HELP....I've got mice in my loft!!! Anyone got any good (cheap) tips to get rid of them or any idea how they got there??
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I can hear them running about above my bedroom..have had them under the flooboards before but never above me. Never been in the loft..have a thing about ladders..but its choc-a-block with junk carted from the last house to this. Not a wimp but admit to being teensy weeny bit freaked!!
Responses (21)
Oh poor you!! I don't blame you being freaked out! I wouldn't be in the house i honestly have a major phobia when it comes to mice, rats in fact all rodents!! I get so freaked when my daughter has celebrity jungle on and i saw Mark Wright in a coffin with rats!!!
My suggestion would be get a cat up there open the hatch slighty and shove the cat up, it should be sorted in no time! Or buy a few traps from b and q and throw them up.
Good Luck, Jazzj!!!
1) Check your teeth. If you're hearing loud mice in your loft, then according to Lucy Westenra's description in Dracula, you may be turning vampire.
2) Don't watch Aliens. It'll only make sticking your head up into a loft space you can hear scuttling sounds from an even scarier prospect.
3) Or follow serena's advice... It's what I'd suggest unless you wanted to get a professional exterminator in!
Oh no, thanks G-Man, now I've even more to worry about!!! Confess to being easily spooked..we were watching Merlin on Sunday and I screamed at something and made one of the kids spill their drink..opps! Vampires and Alien..so glad I read that now rather than before bed!!
Totally sympathize with you. We have had the same problem. Since apparently a mouse can enter through a pencil sized hole they can be very difficult to keep out..especially near pipes that run to tanks etc.,Our visitors came in a teeny gap where our gas fire is fitted in the living room. We used to find empty Quality Street wrappers there which had been dragged from the coffee table for their midnight feasts.The council's terminator charged us a forty pound call out fee and all he was going to do was put poison down. We were advised by friends not to put down poison since the mice can die trapped inside the house and decompose leaving a dreadful smell for weeks. Baiting traps(our little blighters loved peanuts or chocolate) at right angles to the skirtings proved successful since they usually run along walls. Mice are light as a feather so try to set the trap on a delicate trigger..just ready to snap. Otherwise they'll just enjoy the bait and come back for more!Good luck.
I can hear them running round the edges..have got eradibait which stops them smelling when they die which I use for the garage, but the loft is so difficult to get into!
Oh, Toosie, I love the thought of the mice leaving the Quality Street wrappers! Maybe you should have left a little 'mouse-sized' bin for them.
Did they go for the purple ones and the green ones?! ;-)
Lol! Well I know they didn't go for the toffee pennies....like the rest of us. They'd need to be quick to get the purple ones. They are the first to go in this house.
Purple ones are my favourite too!
Your little mice would make a great ad for Quality Street, I'm seeing it now...cute little mice sneaking out to nick their fave ones, munching them, throwing the wrappers down and then skipping off giggling to hide away again! Could rival the meerkats!
I'll start sketching the storyboard now!
If it takes off, can I have 10% of the revenues?!;-)
What a great imaginaton fruity, Perhaps they could have a tea party
Mice are NOT cute!!! Not when they're in my loft anyway........
If this is a new thing, then I suspect that new and major building works are taken place somewhere close to your home and this has disturbed their main nesting area.
But you need to establish whether they are coming through from other neighbours properties, as a concerted approach by all parties to rid yourselves of this problem is needed.
Whatever the solution, it is going to cost you to prevent these pests from entering your property.
You have my sympathy.
Thanks Parchester. I'm actually in the country and they come in off the fields, though I always thought they were two different breeds. Dreading going up there.......
Have you got a nice neighbour (man) to go into your loft and remove them for you. I'm sure you can use your charm to help you. I don't envy you as I'm not too keen on seeing them running about.
No one around for a couple of miles Sabre, really out in the sticks. Mentioned it at work and they all found very entertaining :)
You must use you charm or flutter your lashes and get one of the guys up to your loft... I don't like asking for help either being independant and all that jazz but you must do it in around about way...
