This is a collaborative post sharing a funny tail (see what I did there?) about the time we had to try and get mice out of our house, and the pest control options we SHOULD have used, which we hope is helpful.
I count my blessings that we haven’t had to deal with too much pest control issues in the time we have lived in our house but we have had one or two incidents which have made me realise that when it does happen we need to up our game to remove said pests efficiently, safely and quickly.
We live in a suburb of London but very near a large area of woodland and copse, as well as a Royal Park, and the river Thames, so we do have an element of wildlife locally to us. Badgers, foxes, wild birds, and mice amongst other things.
Mice tend to be the main problem issue locally to us and it’s very common to have mice invade, particularly if your house is older or they can find a way in. Getting rid of them is tricky too.
We had a little invasion of what we called Micky Mouse and his friends, one summer recently, thanks to our cat. You would think having a cat would mean we didn’t have a pest control problem, but actually our cat contributed to the problem.
It was particularly hot, summer time, and I was up late, working, in the living room, with the back door open, to let some air in. I heard a loud miaow, and it was a particular miaow that I know well. It’s the noise our older cat Jasper, makes when he is very proud to announce to us that he has brought us home something he has caught. Usually it’s pretty dead and I am able to scoop it up, and dsipose of it, whilst telling him how clever he is and giving him some treats to make up for the fact that I have taken away his present to us. Sometimes the aforementioned present is still alive but I am able to catch it and put it safely outside.
On this occasion, however, he sauntered into the living room, with not one, but two mice in his mouth, and he dropped both of them on the floor, and both of them scattered across the carpet and under furniture. I, of course, was slightly freaked out, and tried to find them, and catch them. Jasper, our mouse bringer, simply sat there, watching me, bemused and waiting for his usual cat treats.
I didn’t track down the mice and then spent the night wondering where they had gone and what would happen and of course it was a bit of a problem because mice multiply and are not shy about it. We ended up with a nest of mice, baby mice (cute, but pests) and these mice were bold and would scuttle across the floor, whilst under the very noses of the cat who had started the problem but were definitely not part of the solution. All those Tom & Jerry cartoons with the cat chasing the mouse? It’s a massive lie!!!
We ended up getting humane traps and eventually got rid of the main problem. I wasn’t keen to put poison or anything toxic down but it did take longer to get rid of them and we had to make sure we released them far away from our house.
Lesson learned. When you do have a pest control problem, you may need to call in the experts.
We also have had an issue with visitors in our loft. There was a small gap that a bird was able to get in, and we had to get up there and remove it. Birds or squirrels in your loft can be really tricky to deal with though, and you need to get expert help to deal with them. They can nest, destroy items you have in your loft, chew or damage the insulation and structure, and leave their faeces all over the place. If we hadn’t deal with the issue ourselves we would have had to opt for some sort of pigeon control and removal service to help us and I would gladly have paid the fee for the convenience of that.
Pest control is definitely one of those things you don’t think about before you live in your own house or space, but once you do have your own home, or you are living in a house where you may have to deal with pesky little invaders, it’s definitely worth knowing your options that are safe and efficient.
And don’t rely on your cat to be helpful, that much I will say, from our experience…