# Mice in walls. Please help.



## Mousehelp (5 Mar 2017)

On the verge of moving out of my house with my children at the moment. Have mice in the walls - can hear them over the ceiling (between upstairs and downstairs) and In The walls. Have not seen Them or any evidence in the house. Have had pest control out before Christmas and a few times since and they sealed up any potential entrances and laid poison. They Claim poison has not been touched. Main wall of activity is an internal wall and not one adjoining my neighbours. Pest control said there is nothing else they can do and the problem is getting worse. Adjoining Neighbours have seen or heard nothing.

I have set traps upstairs and in every room downstairs, but nothing. Am really at my wits end. I cannot sit downstairs in the evening and night time without hearing them behind me. Finding it difficult to sleep and have a constant headache due to the stress. I cannot afford to move out of the house. Please, can anyone help. Nobody seems to have an answer and every night the problem seems to be getting worse.


----------



## Daffodils (5 Mar 2017)

Hey

We had mice in the walls & could hear them in the floor boards between upstairs and downstairs. We put a few traps in the attic with Recees peanutbutter cups on them. We caught about 4 mice and haven't heard anything since. 

Its very stressful I hope you get it sorted.


----------



## Mousehelp (5 Mar 2017)

Thanks for the reply Daffodil. My attic is hard to access - did you put the traps In The eves of the attic - don't think I could get in there.


----------



## cremeegg (5 Mar 2017)

Maybe the noise is something else and not mice.

If you can hear mice like this there should be droppings everywhere. Mice are not difficult to catch in traps. Rentokil are big company that like to do ongoing contracts in business premises, there are lots of smaller specialist contractors that might be more knowledgable than a Rentokil operative.

Sealing up the entrances is no good if they are already in the house.

The best thing for mice is a cat. Perhaps you dont want a cat, but if you are thinking of moving surely a cat is better.

Investigate what else it might be other than mice.


----------



## Mousehelp (5 Mar 2017)

What else could it be creamegg? Can hear them scurrying, so not birds etc. Could it be that they are staying I. The walls/ceilings and not coming into the house? Checked everywhere again today with torch for droppings but nothing. Rats I think would have chewed out of the wall at this stage and caused more damage. 
Co I got wasnt rentakill but one of the smaller ones. Have a dog so will need to put him in kennels if I had to borrow a cat, but would quite gladly at this stage, although I hate cats (but not as much as I hate mice!)


----------



## peemac (5 Mar 2017)

Cats are not good for mice in walls - they just go after any small moving object. 

You won't see droppings if they are in the walls and any gaps sealed up.

Traps in attic will probably be best. You could also try the plug in ultrasonic gadgets - they work in many, but not all cases.  Might be best to have combination of ultrasonic to drive the mice to the attic and traps to catch them.


----------



## aprentice (5 Mar 2017)

You could cut a few sections out of the walls in inconspicous places to place bait/traps and patch them up when your happy there gone 
I also heard something about straw from a ferrit cage from the petstore


----------



## Kenbo (5 Mar 2017)

Hi Mousehelp
No need to move out.
There should be droppings like old dry tea leaves all around.
Best to buy 6 steel mouse traps and bait with cooked rasher rind which is well secured to the trap.
Place in attic or hot press and leave for a day or two.
Also buy some grain based mouse poison or glue boards in local co-op store.
When you get results then you can seal up the entry points.
Don't waste money on those sound emitters.
Should clear the problem.
Kenbo


----------



## Daffodils (5 Mar 2017)

I literally put them just inside the entrance to the attic. They smell the bait. I didn't find any droppings in the house but I have a few of those ultrasonic things plugged in around the house so they may not have come out of the walls.

I wouldn't recommend getting a cat... I did a few years ago and ended up getting rid of them.


----------



## Mousehelp (5 Mar 2017)

Thanks so much everyone for your help. Have 2 electronic plug In Devices already in the house. That's good that traps were just at the entrance Daffodil - don't fancy going up to the attic and trying to get up into the corners. Will replace my peanut butter with rasher rind and also Nutella. Have 9 set but will get more tomorrow. Didn't have any traps at the moment in the attic but will put in tomorrow. Oh please God may they be gone then - really at my wits end. So much for that bloody pest patrol company - should have kept my €160! Will keep you posted.


----------



## noproblem (5 Mar 2017)

If it's the attic and there's no droppings you might have a few bats up there. They're pretty common in some areas of the country but are a protected species and you can't kill them.


----------



## michaelm (6 Mar 2017)

A few sprung wooden traps baited with chocolate (maybe just cut up a Twix) placed behind the kickboards in the kitchen should do the trick (the kickboards should just pull off/push on).


----------



## MrEarl (6 Mar 2017)

Hello,

Just to add, we also use a few of the plug in electronic devices - which thankfully seem to have worked.  That said, we've left them on since the day we bought them so no doubt they are adding to the electricity bill.


