There's a rat in me kitchen...

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Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:49 pm

..well, not a rat (or at least I hope not), but mice certainly. They�re throughout the house - I live on the middle floor of a converted three storey Edwardian end of terrace house in London. Mice have been see in my living room, and in the flats above and below. When I got home from work the other week Mrs Rorschach was standing on the bed looking down at the floor (she wasn�t quite holding her skirt up around her knees, but you get the picture) because she�d seen �something big� scuttle under the laundry basket - where I subsequently found a hole chewed (no sniggering at the back there) in the carpet. We can frequently hear the little b*stards between the floors.

Traps I put down failed to catch anything so the other week I got in a professional pest controller who couldn�t find any obvious access routes into the building but put poison down in all three flats. It�s been 11 days now and the mice are still there � I saw one last night. Now, the pest man said the poison would take 10-14 days to work, but I�d like to re-prime my traps to hopefully kill any of the little sods that come into my flat. Tried putting bread, cheese and dried fruit in the traps so far but with no result. So the question, naturally enough, is:-

How would you recommend baiting a mouse?

Any suggestions/tips would be welcome. The traps I have are of the traditional lethal type....

And no, I don�t think that telling them that there�s a big delivery of cheese waiting for them at my local WU would help!

419Eater is my life Joined: 18 May 2007 Posts: 428

Why bait them?

Get a cat/snake/ferret to chase them down and eat them.

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:53 pm

The flat's too small for myself, Mrs and mini-Rorschachs, plus a cat. I used to have two but had to give them away when I came here.... Sad

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:54 pm

if your useing traps ...use peanut butter as bait. and you can mix poison into the PB as a back up incase the trap doesnt get them

*** BANNED *** Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 2021

Take note here, this advice is coming from a guy that got an A grade in Unit environmental health studies.
The answer is Mars Bars, bait any trap with a Mars Bars and you'll catch the little bastards in no time Wink

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:55 pm

Get a large bucket. Fill it about half way with water. Then dump enough bird seed in it to cover the surface of the water, to make it appear as it the bucket is full of bird seed. The mouse (or other assorted rodents) will most certainly find it, jump in, and, unless they are awesome swimmers, perish pretty quick.

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

Could you borrow a cat for a few days?

Or

My friend had mice in her house.
She put peppermint oil on cotton wool balls and placed them near the skirting board.
That seemed to do the trick.
Seems the mice dont like the smell.

419Eater is my life Joined: 18 May 2007 Posts: 428

^^Right, I forgot about that. That works too.

Baiting Guru Joined: 07 Jan 2007 Posts: 2922

I recall UB40 had a song about it-that on full blast (on repeat) for a week would drive anyone from the building.

Very Happy

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 6:33 pm

^^ Including me - I can't stand bloody Bono.

Thanks for the tips - I'll try a couple out tonight! Smile

Baiting Guru Joined: 07 Jan 2007 Posts: 2922

Rorschach wrote:

^^ Including me - I can't stand bloody Bono.

Uh...Bono is the frontman of U2 not UB40

Laughing

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 6:55 pm

^^^ oops

I don't like them either!

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

U 2

UB 40

I used to have pet rat that sat on my shoulder most of the day.
The postie was a bit surprised to see Suggs poking out of my hair

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:22 pm

Be careful with poison, the mice die where you cant get to them and they bloody stink the flat out for weeks Sad

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:27 pm

i like UB40

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

Of course the obvious answer is to send for Wee Mad Arthur

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:21 pm

Or befriend some feegles, but they end up being worse than the mice.

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:26 pm

^ mad wee bastids that they are too, drink everything in sight

Card board tube against the skirting board, put a razor blade or jiffy knife blade fixed in a wood block at one end, so the mouse goes in the open end, puts his head over the razor blade and cuts his throat turning his head looking for the cheese

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

^^
Groan.
Not heard that one for years

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:44 pm

Catching them won't help, the neighbors will provide new ones every 4-6 weeks. Not much you can do or all the neighbors should do the same. A hungry pet rat might kill them off for you or a ferret, but they'll be back. Rolling Eyes

The bucket with bird seed works very well, just give them a small ramp and don't forget to check, it can get very smelly if you don't empty it in time.

*** BANNED *** Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 2021

Why not befriend the mice, give them names and have regular feeding times, when they come out, sit on the kitchen side and wait patiently for any crumbs or other treats you may bring home for them on your way back from work talk to them in a silly girly voice asking them about their day and stuff, after a few weeks they would have dropped all their defenses and developed nothing but trust in you, this is the time to stove their heads in with a large book Twisted Evil

NB: Try not to get to attached to little Mickey and Minnie

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 8:57 pm

Rats and mice are not to be killed, they are sweet animals.
And if you still do, choose a method of painless and quick [edit]and humane[/edit] death.

rodent lover, kurat

*** BANNED *** Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 2021

^^^ Like a large book Wink

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:00 pm

^^Boots work well, also.

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 9:07 pm

Personally I think you should trap them, grill them and eat them with a little BBQ sauce on the side.

GET A CAT!!!!

Preferably a feral one who is use to hunting and destroying them. Phone 1-800-RAT-KILL

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