Wood mice taken up residence in cavity insulation

[silverfoxcc]

Had visual confirmation of these wandering around the kitchen at night. Have put do a live catch trap* with sunflower seds, currants and chocolate but the buggers are bypassing this and getting onto the table to have a go at the apples,

Got a nightcam shot of them behind th extl airbrick which being plastic they have chewed a bit to get in. They exit into the kitchen where there was a reptair to the water pipe and it looks like as the had to chip away at the inner brick/breezeblock the plumbers breeched into the cavity

I dont mind them living in the shed, but it is doing my nut in cleaning up each morning bits of insulation spread about

• my main idea is to catch them and retain them in a large box and when there is no sign of activity .cement up the hole, but without their copperation it could be a long haul

No 2 on the list is to cement up the hole and hope they decide to move on back outside.. Then i can put a rodent proof airbrick in its place. Mrs fox doesnt like to idea of them starving to death...nor do i but they are outstaying their welcome

No 3 is to get he heavy mob in.. but i dont like spending money

$ would the council do it cheaper?


The Ins co are not interested as it it outside their 48hr limit of notification... although we only confirmed it on Wed night when i got the video of the inside the airbrick


Any suggestions as to overcome this problem

[55palfers]

A couple of these, baited with peanut butter.

Very effective. Just remember to check every day.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/pest-stop-plastic-metal...

[Nightmare]

I think he’s already made it clear he doesn’t want to kill them. Plus a lethal trap isn’t any better at attracting a smart mouse than a live catch one. They don’t have some magic ‘lure the mouse in’ spell you realise?

Anyway…..could you remove any other sort of available food from the open kitchen for a few nights and maybe place the live trap where the apples were? Mice will return to where they previously got food pretty much every time

Also if they got in from outside then they can get back out……so blocking the place they get in to the kitchen is highly unlikely to create a death trap for them I would think?

More importantly - can we see the video?!

[Mobile Chicane]

The answer to this is not to leave any type of food lying around.

Tub up all dry goods, and store bread in a bread bin. Hate to say it, fruit looks pretty in a bowl but will attract any kind of roving wildlife.

The permanent solution is of course, cats.

[oldagepensioner]

silverfoxcc said:

Had visual confirmation of these wandering around the kitchen at night. Have put do a live catch trap* with sunflower seds, currants and chocolate but the buggers are bypassing this and getting onto the table to have a go at the apples,

Got a nightcam shot of them behind th extl airbrick which being plastic they have chewed a bit to get in. They exit into the kitchen where there was a reptair to the water pipe and it looks like as the had to chip away at the inner brick/breezeblock the plumbers breeched into the cavity

I dont mind them living in the shed, but it is doing my nut in cleaning up each morning bits of insulation spread about

• my main idea is to catch them and retain them in a large box and when there is no sign of activity .cement up the hole, but without their copperation it could be a long haul

No 2 on the list is to cement up the hole and hope they decide to move on back outside.. Then i can put a rodent proof airbrick in its place. Mrs fox doesnt like to idea of them starving to death...nor do i but they are outstaying their welcome

No 3 is to get he heavy mob in.. but i dont like spending money

$ would the council do it cheaper?


The Ins co are not interested as it it outside their 48hr limit of notification... although we only confirmed it on Wed night when i got the video of the inside the airbrick


Any suggestions as to overcome this problem

First of all no more mr nice guy.In my experience humane traps don't work.So hide any food and use the traps that kill.Any breed of mouse is not a threatened species,They have no bladder so are constantly pissing every where and contaminating everything they touch.The best bait i have found is ham or chocolate and i am saying this as an animal lover

[trickysummer]

I had a similar problem last month, each morning I found small pieces of PIR insulation around a gap between the wood floor and skirting, there was a plastic air brick on the wall right behind it which had been chewed through. I used a humane trap with chocolate spread as bait, caught 2 mice, 1 each night & released them into the woods a mile from my house. All signs of rodents have stopped, just need to get some air brick anti rodent grills to fit. I bought this trap which I expected to be junk, but worked really well.

[oldagepensioner]

Your idea of keeping them in a box reminded me of a video i saw recently on YT.It was a bucket with some bait in it which was covered with a thin plastic sheet with a cross shaped slot in it.When lured to the centre of the of the bucket they would fall through the slot.Also cover your air bricks with metal covers.If you can't find any at your local DIY store you could try making some with sheet metal and a very small drill.

[FMOB]

oldagepensioner said:

Your idea of keeping them in a box reminded me of a video i saw recently on YT.It was a bucket with some bait in it which was covered with a thin plastic sheet with a cross shaped slot in it.When lured to the centre of the of the bucket they would fall through the slot.Also cover your air bricks with metal covers.If you can't find any at your local DIY store you could try making some with sheet metal and a very small drill.

Then I recommend you don't go looking for Mousetrap Monday on Google or Youtube.