They don’t always live in colonies. We’ve had the occasional mouse from time to time, but never a colony of them. I think “thousands” would be stretching it, especially considering there wouldn’t even be enough food to maintain such a population. This isn’t a grain silo we’re talking about.
Suggest poster name change from MeanOldLady to MeanOldMouse.
Gah! I see I am many pages too slow.
Would home owners insurance decline that claim?
??
There’s plenty of mice here.
I thought they were in the business of finding ways to decline claims.
You know what must be done!
I had A mouse last year and it seems it really was just the one.
It first came to my attention when I heard noises from a bucket under the sink in my bathroom. Turned out to be a mouse trying unsuccessfully to jump out. Having lived here for several years with no evidence of mice, I was surprised and being a bit squeamish, decided to turn it loose outside rather than kill it. As I was expecting it to bolt on release, I didn’t wear shoes suitable for stomping it and was even more surprised when, after being emptied from the bucket, it lingered, and even ran for my feet when I moved!
Fast forward a few months. Some droppings were evident. Clearly there was still a mouse in the house. Searching online and in-house led me to buy some (snap)traps, but sealing the flat (1st floor. As in the one above ground floor.) was impossible.
One night I heard a trap snap but on investigation it was empty. This was beside the cooker and I opened the drawer at the the base of this appliance in which the grill pan is stored to find a mouse sitting at the back edge, presumably having gorged itself on the fat left from the previous usage. (I’m a slob. I don’t clean the grill after every slice of bacon.) Mice are really fast! It got away, but why did it sit there as I pulled the drawer out? I relocated the thoroughly cleaned grill pan to the top of a cupboard - near ceiling height.
Some time later I had left plastic carrier bags to dry in the kitchen. The sound of such a bag twitching alerted me and in seconds I found myself holding a plastic bag with a mouse inside. What to do? Well, on the theory that it would take seconds for a rodent to escape, I quickly put this bag inside another but still didn’t have the heart to squash it. (Too many Tom and Jerry cartoons during my formative years?) Instead I dropped the whole package down the rubbish chute. Bad move.
Sometime later I encountered a mouse in the kitchen. It was on the work surface and we had a few seconds of moves and counter moves before it jumped to the floor, ran at my feet to confuse me and escaped through a gap under some cupboards.
Later (a week or two). Listening to music late at night, I opened my eyes and there it was across the living room. Net wisdom holds that though their eyesight is poor, they do detect movement quite well. My experience suggests this is true. It escaped again.
Later. Again, in the kitchen I switched on the light to see the intruder, which then ran straight at me, and then down the hallway and into a cupboard. I thought there was no way out except back under the door, so positioned a trap and a piece of wood but to no avail; mousey escapes again.
By now it was nearing summer and there were no more sightings or spoor. I left traps in place and made sure there was no attractive food available.
Then, one morning, as autumn set in I found a dead mouse in one of the traps. Gotcha!
I have no idea how relevant this suburban London experience may be, but in this case, nearly a year has passed with no evidence of mouse activity. Sometimes it is just one mouse. (I hope. Sod’s law dictates that having posted this I will have an infestation.)
And as it happens, I heard a very distinctive scritching behind my sofa last night.
:: sigh ::
oooooooh, it’s like that movie, ‘The Ring’. Anyone who reads this will get infested within 7 days.
Hey, Glad I’m not the only one so terrified of the evil little twats. One has got into my bedroom so I left and locked the door leaving 2 mouse traps to catch it and I went in the next morning and it had not been near them but has been destroying the carpet by the bedroom door to try and get out so I thought it was gone and got into bed the next night and I saw it come from tiniest whole in the cupboard in my bedroom and when I stamped my foot it ran away, So I sat and watched for a while and it poked its ugly little head out and then ran back in. Again I slept in another bedroom hoping the traps would get it but no luck! it has destroyed more of my carpet - I’m at the end of my tether cant sleep at all because I’m so scared, heard they can jump on to beds ECT doesn’t help it is a sneaky little bastard any ideas on what I can do (except catch it myself) I dont want to risk it running to another bedroom 
PS sorry for the long message I feel as if im going insane its all ive thought about for the last 3 days!
Oh my god, the mice have killed gemmah22 and are typing at her keyboard. Cute little cartoon mice.
Had a new house in 1998 in the country (farm across from it). 2nd year, mouse was found in garage - but never in house. They slide under the thermal seal strip under the garage door at the corners.
