Published on 12, July, 2020
About 8 months ago I reported to my landlord that there was slight damage to the side of the roof. The wooden panel broke and some crows nested in there. The landlord had to wait for them to go and that time went and heard he was going to fix it but nothing. The landlord hurt himself and he's now in hospital.
He is a handyman and does all the work. A month ago I called pest control from the council l as I heard a thing run in the ceiling at around 11 to 12 pm. The guy came and he left bait (a yellow block) that was none toxic not sure what it does. Straight away he said it was a mouse but I don't know.
There was an old mouse poison left there with an old mouse poo but told him it was before I moved in.
He said not a lot you can do to stop them as all the houses are attached and they move from one house to another.
He left and the rodent took the bait but no poo was to be seen, this was a couple of weeks later and tried to contact him but he was away. We did email the council and a time later a new guy came. He did not seem as knowledgeable as the other guy and was not sure what it was.
He first said it was a crow as he saw them sitting by the hole and could hear them from the attic. Waiting for its bait?
I told him the time I heard them and said it's not a bird but a rodent. He left a none toxic bag (the bag is biodegradable) with pellets in it and I have no idea what it was but said it was non-toxic. Left that and said to call him in a week, which will be a Monday.
Something like a rodent took small bites in the bag and removed some pellets but again no poo. Mice poo wherethey eat?
I got a little bit nervous and left an old spring trap but did not go off properly. I put some of the yellow bait on it from a different area that the mouse did not go to so that seems secure (he put two blocks in the other part and just took the one so there is still one at that end and will keep an eye on it).
To be honest, I'm scared I don't want to lose anything I have as it all means so much to me, I cleaned the whole flat and put every bit of food In containers and don't leave any rubbish out and I hover more.
What do I need to do? I bought some mouse traps from Amazon. If they had more baby's you would know right? He leaves the flat every day at around 11 to 12 pm and have no idea when he comes back. This has been over a month now as well.
I just want to feel safe and my life would be over if I lose everything.
Thanks
We had an infestation with two species of mouse, house mice and field mice. Their urine smells unpleasant and they defaecate a lot but they do not do much in the way of physical damage. Making sure that food and food waste is securely contained is a good way of discouraging them. Poison and traps are also useful. If you can afford it, professional pest control is useful as they usually have a lot of know-how and specialist poisons and ways to administer it. I would not become too upset about them, they are not a particular threat to your property. Though they can potentially transmit diseases, this is not a significant problem in the UK. Beware reading pest-control company litereature on the internet, as they exaggerate damage and health risks, because it is in their commercial interest to do so.
We baited and put out traps, though in a rather limited way as we had a cat and did not want it poisoned or injured, and they eventually disappeared.
Why do I not see new dropping's? They were a previous poison set-out years before and it had mice droppings in it and the new rodent did eat the droppings.
A hole in the roof would be a relatively unusual point of entry for a mouse. They can get through any space that their head can fit through. Mice usually gain entry through gaps around floor joists from adjoining properties; from the outside, it is through gaps in brickwork, or gaps around doors and windows, or even through air-bricks. Mice defaecate anywhere that they feel safe, so often in corners, behind furniture and suchlike. They usually like to keep their sides to a wall when they move around, so traps and bait are placed against walls. If you are not seeing fresh exreta then you do not have many mice, or possibly none, perhaps it is a bird after all. Some birds might be attracted to rodent bait.
Lots of councils have cut back their pest control resources and now usually employ contractors. The legal responsibility lies with your landlord, but if the landlord does not take reasonable action, like employing a pest control company, then the council can directly employ pest controllers and bill the landlord.
If a rat has no food source it will usually go away, but it can nest somewhere and forage elsewhere. From what you say it sounds as if whatever is making the noise is just using your house as a route, so while being careful with food and food waste yourself is useful, it may not get rid of the problem.
You can get pre-baited rat and mouse 'stations' - plastic boxes containing poisoned bait in block form. With these there is less danger to yourself as you do not directly touch anything that is poisonous. There are also mechanical and electical traps, which you add an attractant, like chocolate or peanut butter or specialised rodent bait. Using rubber gloves is a good idea when hadling traps and bait-boxes. The traps and poison stations differ in size depending on whether mice or rats are being targeted.
To be used effectively you need to find the route the rodent is using, looking for faeces and, as they keep close to walls, they tend to leave dark smears from their fur at any choke points on their routes. You need to place any traps or poison boxes on the routes, usually directly up agianst a wall.
Ok I got a message back from the council (not social service) and they just said to use peanut butter.
That's it.