It's time for some serious mouse hunting, says ISABEL MORTON

IF IT’S not one thing, it’s another and these days there appears to be no end to our trials and tribulations. And if the big things weren’t bad enough, we now have a few small things to contend with.

The small things in question have beady eyes, long tails and are known to like cheese.

Yes, I’m afraid it’s that time of the year again and despite a very mild September, the days are becoming shorter and the evenings cooler and rats and mice are now invading our homes in an effort to find a cosy spot for the winter.

A few weeks ago I thought I heard sounds coming from my kitchen ceiling so I turned down the radio and listened intently. Yes, there was definitely something rummaging around above the ceiling and beneath the floorboards of the room above.

And I wasn’t the only one who heard the uninvited guest. Our labrador was also staring at the ceiling and within seconds she bounded up the stairs and into the drawingroom where she lay growling quietly but menacingly for the best part of an hour.

Obviously (and thankfully) it worked, because I haven’t heard anything since and have seen no other signs of rodent life.

Brendan Higgins of Central Pest Control in Dublin suggested a number of sensible sounding preventative measures, including avoiding feeding birds and wildlife in close proximity to your house and removing bowls of un-eaten pet food, as rats find it delicious.

He suggested that all food be cleared away and surfaces cleaned and dripping taps fixed as they provide rodents with drinking water. Shores should be fitted with grilles to stop rats feeding on particles of food, and dustbins and compost bins located out in the open and far from your back door, as open doors are the easiest way for rodents to enter your property.

Higgins agreed that the presence of a cat or dog is a deterrent to rats and mice but that household pets these days are usually too well fed, pampered and manicured and are unlikely to catch and kill any rodents.

However, in telling my tale (excuse the pun) of woe to others, I quickly realised that I wasn’t the only one to have had little visitors of late and some people’s houseguests were a tad cheeky, to put it mildly.

A friend of mine was entertaining guests to dinner in her London flat when she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A mouse then shot out from behind her sofa and disappeared out of view behind the bookcase.

Another mouse then appeared and scooted alongside the skirting board behind some of her seated (and thankfully oblivious) guests. It continued its journey into her kitchen and she calmly continued serving the meal. As she said, when recounting the story – “well, mice don’t make great dinner party conversation, so I didn’t mention them and hoped nobody else noticed, but I’ve since spent £400 on monitored pest control.”

Another friend found that her holiday home had been invaded. Mouse droppings were everywhere and a hole had been gnawed through one of the kitchen cupboards.

I suggested that it sounded more like a rat than a mouse and she agreed but admitted that she was in denial. I can’t say that I blame her.

We are all in denial, according to the man I spoke with in my local hardware shop, who told me that he always sells a lot of poison and traps at this time of the year and that this year was no exception. “Customers think they’re the only ones with rodents in their house. They’re embarrassed about it,” he explained.

A neighbour told me that he wasn’t embarrassed but he was annoyed because mice were causing alarm sensor activations in his currently unoccupied investment property and the alarm company keep phoning him in the middle of the night.

Thousands of unoccupied properties (the exact number should be known when the €200 NPPR tax is paid) may soon become luxury hotels for the nation’s rodent population.

They like warm, dark enclosed spaces located close to a source of food and water. Attics, airing cupboards and boiler rooms are favourite nesting places for rodents which breed every six weeks.

Leaving rodents aside, empty houses require general maintenance, such as clearing junk mail and litter blown in from the street, as well as seasonal duties, such as garden maintenance in spring and summer, keeping gutters and drains free from autumn leaves and maintaining low-level heating in winter to avoid damp patches and frozen pipes.

Unfortunately, bricks and mortar have a life of their own and do not remain inert or unchanged just because you turn on the alarm and double-lock the front door.

It’s bad enough that you can’t sell them or rent them but unfortunately, you can’t even ignore them.