the sound of small feet in the attic

Rats, I will not countenance and when I saw some I put bait in a tray in the garden shed. I then put the remains of the bait package on a high shelf in the same shed.

Next time I went to the shed the rats had eaten the bait in the floor, then climbed the shelving, pulled down the remains of the bait in its box and, once they had got it on the floor, they ate through the box to get to the poisoned grain. That was about 10 years ago and I haven't seen a rat since.

We occasionally get a field mouse popping in to visit, but have yet to find out where the access point is. A humane trap quickly catches them, and we release them outside. Having an infestation must be a real nuisance.
Something, mouse or rat, once chewed a small hole in the shed door and proceeded to munch into a large bag of birdseed. Multiple holes, and seed everywhere! I screwed a flat metal cheese-grater over the corner of the door, where the hole was, and had no more trouble.
As for starlings, they have nested in our loft every year that we have lived here. 55 so far. I love hearing their little feet ‘tap-dancing’ above my bedroom, and they have never done any damage.

I've been feeding the birds for quite a while but saw 2 rats in the garden a week ago so now unfortunately have had to stop feeding the birds. Solution?

This brings back VERY unhappy memories. We've had mice on and off for about three years. Cannot work out where or why they're coming in.

We tried literally everything

* sonic deterents
* peppermint oil
* mothballs
* humane traps
* snap traps
* sticky traps

Nothing. NOTHING worked. In the end we had no option but to get a pest control company in who put poison down.

I was finding droppings EVERYWHERE. The cooker, the worktops in the kitchen, on the dining chairs, and dining table, and the final straw was finding them on my bed.

At the first sign of a scratching noise now, I don't hesitate to call in the mouse man. I have no problem with mice existing, as long as they stay in their place, which is NOT in my house (and literally in the Weetabix box). They stray into my home, then it's either them or me.

Oh Whiff I second your sentiments. I have no problem with wild life provided it does not encroach onto my property and remains where it should be - in the wild!!!

I can remember how upset I got at my house after a snowfall one night to see foxes footprints right up to my Patio Doors. Made me feel dirty and fearful. Mice I have always hated, they do spread disease, and I always had plug in things in my kitchen but was not adverse to using poisen pellets if I saw any signs of them around.

Slightly different, but snails were alway a huge problem in my garden. One of the nice things about my patio pots on my first floor flat balcony is NO SNAILS. Every time I planted a rhubarb head or lupins.I would swear that a snail email message was sent to every one of these creatures in a five mile radous. No matter how much coffee dregs/tea leaves/egg shells I put round these, none of them ever grew.

M0nica

Our roof was invaded by squirrels. We discovered that when they ate through the wiring for the theft alarm at 2.00am. We had to sit in the kitchen with pillows over our ears for an hour and a half until a repair man arrived. Luckily the alarm was ony going off indoors, not outdoors.

When we got into the loft, which is quite difficult, we found they had mounded up all the insulation in one bay of the roof and built a huge dray and were starting a second one, in the next bay.

They were getting in via our neighbours house because there was no proper party wall at roof level. We got a builder in to put in a proper partition wall that was security and fire proof and that solved the problem.

The squirrels had also eaten all the plastic sheath off several electricity cables so we had to do some rewiring as well.

Very lucky you did not have a fire, squirrels are very dangerous in your loft

We found our problem was caused by a wasp nest inside the loft. Rodents eat wasps! Got rid of wasp nest and blocked hole with cement and vaccumed out nest. Seems to have solved problem ???

Our roof was invaded by squirrels. We discovered that when they ate through the wiring for the theft alarm at 2.00am. We had to sit in the kitchen with pillows over our ears for an hour and a half until a repair man arrived. Luckily the alarm was ony going off indoors, not outdoors.

When we got into the loft, which is quite difficult, we found they had mounded up all the insulation in one bay of the roof and built a huge dray and were starting a second one, in the next bay.

They were getting in via our neighbours house because there was no proper party wall at roof level. We got a builder in to put in a proper partition wall that was security and fire proof and that solved the problem.

The squirrels had also eaten all the plastic sheath off several electricity cables so we had to do some rewiring as well.

Candelle if they are nesting you aren’t allowed to remove them.

Many years ago we had rats in the garden, which were poisoned and I must admit it was a horrible death. When then had a couple of mice which we got rid of humanely. The cats will bring in the occasional mouse which we let go away from the house, but we did have some in our loft space and these were caught in a humane trap. I used to pick them up when the cats brought them in but after getting bit quite nastily and having to have tetanus jabs and antibiotics I wont do that again.

