Mouse in the house!

I hate the idea of killing them, they`re so cute, I regularly take them off my cat in the back yard and release them on the river bank at the front. Trouble is, they tend to wee on my hand, lol!

My cat catches & eats mice but he has brought shrews in in the past (mouse size but with little pointy noses), apparently they can't eat shrews as they taste "bitter" who tried them I don't know.

My DM has tried the electric plug in mouse repellers, they don't work as she's still got mice

DM has resorted to old fashioned mouse traps, they like soft fruit & one even tried to bite into my lime

I have always been terrified of mice although people tell me they are more frightened of me.Thankfully we haven't seen one for a number of years but I will remember all the good advice if ever we do.

Like you, I'm terrified of the darned things, which was getting to be a real pain after we moved to the countryside. We finally discovered a plug in electric product called 'Advanced Rat and Mouse Repeller - Whole House, By PestBye'. I was very doubtful as to whether it would work, but it had been recommended by a friend, and while priced at £25 or thereabouts, it wasn't cheap, we decided to give it a go. It duly arrived, we plugged it in, and touch wood, I haven't seen a mouse since!! Whether this is luck or the product is effective I don't know, but if you're as scared as I am, it has to be worth a try. You can buy it here: www.primrose.co.uk/advanced-rat-and-mouse-repeller-whole-house-pestbye-p-36.html?cPath=24_1178

There is an amazing paste you can buy on Amazon. Put in humane trap. Boy do they like it. If you puts humane trap into the search the paste will come up as well. Caught loads where I used to live. Also plug even the tiniest hole with tin foil. They won't chew through it. I haven't had a mouse indoors since I moved to a boat...hahaha

A bit of a chocolate digestive always works for us! Then you get to finish the packet off!

Call in a specialist ours is called "pied piper" the stuff you get from pet shops/hardware stores are mainly ineffective.

Those of you who pick up mice and put them outside - I would have a coronary. I am totally phobic about mice and have tried everything to prevent them - peppermint oil, beeping things, vinegar. Have trapped them - but they get wise to them. I finally gave up all this and got in a company which doesn’t put down traps and poison but comes in and fills all gaps and holes with some kind of cement and wire mixture. It took 8 hours to do my flat (though being a Victoria conversion there were lots of gaps). I haven’t had any since (6 mths ago and it’s guaranteed for a year) but a friend of mine had it done and hasn’t had a sign for 2 years. It does cost a bomb - but cheaper than moving into a hotel which I started to see as an alternative.

How one disposes of captured mice is of importance.
If bait has been poisoned without using a trap to retain it the mouse can take this elsewhere. Consequently another animal possibly a domestic pet could consume the 'deceased' with tragic consequences.

Try kit kats, this works for me!

They can get in any tiny space. Almost impossible to block them out.
I was once sitting on the upstairs toilet and I saw one squeeze through the gap between the tiling and the floor, right next to me, and disappear beneath the tiling around the bath.
Then no doubt along the electric wiring downstairs to my piano.

I recently read that an equal mixture of white vinegar and water in a spray bottle and spray around the area where they are getting in should deter them. Also, you can buy 'sound repellants' which deter all types of pests but they are a bit on the expensive side. The sound can't be heard by humans so it doesn't affect you.

We usually get a mouse this time of year when they harvest the field at the bottom of our garden. They get in via our attached garage, where the roof joists join the bungalow, and usually stomp about in our loft. I've tried putting the cat up there to catch it, (without any luck every time) , because there's so much junk up there for it to hide in so I use an old fashioned trap with peanut butter on toast. Works every time. Good luck

Please use a humane trap, how would you like to be guillotined?

No such thing as one mouse! I don’t like killing things, but they are so filthy if I had them in my house I wouldn’t hesitate. Better than rats though!! Good luck.

We had a cat when our mouse problem developed, but it didn't deter them.

An old trick when blocking the hole the mouse got in through is to add mouse poison or ground up glass to the plaster you bung the hole with!

Obviously, not nice for any mouse stupid enough to try and make a new hole, but it does stop them from trying to get back in that way.

My father melted chocolate and stirred mouse poison into it, then put it down for the mice. It worked!

Can you borrow a cat that kills mice, like mine, who isn't on offer as we live too far away. (Outside UK)

We moved to a village last year. I have never had this problem before........I hope this is not going to be a regular occurrence!

You need a cat then the mice will leave. It's no good borrowing one as when it goes back come the mice. We borrowed my sister's cat for 2 weeks at a time, did this 3 times but they always came back so we had a permanent rescue cat in the end.

We've always found that just having a cat about the place somehow deters mice. Our old boy doesn't go out and is very slow moving anyway so unlikely ever to catch anything really.
A friend sprayed peppermint scent along skirting and in cupboards to prevent mice. Don't know if it worked but visiting her always reminded me to check when my next dental appointment was.

Thank you for your comments ladies. Despite adding chocolate to the traps yesterday, it is still on the run! I am with Saggi's husband....but on the worktop! My husband saw it when he opened the cupboard door a few days ago, but he just closed the door quickly so it didn't get out and into the house! The washer is in a built in cupboard and obviously has plumbing through the back. We need to catch it soon as there is laundry to be done and I need to get off the worktop!

Two failsafe methods. Firstly put Nutella or some other chocolate spread on the trap, as they have to make an effort to remove it, it triggers the trap.. Secondly, if you have more than one mouse, and in my experience they are rarely on their own, put some poison into the toe end of a nylon stocking and mix with bird seed, tie into a bag and put down where you know they are. As they devour the seed they also ingest the poison. We lived in the countryside and as soon as the weather cooled we would get these visitors. However, we didn’t make them welcome and got rid of them within a couple of days!

When we lived in a very rural area we had lots of field mice visiting, they even used to run across in front when I was on the downstairs loo!
I used to use Chocolate in an empty jam jar (they didn't seem to be able to get out) and I could hear it rolling around. As I am a bit of a softie they just got released back into the fields.
However do be aware that they urinate constantly over all surfaces so I became very fussy about cleaning in the kitchen

Our cat brings toy mice up when we are in bed, and miaows until we dozily call out " clever girl! Well done!"
We have managed to keep her outside with real mice....so far....