Bed Bugs & dormice.

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
Morristhedog
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Bed Bugs & dormice.

Post by Morristhedog »

In the words of Victor Medrew, I don't believe it.

It must have come from the last folk here?

I had two families only this summer.

I guess it does not matter who brought them in. It is getting rid of them that is the problem.

I moved back into my house from the barn after the last guests left.

In my own bed I was bitten a lot at night, and thought it was mosquitoes. But the bites are different. I stayed there for two weeks before I realised.

Eventually I decided it must be bed bugs and I moved into the other room with a double bed.

I have slept without further bites in there.

In the meantime my son slept in the twin bedroom with no issues. So the bugs seem to be in my bed.

I have vacuumed everything several times, and now await delivery of some spray and a bed bug mattress protector. I want to see the quality before I buy them for the other beds. You would not know there was a problem, save the bites that have been afflicted on me. Everything seems pristine. Then I caught a creature actually on my side. It is in a box awaiting analysis if only I knew where to send it.

The mattresses have protectors and so do the pillows. I think the ones on the pillows may be up to standard, and maybe the mattress ones are not?

I can only id the situation through pictures on the Internet.

Since then the darned dormice have moved into the loft. I have sent for electronic plug in units which claim to make such inaudible sounds (to me the cat and dog) that they will rid the house of spiders mossies, and the bed bugs, and persuade the darned mice to move on. I am also waiting for a case of humane traps to catch any lingerers, when I would let them go in the local woods.

The dormice are lovely with teddy bear faces and long furry tails. But they shriek in the middle of the night like demented souls. They also have clogs and may eat electric cables

They are rat sized

If any one has similar experiences please confide.
A dreamer is one who can only find his way home by moonlight.
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lel
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Post by lel »

Hi Morristhedog
that sounds like bad luck, luckily we have not suffered with the bed bugs, so far. However I think you are also being visited by Loir (edible dormouse-edible to the Romans apparently). I had a particularly unpleasant experience when I arrived at the Gite, lifted the loo seat lid to find a poor little bugger scrabbling about trying to get out. I am sad to say that I was a bit freaked out , a french neighbour dispatched it, with a shrug, clearly thinking " good grief these English" .We did have to pay a pest control company to rid us of a troop of them, at one stage, but I am not sure that I would do so again. We see them about, we explain to guests that a rural holiday includes noisy animals, bats, owls etc and if they would rather a city break with more familiar noises of sirens don't choose us. The issue is the chewing of wires, but I am not aware that this had happened, why would they eat wires when there are plenty of insects, or whatever they eat about? sorry not sure if this is any help-good luck with the new bedding.
Morristhedog
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Post by Morristhedog »

Yes you are right. The little sweethearts eat fruit. But my how they shriek in the night. They are bigger than standard mice. They are the size of juvenile rats.

I cant wait for my humane trap and my supersonic whatever it was that I have ordered.

I put the cats in the loft to frighten them away. and later found both confused cats asleep in the insulation. I had to carry them down separately since the loft ladder is ridiculously steep for them.

The mice are also evident behind the plasterboard in the kitchen. The cats sit there intently staring at the walls.
A dreamer is one who can only find his way home by moonlight.
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French Cricket
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Post by French Cricket »

OMG Lel, I thougght I was the only person ever to have encountered a dormouse in the loo! I fished mine out with a fishing net and set him out on the lawn to dry - he shivered for hours and I thought he was a gonner, but eventually he started to recover, so we gave him some dinner then took him away to live a long and happy life.

So yes, we have dormice. Lovely creatures (but yes, they do have a gob on them :lol: and they do have a habit of playing competitive football with their nuts in the early hours of the morning ). This is the time of year when they're most active in houses and barns as they're looking for hibernation quarters. We take a live and let live attitude - just one more creature that we share our home with - though we do occasionally set a humane trap if they get anywhere near our winter larder. If you do trap them, you need to take them at least 3km away otherwise they'll just come right back! Oh, and peanut butter is their favourite bait.
Ecosse
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Post by Ecosse »

I'm really sorry to hear this, morristhedog - bud bugs are one of my dreads. Unfortunately I think they can be hard to get rid of, as they live in any available crevice, be it wood panelling, floorboards or the joins of the bed. I think you need the advice of a post control company to get rid of them.

With regards to edible dormice... I never knew they could be such a problem! Ours are far too shy to come close and when they do, they usually don't survive the encounter with our cats. We woke up to the pretty sight of two tiny hands and a bushy tail on the kitchen floor last week. It appears that despite its name, not all parts are edible...
Ecosse
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Post by Ecosse »

French Cricket wrote: and they do have a habit of playing competitive football with their nuts in the early hours of the morning.
:shock: :lol:
Morristhedog
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Post by Morristhedog »

I had a bit of a relationship with a baby dormouse last year. It fell from the plasterboard, bounced off a mirror, and lay on the floor. All this in the barn apartment, where I camp when guests rent my house.

The dog and cats stood staring at it.

I put it in a polystyrene container, and expected it might die in the night.

In the morning it was yelling for breakfast.

I took it up to the loft and left it there for recovery by its mother.

Then later some dormouse was coming down into my barn apartment through the ceiling and I fed it apple and raisins.

OK it is my fault.

But they have to move on out of the house back into the barn, or 3 km further....
A dreamer is one who can only find his way home by moonlight.
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

If you think you may have bed bugs, take a look at this link

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bed-bugs/P ... ction.aspx

It would be worth doing a more intensive search on the Internet, Gitemontjoly is quite correct, you need urgent professional opinion so don't delay seeking out someone.

I hope your fears are unfounded.
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Mouse
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Post by Mouse »

Replied on the other thread.

Mx
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