Mouse problem

[MrGongGong]

It's no good killing the wasps unless you also block up the entrance they were using - if you don't the ones that were away from home when the nest was blitzed will come back & build a new one.

Wonderful things , wasps nests are

[salymap]

Wonderful things , wasps nests are

That is difficult because it is a bungalow with roughly 70 - 80 feet of small gaps round where roof tiles meet the guttering. Wasps pop up in different places. Air must circulate to avoid damp I'm told.

[Resurrection Man]

.. Air must circulate to avoid damp I'm told.

Correct-a-mundo.

[Flay]

That is difficult because it is a bungalow with roughly 70 - 80 feet of small gaps round where roof tiles meet the guttering. Wasps pop up in different places. Air must circulate to avoid damp I'm told.

If the wasp's nest is in a reachable area you can use ant powder. We had a nest under the living room floor, they entered through the air brick. When they weren't active in the evening I puffed the ant powder in, leaving plenty of powder around the brick vents. As the wasps come in they pick up some powder and it gets taken into the nest.

I agree that the nests are beautiful structures, but there is a time and a place for all things beautiful. Under our living room floor was not a beautiful situation.

[Anna]

Wonderful things , wasps nests are

I've seen a wasps nest (empty) they are truly amazing structures and I recall one Summer, sitting outside at a wooden table, watching a wasp diligently shaving off a small piece of the wood, presumably to take back to the nest for building purposes? Don't think I saw more than two or three wasps this year, they usually love to get drunk on next door's greengages.
Edit: Apart from the odd mouse I've not had unwelcome visitors except for a pair of squirrels in the loft. This necessitated pest control firm with traps, they didn't work so a friend perched up there with an air rifle. Job done.

[mangerton]

I remember many years ago I arrived home one afternoon to find the fire brigade in attendance. It transpired that my neighbour had summoned the council pest controllers to remove a wasps' bike, and they had set the roof on fire.

Fortunately a major conflagration was avoided, but that incident, and the two wasp stings I have received, have left me with a marked aversion to the wasp.

[Flosshilde]

the council pest controllers to remove a wasps' bike,

Did they have to cut through the padlock?



(actually I know what a bike is in this context)

[Anna]

Did they have to cut through the padlock?
(actually I know what a bike is in this context)

Well I had to google wasps bike and The Caledonian Mercury provided the answer. It also gave me this quote from Tam O'Shanter:
As bees bizz out wi angry fyke,
When plundering herds assail their byke

[mangerton]

Well I had to google wasps bike and The Caledonian Mercury provided the answer. It also gave me this quote from Tam O'Shanter:
As bees bizz out wi angry fyke,
When plundering herds assail their byke

Yes, I knew you'd be able to find the meaning.

I'm not sure why it's called a "bike" in Scotland, but I believe it's something to do with the wasps' life cycle.

Edit: - Don't blame me; flossie started it!

[Resurrection Man]

Very topical this thread as a new 'Essence d'Rat' has started to waft through my study !

[Dave2002]

Very topical this thread as a new 'Essence d'Rat' has started to waft through my study !

Maybe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3sBBRxDAqk - great film.

Ou en français - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5H_EgmMDBI with a catchy little tune.

One week on the odours are reducing, though they are still noticeable, but not overpowering any more. Maybe another week will render them sufficiently low level that they can be ignored.

[Don Petter]

One week on the odours are reducing, though they are still noticeable, but not overpowering any more. Maybe another week will render them sufficiently low level that they can be ignored.

If it's only a week, at least it's ex-mouse, not ex-rat!

[gradus]

Grass snakes are resident in the porch of our local church. Rats have also taken up residence and were until 3 days ago gnawing their way through Victorian and Mediaeval woodwork. No bats - so far.

[Richard Tarleton]

Drove a short distance on New Year's Eve, car making funny noise, losing power. Went home.

AA man spotted the problem right away - a mouse had eaten a hole in the air intake to the turbo (it's a nearly new diesel), did temporary repair, followed me to main dealer who replaced the part. £100.

Google revealed this to be a not uncommon problem for country dwellers, and it came up in the motoring section of last Sunday's Sunday Times.

The cure - well I'm parking my car in a slightly different place to confuse the mice, but apparently they can't stand peppermint oil. You can no longer buy peppermint oil in bottles from a chemist because of 'elf and safety (apparently people were ODing on it, you can now only buy it as capsules) but you can get it on Amazon. So I've placed cotton wool balls soaked in the stuff at strategic points under the bonnet. I've also put in an electronic mouse deterrent which emits an ultrasonic beep every 4 seconds, runs on a smoke alarm battery.

Peppermint oil and the mouse deterrent - Pest Bye - can also be used effectively in the house, and in sheds.

The car smells lovely.

[gradus]

A few years ago, mice chewed through the insulation in the car ignition/immobiliser system whilst the car was parked for 2 weeks at the heliport in Penzance. It took the RAC man 3 or 4 hours to find the problem and make a temporary fix.