Mice

Extra hot chilli powder is your friend. It doesn't harm them but they hate it and they're fast learners. They won't hang about somewhere where it gets on their feet and faces and washing it off burns their tongue. Sprinkle it around liberally in the attic.

Block all holes/inlets wherever they're coming from. Borrow a cat.

I know someone who smears chilli oil on their bird feeders to deter grey squirrels...birds are not in the least bothered because they don't have neuro receptors for Capsaicin but mammals do. It works but they have to re-apply it after rain....not a problem in an attic. I'd go to a big Asian suppermarket and buy a kilo or two of the hottest chilli powder you can find. Don't faff about with little spice jars from Sainsbury's.

Splat traps baited with peanut butter - irresistible!

I feed the corpses to the buzzards that wheel around the field behind the house.

Short and sweet and they get fed to another creature - part of the cycle of nature.

The so-called humane traps are horrible - the poor things lie in there in a state of shaking panic till someone comes and empties it.

We’ve caught a rather large mouse in little nipper but they don’t seem to hang around up there really, almost like they know where their main food supply is come out the tunnels and seem to be out all night. They seem quiet all night. We have six traps up there with a bit of cotton bud entangled in a bit of peanut butter, the traps are sensitive but it’s weird how we don’t catch much and I thought the wheat poison they liked it.

I've just got a plug thing from Amazon for DD2 that has a high pitched noise that rodents and some insects don't like. DS advised it and says it worked for him. So far seems to have done the trick.

Agree with the chilli remedy. They just move elsewhere.

Luckygirl yes, we fell into the trap (sorry for the pun) of trying the humane method of disposing of a couple of mice only to be told they probably died anyway when we let them out in the countryside.

They do like peanut butter.

The chilli powder solution sounds interesting for any future problems.

Elaine1. We have four going I like to think they work, who knows but I’ll try anything. No loft sockets up there so I’ve hung one near the hatch, it looks crazy in here.

We've always baited mouse traps with chocolate and it's worked. A pest controller told me years ago that mice love it.

If you reckon the mice are getting their food from next door and the neighbour won't do anything about it, maybe it's time for a word with your council's Environmental Health service?

Scribbles, the family won’t let anyone round there. Environmental health have been here and here is well maintained according to them unlike next door. Nothing we can do on that score I’m afraid. I did say to the gentleman that is a red flag not allowing them don’t you think. It’s not our fault but we allowed them here.

We had a similar problem with our neighbour, but between the downstairs ceiling and the upstairs bedroom floor space. We could here them scurrying around, but watching them walking around in the bedroom was the last straw.

Hubby took up floor boards and baited / trapped everywhere, then blocked the space between us and next door, with expanding foam, and anywhere with a space through which mice might enter the bedrooms. So far (touch wood), we've not had any problems.

We have mice coming in under our sink, but we can't work out how they are getting in. Yesterday, DH found three in the traps.
I told him about the chilli powder, under our sink has now been covered with it.

Fingers crossed!!

A few years ago my superb mouse hunting cat decided she was retiring so I also bought two of those things to plug in, one downstairs and one up and they appear to work very well- I have never had a mouse for years now.

I bought the best I could find on Amazon but waited until there was a good reduction.

Could you plug it in somewhere on the floor beneath the loft and keep the loft door open? I have not got a clue if the sound goes through walls or not. Good luck.

We have the plug in ones, and a battery one under the sink.
The battery one is useless! .

We dont have any inlets for mice but my big boss cat Oliver has for the past two nights brought me presents of field mice into my kitchen thanks Ollie.

Just one thing if you do use chilli powder - wear rubber gloves and don't let any speck of it come near your eyes or mouth.

It's deadly painful, even after weeks when you go to clear it up.

I like the chilli idea. I agree with BradfordLass be careful of your hands and don't lick your fingers.
I wonder if it works for clothes moths?

I genuinely wish you the best of luck, Guineagirl. even months it took us to get rid of the damned things.

It was horrendous. They were everywhere.

We tried everything. Humane traps, mothballs, plug in sonic deterrents and peppermint oil - trying not to kill them, just get them out of my house.

Then moved on to spring traps, sticky pads and poison bought from DIY stores. We baited traps with chocolate, peanut butter, Mars bars - all of which we were assured mice loved. Well they didn't.

Then we had the council pest control team come round. Made no difference.

I found a 12 hour long segment of rodent deterrent noise on YouTube, which I left running overnight on my Kindle and on my laptop.

Nothing worked.

Eventually we found an independent pest controller, who came in and surveyed the property. He told us where to block/stuff with wire wool and put down some really heavy duty poison.

I wish we'd gone with him from the very beginning. Within two weeks they'd gone. I am still paranoid about them coming back. Absolutely everything in the kitchen is in plastic storage boxes (I found the first one when it jumped out of a box of Weetabix) and not a crumb is allowed on the kitchen worktops lol

*Seven months to get rid of them, sorry

HurdyGurdy … Do you remember the name of the poison that worked for you?

We have a problem every so often as we haven't yet found where they get in. I know they do live in the insulation in the walls, so we don't hear them straight away, and then they get more confident, but by then they have reproduced and it's really a difficult job to get them all.

I'm definitely going to put chilli powder down!

Namsnanny - it wasn't poison that is available to the public to buy. It was provided by the pest control man. Two different types - one was a tray of what looked a bit like seeds, and then a solid block.

HurdyGurdy, sorry only just logged in again. The pest controller can’t control the pests he admitted, no bait taken so we paid him he’s come for four visits. Next Monday we have one who assured me he will do a long survey of the house, detect possible entry point and use over fifteen traps, and poison he is our last hope really, he chatted by phone to me for half hour when I enquired and he seemed good. It’s weird they are active in the day ten o clock today clicking away which I presume is nibbling. We have excellent snap traps up there and wheat poison but I’m sure they are going out for food.

No crumbs here lol HurdyGurdy, strict instruction to husband to settee nibbles