Little buggers

[Made in 1968]

As long as they don't run after the farmer's wife.

[dave2010]

Since the Farmers in this area took to rooting out all the hedgerows, a few years ago, we have been inundated with rodents in the lofts. The little buggers have nowhere else to go and seeing a nice warm roof, have moved in.

I gave up with poisoning them as they just go off and die in the lofts and stink. So, I have had 4 traps in the two lofts and very effective they have been too. I check them every 4 - 5 days and usually have a Mouse in every trap and a couple of times, 2 in one. However, the past couple of months, they have been licking out the Peanut Butter without setting off the traps, which means I am now feeding them.

How do they do that and how did they learn to do it in two locations at the same time ?

All I can think of is that there are teensy, weensy Voles, Shrews or baby Mice, too small to trigger the traps.

We have this problem too, but it doesn't sound as bad as yours. I agree about not using poison. At one point I bought a box, but didn't use it. However, the little so and sos found it anyway, and must have crawled back into the house between the rafters, and I guess close to a hot water pipe. The smell was intense for a while.

I would suggest checking every day for catches and keep loading the traps up. You could also try moving them into new areas. You really should try to keep on top of this, otherwise you could be completely overrun. You could also try other enticing food - such as chocolate, though I have found peanut butter to be the most effective generally. Some people still rate cheese, though I don't.

I have found this kind of trap to be effective - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07ZMXYC...dDbGljaz10cnVl - they can be bought in largish quantities.

I hear that cats are quite effective too - though I'm allergic to them, and I'm not too keen on having animals to look after, but if you are tolerant of cats that may be a way to go.

As you are presumably close to farmland I don't think this is a problem which is going to go away, but it ought to be possible to reduce it to a manageable level, with maybe only a few catches per year. Blocking holes is, I'm told, important also - and a mouse can go through a hole about the size of a pencil.

[Mikeandvan]

Buy a jack Russell and have some fun.

[CageyH]

I use a small chunk of diary milk. I drill a hole through it of a similar size to the spike on the trap, and stick it on with a drop of super glue.
It works well.

Failing that, you need to make one of those traps with a spinning rod for a walkway to a feeding platform, positioned over a bucket of water and let nature do the rest....

[CageyH]

[Ninanina]

I'd rather have mice than spiders..

[CageyH]

I am the opposite.
Spiders don’t bother me one bit, unless they are huge and hairy.

[Ninanina]

I am the opposite.
Spiders don’t bother me one bit, unless they are huge and hairy.

Spiders do very strange things to me... but I don't mind mice...

[Alex_UK]

I know they're only mice, but I think I'd prefer to splatter their heads in a trap instantly than see them suffer a pretty horrible demise drowning in a bucket. I'll let Dave answer on the mice vs. spiders debate, but I know he is not a fan of the eight legged little horrors either!

[CageyH]

As stated in the video, you don’t have to add water, but then you need to take the mice for a drive.