Mouse Problems

[Masonmou]

I have just moved to a new property and have really enjoyed getting to grips with a new garden which has apple trees. I have tried to store them in an outhouse but they have been devastated by mice. I put them in an old metal filing cabinet but they still got in. I was so disappointed to have lost a bumper crop in this way. Any good ideas out there?
Thanks

[cottage garden]

Sorry no great ideas....very frustrating for you. Apart from putting mouse traps near the apples I don't know. We have had similar problems and I tend to use up apple and pear stores in pies for the freezer or in chutneys and apple jellies. Its incredible how mice manage to get through the tiniest of holes.

[quark1]

A cat or two perhaps? Just keep them a little lean and keen!

I would recommend that if a cat is a real possibility that you try and get one that has been bred on a farm where they will be well-used to ratting and mousing and potentially semi-feral!

[TonyF]

Mice belong to a family of rodents which enables them to get through the smallest of holes. If they can get their head through the hole, they can get their body through too and the holes can be very small apparently.

[rustylady]

Bait and/or traps for the little furry fiends! Also try and store your produce off the ground - could you build or buy a shelving unit that you can site away from a wall?

[sewer rat]

Mice belong to a family of rodents which enables them to get through the smallest of holes. If they can get their head through the hole, they can get their body through too and the holes can be very small apparently.

A fully grown adult mouse can squeeze itself through a hole the diameter of a plastic BIC type pen - now that is impressive.
I use bait, checked daily and placed in purpose built plastic bait containers to stop anything else getting at it.

[gardenplot]

A fully grown adult mouse can squeeze itself through a hole the diameter of a plastic BIC type pen - now that is impressive.

wow that is impressive didn't know that little beggers.
Get a few cats to sort em out

[moggssue]

Do you have a supply of electricity where the mice are? You can buy a little contraption to plug into an electric socket, which sends a vibration/slight shock through all the electric wires (you wont notice it at all) which mice hate. We had a problem at home with a mouse living under/behind kitchen units which we couldnt move to get the little b****r, got one of these contraptions and it worked a treat - no more mouse! Its humane as well, they just move somewhere else where there's no vibration to annoy them.

[Masonmou]

Thanks

Thanks for all your ideas. I have an electricity supply in the out building so I think I'll try the plug in gismo. My hubby had a good idea too, which is to drill ventilation holes into an old ottoman and line the whole thing with very fine mesh like you used to see on larder doors. I'll try it and report back. Many thanks again for all your replies.

[crichmond]

Try putting your filing cabinet on a couple of breeze blocks so they cant reach it, this is what they do on our allottments with the chicken huts to stop rats getting in.

Cheers Chris