Perhaps invite one of these nice guys round to a mice and pickle suffer Serena. I'm sure Jazzj will find some way of getting a man up into the loft but poor man may never get down again after she's finished with him.
Oh Sabre! I didn't think Jazzj had it in her she comes across so harmless though now come to think of it she has been showing interest in waxing and jewels shall we say!! Hmmmm lol!!!
Hello hello, you been talking about me and casting aspersions on my good character lol! I'm going to have a go at it myself - hate asking for help Serena - will do at weekend so its light and can see better
OMG I meant sort the mice, not the waxing and jewels!!!
get a cat! I remember our old car was a professional in mice catching!
Mine are useless!! Too spoilt CC!
Your 'old car was a professional in mice catching' and yet you suggest getting a cat!! I'd prefer to buy the car off you!!
if prefer this forum had spell check on!!
Easy answer to your question, Jazzj, have tried everything till someone told me about the Pest Stop Electronic Rat Killer. (honestly). Looks like a little tunnel, is powered by D batteries that last forever. Kills humanely almost as quick as you can load it. Be careful to switch it off before you clean it though. Read the reviews, it is absolutely fantastic. Ignore the fact it is made to kill rats, it dispatches mice (sometimes two at a time) with real ease. Only snag is you have to keep emptying it and resetting it, so put the thing in easy reach of your loft hatch. A green light flashes when it has caught something. It really is amazing
Ooh I like the sound of that wojtek.. I'll have a look. Guess its then a question of getting it in the right place..... thanks :)
Oh Jazzj, i don't envy you emptying it!! I couldn't handle a dead one never mind alive! Let us know how you get on get rid of them for xmas!
Me neither Serena, dead or alive, eeeek..
Oh dear oh dear Jazzj, I feel your pain here, I really do. You have some suggestions here about getting a cat well I've had several over the years and none of them were particularly good mousers.
In fact one was scared silly of anything larger than a bug, he would then just sit and stare it to death. He was a cute cat but pretty useless.
Snap Lillie..put mine in loft last night and they just sat by the hatch and cried until I let them down..wimps :)
Lol, Lillie, mine was always catching baby rabbits...she and I fell out over that one!! :-(
You brought a shudder to me fruity. A great many year's ago I had a beautiful male cat Kizzy. He had such a beautiful nature until he went hunting. The lady opposite who lived there asked me one morning if I had seen her white pet rabbit. I couldn't tell her as I had just buried it after my wretched cat brought it home. I couldn't bear the thought of her thinking my cat had done the rabbit in. I know it was a bit cowardly but it was to spare her feelings and for her not to fall out with me.
Oh dear, Sabre, I think you probably did the right thing though. I once had a neighbour banging my door down because my cat had stolen their sunday chicken, which was on a plate in the kitchen and they had stupidly left their back door open!
She did love chicken...when there was one in the oven, she'd just sit there glued to the glass oven door watching it cook!
My big fluffy cat Sam can be fast asleep in another room then when you bring the chicken out he is awake instantly and by my side.
Love the story about the cat watching the oven fruits. We had one who used to do that and Mr F used to say she was watckhing the meat telly!
Sabre, that reminds me of the 'urban myth' story about the cat who brought home the neighbour's rabbit, dead and covered in mud.
The cat owner felt really guilty and she washed the rabbit, dried it with the hairdryer and sneaked round after dark and put it back in the hutch.
The next morning the neighbour said, 'Such a funny thing happened, our rabbit died yesterday so we buried him in the garden..........'
You can guess the rest!
That one does the rounds every now and again but it still raises a smile .. and God knows I need something to smile about at the momnet !
I feel for you jazzj. Hope things get better soon!
Try reading some of Snoopy's old posts for a giggle.
Cheer up Jazzj.
Here's a joke my granddaughter told me the other day.
How do you know when a reindeer has been in your fridge?
You'll see hoofprints in the butter , lol.
