - grrrr!

[shivvy]

I live in an oldish bungalow with many, many nooks and holes (under skirting etc) for mice to enter.
Now that the weather has changed, we have been properly invaded.
The interesting thing is that when we have set traps before, we were guaranteed to catch as many mice as were hungry and coming into the house, however we still have the same traps set but watch mice run right past them!
What the hell is going on?!
Is it possible that mice come into our houses for shelter alone and not food? If so, how do I stop them running across my living room (and kitchen) floor?

I could get a pest expert in but are they going to tell me anything different re setting traps etc?

[snags]

Get a cat :-)

[ummmm]

I think pest control might put poison down. Mice are incontinent so will be weeing and pooing where ever they go. Not good.

[Mr Veritas]

I agree with snags.
We have lived in this (country) bungalow,and not a sign of a mouse.
However,we DO have 2 cats.
Apparently,if mice can smell cat pee they literally leave home,so snags suggestion might be taken seriously?

[Mr Veritas]

Should read "bungalow now for 10 years"

[ummmm]

We don't listen to Snags though MrV....he keeps calling me fat...!! :-)

[snags]

lol... go run round shivvy's with a 'mouse hammer' and the weight will fall off ;-p

[ummmm]

Nope...I'm happy with my fatness :-)

[shivvy]

Ah - one minor issue that I didnt mention - I have a wee terrier-type dog that would not tolerate a cat. We have previously been adopted by a cat (and lived mouse-free) before the dog came along. However the cat is gone now and we only have the mutt.

[snags]

I'm sure you look good on it x

That's also why 'you' don't have mice... no surplus food in the house lol

You know I'm joking ;-p

[ummmm]

Yes I know you are.....you've read my hissy fits in the past xx

[snags]

Shivvy... is your 'wee terrier' not up for a bit of mousing? I know someone who has a Jack Russell... it's better than any cat...

[Mr Veritas]

ummmm,
"you've read my hissy fits in the past "
Hissy fits?
Maybe you are part pussy,and should move in with shivvy,and frighten the mice! ?
LOL

[ummmm]

I could do...I'm good at hissy fits although I have tamed over the years :-)

[brenda]

First of all I would look very carefully round the outside of your property , to see if there are any holes or cracks through which the mice can get in. Like for example where pipes go from the sink to an outside drain and so on .If there are any to be found seal these up with cement.That way you are preventing others getting in.
As you seem to have a number in the house , they may be nesting inside already , so a really good search of cupboards , under the sink , food cupboards top shelves and so on.Get rid of any unwanted rubbish as you go , old newspapers and so on which could be used to make nests.Lay your traps as you do each night.
Look for holes and cracks again as you go and seal these up Be really vigilant about leaving anything out at night as well which might be food for them..
Am writing this from my own experience of last year , I became almost paranoid about the blighters.Still I saw it as a challenge and was determined to win , and the clearing out did me good.
Like you I have a wee dog who is anti cat greatly , so I arranged with my son to borrow his cat each night on a sleep over and he would take my dog to sleep at his house.We did this for 3 weeks and the mice seemed to get the message . But what a performance it all was , have not had any since, but it doesn't stop me from looking , but think blocking things up, and clearing stuff out was the real key to the problem.
The very best of luck .Brenda.

[annie0000]

What are you baiting the traps with?

Chocolate works the best in my experience - although no mice for last two years since we have a cat.

[shivvy]

I am mainly baiting the traps with chocolate but also use peanut butter annie.
Unfortunately the mutt doesn't have the 'killer instinct' snags!
Brenda, I have cleared out all the cupboards and have blocked the obvious holes but unfortunately I have no hope of blocking them all. In fact I saw a mouse coming out from the back of the fireplace!
They don't have access to any food so I was wondering whether they might come inside for shelter only?

[annie0000]

it will be the cold that is driving them inside, and you really have little hope of blocking every avenue of them getting in as they can get in such tiny holes. In my case they were coming into the garage and getting up into the loft via the central heating pipes. We came down one day to find one stuck in some jam that my husband had left stuck to the cooker after a late night porridge session! However, once they are in they will try to hunt down food and you would think that they would go for the food in the traps. Do you think they may still have the odour of dead mouse on them that is putting them off? Maybe you need fresh traps. Good luck!

[funnygirl]

Ive got those plug in mouse repellants.

And since they've been plugged in, I have had no mice in the house, touch wood!!!!!

[shivvy]

Have tried the plug in thingys funnygirl but they aren't much use. I saw a mouse twice in the room I had them plugged in!!
Annie - I didn't think of the dead mouse pong - good thinking! I will wash the ones I have and stock up on new ones too.
Thanks.

[madmaggot]

Shivvy, we have had this problem ever since moving to our current property 3 years ago. The 1st two winters we tried to control the mice using traps but this year have reluctantly had to use bait for hygiene reasons. As a previous poster said mice are totally incontinent and we really can't have the place full of droppings and pee. Also, they are compulsive chewers and were chewing electrical wiring as well as loft and pipe insulation. The last resort was when they chewed the sound insulation under the bonnet of my husbands diesel car! That was when he decided they just had to be got rid of. BTW we also have the sonic repellers, 3 of them!