Getting mice in my house would be my worst nightmare. No, rats would be but... years ago I temporarily living at my mum’s house and they had a mice infestation while I was there. They had been in a sack of potatoes her husband had bought from a farm. I slept in my car until pest control got rid of them. Horrible! Since then, every time I have moved house I haven’t been able to sleep for the first couple of nights listening out for them. I am so afraid of them it overwhelms my compassion I’m afraid. I hope the people who are feeling sorry for the mice don’t eat meat, because that’s rather hypocritical in my opinion.

That’s a relief whiff ,
as you say mice and rats can run up straight walls and along the tops of fences, something that hedgehogs have yet to accomplish!

We’ve had this problem twice since we moved here. Once with mice and then collared doves.
We bought a high frequency thingamajig that worked for us. There are different frequencies for different pests.

We have just discovered what is pattering about in our loft: rooks!

To our astonishment we stood outside and watched them pop out from under the soffits or bargeboards (the bit under the pantiles).

We are in a quandary...they must be a nesting pair so do we wait until their brood has hatched or, evict them now?

Would anyone here know if they would have mites/fleas or other creatures living on them?

Anyone know if rooks eat cables etc., as do mice and rats?

kjmpde

we think we have mice or something else in the loft. That happened over 12 months ago and we used tea tree oil in little pots and the smell seemed to work . we had nothing for months BUT now the new eucalyptus oil is not working . tried menthol crystals but again nothing works. The last resort is poison and it is a last resort so the question is a) has anything else worked in removing mice (the plug in does not work) and b) if you have used poison what is the best one? thanks

There are better solutions to poison.
You obvious care about the mice since you have tried harmless remedies. But moustraps are better than poison for a number of reasons.
First is that poison causes suffering. Mice can be poisoned and find there way into the stomaches of cats who will get ill.
You might consider humane traps, where you can set them free far from home.
Beware you might have something larger than a mouse.

My plug in didn't work. I lived in the country and I was tortured with them, they freak me out. I ended up getting pest control who set up camera to see how they were getting in. They were running up the outside wall, coming down the chimney where there was a little hole and into the attic. Clever wee field mice.
Had to end up and setting a lot of traps as they were breeding in my insulation and poo everywhere. I couldn't sleep with noise of them in the wall cavities at night and I worried if they chewed electric wiring. Get rid anyway you can!

Oopsadaisy1 if I had a hedgehog I won't do it. Had one at my old house it lived under the Holly bush loved watching it at night. No way one can get into my garden. No gaps anywhere. Unless it can climb over 6' fencing. Unfortunately mice can.

Oh Whiff! What about the poor hedgehogs who will in all likelihood eat the bait and die? Please, please don’t put bait in the garden, even a bait box will let the hedgehogs in and it will be killed.
Kill rodents indoors, but let nature take care of them in the garden.

We had a rat electrocute itself by chewing through a wire. We found it when we had some work done - it was a skeleton.

they are actually called hazko

we thought we had them in the wall cavities (that or rats) and put plug in everywhere. They are called HAIKO

www.amazon.co.uk/HAZKO-Ultrasonic-Pest-Repellent-Packs/dp/B0893FGBCT?tag=gransnetforum-21

and we blocked up the holes in the masonry with wire wool, wherever there were gaps and we haven't heard anything since

Years ago when I was a child my bedroom was in the attic. One morning I turned over in bed and met the eyes of a tiny mouse. It had climbed up my lovely (!) brushed nylon sheets. I was thrilled. It was so sweet. However, my Mum went hysterical when I told her. Dad brought home a lovely ginger cat that very day. No more mice in that house or in any of my subsequent homes as I've always had cats ever since - because I love them and always wanted one but wasn't allowed one until until my little visitor.

Borrow two cats that are known for catching both mice and rats, or have in the rat-catcher.

I dislike poison, as you then have to crawl around up there gathering dead mice or rats.

You need to a) know whether it is mice, rats, a house-marten or squirrels, in order to get rid of them effectively.

b) know how and where they are getting in, because until you can prevent them getting into the house, the problem will not go away, even if you cull the creatures.

Is there anything up there that could be attracting them? Mice eat practically anything, paper, Christmas decorations, clothing etc. and unfortunately insulation and chew on electric wiring, so you really must get rid of them.

If you use the attic for storage, now is the time for a thorough clearing -out and making sure that whatever you store is in plastic boxes with tight fitting lids, as anything else except metal boxes with lids, mice or rats can chew through.

Poison is a cruel way to kill mice. Use a standard mousetrap which kills instantly. However, you need to find how they are getting in and block it, otherwise you will have a constant problem.

Please tell me, I wasn't the only one who thought you meant ghostly children in the attic. ?