Meeces!

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I like mice. They don't really do any harm and the poo isn't a propblem - if I can see it, I can clear it up, otherwise, it doesn't matter.

The poo is a health hazard, especially when it's all over your pillow.

[Kathy]

I like mice. They don't really do any harm and the poo isn't a propblem - if I can see it, I can clear it up, otherwise, it doesn't matter.

The poo is a health hazard, especially when it's all over your pillow.

Or in your cutlery drawer.

The other annoying thing the mice did was nibble a hole in the bottom of a bottle of sunflower oil, which flooded and spoiled any food in the cupboards that the mice hadn't already pooped in.

At least all the rat did was dig up the kitchen floor and bite Wellesley's face open!

(The vermin levels were quite extreme in our property in the last few months we lived there. It was an old place, with lots of holes for rodents to enter. It was on a working farm, but that autumn the farm was left derelict, so there was no grain in the silos. Couple that with incredibly cold weather, and it meant that even the Pied Piper would have had to work overtime to get rid of all the rodents who decided to move in to our house for the food and shelter that winter).

[Butterfly]

I like mice. They don't really do any harm and the poo isn't a propblem - if I can see it, I can clear it up, otherwise, it doesn't matter.

The poo is a health hazard, especially when it's all over your pillow.

Even I might clean it if it was on my pillow - otherwise it's only poo, it won't come and get you. 

[microphonie]

A chap at work said his folks had success with the ultrasonic repeller gizmos (in contrast to Kirst's experience). Possibly depends on make/model?

I'm considering something similar for the constantly yapping dog my neighbours can't/won't control 

[Adam]

A chap at work said his folks had success with the ultrasonic repeller gizmos (in contrast to Kirst's experience). Possibly depends on make/model?

I'm considering something similar for the constantly yapping dog my neighbours can't/won't control 

I had an infestation a few years ago in my garage.  I got one of the ultrasonic things, and fairly soon, there weren't any more mice!  So my bike collection was safe from their evil little paws.

[Butterfly]

But that might upset them!

[Jurek]

I know I'm going to put a few noses out of joint with this, and possibly lose a few friends.
But the solution to this vermin is poison, poison and more poison (actually - not that much - the first batch will suffice, especially if it is Neosorexa)
I too love all of the Baby Jesus's creatures, but that love diminishes rapidly when they present a threat to my health and well-being.
I kind of lose a little interest in the 'living side-by-side' thing when the prospect is that of me being ill.
Some good advice is offered in the posts above - some of it may even work - Not leaving food out is a definite biggee. The ultrasonic solution once did for me, although it didn't for the three households to which I subsequently lent the device.
The word "cr@p" was used.
I've tried most of the above mentioned methods - with varying degrees of success.

Neosorexa rocks! and could be your friend - just remember to wash your hands after putting it out - and no, they'll not expire under your floorboards (unless you live on a houseboat) it makes them thirsty, they'll go looking for water before they expire.

Sorry.

[Butterfly]

But they don't need to die . They can stay. I like having mice. Every now and then you catch one peering at you curiously, waiting for you to do something interesting, they're cool. Everyone else knows that we never do anything remotely interesting.

[Adrian]

Er...no.  I ain't getting a cat.  Not allowed in our current flat.  If the plans for a share dhouse had gone ahead, we'd have had two, but right now I don't need any more difficulties getting a place...

But you're right - with a cat, the only wildlife you have is what they bring in (voles, shrews, sparrows, frogs etc)

And mice, which they then let go in the house and sometimes loose.

[Jurek]

They like your food.
They'll climb into it and then you come into the room to see what they're up to.
They get scared and as a result of which will shit in your food.

Other than that they're quite cute. 

Edit - cat is not the solution. Not unless keeping cat entertained surpasses the need to be rid of mice.

[border-rider]

And mice, which they then let go in the house and sometimes loose.

Ours had a small captive breeding programme at the last house. It was pretty mouse-proof so he brought voles in and let them go all the time.  They grew fat and happy behind the kitchen cabinets; we'd be watching TV and look down and find one sitting by our feet

One wily bugger escaped the humane trap for so long that he was almost too fat to fit in the tube when he finally squeezed his way into it and got caught

I expecting the new house to be a haven for rodents come winter, as Kathy described. We've already got newts in the lounge and mice in the chimney.

