Mice!

[LustForLeith]

Alight!

Any suggestions the best way to either get rid of the little critters?

We’re in a first floor flat and spotted one a few weeks ago. Got some mice poison stuff and blocked holes with steel wool but now they’re back after a lengthy spell!

They’re underneath my daughters bed where they’ve been able to chew a hole in the corner of her room. We filled it with steel wool last night and checked it this morning to see that the steel wool had disappeared!

I want to get a cat but I’m outnumbered so far. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[Hiber-nation]

Try again to persuade them re the cat. We lived in a flat years ago and were infested with mice. We got a kitten and when we got her home she slowly crept round the skirting of every room in the flat and we never saw another mouse. The problem was passed on to someone else obviously but we were just delighted to get rid of them! And she was a great pet as well.

[JimBHibees]

Mousetrap with chocolate though there can be loads of them in a flat. Do the council not offer a service to deal with this sort of stuff?

[IberianHibernian]

Move away from Edinburgh . It seems to be a very common problem in Edinburgh flats . I remember someone telling me about a Dutch guy who spends his life travelling round Europe ( with regular visits to Edinburgh ) helping people with this problem - no traps or poison , just blocking holes I think .

[G B Young]

You can set as many traps and put down as much poison as you want but you'll never get rid of them all. You could use a pest controller but it's not great having a lot of poison down when you have a young family.

A cat would definitely help, but in reality the ONLY way to deal with them effectively is to prevent them getting in at all. Finding their access points can be tricky but it's worth going round every room to check where they're getting in and then blocking the holes thoroughly. Steel wool is fine for wee holes that you can jam it into tightly but for bigger gaps you should mix it with something like polyfilla to form a solid barrier. I don't recommend that expanding foam stuff as it can get very messy.

You'll likely find that they're getting in via really awkward places like holes in the wall underneath kitchen units or via gaps where the dishwasher etc is plumbed in. But believe me it's worth persevering to access these places and blocking the gaps. We had a similar issue about six or seven years ago and I become like a man possessed sealing the place up! Haven't seen a mouse since.

Persevere and keep checking for fresh droppings. You'll find that the little buggers have been down the backs of sofa cushions and all sorts. Once you stop seeing these you'll know you're winning!

Oh, and by keeping them out you avoid having to deal with dead mice (whether poisoned, trapped or killed by the cat), which start to stink very quickly!

[G B Young]

Mousetrap with chocolate though there can be loads of them in a flat. Do the council not offer a service to deal with this sort of stuff?

Council likely to just come and put poison down in my experience. There's an Edinburgh company called Wee Critters who I've been told are good for anyone going down that road.

[EH6 Hibby]

I had quite a bad infestation when the tram works started on Constitution Street, it seems to happen whenever there is building work or roadworks near by. I tried getting the ultrasonic plug ins, which did stop the scratching behind the walls but did nothing to deter the ones that had already found there way in. I ended up buying a set of six snap traps off amazon which I put peanut butter on, they worked really well, caught 5 on the first night I put them down. They were all gone within a week.

I hated the idea of killing them but I’ve tried the humane ones in the past and they didn’t work, and a cat isn’t really an option for me at the moment.

[Mibbes Aye]

From my experience, the ultrasonic plug ins work to a great extent but the reality is a cat will do the job. The problem is that if you let it out it will bring all sorts of rodent and bird gifts for you.

[patch1875]

Trap baited with peanut butter.

Thought I had one on the garage turned out to be 13!

Never got them back again.

[speedy_gonzales]

Trap, trap, trap!
Bait with peanut butter or chocolate, back breakers not humane traps.
To identify how they're getting in, lay little trails of flour at the obvious entry points. You should see the flour being disturbed at the main access points.
I lived in a flat at Gorgie, we were there 2 years before we seen evidence of our first mouse, I tried humane traps but I swear the little blighters got faster up the stairs than I did.
Keep the flat clean, especially the kitchen area, eventually you'll get on top of it.