Lay some rat poison in similar type receptacles to the old style tobacco tins, fairly shallow approx 4"oblong tin,or travel sweetie type tins;here and there in the loft. Also you could set a couple of mouse traps with a piece of ham rolled up and tied tight with string on the trap, so the mouse has to pull at it thus triggering the trap. Sprinkle a little whisky on the ham. The mice are attracted by the warmth of the house because it is so cold outside just now.
Whisky? Thats a new one on me instinct! Ham and whisky..even I don't have that......... :) Think they're cosying into all the loft insulation
Could you not purloin a miniature of whisky from somwhere,or take a little container with you next time you are out for the nip to be popped into it.
Don't worry too much, a field mouse isn't going to harm you. But I agree not nice thought and don't leave any food crumbs around, or food out or uncovered.
I know they're not going to hurt, but it is scary hearing them running about above me when I'm in bed instinct! (wimp? Who says I'm a wimp??)
Understandable, but you will feel better when you have taken measures to bait them. In the absence of a barn cat, I would buy a couple of traps, load them, set them, place them, Then also buy some rat poison.
I'm getting more worried now you've mentioned rat poison....I've just sort of assumed they're mice but.................
I don't imply they are rats, just the common name for mouse poison!
They'll disappear as mysteriously as they came, once the warm weather comes.
Its the damage they'll do in the meantime that;s worrying me
definitely! Well done you for dealing with it, you'll have no problem if you develop a strategy you can use in future if it ever happens again. Looking for their entry point and sealing up is important.
That's the worst thing, Jazzj, as they can gnaw through cables, but if you've got rid of them now, well done!
Oh they've not gone yet Feline, still tapdancing above my head at night, but hopefully they'll find the poison irresistable and shuffle off to a higher place..
Apparently if you lay a few mothballs around, it keeps them away. Anyway, you can try checking out the local govt web for all sorts of advice on all sorts of infestation.go to the gov.org, very explanatory.
Oh thank you instinct, I'll have a look and shove some moth balls up there..thanks for all your help with this.. are you a country girl by any chance?
Try and lure them down with chesse... or Homemade mousetraps can be very easy to put together and they don't need to kill the critters. You need a very large plastic bucket and you need to construct some dodgy steps leading up to the bucket. Smear something like peanut butter inside the rim to act as bait. The mice will tumble into the bucket and you can let them free. Make sure that you take them at least a quarter of amile away from your home.
Just want to let you all know I am sooooooooooo pleased with myself today!! Have braved the nasty ladder (yes I know but I've always had a thing about them!!) and been in the loft (equally scary)to lay traps and poison (sorry mices but you can't live here, don't mind seeing you outside) Have even found out where they get in..up a drain and into a hole hidden by the guttering, just need to work out how to get there to fix it. Girls are doing it for themselves!!!!
Well done, jazzj! I think you should join the Sisterhood!
Feline I'm so pleased with myself for facing my fears, I'm such a wimp :)
Very well done Jazzj you have more guts than I have. Seeing one running about would have had me flying down the ladder.
Would've done but I'm scared of ladders too :)
Just thinking Jazzj it's time you got a good strong fella to help you with all these jobs !!!!! Then you could sit back and relax with a nice glass of wine while he did them.
Omg Sabre, are you joking??? Only just got rid of the last one!! I'd rather face mice and ladders and all the other horrid things than let another fella close!!
A bit of Sunday humour on the subject of mice in lofts .....
Three mice are chilling out in this loft, all trying to impress each other how tough they are .....
The first mouse kicks the lift insulation into the air and says to the other two .."When I see a mousetrap, I lie on my back and set it off with my foot. When the bar comes down, I catch it in my teeth, bench press it twenty times to work up an appetite, and then make off with the cheese."
"Jeez" ,,, "that's nothing ..." said the second mouse ... "Yeah, well when I see rat poison, I collect as much as I can, take it home, grind it up to a powder, and add it to my coffee each morning so I can get a good buzz going for the rest of the day."
