There's a rat in mi kitchen

[Mw Roofline]

Our kitchen is very clean and tidy, the cleaners get on their hands and knees every week and scrub the floor and everywhere

At 4.30am I heard the missus shreiking from the kitchen, it woke me up. Anyway I went downstairs and she said there was this 'rat thing' the size of a housebrick running all over the kitchen work surfaces.

After I calmed her down we agreed the house brick thing was a little ott and it was in fact the size of a squahed golf ball, probably a field mouse.

Now i haven't a clue how the little scr0tum got into the kitchen, there are no holes, even the airbricks are siliconed up.

Just called the pest people, they want 35 squid to come over and lay the bait and 35 squid to visit again to take the bait away and see if the mouse ate it.

Unless anyone suggests otherwise, I think i'm just gonna go to B&Q and get some poison and put it under the kitchen units.

I'm assuming one small mouse won't smell much if he dies in a corner somewhere. I take it they just dry up.


If we got our neighbours cat round, would it instantly smell the mouse and go have a look, or is their sense of smell not fantastic.

Cheers. This has to be sorted out tonight btw, or the missus won't sleep.

 

[Doc Lenny]

Just buy a couple of humane mouse traps and position them under the units, and tell the wife that you have disposed of the mouse already.

Wife gets her sleep, you catch your mouse and you save a few bob.

Might go t1ts-up or course

 

[trotter]

Poison won't kill the mouse straight away that's your problem, and you might never even find the dead one ... it won't smell too much, it might even clear off to die

Cats aren't TOO hot in my experience..in the long term they are effective but they won't seek and destroy on demand, they are not machines you know

Bottom line is it's only a mouse

Get the poison down, and check everywhere for droppings to make sure the problem isn't a bit bigger than you think

 

[trotter]

Just buy a couple of humane mouse traps and position them under the units, and tell the wife that you have disposed of the mouse already.

Wife gets her sleep, you catch your mouse and you save a few bob.

Might go t1ts-up or course

I wouldn't do this.

We did before when I lived in the depths of south London but the problem was that the mice were established. You throw one out the house, another 2 were born that day. You can imagine.

Poison.

 

[JohnD]

you need an energetic young cat that is willing to spend the night in your kitchen, on the alert and ready to pounce. Even then the mouse may get away but the cat will get it eventually.

The cat will smell it easily. Mice have no bladders and leave a constant fine dribble of urine as they walk about (this is why they spoil food in store, and also why, once a mouse has got in, the others will follow its path).

I use those blue Rentokil grains in a plastic bottle the size of a fairy-liquid bottle. The packs that say "rat killer" are bigger and better value than the ones that say "mouse bait" but they seem to be the same thing.

Put several small baits down, right at the back next to the wall (mice and rats run along next to walls for security).

Put them where no pet or child can reach them (even though they are not very dangerous to large animals). the reason for using small baits are (1) the mouse is more likely to walk past one and have a nibble (2) a pet or child is unlikely to search the kitchen and gather enough to do any damage.

Check the baits every day and top them up. When they stay full, your mouse is dead. I use plastic saucers sold for flower pots (smallest size) in a bright colour that you will easily see. Leave the baits down permanently so they will be ready for any future mouse. Change them when they get dusty (might take a year) or they get damp or mouldy. They are just wheat or barley grain that is coloured blue and contains a poison.

Swab thoroughly to remove the traces or droppings and urine that will lead other mice in.

p.s. Mice and rats are not solitary creatures. If you have one, there will be others.

p.p.s. you can probably get the council to come round for nothing... but they will do the same as I have described above. they might have a look round for holes and give you advice, as they are experienced. A mouse can get through any hole that you can push a pencil into. I think in my house they get into the garage when it is left open, and climb up pipe ducts into the kitchen above. I have seen one jump up (uncarpeted) steps when chased. If you have wooden ground floors they can get into the void beneath and come up anywhere. If they get into the cavity of a wall they can come out anywhere (especially between ceilings and floors where the walls are unplastered and there may be open cracks or gaps in the mortar between bricks.)

 

[empip]

First try 2 ordinary traps. (unlikely two will fail)
Bait with something nice fer mice like peanut butter .. smooth the bait such that you'll see easily if it has been gnawed with no trap action.

Place traps under kitchen units ( that is if units are on legs ), business end against the wall, two walls in a corner is good, such that mouse has to access bait between wall and trap snap area.

NB. Anchor the traps with a length of string - tie that somewhere convienient - Mouse, if only partially disabled will not be able to tow the trap to an inaccessable / undesirable place.. Plus you do not have to fish around by hand in a possibly mouse fluid soaked location..

Give the project a couple of days monitoring the bait.
We have had 2 known mouse incursions - heard the trap snap in each case, the second followed by drumming feet... the trap was moved but string held it.

Don't know how the blighter got on your worktop but beware of using poison at this point, the thing may return to the work top before death.
It may be a one off... But then again...

 

[Doc Lenny]

After I calmed her down we agreed the house brick thing was a little ott and it was in fact the size of a squahed golf ball, probably a field mouse.

This the fella

 

[empip]

'Aunty' would make a mess...

Thanx to JB HMS Hood asc.

 

[Mw Roofline]

LOL


The house brick could have been small though

Some great info there, thanks for the advice people.

 

[Agile]

The house brick could have been small though

Or the mouse large?

When I worked in the Arabian Gulf they had big rats the size of smaller cats! They did not seem very frightened of people at all and would sit in the corner of the room on their back legs with the front legs up in the air like hands.

Tony

 

[empip]

Best kind of mouse ... Around the house.

 

[gasright]

allright DOC MATT,

grandmaster flash here.

Get back to your normal forum

 

[Mw Roofline]

allright DOC MATT,

grandmaster flash here.

Get back to your normal forum

LOL, I can't hide from anyone anymore



I think our mouse is pretty intelligent, went home earlier to set the trap and my CCTV caught a still of this one

 

[markie]

It's the first time i've seen a mouse what looked like a square white box with an red X init.

 

[bernardgreen]

It's the first time i've seen a mouse what looked like a square white box with an red X init.

It is hiding from all these mice hunters.