Mice.

When we were first married we lived in a 2 hundred year old, decrepit cottage, and we were overrun with mice. I found out for certain one day when hubby asked for corn flakes for supper. I put the bowl on the kitchen table, got the corn flakes out of the old wooden cupboard on legs that we kept our food in, tipped it over the bowl,.........and a mouse ran out! It ran across the table, jumped onto the floor, and disappeared under the door leading to the cellar steps. I used to put his sandwiches for work up before going to bed, and wrap them in waxed breadpaper and place them on top of said cupboard , in front of the breadbin, till the mice started chewing their way in, then I put them into the pocket of his work coat, hanging benhind the front door, but the cheeky little buggers went in there as well! One evening, after supper, himself left his plate lying on the rug in front of the fire. After a few minutes, 2 mice approached, from different directions, climbed onto the plate and started licking it! Hubby moved his foot ever so slightly and they were gone! I didn`t want to hurt them, they were so cute, but after finding droppings in the drawers, and with a baby on the way, there was no choice. He started by placing a plastic bucket, with an inch of water in the bottom, under the cupboard where they`d been getting in through a teeny, teeny crack in the back, and every morning there was a dead mouse in there.
In later years, and houses, we had cats, so never any problems, but about 4 and a half years ago, we had one in the living room, saw it a few times over a couple of days, put humane traps down, but no joy, then it wasn`t seen anymore, don`t know what happened to it. Then the other day, I saw one streak across the opposite corner of the living room, but haven`t seen it since. No droppings either, so hopefully it was just a fleeting visit.

We once caught 11 mice in one evening. The tribe had set up home in my dresser. The best bait to catch them is with a pinch of flour on the trap. My husband and I often go away for extended trips over the winter and on our return we find teeth marks on the soap left on the side of the bath.

Found some mouse poo next to the trap in the living room [full of chocolate buttons]. This is now all out war and the S.O. has gone to B&Q to get some springy traps. I will even use the gluey ones if I have to. Will forget any Buddhist [sp] sentiments that I might have, or worries that I may come back as a mouse....

crimson, have you thought that perhaps the choosy little b*****s might prefer Belgian chocolates?

numberplease, your story about the bucket of water to catch mice reminded me of when we had geese. We used to give them wheat grain in a bucket of water as a treat. They rarely left any but if they did and we hadn't emptied the bucket, we would often find a drowned mouse in the buket next day — outside, thankfully.

pengran's mention of flour reminded me of when we lived in Sheffield for a year. It was a very cold winter (1978-9) and the mice came into our rented ground floor flat in an old house that had a cellar. They loved the straw-stuffed settee, but what amazed me most is that when I spilt a little cornflour and water mix, even though I'd scrubbed away on the kitchen carpet (yes, I know! It wasn't our house) to remove it, there must have been traces because next morning there was a bare patch where the mice had chewed away at the carpet! That and the noise of their chewing the skirting boards in our bedroom, which sounded like a large dog chewing a bone, made us tell the landlady and ask her to send in the Mouse Man. She was horrified and even moved the offending settee to a garage.

When we had a pony we used to find dead mice in the water bucket..I started putting a stick in the bucket so they could walk out of it. Last night I put a bucket in the utility room with margarine, flour and chocolate buttons half way down one side....and no stick. This is all out war, because my grandchildren won't come to the house till they're gone. Will put some bird seed in bucket tonight as well... I am turning evil...

Blinkin' Flip!
talk of the devil and he will appear !
having been mouse free for ooh three months now no sooner do we contribute to this and "the mouse radar " goes off in the loft!
It's about the only part of the house which hasn't been given the once over on hole blocking very hard to up there....

We don't really have radar - just neat piles of bait around the corners and edges which are checked every few days to see if they have been taken - so they are back... any way glue boards and break back traps are arrayed...

ooh yes since it IS the purpose of this website... the doting Grandma and myself decided that the right thing to do when we catch a mouse on a board or in a trap we wouldn't hide it from the GD if she was around but show it to her and tell her how dirty they are and they are not pets

( always seems children can have one of two reactions -either screaming blue murder in fear or wanting to adopt the damn things...)

B&Q springy traps are amazing; not like the bit of wood with a bit of wire attached that I was expecting....real state of the art neckbreakers laced with peanut butter.....I tell you dontcallmegramps we are being invaded by the little critters..we're doomed. By the way, you were right about leaving the 'oh my they're so cute and straight out of Beatrix potter' behind. In fact, Ms Potter has a LOT to answer for. [note to self; they are NOT Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca; they are disease carrying vermin...]

