Mouse hunting

[Gavster]

I've got a new nemesis

There's a mouse who appears to be finding his way into the stud wall that separates two rooms and scratching around in there overnight. There's no visible signs of entry or exit in that wall, I've not seen any mouse markings on cables or skirting boards, or mouse poo anywhere, so I suspect he's coming up from below via a gap in the floorboards and directly into the void in the wall.

As a first defence, back in February I drilled a bunch of holes in the wall and busted two cans of expanding foam into the void. That seemed to work and there was silence for a couple of months, but now he's back and noisier than ever.

What's the best course of action to eliminate him?

1. Put live traps down, however, I think he's probably living between me and my downstairs neighbours so they might not achieve anything. Maybe worth trying anyway.

2. Open up the wall for preventative measures. It's a stud/plasterboard wall so I could saw open a few inspection holes, or remove the bottom 30cm of plasterboard across the wall (the wall is about 2.4m wide) to see where he's coming in and line with wire mesh to prevent him coming up into the wall.

3. Scorched earth approach. Set fire to the wall.

[Jobbo]

Poison, sadly - assuming it’s just mice not rats it shouldn’t smell too badly, maybe not even noticeable.

Or get a cat of course. I’ve found mouse droppings and chewed insulation under the bath in our new house after I took the panel off; not surprising in an old place and not accessible to the cats with the panel on, but I have a feeling they won’t be coming back…

[Gavster]

In that case I might drill some holes and chuck a load of poison into the walls to see if that helps.

A cat would be great, however I would also love to sod off to a warm country for the winter so don't want to get one now. My good neighbours next door have a cat who comes in here regularly, especially when the weather is warm as the windows are open.

[V8Granite]

https://www.yorkshiretrading.com/produ ... kMEALw_wcB

My cats, ducks and dogs don’t even register I’ve turned it on but I’ve not had a single mouse in my garage since.

Dave!

[Rich B]

We had a couple come in - we caught them both with humane traps and dropped them off a few miles away. Not seen any signs since.

Poison just seems like a risk, because they'll die somewhere random and you'll never find the smelly corpse.

[Gavster]

Thanks for the ideas folks.

I've always been cynical of those sonic repellents @V8Granite, however you've had results and there's also a bunch of them on Amazon with strong reviews which definitely makes them the most straightforward solution to start with!

[DeskJockey]

A word of warning about them dying in the house. We had one die in a poorly ventilated area and the stench was bad, but the flies were worse. So much worse. Hundreds of fat flies on every window for a couple of weeks. Killed and hoovered, rinse and repeat in the morning. Rinse. And. Repeat.

[Alex88]

Gavin, you may remember that I dealt with a similar issue myself - rats were somehow gaining access to my home's cavity wall. Tried everything - ultrasonic devices, traps, poison.. They knew they were safe within the cavity and became an absolute PITA. Had temporary wins over them, but they kept returning because the route of access hadn't been addressed.

If you really want rid of them, I'd recommend a company called Pestology. Fortunately for you they're based in London. I literally wouldn't bother with any other pest controller when it comes to this specific issue (I tried 3 'conventional' pest controllers before I called them). They specialise in rat and mouse infestations into building fabrics.

6 weeks after I had them in, (touch wood) my problem appears to be solved. They located the route of entry in 10 minutes.

However, they aren't cheap. At all. You might be better off trying the poison first and seeing if that helps. Regarding smell, I appreciate everyone's experience is different, but I've also had a mouse die within the wall and we didn't smell anything, luckily.

Just a quick side note regarding the ultrasonic devices on Amazon - when I was looking to buy one on there, I often noticed that the reviews were all for a completely different product. Genuine reviews for ultrasonic repellents are very mixed. But some people do have success with them.

[Mito Man]

I’ve been having luck recently with the old fashioned spring loaded mouse traps baited with peanut butter. Have a pair set under my Mito and they’ve caught 5 mice in 2 weeks!
I only have 1 trap left now because a fox grabbed one which had a mouse in it, ate its intestines and smeared the rest of it across the trap. Binned the whole thing

[Alex88]

Those large wooden ones are lethal. Fucking thing nearly had my fingers off. Would place it down like it was a bomb. I appreciate there may have been some user error involved.

