Hello, my tenant texted at 9am on Sun morning reporting noise coming from behind the wall, saying that it seems that a rodent is knawing and chewing on something. In her own words, ‘something was going to come out of the wall’. They cleaned around the area and put some peppermint on cotton pads to remedy the situation. I asked a few questions like is it a mouse, is it from next door building, etc, and suggested they deal with it themselves in the first instance as I wasn’t sure what I could do.
By 5pm there was a strong worded email reminding me of my legal responsibilities -which I have executed exemplary well until that point- They also cited fire and electric hazards as a risk to them. Where do I stand on this? Should they not be doing the initial checks? Should they not wait to see if the problem persists? Should they not rectify that it is rodent? I lived in the property for a decade and never had such a problem, could it be that their hygiene is poor? They could sleep in the spare bedroom is noise was an issue for one day.
It is something that I like to resolve for my own sake, but giving me a few hours notice of something that is not substantiated feels excessive or unnecessary. I surely don’t know how to react to something coming out of a wall, except saying this feels like an episode of Stranger Things! Any guidance will be appreciated.
If it’s a party wall can they talk with neighbours to see if they are aware what the cause might be?
If it’s persistent get them to record sound to help you to investigate it.
Someone needs to look for gaps and entry points of vermin or birds. Signs of droppings etc.
Put down sticky pads or mouse traps. If it were me I would deal with in a phone call to try to get them to rule things out before you go further. Sometimes tenant panic too quickly, put their mind at ease and remind them that sometimes takes a bit of ground work first so know best thing to do.
bees, wasps can enter from small cracks and have caused problems. I get mice all the time as one of the house is in the countryside with open fields. Tried all sorts including pest control agencies, best thing ever amazon sticky pads coming from China, they get killed
i Lived in the countyside Had feral cats who caught the mice . Used sticky pads under the kitchen units . Just got to be careful you do not stand on them.! Bees ok . Wasps not ok