Key Post Mice and Rats

Re: >>Mice/Rats

My solution for mice is glue. It's not very pleasant, but it was the only successful method of eliminating them a couple of years ago. The poison, in my opinion, kills them but attracts more.
As for rats, you need cats - lots of cats!
 
Re: >>Mice/Rats

I've a rat in the composter. I've gotten rid of them with poison before now and also leaving a trap inside as insurance. The composter is one of those green plastic types. The rat just knawed its way in through the base. Is there any way to prevent this? Does anyone make a metal type composter?

Thanks.
 
Re: >>Mice/Rats

I had the very same problem earlier this year, when I went to empty the composter I saw a big hole gnawed in the side! I got a shock when I saw the size of the hole, considering how tough the plastic is. I never put cooked food in it, only vegetable peelings, but I'm not taking any chances in future I only put garden waste in it now.
 
Re: >>Mice/Rats

I don't understand how glue works. As for the composter....that has put me right off now.
 
Re: >>Mice/Rats

Rats are attracted to any food in the composter. They are also attracted to the heat generated by the decaying matter

I read somewhere that rats do not like the smell of Jeyes Fluid. If this is correct, and I hope it is because I use it extensively in the garden, a few dollops around the outside of the compost bin every couple of weeks should keep them away.

I put Jeyes Fluid down the outside shores regularly just to keep them fresh and vermin free. I sprinkle it in the wheelie bin also to disguise the smell of food.

Keeping rats and mice out of your garden is a never ending task. It is important to keep your garden neat and tidy. If you have fruit trees, don't leave fruit on the ground, because rats like fruit. Cut grass at least once a week, because mice will nest in long grass. Rake up fallen leaves; and prune shrubs so that there are no places for vermin to hide and nest. If you must leave food out for birds, take it in at the end of the day. Clean your barbecue after every use, because the smell will attract rats.

Be especially vigilant at this time of year because as soon as the temperature drops, mice will look for somewhere warm to spend the winter, and they will be very cunning at getting into your house, so take a look around the perimeter of the house and block up any potential openings. A guy from Rentokil told me mice can sense a heat source from 50 metres.
 
Re: >>Mice/Rats

Vanilla,
The very sticky mouse glue "vebicolla" is sold in small tubes www.vebi.it You have to be very careful not to stick your hands to it. Open the tube and squeeze some glue onto a piece of cardboard. Position the cardboard where you believe the mouse will pass or where you've seen mouse droppings. I put it in the cupboard under the kitchen sink and found the dead mouse the morning after.
Sorry for the delay in replying.
 
Re: >>Mice/Rats

Just an FYI, Rentokil charged me 380 for a 3 visit treatment.

My residents in the Attic were actually birds. Duh!
 
Re: Key Post: Mice/Rats

What is a mouses favourite food? Nine traps, three days and a block of Kilmeaden later, I am still trying to capture one little mouse upstairs. my son caught him on video cheekily pulling the cheese off the trap so I know it is only a mouse. However, he is driving me mad and I need to remove him asap. I have read all the key post but wonder has anybody found one particular bait which they love (the mouse I mean).
 
Re: Key Post: Mice/Rats

Rasher rind and peanut butter are good, the rind will stay in the trap and the peanut butter will attract them.
 
Re: Key Post: Mice/Rats

Crunchy peanut butter and mint aeros worked for us.
 
Re: Key Post: Mice/Rats

Strawberry jam does the trick for all my "catches" - probably stays on the trap better

gallantman
 
Re: Key Post: Mice/Rats

Eureka! I caught the mouse . He succumbed to Tesco Crunchy peanut butter. The good news is that I spared his life by catching him in one of those 'keep alive' traps. He is now out on the green, totally disoriented, but alive and free. Thanks everyone.
 
Re: Key Post: Mice/Rats

I'm moving into a new apartment in a development between the liffey and the Grand Canal basin. A friend of mine told me that all new developments get either mice or rats due to them being disturbed during building works. I thought we'd be safe on the fourth floor but she said she had mice in her fifth floor apartment. I'm afraid we could get rats as we're so close to the water.
Does anyone know if this is a big problem? Should we lay down poison as a precautionary measure before we move in?
Thanks
 
Re: Key Post: Mice/Rats

We had a rat in our 3rd floor apartment around Jan this year. Luckily enough, it was in the ceiling and couldn't get down into the actual apartment. You should have heard the noise of the fxxxxr running across the ceiling though - proper Dolby Digital TM Surround fuppin Sound. Scary night that was and the missus developed an all-out phobia for them or anything like them now.

We had a mickey fit at the builders because he was after getting in at a gap beside a pipe. They paid for a pest control fella to come out and he looks down off the balcony and says "aw yeah, a rat'd scale up there no problem".

He rolled up a sheet of news paper into a tube (more like a long straw really) full of hot chocolate powder and this blue poison and pushed it up into a tiny gap in the ceiling in the hotpress and the visitor was dead in about 4 days. We filled in the little gap as well just in case but haven't had a prob since (apart from a smell in the spare room which he died over).

Anyway, it seems rats are very good climbers so make sure the managment company organise a pest control person to keep the bin areas and the building all in check. and don't leave a bag out on the balcony.
 
Re: Key Post: Mice/Rats

A friend of mine, who studied Hotel and Catering in college, did a module on vermin in buildings. She was flabbergasted (as was I) to hear that a mouse can get through a gap the thickness of your index finger and that a rat can do likewise for a thickness of your index & neighbouring finger
 
Re: Key Post: Mice/Rats

Just wondering if anyone can help! I seem to have an infestation of mice - no crumbs/doors left open or anything like that. I have traps in all the obvious places and have caught 4 mice in the last week. Am getting fed up of arriving home to begin 'pest control'! Just wondering if this is something I have to grin and bear, or should I call in the experts. If I do get exterminators in, how much would I be talking about - it's a mid-terrace 3 bed in Dublin. Thanks.
 
Re: Key Post: Mice/Rats


My sister's Hamster's food is being stolen from inside the Hamster's cage by a field mouse. It's getting in to the cage at any time of the day regardless of where the cage is placed. It's not safe on tables or shelves.
If anyone has seen the Film Mousehunt with Lee Evans you can picture the level of the opposition my sister is up against.
 
Re: Key Post: Mice/Rats

the easiest thing to do is to check the dropping they left by investigating under sink and enslosed area around the house. certainly PEST control can help, depending on the condition.mouse trap can catch them all.you really need to know how they come into the house.check any gaps.and block it!