[Radium]

A half chewed fruit pastel on the trap is too sticky for them to get away


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[Scouse Hibee]

Not everyone’s cup of tea but glue board traps at access points sorts them out.

[SideBurns]

Not everyone’s cup of tea but glue board traps at access points sorts them out.

That's what I reluctantly resorted to eventually. I tried humane traps with chocolate & peanut butter but they didn't work. The glue traps aren't the most pleasant method of getting rid of them but they're effective.

[greenlex]

Get a shotgun an blast the ****ers.

[beensaidbefore]

Have them in my attic. Been using little nipper traps, old wooden style ones. I have had 100% hit rate so far. That's not to say some other may not have taken the bait, but every trap that has been triggered has had a mouse in. Around 15 so far. Down to about 1 a week so can live with that. I Ave baited them with raisins pushed onto the spike. I got 12 for 16 quid or something like that from ebay.

Started off taking then out the traps and cleaning them but after a couple of horror shows I have started binning the whole thing each time.

Pest control at work use bait tied in a sandwich bag, it's blue grain looking stuff, the mice sense it and chew through the bag thinking it's rice, pasta etc. When thy chew the bag it let's you know they have been there. Void flat at work one whole bad has been eaten which is in the hall cupboard, the bag in the kitchen hadn't been touched!
The opposite of what I expected.

Look at the base of door frames and behind radiator pipes for entry holes.

[skyehibee]

I went to put a jumper on one morning and found one burrowed into it. Not sure if it was pretending to be dead or actually almost dead but I managed to trap it and took it outside and chucked it in the water of leith.

The ultrasonic plug ins worked for us as never had any since. I asked a pest control person about these and he said they were useless however. So may be just luck.

[Just_Jimmy]

Get a cat.

If that doesn't work aquire a tiger.

Sorted.

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[IberianHibernian]

That's what I reluctantly resorted to eventually. I tried humane traps with chocolate & peanut butter but they didn't work. The glue traps aren't the most pleasant method of getting rid of them but they're effective.Is this the strong glue you leave on cardboard under washing machine etc ? Ratstick ? If so , very effective for mice and rats though you may find screams disturbing .

[Bishop Hibee]

Tried everything in my old flat. None of it worked so we took the nuclear option and got a cat. Only saw one mouse after that and the cat got it although I had to administer the coup de grace.

[BroxburnHibee]

If you know where they're coming in then set traps.

Personally I'd recommend just getting the cat.

[Jack]

We used sonic traps in our flat a few years ago, the mice have never been back.

[Colr]

We used sonic traps in our flat a few years ago, the mice have never been back.

Tried those with no effect.

Mice are endemic in London. **** loads of poison’s the only thing that worked.

[Jones28]

Probably not feasible but you could try and move furniture away from edges of rooms, especially where they’re coming from. Then set traps along the walls. I’ve caught rats on farms this way.

The dogs were better though. Get a cat.

[MrRobot]

Council likely to just come and put poison down in my experience. There's an Edinburgh company called Wee Critters who I've been told are good for anyone going down that road.

Huge Hibs fan too :agree::flag:

[Kato]

The hard work is blocking up the holes after any cull. No point in getting rid of them when the next generations can just stroll right back in your house.

Am allergic to cats but borrowed one for a few days in a previous flat. Worked a treat.

[Swedish hibee]

Like others have said fill over every hole to stop them getting back & put down traps in cupboards and under the sink. You'll hear them in the walls of your flat, but they won't get in so will eventually go elsewhere.

[Coach Jon]

Take a trip down Gorgie way and pick up one of the many discarded framed pictures of Bagpuss, guaranteed to keep the mice away👍

[overdrive]

The ultrasonic plugs are good. If you get traps, the “humane” ones are useless unless you release them miles away... they will come back!

[Hibby70]

I would avoid glue boards. Used it once to catch a rat and ended up having to put it out of its misery as the poor thing started to chew its own legs off. Never again.

[beensaidbefore]

The ultrasonic plugs are good. If you get traps, the “humane” ones are useless unless you release them miles away... they will come back!

