mice!!!

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on April 21, 2009 at 23:49

Hi Russell. Check out the thread here. The rule-of-thumb is that a mouse can probably squeeze through a hole the diameter of your thumb.

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Permalink Reply by John D on April 22, 2009 at 7:00

Poison does it for me :) Wouldn't dream of appealing to Council

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Permalink Reply by Iona on April 22, 2009 at 9:26

we seemed to have got rid of ours temporarily i'm sure, just kept the floors totally clean, think they got bored...we have one of those plug in things too although it kept them away for a couple of years, their younger generation must have got wise to it...
my worry now is when does cockroach season start?? i'm sure its about now - does everyone get the council round to spray their houses? i can't stand the thought of seeing any this year, its too stressful.....we got them last year for the first time and they seemed to come up the shower drain on the ground floor - sure it was a botchjob....anyway we have since covered the shower drain with a ramekin dish(honestly) and not only has it got rid of awful drain smells but fingers crossed i'm hoping no roaches will get in - any advice/experience would be appreciated......

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on April 22, 2009 at 20:41

The cockroaches in London seem quite slow. I come downstairs at 2am with a shoe and have some fun. Usually get 3-4 a night.

My neighbour uses those sticky strips which he swears by.

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Permalink Reply by Danzigger on April 22, 2009 at 11:04

Here's come advice on mice

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Permalink Reply by Cml on April 24, 2009 at 10:14

Mice is mice, black or otherwise. We suffered for ages but finally seem to have resolved our issues.

Four points:-
1) Don't bother with those high-pitch bleeper things.
2) Don't bother poisoning them - the ones we had ate us out of house and home and still didn't die. My guess is that mice are so endemic in the ladder/gardens that they can resist most standard poisons.
3) Sticky/standard traps give you the satisfaction of watching a few squirm/seeing a few dead but for every one you catch, there will be more running free.
4) The only thing that has worked for us has been meticulously blocking up their entry points. It's easier than it sounds.
- Go and buy some wire wool.
- Work out where they are coming from (it'll be either from behind the sink or under the bath)
- Bung up every single crack you find and don't give up until you finally get up in the morning to find that there is no mouse poo under your fridge. Concentrate on gaps around pipes, etc, and don't be squeamish. Look for the most disgusting place, mouse-heavy place in your house and start there.

The kitchen in our house is so badly installed that they were running riot, coming in through the drains and then heading into the work surfaces by shinning up the boiler pipes and scooting up the washing machine outflow pipe.

I am now living in hope that the same technique will discourage our six-legged pals come cockroach season, but let's see...

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Permalink Reply by RussellV on May 9, 2009 at 23:38

thanks for this - they seem to have quietened down - we are scrupulous about putting food in boxes or fridges but there are so many possible entry holes that it could be quite daunting to try and block them all - we also have a cellar......

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