Unwelcome visitors

[mercalia]

Photo attached of our mousetrap in France.

Happy days,

what sort of snake is that?

Western whip snake. As you'd have seen if you'd hovered the mouse* or tapped on the picture. Quite common in mainland Europe but don't occur in the wild in Britain. They're completely harmless (to humans).

* The electronic kind, I mean!

looks menacing and dangerous

[syklist]

I supposed that they nibble so delicately that they did not move the bait holder, so I tried bait harder to cut, raisins instead of cheese.

Try a nut butter in "traditional" mice traps. These have a little tab pushed up on the trigger that you can fill with any nut butter (we use peanut butter) so the mice have to work a bit harder to get to the bait.

Also put say 10 traps near the place where you think that the mice get in (we have one main entrance into our house and one main spot in the kitchen). If the mice manages to get the bait from one trap then they can still get caught by backing into another trap.

We only usually have a problem with mice in the autumn, when the colder weather hits they seem to go into a torpor.

Mice liking cheese is a bit of a myth.

[Mike Sales]

Since I terminated the four mice with extreme prejudice the traps have remained undisturbed, and there are no droppings either.
It was several months after I moved in that the infestation started, and I hope another is not inevitable.

[Mike Sales]

go into a torpor.

Mice liking cheese is a bit of a myth.

My little invaders took peanut butter, cheese and raisins quite happily. Until, of course, they triggered the trap.

[syklist]

It was several months after I moved in that the infestation started, and I hope another is not inevitable.

"Be prepared! That's the Boy Scouts' marching song..." (sung in a nasal tone mimicking Tom Lehrer)

They come every autumn here. We usually stop catching mice by the end of December. I pack away the mouse traps in spring if I can be bothered.

I plan to go round the bottom of the house where the wood structure meets the granite foundations and put in metal anti-mouse strips. Then start checking the cladding on the outside of the house for cracks and openings. There is little chance of ever getting our house completely mouse free but I will try anyway.

If you have outhouses especially ones with single skinned walls, then you can try poison in special feeder boxes. That reduces the number of mice that make it to the house. Poison is not recommended in houses as mice tend to crawl into cavities in the walls to die. In an outhouse you find them dead on the floor usually not so far from the feeder.

[Morzedec]

Ah yes, our 'Western Whip': about 2 mtrs of it, and known to rear up, hiss and spit, (just like a politician when ego gets punctured) especially when we go into the wood store as hibernation ends.

Perhaps sadly, at the moment we don't know if it's a M. or Mme., so it doesn't have a name (all say Aah): all (legal) suggestions are most welcome. Whip-a-de-doo-dah?

Happy days,

[mercalia]

call it viper or boris

[rmurphy195]

We've had a rat problem for some years now, but only in the garden so far, thankfully. They seem to love the compost bin - probably because (a) it's warm, and (b) there's lots of edible (?) stuff in there. They chew holes in the side of the (plastic) bin, which I then have to patch up with pieces cut off tin cans.

I've tried setting rat traps - the traditional, spring type, I'm afraid. I have no sympathy for rats, and if they get caught at least it's a quick death.

Well, I caught no rats - but I did catch a woodmouse in one of the traps, which I was a bit upset about, I wasn't out to kill mice in the wild. But that's what happened.

I then tried laying poison. I saw the rats come and take the bait and carry it off, but I've no idea whether they ate it or not. They came back for more.

So no go. The rats haven't been around for some months now (that's tempting fate! ). If they return, should I call in the pros? Rentokil? Pricey!

Had a rat problem in the compost bin a while back - they seemed to go for thrown-away fruit scraps (Orange peel, bits of trimmed-off pineapple). Tried all the usual stuuf, then finally cleaned out fruit remains and didn't put any more in. Voila - they probably went elsewhere. They didn't go for banana skins though.

I also put the bin onto slabs, but put wire mesh on the slabs first, then folded it up the sides of the bin. That may have helped.

[colin54]

I don't know about unwelcome, unexpected certainly. Blue Tits nesting in the cavity wall in an unfilled old overflow pipe hole. They wait on a hedge before entering. Some Wrens are nesting under the eaves of the shed as well.

[Oldjohnw]

We have blue tits and several sparrow families under our roof. They are welcome. The occasional queen wasp less so, but not here this year hopefully.

[simonineaston]

I feel no guilt.

There is a view that says it's exactly that position taken by the human animal that will lead to their demise - and by the looks of things, that demise won't be too long in coming! Look up hubris in a good dictionary.

[mercalia]

seems the rats are eating anything they can get their paws on, even pets

[ferrit worrier]

We've had a rat problem for some years now, but only in the garden so far, thankfully. They seem to love the compost bin - probably because (a) it's warm, and (b) there's lots of edible (?) stuff in there. They chew holes in the side of the (plastic) bin, which I then have to patch up with pieces cut off tin cans.

I've tried setting rat traps - the traditional, spring type, I'm afraid. I have no sympathy for rats, and if they get caught at least it's a quick death.

Well, I caught no rats - but I did catch a woodmouse in one of the traps, which I was a bit upset about, I wasn't out to kill mice in the wild. But that's what happened.

I then tried laying poison. I saw the rats come and take the bait and carry it off, but I've no idea whether they ate it or not. They came back for more.

So no go. The rats haven't been around for some months now (that's tempting fate! ). If they return, should I call in the pros? Rentokil? Pricey!

try a Daystate .22

[PDQ Mobile]

go into a torpor.

Mice liking cheese is a bit of a myth.

My little invaders took peanut butter, cheese and raisins quite happily. Until, of course, they triggered the trap.

So droll.
Made me chuckle, thanks.

[pete75]

We've had a rat problem for some years now, but only in the garden so far, thankfully. They seem to love the compost bin - probably because (a) it's warm, and (b) there's lots of edible (?) stuff in there. They chew holes in the side of the (plastic) bin, which I then have to patch up with pieces cut off tin cans.

I've tried setting rat traps - the traditional, spring type, I'm afraid. I have no sympathy for rats, and if they get caught at least it's a quick death.

Well, I caught no rats - but I did catch a woodmouse in one of the traps, which I was a bit upset about, I wasn't out to kill mice in the wild. But that's what happened.

I then tried laying poison. I saw the rats come and take the bait and carry it off, but I've no idea whether they ate it or not. They came back for more.

So no go. The rats haven't been around for some months now (that's tempting fate! ). If they return, should I call in the pros? Rentokil? Pricey!

Someone with ferrets and terriers may well do better than the likes of Rentokil.