According to the pest control at work, they're not really that humane as the mice have evolved to live indoors. Take them outside and they will die of the cold.

[1875godsgift]

Have them in my attic. Been using little nipper traps, old wooden style ones. I have had 100% hit rate so far. That's not to say some other may not have taken the bait, but every trap that has been triggered has had a mouse in. Around 15 so far. Down to about 1 a week so can live with that. I Ave baited them with raisins pushed onto the spike. I got 12 for 16 quid or something like that from ebay.

Started off taking then out the traps and cleaning them but after a couple of horror shows I have started binning the whole thing each time.

Pest control at work use bait tied in a sandwich bag, it's blue grain looking stuff, the mice sense it and chew through the bag thinking it's rice, pasta etc. When thy chew the bag it let's you know they have been there. Void flat at work one whole bad has been eaten which is in the hall cupboard, the bag in the kitchen hadn't been touched!
The opposite of what I expected.

Look at the base of door frames and behind radiator pipes for entry holes.

That's quite expensive for raisins, have you tried Asda?

[.Sean.]

Me and my gf have a flat in Newhaven and we’ve had a couple. Few visits from Menco (?) soon sorted that.

My missus found a small dead one in the airing cupboard, which had died from the poison it must have ate in a neighbouring property, she was freaked out as the flats immaculate and she’s a clean freak..We never saw another one but after menco’s visit we found a few tiny blue droppings meaning they had been at the poison. Not seen anything since but it’s just par for the course and part and parcel of living in a city

On the other hand over the last month or so driving to work I’ve seen three rats on three different occasions running across the road between the Shell garage at seafield and just before the speed camera near that. Big ones aswell 🤮

[beensaidbefore]

That's quite expensive for raisins, have you tried Asda?

I was told they were golden raisins. Do you think I've been done! :confused:


:na na:

[Peevemor]

We have a rat that spends a lot of time in our composter. I honestly don't know if I should be concerned about this.

[G B Young]

We have a rat that spends a lot of time in our composter. I honestly don't know if I should be concerned about this.

Friend of mine says he has quite often pulled dead rats from his compost heap. Why they've died I can't fathom but not a pleasant experience. For all the talk of mice being a much unwanted nuisance, rats are a whole different matter.

[speedy_gonzales]

Friend of mine says he has quite often pulled dead rats from his compost heap. Why they've died I can't fathom but not a pleasant experience. For all the talk of mice being a much unwanted nuisance, rats are a whole different matter.

Compost heaps, if active, will generate heat which will attract rodents, but they can also give off methane and carbon dioxide. Not unsurprising to find asphyxiated animals.

[bigwheel]

We have a rat that spends a lot of time in our composter. I honestly don't know if I should be concerned about this.

They often nest in places like that ....

[LustForLeith]

Cheers for the advice folks, it’s greatly appreciated.

We’ve covered up any holes and as of yet there’s not been any sightings or noises coming from the floorboards.

I was in two minds about covering the holes up. I thought if we had decent traps we’d be able to get rid of them once and for all of that makes sense? We put poison down holes but I’m not sure if they’re eating it. My worry is they’re just doing what mice do and eventually some sort of mouse army is going to start invading our house!

So far so good. I know by sending this I’ve jinxed it!

Anyway I now have a different animal query that I’ll start a new thread for..!

[G B Young]

Cheers for the advice folks, it’s greatly appreciated.

We’ve covered up any holes and as of yet there’s not been any sightings or noises coming from the floorboards.

I was in two minds about covering the holes up. I thought if we had decent traps we’d be able to get rid of them once and for all of that makes sense? We put poison down holes but I’m not sure if they’re eating it. My worry is they’re just doing what mice do and eventually some sort of mouse army is going to start invading our house!

So far so good. I know by sending this I’ve jinxed it!

Anyway I now have a different animal query that I’ll start a new thread for..!

Definitely the right move to block up the holes. If you've done so comprehensively and securely they won't be back. They're not masterminds and will simply move into somebody else's flat that's easier to access! But do keep any eye out for droppings in the meantime.