Not exactly a pet!

I've just heard a frantic shout (not so much a scream), "There's a mouse!"

Apparently, a mouse has just emerged from under a kitchen cabinet, gone to eat a bit of the cat's food, and then run back from whence it came. Apparently, it was a 'big fat one' too.

It looks like we have some mice under our floor, which can be accessed from under some of the kitchen units. We haven't noticed them before.

I am aware that field mice tend to come in from the outside in winter, but not at this time of year.

Our first reaction was to put down traps or poison. I don't really want to do anything like that, though, as I hate killing or harming animals.

I don't consider the mice harmful. The only slightly worrying thing is that they can, as far as I'm aware, chew away at electrical cables and plastic water pipes.

My suggestion was to remove the cat's food when he has finished eating, but then of course there are other foods in the kitchen.

Any helpful suggestions?

Re: Not exactly a pet!

Whats the cat doing?

Re: Not exactly a pet!

Well JBR, as well as the chewing you said about, they can also have anything up to a dozen or so babies in each litter, with the females producing anything between 5 and 10 litters per year!

You might also be interested to read this bit I just found:



Do mice spread disease?
Mice can transmit diseases to humans and other animals through biting, droppings, fleas, lice, mites and ticks. Some of the common diseases carried by mice are salmonella, hantavirus, leptospirosis, rat-bite fever and the plague.

So all in all, sooner gone - the better.

Not easy putting bait around because of your cats.
The bait is made deliberately palatable. One of my dogs was very close to death several years back, because although she didn't eat any of the actual bait, I suspect she ate a mouse or something that HAD eaten bait.
If your dogs or cat did find a dead carcass, do you think they'd eat it? That's what would really worry me.

Could you set traps overnight and keep the cats out of the room? Also, I definitely wouldn't leave the cat food down till this is sorted.

If all else fails, maybe it'd be time for the professionals?

Re: Not exactly a pet!

Watching them

Re: Not exactly a pet!

My friend had mice in their house. Then they got moth infestation in their wardrobes, and finally a squirrel.

Can't remember what they did about the mice.... think they put traps down. The worst was knowing the mice would be crawling over crockery any food left out etc.

They dealt with the moths, although it took a while, and the squirrel (which ate through the kitchen units) - he found out where it was entering and sealed up the gaps outside. Sorted.

Have you any idea where the mice are coming in JB?

Edited. I had mice in my garage in the other house. I got the 'Infestation'? people in and they put traps down with food in in the four corners of the garage, and certainly where they saw droppings. It did work.

Re: Not exactly a pet!

So with mice reproducing so often don't be surprise if the floorboards keep moving while they are bonking.

Seriously you could get your local environmental health officer to send someone around to set traps for you. As you have a cat I suspect the live cage type trap would be best ,not the wire spring snap over type as the can may go for the bait.

This is the type I mean or similar

Re: Not exactly a pet!

Thank you all for that very prompt and helpful advice.

I think we'll have to take the advice about trapping or killing them. That has got to be the only realistic strategy.

We know where they are coming from: under the floor via the space under the kitchen cabinets.

We have decided that the best thing to do is to place traps containing poison under the kitchen cabinets. Hopefully, they will enter the trap, eat the poison and be unable to escape the trap. The trap, with the dead mouse, will then be easily accessible for removal.

I don't like the option of poisoning them, but it seems it is them or us!

Incidentally, yes, the cat probably just sits and looks at them, or even doesn't wake up. He's as deaf as a post, you see.

Re: Not exactly a pet!

If you use humane traps don't forget to release them at least two miles from your home or you will be catching same ones the following day
We have a little family under the shed at the caravan. Little dears have eaten all the strawberries and the kale ! But so sweet when they run across the garden with a chihuahua in pursuit. She never catches them.

Re: Not exactly a pet!

Put the traps around the outside of the room mice always run alongside the walls.

Re: Not exactly a pet!

JBR

Had a thought. As you are interested in Scottish dancing that would include dancing to bagpipes. Well how about having someone playing bagpipes in your house, bound to scare the mice away