All this and wildlife too

lesley1958

Registered User
Mar 24, 2015
107
0
Bristol
My mum (83) main carer for my dad (91) with mixed alz and vasd now has mice in her bedroom. At least, I hope it's mice and not r-a-t-s. She spent last night in her chair and will probably do the same tonight. I would go and get them to stay with me but it would unsettle dad too much. She can't sleep in his bed because she has a bad back and it hurts her. If he sleeps in her bed he will be disorientated. There are no other bedrooms. I have persuaded her to let me contact the pest people tomorrow - she was very reluctant - but when I am I going to be able to get them to come?

I can deal with the bigger stuff most of the time but talk about small squeaky furry straw breaking the camel's back. My brother does not think there is a problem. since she did not tell him she slept in her chair he would say that, wouldn't he?

My sense of humour has gone walkabout tonight.....
 

AlsoConfused

Registered User
Sep 17, 2010
1,952
0
Yikes! Every sympathy. Would borrowing a friendly cat and telling your Mum it was a good mouser (and terrify the mice into keeping away) be enough to persuade her back into bed until you can get the pest control people in?
 

Tin

Registered User
May 18, 2014
4,820
0
UK
Yikes! Every sympathy. Would borrowing a friendly cat and telling your Mum it was a good mouser (and terrify the mice into keeping away) be enough to persuade her back into bed until you can get the pest control people in?

Good suggestion, but would not work, the cat would be so disorientated in unfamiliar territory it would probably spend a week or 2 hiding in a cupboard while those tiny little feet did a war dance around it!!!!
 

lesley1958

Registered User
Mar 24, 2015
107
0
Bristol
T thought about borrowing a friendly feline but yeah, hiding-in-wardrobe scenario had occurred! We used to have cats and they used to bring mice in which my dad and I would then go on safari to catch but mum doesn;t feel she can look after a cat and my dad now. And mice being brought in is a bit diffierent to, er, residential rodetns.

My brother thinks it is all a fuss about nothing. I am overreacting, as usual. He is not the one mum rings when everything goes t**** up.

One of our safari mice ran up my dad's trouser leg once. 2am in the morning my dad was outside the back door tearing off his trousers. I was crying with laughter. Now I'm just crying!

Onwards and upwards, all you brave folks out there!
 

marionq

Registered User
Apr 24, 2013
6,449
0
Scotland
T thought about borrowing a friendly feline but yeah, hiding-in-wardrobe scenario had occurred! We used to have cats and they used to bring mice in which my dad and I would then go on safari to catch but mum doesn;t feel she can look after a cat and my dad now. And mice being brought in is a bit diffierent to, er, residential rodetns.

My brother thinks it is all a fuss about nothing. I am overreacting, as usual. He is not the one mum rings when everything goes t**** up.

One of our safari mice ran up my dad's trouser leg once. 2am in the morning my dad was outside the back door tearing off his trousers. I was crying with laughter. Now I'm just crying!

Onwards and upwards, all you brave folks out there!

Lesley, I am having a s** t day but yours beats the band! How on earth do we all cope with the crazy stuff this illness throws at us plus - mice and/or rats!
 

Beate

Registered User
May 21, 2014
12,179
0
London
It's not a fuss over nothing - mice are unhygienic and you need to get rid of them before they get too comfy. I recently had the same problem. You could ring your council and ask whether they would come out for free. Some do for elderly people though some restrict it to rats, not mice. You can do the following yourself:
Remove clutter under which they might be hiding.
Plug wall holes with steel wool.
Keep the house scrupulously clean with no food lying about - put it all in cupboards.
Buy peppermint oil as they apparently hate the smell, then keep spraying it around.
Buy one of these electromagnetic/ultrasonic things you can plug in - they hate the sound, which we can't hear.
Buy traps and bait or try your own bait - I heard they like chocolate (though they are not getting mine!)

Best of luck!
 

Kevinl

Registered User
Aug 24, 2013
6,064
0
Salford
Are they real mice as opposed to the fictional ones my mum used to seen? Evidence would be droppings and things being nibbled, if they are real then a few mouse traps usually does the trick. If you're somewhere even slightly rural field mice getting in is pretty normal specially in the autumn, but you do need to get on with it before they start multiplying. Humane mouse traps work well and you can release them back into the wild.
Now for the big question, what's the best thing to bait them with? My tip is bacon and/or peanut butter, forget the cheese thing that only works on Tom & Jerry.
K
 

Tin

Registered User
May 18, 2014
4,820
0
UK
Had a bit of a problem with mice a couple of years ago and having 4 cats didn't help, they were too busy catching outside ones and bringing in to show me. My problem was mainly attic, also kitchen wall under the sink. I had, still have lots of peppermint growing in my garden. Put loads of it in the attic and stuffed any holes under sink. Apparently mice and rats can't stand the smell, so it kept them out. Now I am just back to the show and tell from my cats. Unfortunately they also bring in Moles, frogs and the occasional rabbit.
 

Not so Rosy

Registered User
Nov 30, 2013
578
0
I am having the same problem at my Dads house at the moment. I was getting quotes from house clearance companies and they commented on a mouse/rat infestation in a shed. Of course I have been looking out for droppings in the house since and have found some. I wear wellies now when I go in there, hope to get pest control in next week.
 

susy

Registered User
Jul 29, 2013
801
0
North East
Does anyone know if those mouse deterrent plug in things work? Would they work in this case as the mice are already in the house?

Good advice given re getting the council in to get rid of them.

Your poor mum.... if I was her I would be in a straightjacket right now.... Mice (I know its daft really) make my skin crawl. Im fine if they are outside, but in the home they really do freak me out.
 

lesley1958

Registered User
Mar 24, 2015
107
0
Bristol
Sadly they are real mice....they have nibbled her slippers and Droppings have been sighted. Since a rat problem in the loft a couple of years ago (sigh....I have been here before) we have run one of the sonic devices but the jury is out on whether they actually do anything. The really big issue is that their bungalow is semi-detached. Parents house and garden are really well kept - but the house of their elderly friend next door is not and her garden looks like the Blasted Heath in "King Lear" Gawd alone knows what's in there, wild boar probably. I think the rodents come over from there and take up residence in my parents' nice clean house. Mum has tried everything to get neighbour to keep garden tidy including crying and threatening to move (Mum does all sorts of stuff for neighbour). Neighbour says that she can;t see the "garden" (v. poor eyesight) so it doesn't worry her. Helpful.

Will ring council pest people first thing tomorrow. Mum and Dad do live in a counrtry area and people keep horses, chickens etc nearby so a bit of wildlife is accepted (a polecat ferret once took up residence in the air hose of Mum's tumble drier in the out house) - but when your are trying to cope with a declining Dad, sundowning, agitation, repetitiveness, your own grief - all the things that all of us on this least sadly know so well! - a pesky rodent eating your slippers really feels as though Fate is having a laugh.

Glad someone is! Peaceful night to everyone I hope!
 

patsy56

Registered User
Jan 14, 2015
837
0
Fife Scotland
sorry this has nothing to do with dementia, just a nice little field mouse story. M+D had them in garage, but they moved outside in summer (mice not M+D) and mum used to feed it shortbread.

One day it got into house, dad bought one of those humane mice traps, caught the mouse and then walked down to sthe station with it............never knew if he put on a trian, but by the time he got back to the house, the mouse was probably back too.
 

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