I inadvertently found a great way to get rid of them. I had a small 3 gallon plastic waste bucket (the kind you usually place under the sink) in the garage. I tossed a left over Big Mac with cheese in it (it was empty prior) one day. Next morning, I heard tiny cries. Sure enough, a mouse jumped in, using the nearby riding mower seat as a vantage point. Problem is, it could not jump back out. So after 2 days, the little bastard cried its heart out, literally, and died. Dumped the bucket into a small plastic bag, placed in larger weekend trash bag. Repeat several more times. No more mice. I suspect the others heard the daily tormented cries of their fellow rodents.
Fast forward to today. Got another house in the country. Solid brick tri-level on 10 acres next to forest. Previous owners had traps throughout. I have 3 indoor cats (each floor is covered). Never once had a mouse - in 2 years now. Not even a dead one. It seems the mice sense or see the cats presence, and will not even enter. I also have 2 stray cats that reside on the edge of the forest, and I seemed them daily pounce on mice in my field, but never in the lawn area. Ditto for owls and other predatory birds. Also, I have snakes in the field, that also swim in the pond. They literally look like the famous snake that swallowed the rat, on occasion.
Note that I decided to place mechanical and glue-type traps in the attic and in other exact spots where the previous owners placed them, and to date, have had zero hits, going on 3 years.
When it snows, I can see the mice feet prints and even tunnels in the snow, but ONLY in the field where I grow hay. The secret is to keep a large boundary surrounding the house with low cut grass. The stray cats and birds will catch the mice instantly in the grass; the snakes get those in the tall grass / hay.
PS I also have regular visits by professional pest control, they spray inside and out, and inspect for any intruders. I never have even bugs or spiders inside. Also, I keep my left dry foods sealed in tupperware, including cat food. The other thing I do, is spray the areas where mice might traverse, like rolled insulation along the walls, with expired, rancid, men’s cologne.
For you, try the 3 gallon plastic waste bucket, with a slice of cheese in it (and nothing else). Place a stack of books near it so the mice can climb up and in, but like the hotel California, they can’t check out. Then dump them into a plastic bag, and smother the little bastards. And get a non-declawed cat.
As far as a guy with a large snake, I do make house calls. But we’ll hafta meet at a nearby hotel - as I despise mice as well.
what kind of sachets did u use
I’m going to guess cedar chip sachets.
I had a mouse once. I set a snap trap and the next day had a dead mouse. I kept the traps set and I never caught any more but I found the peanut butter gone or the traps sprung without catching anything. Finally I was going away for the weekend and I set glue traps. When I came back I had just a tail on one of them. That’s when I moved. There was no way I was staying in that apartment with a mouse without a tail plotting his revenge.
I know exactly how you feel I’m having a mouse problem right now in my bedroom. My parents think its funny how I react because as soon as I see a mouse I squeal (squeal not scream) and turn into a quivering little girl. I can’t even look at a dead mouse. I have four glue traps in my room alone and i have caught four mouse in not even 48 hours!! I have looked everywhere to find out where they are nesting and I still cannot find them. I have cleaned everywhere. But yeah I know how you feel even though in my mind I’m saying for god’s sake you are 28 yrs old and its just a mouse but I’m saying forget that…when they get caught I don’t care how funny or stupid I look I’m calling my parents to come get them cause mice are gross. And not all cats catch mice…mine just looks at them
reported
I know this is an extremely old thread, but I came across it while googling how to get rid of the mouse in my own apartment. I feel your pain. I am the biggest wuss when it comes to mice. I’ve had a mouse in my apartment for almost a month now. Pest control has been here like three times and set out so many traps that I can’t believe I haven’t managed to catch myself. I did the exact same thing you did when I found evidence of having a mouse, I shoved towels under every door in my bedroom (the bedroom door along with the closet and bathroom doors just in case it decided to chew through the walls and get to me that way) and slept with my light on for a week and a half (I wish I were exaggerating, but I’m not.) All the holes in my apartment have been plugged up (the ones that we could find at least.) But I can still hear the little demon in my walls. So far I know for a fact that this mouse has eaten half a gala apple and started on another one, chewed into a package of hamburger buns, chewed through a bag of dog food I had in my coat closet from when my dog lived here with me, chewed through the lid of the plastic storage container that I had older dog food in from before she was put on a prescription diet, and chewed a hole in my dishwasher which of course caused to to leak through my floor and into the apartment below me. My biggest fear right now is that since it’s chewed through all this other stuff, I’m afraid it’ll just chew it’s way through my wall and come right back in. I haven’t seen any indication of it being in my apartment for a week or two now, but hear it in my bedroom wall (of course it would have to be my bedroom) every night. Why won’t it leave?!
So yeah, I can sympathize. The good news is, I’ll be graduating college in a month and a half and this will become someone else’s problem.