Caught a couple of mice in the last week under the floorboards,
groundfloor, just moved to this house recently.
Apart from getting in through a door the only other access I can see
would be the airvents in the brick, it is the louvre stone type on the
outside and I havent a clue if mesh or anything on the inside.
the `louvre vents` cant be more the half inch apart. Would this be a
likely entry point?
If so how best to deal with this (externally)to prevent further access,
knowing of course I cant just block the vents.

On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 21:55:01 +0000, ss wrote:

Caught a couple of mice in the last week under the floorboards,

It's that time of year, getting cold outside they come in for the
warmth. Caught two tonight (so far) in the loft... later there is
at least one more up there as a trap has just triggered but failed to
catch the little beggar.

the `louvre vents` cant be more the half inch apart. Would this be a
likely entry point?

Half an inch is ample for a mouse. If they want to they can get
through a hole that an ordinary ball point pen will fit. They do have
to dislocate the plates making up their skull to do that so don't
unless they really have to.

If so how best to deal with this (externally)to prevent further access,
knowing of course I cant just block the vents.

Get some fine wire mesh and fix it to the outside of the airbrick.
Making sure that there is no means of getting behind it.

--
Cheers
Dave.

"ss" wrote in message
...
Caught a couple of mice in the last week under the floorboards,
groundfloor, just moved to this house recently.
Apart from getting in through a door the only other access I can see would
be the airvents in the brick, it is the louvre stone type on the outside
and I havent a clue if mesh or anything on the inside.
the `louvre vents` cant be more the half inch apart. Would this be a
likely entry point?
If so how best to deal with this (externally)to prevent further access,
knowing of course I cant just block the vents.

Get a cat.

If you are joined to another house I'd suggest there are voids between them
under the floor for the furry friends to get through. Still cannot hurt to
put some close mesh behind the facias.
I had wasps in mine which is a whole other problem I can tell you.

Brian

--
Brian Gaff -
Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
in the display name may be lost.
Blind user, so no pictures please!
"ss" wrote in message
...
Caught a couple of mice in the last week under the floorboards,
groundfloor, just moved to this house recently.
Apart from getting in through a door the only other access I can see would
be the airvents in the brick, it is the louvre stone type on the outside
and I havent a clue if mesh or anything on the inside.
the `louvre vents` cant be more the half inch apart. Would this be a
likely entry point?
If so how best to deal with this (externally)to prevent further access,
knowing of course I cant just block the vents.

On 14/11/2011 08:44, Ian wrote:
wrote in message
...
Caught a couple of mice in the last week under the floorboards,
groundfloor, just moved to this house recently.
Apart from getting in through a door the only other access I can see would
be the airvents in the brick, it is the louvre stone type on the outside
and I havent a clue if mesh or anything on the inside.
the `louvre vents` cant be more the half inch apart. Would this be a
likely entry point?
If so how best to deal with this (externally)to prevent further access,
knowing of course I cant just block the vents.

Get a cat.


I did have a cat up until about 4 months ago however that is not likely
to prevent them getting in and if they do get back in it would entail
lifting the floorboards each time to give the cat access. In fact in my
previous house it was the Bl....! cat that brought them in!
I do believe mesh as suggested is the better solution.

On 14/11/2011 09:25, Brian Gaff wrote:
If you are joined to another house I'd suggest there are voids between them
under the floor for the furry friends to get through. Still cannot hurt to
put some close mesh behind the facias.
I had wasps in mine which is a whole other problem I can tell you.

Brian


Its detached, I think I need to put mesh on externally as I would have
to rip up a lot of flooring to get internal access to the the vents.

On Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:31:03 +0000, ss wrote:

Its detached, I think I need to put mesh on externally as I would have
to rip up a lot of flooring to get internal access to the the vents.

Or you could cut out the air bricks and fit the mesh behind and
replace the air bricks. Or chase out about and inch of mortar around
the bricks, fold the mesh into the gap and repoint, that's probably
the neatest exterior method that ensures no gaps.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 14/11/2011 10:19, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:31:03 +0000, ss wrote:

Its detached, I think I need to put mesh on externally as I would have
to rip up a lot of flooring to get internal access to the the vents.

Or you could cut out the air bricks and fit the mesh behind and
replace the air bricks. Or chase out about and inch of mortar around
the bricks, fold the mesh into the gap and repoint, that's probably
the neatest exterior method that ensures no gaps.

That Dave sounds like the best idea.

On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 22:42:55 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

Half an inch is ample for a mouse.

Indeed it is.

If they want to they can get
through a hole that an ordinary ball point pen will fit. They do have
to dislocate the plates making up their skull to do that so don't
unless they really have to.

....and in dislocating those plates the head gets wider and so a mouse
cannot fit through a hole 3/8" diameter, although a shrew might.

3/8" diameter is the size of hole more or less universal in
mouseguards for bee hives and they work (touch wood) and have been
proven to do so for over 100 years. A slot 5/16" high and around
1/2" wide is big enough for a mouse to fit through.

For reference, a BIC biro, presumably the reference for 'ordinary ball
point pen' is 8.2mm across the vertices and 7.8mm across the flats,
or about 5/16"

--

Dave Liquorice wrote:

Half an inch is ample for a mouse.

As dennis is a mouse not a man then I asume that he has half an inch.

--
Adam

Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sun, 13 Nov 2011 21:55:01 +0000, ss wrote:

Caught a couple of mice in the last week under the floorboards,

It's that time of year, getting cold outside they come in for the
warmth. Caught two tonight (so far) in the loft... later there is
at least one more up there as a trap has just triggered but failed to
catch the little beggar.

the `louvre vents` cant be more the half inch apart. Would this be a
likely entry point?

Half an inch is ample for a mouse. If they want to they can get
through a hole that an ordinary ball point pen will fit.

Looking at the dead mice that I have found in consumer units then as a rule
of thumb I expect a mouse to be able to get through any gap that would allow
a 1m T&E cable to pass through the gap.

--
Adam