Dealing with dead mice - risk of disease?

[MichaelW2]

The internetz agree that mouse droppings and urine are unpleasant and can harbour disease so use apprpriate PPE. First disinfect with a spray of bleach solution. Collect up all of the droppings for safe disposal. Finally deodorize with a spray of vinegar solution. By the time your sojourne ends, your landlord will have a fragrant and safe accomodation.

 

[Gazjacko]

There is NEVER a single mouse! A large mouse might be a small rat! Peanut butter is a good bait and if using a humane trap you need to put some miles between your house and the set free because they are well known to return.

 

[Profpointy]

Get a cat. One smell of the cat and the mice will leave.

You can relax about risk of disease unless it's carrying bubonic plague

Mmm, we didn't really have a rat problem until the cat started bringing live ones in to play with - typically at 3 in the morning

 

[BoldonLad]

I wouldn't have been amused at being patronised by being called 'the wife' nor by having secrets kept from me.

For what it is worth, I do not "patronise" my wife, by referring to her as "the wife", it was simply a shorter form of typing,... happy to have not amused you

 

[MartinQ]

The attic stinks of dried urine, some of the smell has even got into one of the bedrooms, which we are using for storage. I am quite worried about even going up there to check the traps. My first trap caught a large mouse last night ten minutes after we went to bed, I heard the snap then a commotion then the mouse shuddering as it died.

The landlord has instructed the pest controllers to come but they are mad busy at this time of year. They came a month ago and set bait, a mouse died and our bedroom absolutely stank for two weeks.

I'm already suffering a mental breakdown so this is doing me no good at all. Thank God our cat is lodging with us, which is probably what's keeping the mice out of the kitchen as they will be smelling her. Everyone has got mice at this time of year.

If you're close I can send our mouse dispatched in chief. 3 brought in from the garden at night and suitably dispatched in a week.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Rats are another thing though as weils disease can be caught from rats urinating on tin cans, then passers by pick the cans up and end up suffering.

There is NEVER a single mouse! A large mouse might be a small rat!

One good thing about having Mice you can be sure there are no Rats, they do not coexist, if Rats move in Mice will move out very quickly.

 

[Shreds]

Was working away and my wife saw one in the hall. Immediately despatched with a frying pan apparently. I was sent a pic of the pan with the indentation of a mouse outline in it. (Think similar to Tom & Jerry cartoon!)

 

[ianbarton]

The landlord has instructed the pest controllers to come but they are mad busy at this time of year. They came a month ago and set bait, a mouse died and our bedroom absolutely stank for two weeks.

Don't use bait. The mice will die under the floorboards, or somewhere similar and spend weeks decomposing giving the whole house a nasty smell.

 

[Kingfisher101]

Rent another place. I wouldnt live in a rented place with loads of mice running about, XXXX that!. Its different if its your own property.

 

[Globalti]

Unfortunately we are stuck here. We have sold our beautiful mouse-free home in Lancashire and moved to Scotland to be near our new build, which was supposed to be finished in July. This poxy bungalow is half a mile from the plot in an extremely quiet location (one reason for building here in the first place) but it's a holiday cottage not a long-term let. Beware the holiday cottage that's still free at the end of summer when everything else is booked solid. It belonged to an elderly widow so it's full of old people's junk. Just about the only good points are proximity to the plot, incredible peace and it's warm and dry with a plentiful supply of wood for the stove. But the feckin mice are doing my head in and now I've persuaded the owner to give me the key to the attic I've realised it's so filthy up there that at ought not to be rented at all. Even going up to clear out all the crap would be harmful to health as you would inhale all the dry mouse droppings.

But we've no choice, our cat is with us, probably she's the reason why the mice haven't come inside yet, and there's nowhere else suitable close by. Any other holiday cottage would certainly also have mice so we'd be no better off and most holiday cottages are old Victorian, stone and freezing cold and damp, no good for the impending winter. There wouldn't be any point in renting a house as it would mean two moves of furniture and would be for a minimum of six months.

So we have succeeded in getting ourselves into a horrible horrible situation but at least we are safe and secure. Everybody else in the village is also suffering with mice and the pest control guys are mad busy. All I can do is keep listening for that loud clack as a trap goes off and hope I can make a difference to the infestation. The rodent guys will lay poison and a mouse will die inside and stink like the last one did.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

The attic stinks of dried urine, some of the smell has even got into one of the bedrooms, which we are using for storage. I am quite worried about even going up there to check the traps. My first trap caught a large mouse last night ten minutes after we went to bed, I heard the snap then a commotion then the mouse shuddering as it died.

The landlord has instructed the pest controllers to come but they are mad busy at this time of year. They came a month ago and set bait, a mouse died and our bedroom absolutely stank for two weeks.

I'm already suffering a mental breakdown so this is doing me no good at all. Thank God our cat is lodging with us, which is probably what's keeping the mice out of the kitchen as they will be smelling her. Everyone has got mice at this time of year.

Give the cat a treat- put her the attic for a night?

 

[Shreds]

I reckon tour mice need potty training.

 

[Speicher]

"Hey, woman, there's a rodent in there with your name on it!"

(I've never been married, but in that situation I imagine that I would schedule a meeting to determine which of us was most like to be able to solve the infestation with the minimum of stress/fuss. And I would ask her to phone me when she had finished and it was safe for me to come back to the house! )

I spose you want me to deal with the snakes as well?

 

[bikingdad90]

I’ve heard ferrets will enjoy chasing the rodents out; killing them and if you put a long line on them can be retrieved if they get stuck.

If it mice do you have any small holes or climbing locations they use to get in the attics?
If so get yourself some wire wool and plug these gaps. We’re talking pen lid size.

If it’s rats I’d get yourself to Screwfix and install some rat barrier non return valves in all the access points for sewerage and gutter drainage to stop them getting in if you have any holes in the pipelines.

Also contact the waterboard and ask them to bait the main sewers as you have rats and your neighbours have rats.

If you are trapping make sure you try and dispose of the animal without touching the trap too much as your smell puts them off trying the bait. Also move them round regularly so it’s “new” and keeps the rodents interested else they will ignore it after a bit.

We had them in the attic and had to do all the above to get rid of them.

 

[Globalti]

Give the cat a treat- put her the attic for a night?

I guess having a cat makes us lucky as mice shouldn't enter the house if they smell her. I don't want to put her in the attic because there's poison up there and she might eat a poisoned mouse. I bet she would love it though. Trouble is, cats won't just despatch a mouse like a terrier would a rat, they play with them.