Mice in the loft

[hifi_dave]

Through the Summer, I have been inundated with Mice in the Loft. Apparently, they have been a big problem for many people and may have something to do with the vanishing hedgerows I asked about on another thread. Their habitat has disappeared, so they invade our's.

Anyway, I have poison bait in trays and 10 Mouse and Rat traps in the loft and catch, on average, one Mouse per day. It's a bloody nightmare, because I have to get them out of the loft before the Bluebottles lay their eggs in the body. I inadvertently left a body for a week, on a couple of occasions and the result was not pretty.

The Rentokil man came today and showed me with his 'special' torch, which shows up the luminous dust he had put down, where the little buggers are getting in. This is a very narrow gap between the lined roof tiles and the flooring in the loft. I would like to block some of these gaps but not sure what to use. The Rentokil man suggested "wire wool" but not sure how I would cut this and get it in the gaps, which are difficult to access. It needs to be something the little buggers won't chew at.

Any suggestions ?

[struth]

copper wool mixed with some caulking. cement might be better. if you can get someone with a ladder you might get at it easier from outside for that. wire wool they are inclined to eat through.

[Pieoftheday]

Through the Summer, I have been inundated with Mice in the Loft. Apparently, they have been a big problem for many people and may have something to do with the vanishing hedgerows I asked about on another thread. Their habitat has disappeared, so they invade our's.

Anyway, I have poison bait in trays and 10 Mouse and Rat traps in the loft and catch, on average, one Mouse per day. It's a bloody nightmare, because I have to get them out of the loft before the Bluebottles lay their eggs in the body. I inadvertently left a body for a week, on a couple of occasions and the result was not pretty.

The Rentokil man came today and showed me with his 'special' torch, which shows up the luminous dust he had put down, where the little buggers are getting in. This is a very narrow gap between the lined roof tiles and the flooring in the loft. I would like to block some of these gaps but not sure what to use. The Rentokil man suggested "wire wool" but not sure how I would cut this and get it in the gaps, which are difficult to access. It needs to be something the little buggers won't chew at.

Any suggestions ?

My mum's got them at the moment,though they seem to be getting in via air bricks, grills have been fitted. Could you use something like poly filler?

[Sherwood]

copper wool mixed with some caulking. cement might be better. if you can get someone with a ladder you might get at it easier from outside for that. wire wool they are inclined to eat through.

I had big problems with mice when living in a dilapidated Victorian house in East London as a student. They were entering through a chewed hole in the kitchen skirting board. I used a combined physical/chemical attack. Some Brillo pads infused with "cement" made of Polyfilla and crushed paracetamol tablets. Did the job!

[Yomanze]

My wife has a Yorkshire Terrier with a lot of ratting experience from clearing out stables, best method going. She is relentless!

It is instinctive for them, they used to brought into cotton mills to keep the mice and rat population down during the industrial revolution.

[Pieoftheday]

My wife has a Yorkshire Terrier with a lot of ratting experience from clearing out stables, best method going. She is relentless!

It is instinctive for them, they used to brought into cotton mills to keep the mice and rat population down during the industrial revolution.

Aye send a Yorkie up, not mine though,soft as a brush

[Sherwood]

The Patterdale Terrier is often cited as the best ratter though their instincts make them suspect as pets. I seem to recall one killing a child a few years back. In earlier years there used to be "ratting clubs" where owners would take their dogs out for a day's hunting, often accounting for hundreds of rats in a single day! Whatever happened to "What Ratter" Magazine?

[Ninanina]

Colin used one of these electronic devices when he had mice in the kitchen


Available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Control-Ins...nic+mouse+trap

And very effective it was. Just don't get your fingers anywhere near the plates as it gives you a very nasty shock

[struth]

The Patterdale Terrier is often cited as the best ratter though their instincts make them suspect as pets. I seem to recall one killing a child a few years back. In earlier years there used to be "ratting clubs" where owners would take their dogs out for a day's hunting, often accounting for hundreds of rats in a single day! Whatever happened to "What Ratter" Magazine?

The farmer used to do that when I was young. had a meet with a number of dogs and then lift the hay bases... rats everywhere.. some huge

[mikeyb]

My dad had a friend who had a mouse that would come into the living room via a hole in skirting Tom & Jerry style.

He sat waiting on it one night and shot it with his .22 rifle