Why does nobody care that we have a mouse in our house

Is there anything worse than a mouse infestation?

Over a quarter of student houses will be infested by vermin at least once, according to a study by the National Union of Students (NUS). There are 10 people in my house. That means no matter how hard we try or how often we do a ‘group clean’, the house is a shit tip all the time. Despite my OCD, it doesn’t bother me too much. Or didn’t, until we discovered a mouse.

It was inevitable, but I consciously ignored that fact due to my hugely irrational fear of mice (or any rodents). It’s nothing to be chilled about: they are dirty creatures who spread infections that can cause serious illness and there’s usually more than one. I’m cringing as I write just thinking about them.

Upon investigation we discovered there was a huge hole under the fridge. And we could hear them scratching in the walls. So we informed our landlord. Of course, he told us it was our problem. “Make sure there’s no rubbish and keep food in plastic containers”. Cheers for your help, we only pay £500 each a month.

The hole under the fridge

I tried to forget about it, hoping it had been scared off by us disturbing its nest under the floor. The thing is, once you hear or see one there will definitely be more. There will be mouse babies, aunts, uncles – you name it. Also, if they’re coming from outside, it’s also likely that they could be rats, which is a whole different issue.

As someone who hates mice, rats, anything that crawls, I began googling solutions. We bought mouse traps, filled up the hole under the fridge with a metal scouring sponge and hoped for the best.

We heard nothing from it for a few days. There were no mouse droppings in the kitchen and no food in the cupboards had been gnawed at. We seemed safe.

Until about a week later my housemate was in the kitchen and I heard her scream from my bedroom. I felt sick. I knew it was our mouse friend paying us a visit.

An unsuccessful mouse trap

It had run from the kitchen into the front room and under the sofa. Being the responsible adults we are, we locked the door and ran upstairs. Mice only need gaps of five mm to squeeze through, so it could have gone under the door and back into the kitchen when we were upstairs – we’ll never know (unless it is dead under the sofa but I’d rather not think about that).

You can ring the council and they’ll try sort out the pests, but it’s £65 minimum (not very student friendly). A cat would be ideal, but the majority of student houses are not pet-friendly. Cry.

Anyway, the point is we can’t get rid of this mouse. Although we’ve not heard from it recently, I know they are running around at night, smug that they have won against us clever humans.