nexus6
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Post by nexus6 on May 9, 2024 7:35:39 GMT
Anyone have any experience in dealing with mice? We’ve got some in the loft and they getting down into the boiler cupboard and kitchen cabinets. Had a guy round yesterday who said there isn’t too many of them, which is good, but we need to deal with it. We did catch one the other day in one of those ‘humane’ traps. Cute little bugger he was. Released him into a field a couple of miles away. The guy was horrified by this. Said that’s not humane at all. The mouse will be scared, have no food, shelter etc. The humane way is to kill them instantly in the traps. My thought process was releasing a wild animal back into the wild at least gives it a chance, but I guess I can see his point. I just dont like the idea of seeing and disposing of dead mice. Apparently there is no real way to stop them getting in as the holes they get through are so small and could be anywhere. We had them in our cellar for a while back when we moved in. They got into the house proper when I was ‘tidying’ and removed the big old pink duster things you get on the wire handles to do blinds. Turns out they had put that in a wee hole in the concrete floor to stop the gap up. Anyhoo - got some awesome plastic spring traps with big bastard teeth and plopped peanut butter on the paddle. They were so ridiculously overpowered that the mice were often in bits cut clean in 2. Or had the skin pulled completely off their wee skulls with the force of the middle of their body disappearing or as often as not their arses exploded out all over the trap. It was a funny time…. |
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RobEG
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Post by RobEG on May 9, 2024 8:01:48 GMT
Should have said, they are field mice (we think, the one we caught was brown and slightly larger than what you would expect a house mouse to be (they are tiny apparently).
I’d heard stories of the poor things being half dead which really put me off. He doesn’t think we have too many, and suggested getting about 10 traps and putting some in the loft and some under the kitchen cupboards.
Feel bad for killing the poor buggers but I guess if we dont we’ll be overrun in no time.
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nexus6
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Post by nexus6 on May 9, 2024 8:09:32 GMT
It’s them or us, Rob
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zisssou
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Post by zisssou on May 9, 2024 8:12:11 GMT
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Post by technoish on May 9, 2024 8:22:24 GMT
We've had mice for years. They just keep coming back somehow. We have tried to plug all holes, but keep finding new ones, and I think in one place they come up through floorboards  Poison seems to half work for us. The awful glue traps only sure fire way though . Although our nanny decided to rehabilitate one the other day by cleaning it with olive oil and releasing it into the garden. She then proceeded to leave the kitchen door open for next few hours, so I presume he sauntered right back in. |
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mrpon
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Post by mrpon on May 9, 2024 8:22:27 GMT
Yep.
/flashbacks
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nexus6
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Post by nexus6 on May 9, 2024 8:24:42 GMT
We've had mice for years. They just keep coming back somehow. We have tried to plug all holes, but keep finding new ones, and I think in one place they come up through floorboards Poison seems to half work for us. The awful glue traps only sure fire way though . Although our nanny decided to rehabilitate one the other day by cleaning it with olive oil and releasing it into the garden. She then proceeded to leave the kitchen door open for next few hours, so I presume he sauntered right back in. You're not old enough to be on here if you still have a nanny, young man! |
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Post by Dougs on May 9, 2024 8:57:11 GMT
We've had mice for years. They just keep coming back somehow. We have tried to plug all holes, but keep finding new ones, and I think in one place they come up through floorboards Poison seems to half work for us. The awful glue traps only sure fire way though . Although our nanny decided to rehabilitate one the other day by cleaning it with olive oil and releasing it into the garden. She then proceeded to leave the kitchen door open for next few hours, so I presume he sauntered right back in. Get a cat. Or rather, get a cat and then watch them as they bring more mice in - only to show a complete disinterest in them as soon as they're inside. Bleeding cats. |
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RobEG
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Post by RobEG on May 9, 2024 11:47:18 GMT
Yeah that's what we did with the first one, but got told by the pest control guy that's not humane at all. Now I feel bad. I thought releasing a field mouse back into the field was a nice thing to do. Apparently not though. The guy did say its likely to be an ongoing problem as there are so many potential ways they can get in. So to just leave traps around and check them once a week. |
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RobEG
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Post by RobEG on May 9, 2024 11:49:08 GMT
We've had mice for years. They just keep coming back somehow. We have tried to plug all holes, but keep finding new ones, and I think in one place they come up through floorboards Poison seems to half work for us. The awful glue traps only sure fire way though . Although our nanny decided to rehabilitate one the other day by cleaning it with olive oil and releasing it into the garden. She then proceeded to leave the kitchen door open for next few hours, so I presume he sauntered right back in. Get a cat. Or rather, get a cat and then watch them as they bring more mice in - only to show a complete disinterest in them as soon as they're inside. Bleeding cats. I'd love to get another cat, but I still don't think I'm ready after the last one got run over. Plus I don't think it will solve the problem as I think they are coming in via the tiny gap between our house and next door. |
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Post by Dougs on May 9, 2024 11:52:17 GMT
Tis tough after losing one. Due to the dog, my cats aren't around as much downstairs anymore. They dwell upstairs and in the kitchen at night. On balance, I think we have fewer mice now than before the dog. They were always bringing them in and letting them go.
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zisssou
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Post by zisssou on May 9, 2024 12:23:39 GMT
Yeah that's what we did with the first one, but got told by the pest control guy that's not humane at all. Now I feel bad. I thought releasing a field mouse back into the field was a nice thing to do. Apparently not though. The guy did say its likely to be an ongoing problem as there are so many potential ways they can get in. So to just leave traps around and check them once a week. And feeding them poison where their stomachs explode is? haha |
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zisssou
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Post by zisssou on May 9, 2024 12:28:22 GMT
Also don't get caught out by paying a 'professional'. Your local council will have a pest control department, which are tonnes cheaper.