The third mouse then turned to the other two, let out a long sigh and said ..." Listen, I don't have time for all this crap ... I gotta nip downstairs and sh*g the cat!"
Remove the junk and they have nothing to nest in.
If only, Noddy! That's easier said than done.
I was just thinking what Noddy said. Mine isn't junk but "thinks we might need". Also doll's prams, star war gear (the whole lot), books, trains etc. etc. which I would have thought would have gone with the children when they left home but unfortunately, it seems they don't have room !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so poor Mum has still got it. I wonder if I sold it what would they say ?
Noddy in a perfect world I would!!! It;s like Sabre says, its thing we might need.... They're nesting in the insulation in the unboarded part of the roof I think, will be braver next week when (hopefully) there's less patter of tiny feet going on!!
If your on benefits you local authority has a pest control department and they will do the whole house free of charge. If your not on benefit they will charge a little. My friend had her whole house done for £50.00. The local authority also visited (total of 4 times over 2 months)until there were no signs of mice in the house. They also give you a report after each visit and give advice. Peanut products should NOT be used when using mice poison as this reduces the poisons power.
Not on benefits and local council does not have a pest control department any more sadly - £50 sounds a bargain! Disn't know that about peanuts, but do use peanut butter to bait snap traps. Thanks
get a few good quality traps and if u are brave enough to place inside loft door...check each week....and get bags of posion and position inside..slowly they will " go"...it is a difficult problem..you could try a local private "mouse/mice catcher" ?? how they go there..??...if cavity..up that way..perhaps ......examine base of building ...any small holes ??... they only need a TINY hole..
Contrary to popular belief about baiting traps with cheese, when i had problems with mice in a wharehouse i used liquorice allsorts as apparently they have a sweet tooth!!
Did seem like an awful waste of sweeties but it was very effective.
Also found this type of trap to be both cheap and very effective:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PSESMT-Easy-Set-Metal-Mouse-Trap-/120859839588?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Weed_Pest_Control_CV&hash=item1c23cecc64
Good tip, Bonz, but this is an old thread and I think Jazz has solved the problem now.
Good to remember for future, though!
Until you've sealed every single tiny hole you can never be sure you've completely got rid of them. If there's a way back they'll find it. They find their way around by scent trails so it's worth disinfecting their 'runs' to put others off the scent.
At least mine were in a wharehouse, can't imagine getting them in my house!! :-(
Had them years ago, Bonz, just put cat in the loft and she did her job!
If we put fat Ginger up there he'd probably bring the ceiling down lol!!
Excellent tip there bonz.
My folks had the same but they got rid of them using an ethical mouse trap.
Yes, Omen, that one of Bonz's didn't look very 'ethical' to me! :-(
Sorry fruitcake, i'm not a very ethical person when it comes to vermin.
Mice are disgusting and should be wiped from the face of the earth!! The little grey trails they leave behind them so you can see where they have been are actually urine trails as they have no bladder control YUK!!
Apart from mice and the badger i'm currently fortifying my boundaries against to stop him or her coming in and digging up my lawn to find worms i'm really a very nice person - honest!!
I have solar panels to produce my own electricity, am in the process of installing a wood burner to provide carbon-neutral heating, i recycle absolutely everything - mainly by keeping it in my shed and garage for future use, but that's another discussion!! - and even yesterday i reached down a product from a high shelf for a sweet little old lady.
LOL, Bonz!
We have a similar recycling centre at home, in the form of Mr F's shed. Trouble is every time he needs something like a plumbing fitting, which he knows is in their somewhere, he can't find it and has to go out and buy a new one.
BTW, Fat Ginger sounds like my sort of cat!
That's ok, Bonz, I'm just a bit pathetic where animals (even mice!) are concerned, I'd probably just put up a notice in the loft asking them politely to leave!
Thanks Bonz, as you say the little blighters come back if you're not careful! I found peanut butter most effective, and I hate the stuff so I didn't mind wasting it..sweeties, now that's be another matter!
