Rat in my shed not the one with wheels

[IanF]

dread to think the damage it could do to my cars interior

The interior is only the start of the problems with rodents.My grandparents have just part ex'd their 55 plate Octavia for a Fabia due to the damage a field mouse did to it. The only way they discovered the problem was a warning light coming on. On investigation, the mechanic found that it had EATEN the insulation on the wiring loom and it needed replacing. Thankfully the insurance paid out for a new one, but it took seven weeks to arrive from the Czech Republic and another two weeks to fit (the original estimate was 12 hours...).However, after they got it back the Lamda sensor continued to come on intermittently, which the dealer eventually put down to a short that had affected the ECU during the rodents activities which would have cost another grand. Instead of pissing around they decided to downsize to a Fabia and got top book on the Octavia, with its last known whereabouts being somewhere in North Wales, still to be fixed properly...

[oldford]

My work colleague built a great mouse trap. A 25 litre plastic container with the top cut off and half filled with water, an old number plate with a 90 degree bend in it screwed to one end, to which the bait was hung from a wire. Finally a gang plank was made from an old number plate, this was balanced on the edge opposite the bait and had some lengths of brake pipe on the underside so that it could tip to nearly 90 degrees and return to its original position. This was positioned next to a low shelf which was the same height as the top of the container and left overnight. Its tally so far is 6 mice, 3 of which were caught on the first night.