MICE

[Souillac205]

We have a holiday home in the Lot region and have just arrived back after a week there. We have a problem MICE (hopefully not rats) who keep us awake running around. I have 3 electronic mice repellers -yes 3 and have put anti rat blocks around. We have tried moth balls. Our house is in a forest  and is made of wood like a chalet type. The roof space is minimum as the bedrooms are in the attic and when we are in bed I can hear them at head level.

Can anyone help we do not want to put mouse traps down as if they died and start to rot !!!

We do rent out the house and have had comments about the squirrels in the roof -we have never seen any squirrels.... I think the mice had their hob nail boots on that week.

Any help is so much appreciated. Are their firms like rentokil in France.

Thanks

Pam

[Quillan]

Firms like Rentokil will probably use poison. I would suggest you look for their 'runs' like near the edges of the rooms and place some of these traps that don't hurt the mice, you find them in most DIY or gardening stores, you can then 'relocate' them elsewhere. I guess your biggest problem is not being there although if you are there for a week or two you could try them then.

[Souillac205]

We have no sign in the house of any mice it is just the noise they make at night and in the evenings. Scratching around.

Does anyone know of any company's who would check the house for us at all in the Dordogne region.

Thanks

Pam

[chrisb]

If you haven't seen any visual evidence of the mice - i.e. droppings - it may be that what you're hearing in the roof space are bats?

Not that that helps you I know.

[JandM]

I've heard that there are poisons that dry the body out to a virtual tissue so that it doesn't attract flies or smell. Don't know any more than that, I'm afraid. Perhaps someone on here knows more. Maybe worth a try, unless you are opposed to killing the wee fellows in principle.

[NickP]

Are you sure it's not the Fouine, are the noises in the early hours of the morning? The Fouine (beech marten or stone marten) clomps across the plasterboard at around 4.00am. I ask; as you say there are no signs of mice. Look in the garden and see if there are any signs as the Fouine tends to mark its territory with it's droppings (black).

[Souillac205]

Thanks everyone

I am also concerned that i we get rid of the animals this year how can we stop them appearing again.

We have 3 ultra sonic repellers and they haven't work...........help

Pam

[Quillan]

Whilst I understand your humane feelings there is only one way to deal with these things, kill the whatsit. We had moles, I got some of those electronic mole things but they didn't work. I tried gassing but the barstewards had a load of gas marks delivered. Poison didn't work either, I woke up to find little signs in 'mole' saying 'Don't eat this' by each load of poison. The final solution was to get one of those machines that basically blows them to smithereens, not very nice I know but we no longer have moles. For mice and rats we have 3 very good hunting cats although not a practical solution for you I guess.

However if you can't find droppings as somebody says its probably bats not mice. If it is mice then I think you have to go for mice traps and poison. The only way to stop them coming back is to very closely examine the exterior of your house for any small gaps they can get through.

[cookie]

lol yes, unfortunately Qullian is correct.

my family has tried everything, and traps are the only thing that work.

if you want to be humane there are "sticky" traps too, like glue paper. however some rats have been known to chew off their own legs in an effort to escape those, so it might really not be more humane after all.

put the traps in a location you can check often, so their dead bodies don't "rot" somewhere unreachable.

[delin65]

Get yourself a Jack Russell we don't get any. If we do he makes short work of them. Del

[Just Chris]

We get mice in the house occasionally. We have three cats, two of which are good mousers, so a combination of cat and trap usually sorts the problem out. I can't be squeamish, I'm afraid - it's them or us, and it definitely isn't going to be us!

As a corollary, the cats lap up the praise for catching the mice, but have an annoying habit of catching mice OUTSIDE, then bringing them in, dropping them and losing them amongst the furniture. So we're never entirely sure whether mice found inside originated outside, or vice versa.

Chris

[Keni]

We also had problems with Loures? I gather they are about as big as large rats and love gnawing things, such as wiring and wood. They sound like mice in hobnails as you said and their wee smells like tomcats gone very wrong! You only have to go up into the loft to know if you have them because of the smell.

[Braco]

Hi Quillan

I would love to know more about the mole machines as everything I have tried up to now has failed.

Thank you

[bubbles]

That's a coincidence - there was a bit on (UK)tv this morning about moles and the problems they cause. I didn't pay an awful lot of attention at the time but do remember them saying that the mole population is now so great that there is one mole for every human!

Mole catchers are doing great business apparently.