Fruity I'm soppy about animals too, but after a week or so of them gnawing wood in the loft it really did become a them or me situation!!
choc is a good bait, they love it.
I wouldn't want to waste that on mice lakes!!
Reminds me of a friend of mine who went to France on a shopping trip and bought loads of lovely continental chocolate for Christmas. She hid it under the spare room bed so they wouldn't be tempted to eat it and the mice got the bloody lot!
There must be a moral to this story....
Stop it, you'll make me paranoid!! I've already checked the pets, I'll be under the beds next with a torch!!!
Ooooh, sorry, Jazz. Have a virtual G&T with me and relax!
I've got a cup of tea but its not quite the same is it..........? If I drink alcohol I'll be fast asleep and wouldn't give a stuff about mice!
Quite so, Jazz, proves my point.......
Lol, if I'd've done that every time I'd heard the little blighters gnawing I'd be an alcoholic by now!!
Sorry, Sis. I'd sing you a lullaby if I could!
The moral is Feline eat the chocolates yourself then no one else can munch them.
LOL, Sabre!
borrow next door cat for a week
They've gone now (she says touching wood, so as not to tempt fate), my own cats just cried to come down.......
Did your cats catch the mice then Jazzj or did you use another method?
No, my cats are spolit wimps that just cried to come down form the loft!!! i caught a couple with humane traps and drove them down the road to release them (fruitcake, you're not the only soppy one!) then it turned to war as I was going loopy from lack of sleep, and i resorted to poison...........and i still feel guilty!
I'm pathetically soppy with any wildlife. I carry wasps and spiders outside and try not to kill anything if I can possibly help it!
Brave girl, fruity carrying wasps!!
I don't mind the spiders and carry them out without killing them but wasps no way wouldn't even dream of attempting it!!
I just deal with the wasps the same way as the spiders, serena, glass over them, card underneath the glass, then take them outside and release them! The only problem with the wasps is that they sometimes just buzz straight back in the window again! I shout at them a lot...but it doesn't seem to have much effect... ;-)
Bees are the easiest...they just buzz in, take a tour round the room, have a nosey at your bookshelves to see if you've got good taste or not, then buzz straight out again!
I hate to kill any creature if I can help it, but you sometimes just have to do it. Jazz, you did the right thing with poison as you will never get rid of them with a cat or traps. They just breed so fast there will have been loads in your loft. Wasps are the other nasty thing to have around the house. We have had lots of nests over the summers past and if you go near them they attack and the sting is nasty. Best to get rid of a wasps nest by spraying them but take lots of safety precautions (another subject)
I had a wasps nest just above my front door last summer, behind the fascia above the door, Sidesalad, I got a professional exterminator to deal with it, as I just couldn't get near enough it to deal with it myself. I felt incredibly guilty and had a few tears, but it was too dangerous to deal with myself, and my next door neighbour, a very elderly lady, was terrified to leave her house in case she got stung, so I didn't really have a choice.
I hate killing things, fruits, and totally agree about spiders and bees which I would never harm.
But wasps and flies come into my house at their peril!
I really did try everything I could think of before resorting to poison, but nothing was having any effect, and I was losing so much sleep laying there listening to them gnawing in the loft. They even came down the cavity wall and were gnawing the wooden window frame to the side of my bed, I was going loopy!!
Like fruits, I provide a free carry out service for any insect, and I felt so so guilty for murdering the mice! They got their own back though, the smell afterwards was horrendous!!
Oh, horrid, Jazz. Hope it's gone now!
Just a thought Jazz - if you have loads of insulation in your loft (as you should) then the mice are much quieter as they can't run around so easily. They are still there however!
Oh stop it sidesalad, you're going to make me paranoid!! My mice got under the insulation and you wouldn't believe how much noise they made running about!!! I have been up there every week to check there's no new evidence
Oh no Jazz, don't mean to worry you! It's just that I found the extra insulation we put down last winter really shut them up! I'm sure they won't be back now for a while. Recheck in the autumn as that's when they like to come inside as I'm sure you know.