I preferred a decent plastic trap. You could dump the body in a bin and wash/reuse the trap. Wasn't keen on reusing the old style wooden things..

[Mito Man]

Yeah mine are plastic and easy to set. I bought some cheap wooden ones at first and couldn’t figure out how to set them without breaking my own fingers first. So don’t buy the wooden ones.

[Sundayjumper]

A word of warning about them dying in the house. We had one die in a poorly ventilated area and the stench was bad, but the flies were worse. So much worse. Hundreds of fat flies on every window for a couple of weeks. Killed and hoovered, rinse and repeat in the morning. Rinse. And. Repeat.

Ahh… @gavster - you did mention flies recently.

[Gavster]

A word of warning about them dying in the house. We had one die in a poorly ventilated area and the stench was bad, but the flies were worse. So much worse. Hundreds of fat flies on every window for a couple of weeks. Killed and hoovered, rinse and repeat in the morning. Rinse. And. Repeat.

Ahh… @gavster - you did mention flies recently.

There was a spate of flies the other week (which have now gone) and there's definitely a live mouse in the wall too, so one of them is still alive. Luckily, there's no smell.

Thanks for the tip about Pestology @Alex88, I'll give them a call as a last resort, after working through the other methods before giving them a call. I did once deal with a regular pest control guy at a different flat many years ago and he was as good as useless. Basically showed up, said "yep, you've got mice" and then told us to fill all the gaps with wire wool and expanding foam.

[KiwiDave]

We have similar issues with rats being right by the water it's almost impossible to solve. Every house on the street has them running around somewhere. Currently using a series of ultrasonic devices round the place - noticeable decrease in signs of rats in the ceilings, though I did hear something a few nights ago.

Can confirm two things:
1) Flies
2) When one dies in the cavity, rats stink for a good few weeks.

[ZedLeg]

I never use poison traps as I’m a big softy, whenever I’ve had mice I’ve tracked down where they’re getting in and filled the hole with steel wool and polyfilla.

Appreciate that isn’t as viable with a large void though

[V8Granite]

We used bait and a big bugger of a spring.

Leave the body for a while to deter any brave ones.

Wipe blood over cheeks, roar in the garden in pants with the mouse head as a new hat.

Problem solved.

Dave!

[Alex88]

Thanks for the tip about Pestology @Alex88, I'll give them a call as a last resort, after working through the other methods before giving them a call. I did once deal with a regular pest control guy at a different flat many years ago and he was as good as useless. Basically showed up, said "yep, you've got mice" and then told us to fill all the gaps with wire wool and expanding foam.

Yeah, it's amazing how ill-equipped most pest controllers are when faced with an issue that requires some investigative work!

Your experience doesn't suprise me..

I still can't believe I had 3 pest blokes round (and 3 drain surveys) and none of them could locate the route of entry. Pestology tracked it to an uncapped inlet in the drain under my bathroom. It hadn't been properly sealed when work had been done, which allowed the rats to climb through it and into the wall. They re-lined the drain at a rather significant cost, but it appears to have worked.

But yes, ring them as a last resort. There are definitely other things you can try in the meantime.

[Carlos]

We used bait and a big bugger of a spring.

Leave the body for a while to deter any brave ones.

Wipe blood over cheeks, roar in the garden in pants with the mouse head as a new hat.

Problem solved.

Dave!

There must be a bit of Valleys or Cornish in you.

Cymru am byth

[Nefarious]

Nef's mousehunting tips:

Don't use builders foam alone - they actively *like* to munch it. Fill the gap with steel wool, then encase in foam
If it's literally just one or 2 journeymen, traps are fine. Otherwise, they will outbreed your kill rate.
Screwfix sell 3 kinds of poison - wheat, pasta and wax block. Buy any 2 of the three. IME it's random which one your critters like.
Most modern poisons are desiccating, so you *shouldn't* be getting a smell/fly problem
When looking at barrier solutions, or funneling the little buggers towards traps/poison, lines of peppermint oil or chili powder work well.
Being super-fastidious about cleanliness and removing potential food sources makes them keener to take the poison

[nuttinnew]

I had a mouse in my sights a few minutes ago, it was sitting tight and had eye contact, the perfect opportunity to form a plan of capture...until someone acted far too loudly and bluntly giving it the chance to escape. I am very fucked off.