Gently expel dormice: 5 effective home remedies

Although the dormouse looks very cute with its button eyes, it can cause problems in the house. The nocturnal animals cause noise when people want to sleep and, as rodents, they also cause damage to buildings. Glis glis, as they are called zoologically, must not be killed because they are protected by species. Therefore, you are allowed to catch the dormice as alive as possible and release them to another place or gently drive them away.

Dormouse

One reason the dormouse is increasingly invading homes is its diminishing habitats. It prefers deciduous forests or orchards, where it hides in tree hollows. Both preferred habitats are decreasing more and more, which is why the rodent has no choice but to look for alternative quarters.
Garden houses or attics are therefore a welcome accommodation for the animals, because they are usually not so dense that they would not find an access somewhere. If you want to prevent the animals from entering the interior at all, you should primarily make sure that there are no entrances to houses. Of course, it is also a good idea to design the garden in such a way that the glis glis do not even come into the house because they will find trees there in which they can find accommodation.

Note: Not only humans have a problem with the dormice, but also tits. It happens again and again that the rodents move into a tit nest box and the tits have to look for other breeding places for themselves.

Catch Alive

Anyone who not only wants to drive away the dormouse, but also want to get rid of them for good, must have the animals catch. However, this is not that easy, because anyone who injures or even kills a dormouse while trying to catch them faces severe fines of up to 50,000 euros.

The animals are therefore only allowed with suitable Traps alive be caught. These are available, for example, in pet shops or in hunting supplies. Nature conservation agencies or hunters occasionally have traps available to borrow and are also available with tips.
The rodents are gourmets, which is why the traps have an intense smell or Offer tasty foods. The following foods are promising as bait:

• fruit
• nuts
• Raisins
• oatmeal
• peanut butter

Anyone who has been successful in the hunt can be prepared for the fact that not only one animal is up to mischief, but several rodents are on the move. After the dormouse is captured, it must be moved to a new area. The animals have an excellent sense of direction and can find their way back several kilometers. Therefore, the animals in the trap should first be placed in a bucket so that they cannot accidentally escape from the trap.

Then the bucket is covered with a cardboard box or a dark blanket. It is important that the animals get enough air. Then there are several kilometers of driving ahead. Ideally, there should be obstacles such as a river or mountain between the new quarter and the previous accommodation. Of course, the new environment should also be a preferred habitat such as a deciduous forest.

Drive away dormice

If you want to drive away the dormice instead of catching them, you can use various home remedies.

smoke

What is particularly annoying to the fine noses of the animals is smoke. Smoke seems to be a home remedy that makes them quickly leave their quarters. Any smoke can be used, such as incense or incense sticks.
It is only important that the affected areas, which are usually attics, are regularly treated with intensely scented smoke. Once the worst smell has gone, the animals may come back. Therefore, it has to be smoked several times so that the animals leave the roost permanently.

Anyone who decides on incense can buy it, for example, in clerical supplies, at Christmas markets or in esoteric shops. Safe handling is important when using incense. Therefore, smoking bowls or pans should be chosen with a secure stand and placed on a fire-proof surface. This also applies to the use of incense sticks, because they can also lead to a fire if used incorrectly.

Due to the increased fine dust pollution when smoking, neither people nor pets should be in the rooms that are being fumigated. Usually the room is ventilated after smoking, but since this significantly reduces the smoky scent, this is not necessary when smoking dormouse. After the smoking process has ended, you should at most get the censer and then leave the area immediately.

Note: When using charcoal or Incense sticks must be in the room, but should not be left the house. If a fire accidentally occurs, action can be taken quickly.

Smells

All home remedies that have an intense scent can be used against glis glis. Not every remedy is suitable for getting rid of the animals, so you will occasionally have to try alternative, intensely scented remedies. There are numerous means in the household with which the dormouse can be driven away, such as:

• Mothballs
• Furniture polish
• cleaning supplies
• Pickling

While furniture polish, cleaning agents and stain can be used over a large area, mothballs can usually only be laid out selectively. Here it is especially important that the animals are pushed towards the exit with the mothballs and not locked in with the intense smell. In this case it can happen that they penetrate even deeper into buildings.

sound

The sound system for dormice brings only temporary success. However, it can still be an effective home remedy to disturb the animals, especially during the day, when they are actually resting. When using sound, you should pay attention to the following points:

• Sound is supposed to drive the animals towards the exit
• only moderate success during the breeding season
• piercing tones are more effective

The disadvantage of sound is that it only disturbs the animals temporarily. Even if they disappear for a short time, it is not possible to disturb them around the clock with annoying sounds. However, sound can help to drive them away at least long enough for their entry and exit. Exits can be closed.

Note: You may only seal entrances and exits outside the breeding season. Otherwise it can happen that the parents can no longer get to the young animals and they perish in agony.

Natural enemies

While fine ones don't exactly help drive the dormice away, some pets can be an effective tool. Often the mere presence of dogs or cats is enough for the animals to run away. If you have a dog or a cat, you should let them roam around for some time in the area in which the dormice roam.

If you don't want your pets to go hunting under the roof, you can try to drive them away with the animals' hair. The glis glis perceive the pets as enemies and therefore the smell of the hair also means danger for them. However, it is important that you distribute the hair over a longer period of time in the area where the dormice are.
With the smell of fresh animal hair you make the dormice believe that enemies are permanently in their quarters, and with a little luck they will soon move out again.

Prevent

The best home remedy to drive them away is not to let them into the house in the first place. To do this, you should make the house as unattractive as possible. You can take the following precautions:

• Remove climbing plants from the house
• Grate ventilation in the roof area
• Barred roof windows and chimneys
• Seal joints and cracks
• Repair damage to the roof immediately

Stripping the roof beams is not only suitable for controlling the animals directly, but also as a preventive measure. The intense smell of the stain makes roofs unattractive to them. The advantage is that stripping only has to be repeated every few years, which makes a roof area unattractive for the animals in the long term.

tip: Check the roof area several times a year. This not only enables you to recognize damage early on, but also to discover early on whether uninvited guests have nested under the roof.