Had very careful conversation with daughter in front of grandson tonight about my mouse problem, with lots of spelling out of words [spring traps and breaking of necks etc]. Grandson summed it up by saying 'you mean they're eating the apples that you give to me and the birds? That's not right..'

By the way have found that this company was very good

http://4seasonsdiypestcontrol.co.uk/shop/category.asp?catid=17

All traps empty this morning [and I gleefully went up into the loft expecting blood and gore everywhere]. Dog is going on holiday for a few days next week so I can put traps everywhere.

Napoleon eat your heart out, Crimson is planning a major campaign! Mice be warned.

When we had mice we got someone in who put down poison for them. The only problem was they got into the ceiling of our flat roof extention and died their. The living room was virtually unusable for a week from the smell of their decay. Still better that than mice.

I just remembered - a few years ago I found a mummified mouse in the garage. It had fallen into a bowl and obviously failed to jump out...
On a different tack... there is an article in New Scientist about stem cells in breast milk. This may prove a very useful source.
It went on to say that they had been studying this phenomenon in mice. Pause while I try to imagine how the hell intrepid researchers managed to collect mouse milk. However well-trained and docile the mice.
Visions of a mouse size milking parlours... Micro breast pumps...

Stem cell research is amazing, isn't it. There are quite a few racehorses running today that would have probably been put down with tendon damage if it wasn't for stem cell treatment; very expensive I believe. Am currently putting my B&Q traps everywhere now that the dog has gone away for a few days. They totally freak me out and I have to talk to myself as I'm doing it, telling myself that, as long as my hand is away from the red bit it can't hurt me. Whenever I accidentally set one off I scream the place down.

Got two of them!
Whoo Hoo... one glue board one with breakback... AND found the hole (from next door's roof space) blocked it so we will see...

Being so terrified of the traps I think I may resort to glue boards, awful as they are.

Sounds messy. gluey mice.
Re stem cell treatments I think it is very very early days re their use in people. One rebuilt windpipe and one clinical trial in Korea was the last I read.
If anyone offers miracle treatments for people don't go there.
I will look up the horses. Ethical considerations lower and budgets higher with racehorses...

Check out Dream Alliance. Came back and won the Welsh National after a life threatening injury. They may make a film about him, as he was born and raised on an allotment. It's real tear jerking stuff!

Have you caught any mice yet, crimson?

They were walking into one humane trap, eating the food and walking out again! As for the humane traps that work, I hadn't thought about the fact that, once I've caught one I have to clean and sterilise the whole thing before I can put it back, because of the mess they make. Ok if you've got one rogue mouse, but when you're catching several [or several hundred..] it's not an option. Caught several each night in the utility room; none in the living room or loft. Have got to blitz the whole house so I can work out the extent of the infestation. Put talcum powder round the base of the radiators where they go into the floorboards so I can see if they're popping up from there. What I don't understand about the loft is that I've read that they won't travel far from their nest, so if they have been in the loft they're not coming in from the garden. A friend of my partners, a real countryman says that there is a massive problem with mice this year, which is what I suspected when I found that all the mouse traps had sold out from the local shop. The house needed a blitz anyway but I'm having a problem doing it along with my jobs and childminding! Maybe the plug in deterrent is working; I put it in the loft thinking that, if they were there it would push them downwards rather than upwards [this is S.A.S. thinking!]. I do like a challenge .

Glad you're catching some anyway. What do you do with the live ones you catch?

The advantage of traditional killer traps is that you don't have the getting rid problem, nor the sterilising problem — a quick scrub under the tap is adequate I find and then reload for the next night. We've been using the same three for several years.

Sounds like a population explosion. These things happen in the natural world from time to time. Early warm spring and a mild autumn might have done it.

As i posted earlier, sometimes the only answer is rat poison (not yr lightweight mouse poison) placed out of reach of pets. It is not nice but if you are invaded then they may be breeding faster than you are picking them off!

Agree JessM get professional grade poison.

Crimson get blocking those holes! and really - go glue!

Think it's worthwhile really cleaning the breakback traps with disinfectant/bleach to remove any chemical panic signals the dead mouse gave off.

When we catch a mouse in a snap trap, before we reuse it I always make a little mark on the side to count the kills ( rather like notches on the gun belt or little crosses on the sides of WW2 fighter planes)- I know small things etc