condorman Posted October 16, 2004 Share Posted October 16, 2004 Bonjour, Ive recently been to my Barn in dept 12, and i found its been taken over by the locals, there are absolouly loads of these loirs inside, they are in the roof and the walls, ive read a bit about them, they are also called edible doormice, they are fairly large and friendly and they look great, any advice?? They were there first, i dont mind sharing, I have lots of apple trees and they seem to like these, has anybody had any problembs with them?? will they wreck the place ??Ideally ill put up a shed in the garden and encourage them out with something, maybee ultrasonics?? looks like ill have to wait a while as they are about to hibernate.I found some praying mantisis as well whooopeee the wild life is gggggreaaaat, im off , this forum is superb, ive learn loads latley, moving to estang near Rodez in March.....ch ch chow everyone.....Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 Sorry but whilst they look cute they can be very destructive. I have posted a bit about these on this forum and the Total France Forum and our on going battle to get them to go and live somewhere else. See: http://www.livingfrance.com/instantforum/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=19&MessageID=38886andhttp://www.totalfrance.com/france/forum/viewtopic.php?t=426&start=0In a nutshell, they destroy house inter-wall and ceiling insulation. They may nibble the wiring. They pee on your ceilings and the pong is horrible. They run about at night in their doc martins and keep you awake. They raid fruit and nuts stored in the house. They breed like rabbits. We catch them in large non-lethal rat traps and transport them several kilometres away for release into the woods. 21 caught last year and 10 so far this year. They hibernate for several months, hence the French expression "To sleep like a loir". I would not put down poison as the raptors that prey on them would be at risk, also feral cats could be poisoned as well but I would get them out if possible. We have so far not prevented them getting into our house, they tunnel in through the cellar walls and under the roof tiles. After a time you tend to get a bit paranoid about them! Lots on the net about them under Glis glishttp://www.glirarium.org/dormouse/paper-glisreview-morris97.html.........Good luck..................John in Dept 79 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
condorman Posted October 17, 2004 Author Share Posted October 17, 2004 Thank you Jackie n John for the information, i didn't realise they were so destrutive, So ive changed my tune a bit, thanks for all the links to info. ill get reading. The peeing on the celing bit did it for me, mind you between my socks and my girlfriends wind we might be able to drive them out without resorting to force, lets hope so, thanks again ...mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted October 17, 2004 Share Posted October 17, 2004 Hi again. Re loir and smells. Despite the 'orrible smells they make the way to frighten them off may be linked to nasty smells. It has been suggested by the notable academic Dr Pat Morris that they may be deterred by strong smelling oily substances. Moth balls don't work really, I did try pushing these down the mole holes in our lawn as well as in the wall spaces of the house but the little b*****s just pushed them back up again! Coming back to the loir, it was suggested that I try creosote and if you are doing up the roof timbers of your barn I guess you could slap some around on the beams before cladding them. Trouble is that creosote is very hard to get here as I believe it may have been banned in Europe, have not seen any in the Brico places of late. The loir when they die of old age or whatever in your wall or ceiling spaces, attract thousands of little flies, something else to get rid of. A bit like the seven plagues of Egypt! The comment about peeing on the ceilings is based on the experiences of some friends of mine who live nearby and who had all their upstairs ceilings replaced as the pong was really bad. It is a good idea to block up any holes, they can get in through very small holes for an animal the size of a squirrel, as you go about your restoration. Anyway good luck and if you find a better way of getting rid of the blighters do let us all know, the jury is still out on ultrasonics but many think that does not work either!...............John in Dept 79 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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