----------



## postman pat (6 Mar 2017)

Mousehelp said:


> On the verge of moving out of my house with my children at the moment. Have mice in the walls - can hear them over the ceiling (between upstairs and downstairs) and In The walls. Have not seen Them or any evidence in the house. Have had pest control out before Christmas and a few times since and they sealed up any potential entrances and laid poison. They Claim poison has not been touched. Main wall of activity is an internal wall and not one adjoining my neighbours. Pest control said there is nothing else they can do and the problem is getting worse. Adjoining Neighbours have seen or heard nothing.
> 
> I have set traps upstairs and in every room downstairs, but nothing. Am really at my wits end. I cannot sit downstairs in the evening and night time without hearing them behind me. Finding it difficult to sleep and have a constant headache due to the stress. I cannot afford to move out of the house. Please, can anyone help. Nobody seems to have an answer and every night the problem seems to be getting worse.


Hi,
   When i saw your post, it reminded me of where I live a few years ago i heard a lot of activity in the attic etc.I put mice and rat bait up there but it still continued until one day it was really bad and I just happened to go outside,on the ridge tiles there were loads of crows picking at the moss and strolling along,and the noise they were making was going down through my timber framed house.
Im not saying this is definately your problem,but its worth a thought.


     regards Pat

ps... it really did sound like mice!!


----------



## Mousehelp (6 Mar 2017)

Ok. Nothing in traps today. Had to leave the house this morning - friend over for coffee and it sounded like a child upstairs and we both ran from the house. Really convinced it's Rats now. That would explain why they have not eaten the poison which is in small blue holders. Here in a coffee shop in tears now, totally freeking out. Have left message with HSE to get their advise and the bloody pest control company that told me it was mice. Have heard behind kitchen presses last week also so definitely not birds Pat - so wish it was. Really panicking now.


----------



## so-crates (6 Mar 2017)

I've had the jackdaws making a similar racket to postman pat (and as it turns out, some little blighter in the attic that I am currently trying to catch!) and the birds tend to make more of a racket. It might be worth just confirming first that there is something rattling about inside the roof. Good quality dark chocolate seems to bring them out, leave a small piece in the attic or behind the kickboard on the presses and see does it get consumed - if it does then you know there is something there and you also know where to place a trap for it. If you can manage it, dust the area around the chocolate with flour, that way you will get an idea of the size of the problem too. Then you will know what you need to do to tackle it. I'm not a fan of poison, especially if the carcass is going to be irretrievable (and by they sounds of things it will be), better to know you've disposed of it rather than have it mouldering in your walls!


----------



## michaelm (7 Mar 2017)

Mousehelp said:


> Really panicking now.


It's most likely just a few mice.  I've had/heard mice getting around the walls and ceiling/floor, upstairs and down, and I've always caught them within a few days with a couple of sprung wooden traps baited with chocolate (cut up Twix or Snickers) placed behind the kickboards in the kitchen.  I wouldn't use poison.


----------



## Kenbo (7 Mar 2017)

Difference between rats and mice is like night and day....rats are very noisy and cause damage mice are less noisy and cause only light damage.Bait traps,use glue boards and you will see what you are dealing with after this you can plan what to do....HSE service is free.Kenbi


----------



## roncondon (12 Mar 2017)

Well Mousehelp mice or something else?


----------



## extramild (12 Mar 2017)

A word of advice - I don't like using bait for two reasons - use traps

- If the mice/rat eats the bait and then dies in your wall you could be left with decaying mouse in your cavity walls.  Better to trap them and then throw away the body IMHO
- You don't know what will eat the bait (passing cat, dog, etc) You may end up killing something you don't intent.

Stick to traps, peanut butter works well or bacon grease.
Top tip - try smearing the trap in bacon grease or something similar to hide your smell on the trap (this works for rats also)


----------



## Mousehelp (13 Mar 2017)

Many thanks everyone for your advise. I have had success! Puts traps with peanut butter in every room. Also in the attic (melted Nutella on these ones) on a posters recommendation even though it was the only place I didn't hear them! Caught 1 mouse after 24 hours and not a sound since. Delighted. The pest control guy came out again and he found my deceased mouse. After all his laying of poison etc, delighted it was caught in a trap as at least he is gone now and no smells to cont no with.
All possible access sites have been sealed up. 
I know you seldom have 1 mouse, but nothing else in traps yet. It was a male mouse caught - imagine they actually look! 
Lovely to be able to sit down, relax and enjoy myself in th house again. Thanks to everyone for their help.


----------



## so-crates (13 Mar 2017)

Great news mousehelp and glad it was just a mouse (as a rule if you find mice you won't find rats!). Just make sure you do a very thorough clean down of your kitchen and any food prep areas you have. You'll need to empty out all cupboards and remove anything from all surfaces before cleaning and disinfecting. The little blighters are not particular about where they defecate!


----------



## Mousehelp (13 Mar 2017)

Thanks So-crates. Have cleaned out all presses and disinfected them all. No sign of any mouse evidence or others them. Only access to presses is from the holes where plugs go through from back of a couple of the presses - near fridge and cooker. Put everything in plastic container (thanks Dealz and Mr Price) the peace is just wonderful. Still nothing in the traps so maybe just the one, noisy mouse.


----------