[Butterfly]

They like your food.
They'll climb into it and then you come into the room to see what they're up to.
They get scared and as a result of which will shit in your food.

Other than that they're quite cute. 

Edit - cat is not the solution. Not unless keeping cat entertained surpasses the need to be rid of mice.

This is why I only store food in sealed jars.
I used to live in a mansion with the larder in the cellar and we had all sorts of wildlife to share the food. The slugs were the worst. Therefore all open food here is sealed.
Therefore they aren't pooing in the food. (Except possibly leftovers in Stig's room, but that's his problem ).
So they can stay.

[Jurek]

So they can stay.

Fairy snuff.
But you share living space with the stig?
 

[Jasper the surreal cyclist]

Mice are OK in the right place. The right place is not near humes. You can see the poo, but you cannot see the wee, and they are incontinant. Infestation is awful. We had them in loaves of bread, and cereal boxes once.

I tried humane traps but that just moves the problem to someone else. Safe and sure traps work well. Peanut butter as bait. Nine dead-uns in a week for my shed (they like the bird food).

Rats also like bird food, but are not so keen on guns.....

Worst of all was when we got mink. They chewed through the outhouse door and got in. Fortunately two of them were fighting just outside the back door as I was cleaning my 12 bore. I then invited the local mink hounds down to flush out any others along the river.

[Butterfly]

More like: Stig.
 

This is the pot calling the kettle black.

[Sergeant Pluck]

Every now and then you catch one peering at you

They breed like nothing else. OK, so they are pleasant looking little critters but they quickly go from "every now and then" to over-running the place. They piss everywhere. They chew through things including cables.

If there is the odd one, not too bright, you might be ok with traps. But once the numbers reach a certain threshold I'm afraid Jurek is right.

[Edit: that's electrical cable. No need for concern about your brakes  ]

[innesh]

And never leave food (even crumbs) in your car.  The wee beasties will set up home in your car, then you'll realise what mouse piss smells like!  The smell never goes away - until you sell the car. 

Not that it happened to me, you understand, it was err, a friend .....

[rae]

[Edit: that's electrical cable. No need for concern about your brakes   

Quite.  When they manage to chew through the cable, they get electrocuted, then warm gently for a while as the body fluids are boiled away - then they burn.  Rodents are a disaster in a house, and they need to be dispatched.  Mouse piss is also not funny from a health POV.   

Never seen the point of humane traps for anything, unless you are going to look after that thing for the rest of its life.   In a mechanical trap, it is dead in an instant, job done.   In a humane trap, you'll release it far from its own territory where it will starve to death or be predated upon rather quickly.   Humane trapping makes you feel better because you don't kill the animal - it still dies though. 

[Jurek]

Rae, forgive me but you sometimes deliver in an entirely mercenary fashion  IMHO 
But, in this instance, I find myself entirely agreeing with you. 

[Wowbagger]

In our last house we had loads of mice. I'd set the traps downstairs just before we went to bed, and by the time I was undressed I would hear at least one go off, so I'd go downstairs, dispose of the body, reset the trap... I killed dozens but still they'd come.

We never solved the problem: we ran away from it and moved house.

Sorry Clarion, I'm not into gratuitous slaughter for its own sake, but where our food and health are at stake, the buggers have got to go.

I've never seen any signs at all in this house.

[border-rider]

 

Never seen the point of humane traps for anything, unless you are going to look after that thing for the rest of its life.   In a mechanical trap, it is dead in an instant, job done.   In a humane trap, you'll release it far from its own territory where it will starve to death or be predated upon rather quickly.   Humane trapping makes you feel better because you don't kill the animal - it still dies though. 

It works for voles, that don't want to be in the house but have been brought in and set free.  They're quite happy being put back out in the garden with their little voley friends.  I know this to be true

Same with woodmice. 

[Wowbagger]

Mouse traps don't always kill instantly either. I remember the kids and Mrs Wow being upset when a trap caught a mouse by the leg and it screamed and screamed until Mrs. Wow whacked it with a shoe.

[rae]

Rae, forgive me but you sometimes deliver in an entirely mercenary fashion  IMHO 

I just tell it how it is.... 

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

Liberal use of peppermint oil will stop them coming in in the first place, honest.

[Regulator]

I still think there's nothing better than a cat...