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RobEG
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Post by RobEG on May 9, 2024 12:34:17 GMT
To be fair, he said the back break traps are the most humane way. A quick google suggests he is right. I just feel bad. Especially after meeting one of the disease ridden little buggers the other day. He did say if we could get the ones who have made themselves comfortable up there we should be ok for a while. But at some point more will find their way in.
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RobEG
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Post by RobEG on May 9, 2024 12:35:03 GMT
Also don't get caught out by paying a 'professional'. Your local council will have a pest control department, which are tonnes cheaper. He didn't charge us, and said we should just do it ourselves rather than pay him. |
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Post by Zomoniac on May 9, 2024 15:57:47 GMT
Dunno if this counts as DIY, but I just topped up the air con gas in my car. Cost less than half the price than Kwik Fit wanted, and next time it will be even less than that since I now have the hose. And it took five minutes for a complete idiot who doesn’t know a thing about cars.
Manliest thing I’ll do this year.
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on May 9, 2024 19:36:23 GMT
Another 2 1/2 hours and £12 worth of aluminium angles reinforcing the bloody hamster cage, it was chewing it's way out, little bugger.
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askew
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Post by askew on May 9, 2024 19:48:19 GMT
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Post by Zuluhero on May 11, 2024 8:11:06 GMT
It's like Shawshank Redemption, that hamster wants out.
Morgan Freeman; "Id like to say the hamster fought the good fight, that Freddie let him be. I'd like to say that, but a hamster cage is no fairy tale..."
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on May 26, 2024 14:33:36 GMT
Another 2 1/2 hours and £12 worth of aluminium angles reinforcing the bloody hamster cage, it was chewing it's way out, little bugger. So rather predictable she's moved onto some other place to chew now so that'll be another evening doing yet more reinforcing, that said I don't really mind these little jobs, a couple of hours in the garage on my own, it's the big jobs I hate. |
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Post by freddiemercurystwin on Jun 6, 2024 21:04:03 GMT
New (S/H) oven installed tonight, looks a lot nicer than our old one, in theory its the exact same model albeit a later Hotpoint model rather than an earlier Indesit version and it's really rather clean inside. I enlisted the 14 yr lad to help with shifting it, fortunately there was a bloke on hand to help me get it into the boot when I picked it up but bless him my lad was as much help as chocolate teapot, absolutely no coordination or any idea about lifting heavy objects. I took the doors off and the innards out to make manageable on my own this end, same with lugging the old one outside. I quite like S/H appliances, the tumbler we picked up for free two years ago, that's still going strong, the washing machine we bought S/H about ten years ago is on it's last legs but that's served us well, I keep looking out for an identical S/H replacement on Marketplace. We did splurge on a top notch Miele FF a few years back as having a big fridge freezer was a must have for us and you don't get massive FF S/H very often. I think over the years this philosophy has been economical.
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Post by Dougs on Jun 6, 2024 22:15:44 GMT
I'm a big fan of second hand stuff in general. There's always been a good market here. Picked up 2 sofas last year for £200, less than 4 years old (wife knew the seller through a friend) absolutely perfect condition and way better than the two 15 year old sofas they replaced. Quality solid oak sideboard for £180 - needs a sanding and revarnish on top but otherwise stellar. The dishwasher, not so much. Does the job but is falling apart a bit and was just a cheap piece of shit, even if we'd got it new. Win some, lose some.
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Tomo
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Post by Tomo on Jun 6, 2024 22:25:31 GMT
Totally agree on second hand stuff. We splooged big on new kitchen, but most of the other furniture in our house is second hand. eBay and Gumtree are great if you're patient. Clearcycle seller on eBay is particularly good as they grade items and tbh, even things graded lowly have been good for us.
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minimatt
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Post by minimatt on Jun 12, 2024 16:42:28 GMT
got a new toy  tiny 12v router
it's awesome for roundovers and i've been banging out hinge rebates all day and it's so much better for those sort of things, no more having 3 kilos hanging over the edge of a door
not a fan of the power switch - the slide only falls naturally under your thumb if you were the victim of a horrible accident and a drunk surgeon. turning off 14k rpm carbide tipped spinning dervishes should be the easiest thing in the world and it's not quite.
also doesn't have a direction indicator which yes I know will always be clockwise but it's always good to have a reminder (hence the sharpie addition already applied) because it's so lightweight that if you do get the cut direction wrong it absolutely will take off and skitter down taking chunks out of anything in its path
absolutely wouldn't recommend as a first or only router (far too limited in ability, more likely to eat fingers of inexperienced) but as a third it's brill
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Post by elstoof on Jun 12, 2024 17:00:38 GMT
Blimey, what size shank does that take, 1/8th?
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Post by elstoof on Jun 12, 2024 17:01:23 GMT
“Heavy Duty” eh…
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minimatt
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hyper mediocrity
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Post by minimatt on Jun 12, 2024 17:12:23 GMT
quarter inch & 8mm collets, roundovers & ~3mm rebates are within it's power range, wouldn't want to try more
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Post by starchildhypocrethes on Jun 17, 2024 9:12:12 GMT
Anyone had a leaking chimney before?
Noticed some bubbling plaster and brown stains around the base of the chimney breast and the wall next to it, which suggests something somewhere has gone expensively wrong. I have absolutely no idea who I should be calling about it though.
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Post by technoish on Jun 17, 2024 9:35:39 GMT
Is it an external wall? Sounds like could be penetrating damp - ie rain water coming through the brick wall.
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Post by Dougs on Jun 17, 2024 9:42:51 GMT
Yeah, sounds like ingress somewhere. Usually a downpipe or a leak or something that is causing issues.
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tiny 12v router
