On 11/04/2015 12:56, Timothy Murphy wrote:
Nick Maclaren wrote:

We were away from our house for a couple of months,
and when we came back there were hundreds of mouse (or rat) droppings
in just 2 rooms.
To get into one of the rooms, the mice had to climb up a 2 metre wall.
They got into the other room through an air-hole.

Yes. Metal flashing (ideally not lead - it's too soft). Either
4" flush and vertical or 2" sticking out and down.


For the air brick (or whatever it is), I'd definitely go for wire
mesh/chicken wire. Either several layers, or if you can get inside the
brick, a big ball of it filling the cavity.

Re traps, we had some rats and mice come in by eating the ground level
plastic airbricks in the shed, climbing up and getting into the loft
(and inside the cavity walls where they seemed to love the insulation).
Nothing worse than lying in bed hearing rats scurrying in the walls
and ceiling

Tried some ordinary traps in the loft but got nowhere. So I got a
couple of cheap plug in 'ultra'-sonic devices - and at the same time,
put some electric traps in the shed up against the broken airbricks -
and zapped them as they came out. In 3 days, I got 6 mice and three
rats. I've left the ultra sonic in the loft and also put one in the
shed. No sign of any since then (apart from the ones the cat brings in
- and he has the decency to mainly kill them first - and leaves the rats
outside).

The traps are not cheap - and use 4 C class batteries to deliver a very
high capacity shock when the little ones put their foot on the plate.
When you turn it on you can hear it charging the capacitor (or whatever
it is).

This was a very good site - the only exit for them to get away from the
ultra sonic - with the aded lure of peanut butter at the end of the
tunnel.

Search Pest-Stop Electronic Rat Killer on amazon - currently £40 each.

--
regards andy