Vermin advice please!

Hi, I have a downstairs bathroom in a smal single storey extension and I have heard scuttlings above me in the roof (and once, as I was sat on the loo, I heard something go from one side of the ceiling to the other and then down the wall either beside or behind me *gulp*)

How do I know if it is mice or rats? The council will help with rats but only provide poison if it's mice.

I've no idea how they're getting in (possibilities lie in an extra vent in the external wall that has no vent in the internal wall or up the drainpipes into the roof or alternatively up the drains themselves - the bathroom has a main sewer beside it) but of course want to ensure that they get no farther.

You can get a poison that will kill mice or rats. You just put down more to kill the rats.

Ask the council to see to the rats, and when the man comes ask if the poison will kill mice also.

Possibly a rat, as they are very good climbers and experts at getting up and down drainpipes. Put a good dose of poison down, as rats are very hardy and a small dose they will easily survive, then becoming immune to that particular poison.

Rats are easy to kill as they are greedy and will eat all the poison, mice tend to nibble here and there and are easier to kill with traps.
Rats as stated climb well, a friend thought she had a pigeon nest in her loft till I pointed out the little pink bundles has 4 legs not two.

I have read that you can plug any holes you can see with wire wool so when they chew it their mouths will bleed and they will give up.

Sophie83 said:

I have read that you can plug any holes you can see with wire wool so when they chew it their mouths will bleed and they will give up.

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There is a small danger with wire wool. As it decomposes/rusts it gives off heat and can therefore self-combust. If there are any flammable materials in the vicinity, there is a possibility of the fire spreading.
This is especially high risk when wire wool is stored in a workshop or garage, where oily rags, flammable liquids, etc, may be stored.

Thanks for all your advice people.

I've inspected the area around the bathroom extension to see if I can figure out how they're getting in. I've blocked up a vent which is no longer in use (the shower now sits on the other side of the vent and the electricity supply from that now runs to the new vent).

I suspect that it's mice as I think the source of the problem are two airbricks. One runs into the bathroom and sits on the outside of the only working vent in the bathroom (and through which runs a gale force wind into the frigging bathroom) and there is another vent under the floor boards of the spare bedroom which sits on the first floor at the house end just above the roof of the bathroom extension.

In addition to this, I've noticed a musky smell in the spare room with the airbrick so I think they've made their home there too. People have told me that my nose is far too sensitive (which it is) but the smell reminds me of my crazy neighbours bedroom after she kept mice, gerbils etc etc in there (lots of).

So I've bought some mouse traps and am on the hunt for some mesh to cover the airbricks with.