Have a loft full of clog dancers

[jennib]

We have been invaded by a large family of Loirs and they are making our lives a living hell - would welcome ideas on how to get rid of them.

[andyh4]

A cat is strong deterent

[LEO]

Put the rent up!

[WJT]

The old fashioned strong smelling mothballs worked for us. I had read that they are a good deterrent and spread them around the loft and it worked.

[JeanS]

Are the fouines - if so, moth balls will do the trick. Also we took the advice of previous threads and used chicken netting to block the holes under the eaves - that was after we removed some tiles and cleared out the 'nest/toilet' We off back to the UK for the winter so we hope we don't come back to find they've returned next year.

[JohnRoss]

We have blocked every visible hole to the outside and used ultra sound squeakers and traps. Hole blocking has not stopped them and the ultra sound just moves them to another part of the house. Humane traps work baited with apple and each one caught gets a free ride to the woods some k's away but still they come. Won't use poison as we have house cats which are not interested and cannot get between the walls anyway and owls eat loir and we don't want to kill owls. Moth balls did not work for us and we have tried other nasty niff repellants all to little effect so if you find something that works please share...................JR

[Anton Redman II]

Our cat is one of the few mamals that make me seem easy going but versus Martens he would loose every time

[JeanS]

Another thought - have you tried oil of peppermint on cotton wool balls - throw them around the loft space and at the entry points. Some-one I spoke to locally said it worked - it's also mentioned in a previous thread.

[andyh4]

I wonder how we have moved from the OP's loir to fourine.  No I would not expect  a  cat to win against a fourine either.

[pachapapa]

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/2269623/ShowPost.aspx

[Framboise]

You have my sympathies. We have lerots - I don't know about clogs because these little blighters have army boots in which they crash about in our ceilings upstairs. Its seems the more of 'em we relocate, the more we get.

[water rat]

I've written about this before on the forum,but thought this would be an opportunity for an update. We have learnt to live with our lerots since giving up the battle in 2003. What about their reputation for gnawing electrics,I hear you cry! Well so far no probs,no smell just an occasional wall of death display in the salon to the delight of the cats. They seem to spend most of their time within the walls which are 2 feet thick. Don't spend too much on fantastic devices, nothing works!

[connolls]

Hi,

Sorry to show my ignorance, but what are these things ??? Never heard of any of them.

Any info for me ?

Thanks Mel.

[JohnRoss]

Loir or glis glis or large fat edible dormouse videos here: http://www.arkive.org/fat-dormouse/glis-glis/video-00.html

Cute lérot video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZJMypN6Lzc

Fouine or Stone Martin http://www.univ-lehavre.fr/cybernat/pages/martfoin.htm

Little blighters will all be asleep for the winter soon so no more clog dancing until the Spring!...........JR

[andyh4]

 

www.planetepassion.eu has information about loir, lerot and fourrine (martins)

[JohnRoss]

The loir must be reading this and want to prove me wrong as during the last few days have caught 6 of the little blighters and last night two at a time. I suspect they are looking for somewhere to hibernate and come up the ventilation tubes from the roof space in our extension and into the grenier or in this case a humane trap. They all get a free ride to the woods several ks away and half an apple. They tend to swear at you when frightened, sort of a low pitch gargling noise and very loud........................JR

 

[JohnRoss]

Now reached number 8 this morning and so another trip to the woods!!! ....................JR

Ps 10 now, will they never start to hibernate?

 

[Framboise]

Ours are still crashing about too.

I relocate mine down by the recycling station about 2ks from here where theres a few old barns not far from the road. Quite appropriate really!

Neverthless I have the niggling feeling that the devious little monsters hitchhike back here as soon as another car comes along.

We have given up now effectively - they've been living-in a whole lot longer than we have I guess!

[water rat]

Once you give up the battle ,it becomes easier to live with them .After all they've probably been living in our property for nigh on 2 hundred years. I never felt enthusiastic about trying to wipe them out in the first place.

[JeanS]

We had lerots for years - they are so sweet. As others - we just caught them and then took them down the lane and let them out. However since the forine problem last winter, they have not returned - as least they hadn't as at the end of Sept. when we shut the house up for the winter.

[Gyn_Paul]

I know this is an old posting.. I found it after a search for 'fouines', but thought it might be a good place to start - the title is certainly apt : something  is living in the small flat part of the cathederal roof of our living room (steeple you fingers together, then flex the top knuckle joins and you'll get the idea).

It is noisiest in late afternoon when the room is quiet, although it's clearly active at night as I came down the other morning to discover not only the usual light dusting of dead wasps falling out of the ventilation holes in the recessed lights fitted in this bit of flat ceiling, but evidence of what I first took to be a water leak, but now suspect might be urine (something under a half a cupful from 5m up, dried as dark brown splashes all over the new flat-screen TV oh good!).

My late cat caught a lerot in the adjoining room a few weeks ago, but this sounds w-a-y more noisy.

Incidentally, I thought lerots hibernated.... yet we were troubled by them (deafened more like) in a stone wall in -10C in February.

[JeanS]

Sounds like the dreaded fouines.

[water rat]

Yes, although they do hibernate, it's not cold enough yet. They'll be out and about on any warm day .

We have a chambres d'hotes and sometimes the guests hear their particular song ( bit like a jew's harp). A particular gentleman seemed somewhat sensitive and asked if the place was haunted 'cos he thought he saw someone playing a guitar at the foot of the bed," Oh no, that's the dormouse" I replied. Apparently, he sat up the following night to catch the lerot playing a guitar!

We always explain it away by saying this is the depths of the countryside and a bit of wildlife must be expected. Some people are fascinated and would love to see them,,,,,they are cute,but I would love to be rid of them. The english name is garden dormouse . Makes them sound so romantic!

[JohnRoss]

The link I gave earlier says this about fouines: "The weasel kills everything that moves, so they make carnage in poultry houses. Indeed, the chickens are restless frightened in all directions, and the weasel will kill them until nothing moves." Whereas the loir, large grey edible dormouse brought to France by the Romans to eat, are eaters of fruits and nuts and is quite a different animal!........JR

PS Caught about 16 in humane traps in the grenier this year and as usual each gets half an apple and a trip 7ks away and release into the wild.

[Théière]

[quote user="JohnRoss"]Whereas the loir, large grey edible dormouse brought to France by the Romans to eat.[/quote]

Any recipes [;-)]