Thanks sidesalad, I'm hoping they'll be happy outside now its getting warmer!! Trouble is, now they're trying to move in with the chickens :(
In agreement with the girls not interested in killing insects, just ex's!!! Lol!
LOL, Serena!
Lol Serena, I don't feel like that but do wish he's just disappear!
I'm still great friends with my ex husband, life's too short to bear grudges!
I agree in general fruits but its not always easy. I guess it depends on the circumstances
I don't bear any grudges but at times but when it comes to ex-husband don't get me started :(
Of course it's not easy...but if you don't forgive, you can never move on, and that's very important if you have children from the relationship.
So true! It's getting easier for me and one thing is I've never let my daughter know exactly how I feel and all the "in's & out's" that went on. I have well and truly got rid of my anger and frustration now and have come to realise he is the one that missing out! She'll realise herself about her father but I don't want to ruin her innocence.
It does get easier and easier, Serena, and you're doing the right thing with your daughter, let her judge her father for herself.
It has taken me a long time to get rid if the anger the best part of ten years! I now pass that piece of advice is to let go of the anger as it definitely eats you up so much energy wasted!
Hindsight is a wonderful thing!!
Yes, Serena, anger is a waste of energy and very destructive, and those who can't let the anger go just end up being very bitter.
I'm so positive and happy to be bitter so glad I recognised the anger eating me up inside didn't like it at all! Thought I was turning into my mother! Quickly as that it was gone!
Exactly, once you realise it's happening and what it could be doing to you, it magically disappears!
It's just one of the stages you go through. The stages are exactly the same as the stages of bereavement...denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
So knowledgable, fruity!! Thx
Not really, Serena, it's just part of what I do for a living.
A cat is a useful tactic to use but from experience that does not always work unless the cat is even smarter because mice are extremely smart.
Mice are quite smart, CS, but cats are always smarter than mice, because they're cats! :-)
LOL, fruits......
My cats are smart enough to prefer a night on the sofa in front of the fire to one in a cold dark loft!
Ahh, bless, Jazz!
JAZZJ PLEASE READ*********IMPORTANT *********
When you have got rid of the mice, if not before please get an electrician to check the wiring in the loft, mice may have eaten the insulation and this could be a serious fire hazard. I have seen this several times and in one case nearly all the cables had been chewed right through to the copper, VERY SERIOUS. If you PM me your postcode / general area I may know someone suitably qualified.
How helpful and very thoughtful you are, i.h.a!
Come to think of it i have heard this can happen! What a worry Jazzj i would get that checked out. If you thought you couldn't sleep before well.... :(
Excellent point, IHA. That was the first thing Mr F checked when we got rid of ours.
Please don't panic, Jazz, but it won't cost much to get it checked out and will do wonders for your peace of mind.
Oh IHA, what good thinking!!! Thank you, I've got a friendly electrician who wired the house for me, I'll give him a call. Thank you so much x
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My moggies are too soft, the mice would beat them up!
It really does work, Jazzj! We had the problem years ago and I shoved my elderly, wimpy female cat up there and she sorted it.
Think about it - able to go hunting but without the threats of the outside world - cat heaven!
Good luck!
My cat is too lazy to run after mice Jazzj he uses the loft ladder to go up and lay down on the carpet as we use it as an adult play room - that's got you wondering hasn't it. But all very nice playing. I have my electric organ, a stereo system, a couple of computers and three T.V.'s. two are set up for my play stations 1 and 2 and the other a flat screened one my husband likes to get away from me at times so it is nice to have somewhere warm to go to. It has some lovely birds of prey and nice lighting. It's so cosy laid out on the bean bag that I get up there first if I have the chance. I also write stories up there too as it's so peaceful.
I've got one loft liek that too for the children to practise their music. This is the old loft that is barely used. Its not a huge house, its an extended bungalow in cae you're wondering.
Adult play room, Sabre???
Can i come and play???!!! Lol!
What does adult play room involve, you secret minx!!! Lol!