I’ve got a mouse problem in the house. Normally only a problem in winter, they seem to have become an ongoing issue. i have caught I don’t know how many but still see them running around as bold as brass both day and night. The last couple of days there has been fibrey stuff poking out from the bottom of my oven. I know that the mice go under there so I pulled the bottom plat down to make sure they weren’t nesting in there. I am assuming that this is insulation material and it is supposed to be there? I can just poke it all back in and it is still safe to use the stove? I am reluctant to use baits as I don’t want to cause secondary poisoning but the traps I set are just not keeping up with them. Almost tempts one to get a cat!

They’re taking the insulation for nesting material. Your stove is fine to use if you just put it back in place.

As horrible as baits are, when it gets to this stage, they’re one of your best options.

Secondary poisoning is not so much of a problem these days. Modern baits are designed for rats and mice to have more than one feed and any animal scavenging corpses needs to eat several before secondary poisoning will occur. Or so they told me on my recent pest control course………

You really should use baits in proper bait stations as both rats and mice can take baits outside where other animals can get to them. That’s why the baits have a hole in them. At the very least, use some wire to anchor them. You need to put several around the outside of the house as well as inside. You need to keep baits out for a reasonable period of time as you need to knock out the next generation as well.

Obviously, make sure all your food is in glass or metal containers and keeping your kitchen nice and clean is your first line of defence. It doesn’t help when they’re in huge numbers though.

All the best advice Teleost.

They tend to die out I think, after they get to a certain population…well I hope so…have your neighbours got cats? You could encourage them over (with neighbours’ permission) and this would hopefully mean no additional cats in the neighbourhood. The cat does not need to actually catch mice: just live in the house The mice will be feeding on readily available stock feed and in your area there’s not much you can do about that…

What is a useless breed of cat? I do believe Siamese have too poor eyesight to catch mice (crosseyed and blue-eyed …the blue affects their focus or something…not recalling the details very well)…Pretty sure Burmese are “good” hunters but check it out…

The insulation is meant to be in the stove/oven … I’d only worry, myself, if there was none at all…

The traps I set… Though seems to be the problem. Either too many mice for them, not enough traps or the traps just aren’t working well enough. Some traps will catch multiple mice. Perhaps you should have one or two of these as well.

Dinetta said:

They tend to die out I think, after they get to a certain population…well I hope so…have your neighbours got cats? You could encourage them over (with neighbours’ permission) and this would hopefully mean no additional cats in the neighbourhood. The cat does not need to actually catch mice: just live in the house The mice will be feeding on readily available stock feed and in your area there’s not much you can do about that…

What is a useless breed of cat? I do believe Siamese have too poor eyesight to catch mice (crosseyed and blue-eyed …the blue affects their focus or something…not recalling the details very well)…Pretty sure Burmese are “good” hunters but check it out…

The insulation is meant to be in the stove/oven … I’d only worry, myself, if there was none at all…

Cats are useless mousers. I’d rather encourage snakes.

It’s the smell of the cats acting as a deterrent.
I’d rather have snakes as well.

I read a paper a couple of years ago that made the suggestion that rats and mice who have contracted toxoplasmosis are actually attracted to cats.

Teleost said:

It’s the smell of the cats acting as a deterrent.
I’d rather have snakes as well.

I read a paper a couple of years ago that made the suggestion that rats and mice who have contracted toxoplasmosis are actually attracted to cats.

yes. I read something like that as well.

roughbarked said:

Cats are useless mousers. I’d rather encourage snakes.

We had cats and snakes at the “old” place…just saying…

Thanks for all your thoughts. I will have to get some baits I think. At least I know my oven is OK to use, even though it is too hot atm.

bluegreen said:

Thanks for all your thoughts. I will have to get some baits I think. At least I know my oven is OK to use, even though it is too hot atm.

Bats??

Dinetta said:

bluegreen said:

Thanks for all your thoughts. I will have to get some baits I think. At least I know my oven is OK to use, even though it is too hot atm.

Bats??

Baits B-A-I-T-S…this monitor is on the way out, the laptop screen reads much better…I ask to be excused for mistakes on account of I don’t have spectacles for reading at the moment…