An Usborne book by the same title is in our library. It's a cute book, with a little paper mouse that goes "in" and "out" of various places, running amok looking for some food. The kids always loved shoving the mouse through the slot to the next page.
I'm looking forward to shoving our REAL mouse into our trashcan in the garage. Sooner rather than later, I might add.
It has been nearly two weeks since I was nearly scared off the toilet in the basement when a rodent ran across the floor into the storage closet. We've had the plug-in electrical shock wave things ever since. However, Saturday morning I nearly sloshed hot tea all over myself when, at 5:30 a.m., a mouse ran from the laundry room into the kitchen and behind the fridge. He then skittered over to the stove and disappeared under it. Two days later it happened again, the exact same path. Obviously this mouse is either deaf or numb--I'm not sure how those plug-in things work, but he seems to be immune.
Lots of advice poured in via Facebook, and I opted for the traps that contain the mouse inside a circular cage with a setting that points to whether the trap is "Set," "Not Set," or "Mouse Inside." I couldn't stand the thought of discovering a mouse corpse in the pantry...it was bad enough finding all the mouse poop in there the other morning. Yesterday the kids helped me bait the traps with peanut butter and set them accordingly, and we placed them both in the pantry. They're a little large and a bit awkward--they're supposed to be placed up against a wall, since mice move in straight lines, usually along a baseboard. So placing it near the fridge or by the stove really is not a good idea, especially with a crawling Lucan and a curious Kenna wandering about.
Today, though, I'm wondering if we shouldn't have just gotten the old-fashioned spring traps and slid one underneath the stove and another back in the corner by the refrigerator, as well as in the pantry. I was sure that after seeing the mouse travel the same path two of the last three mornings, the trap in the pantry would read "Mouse Inside" this morning. No such luck.
Do you think he heard us making our war plans? Did my removal of the cereal boxes and rice bag from the pantry floor not go unnoticed? Or is he just lying low, thinking he'll revisit the pantry after some time has passed so maybe I won't notice?!
All I know is, I'm WAY more creeped out than I ever thought I'd be by a creature smaller than Kenna's sock. I turn lights on in a room and wait a minute or two before I walk in, and I'm constantly scanning the floor ahead of me. Yes, I know, the mouse is probably more afraid of me than I am of it. But that's beside the point.
You know what really creeps me out? If you've seen the movie Ratatouille, you'll remember the scene where the old lady is shooting at the two rats who are trying to escape from her kitchen. She shoots so many holes in her ceiling that the light fixture drops, pulling away much of the ceiling and revealing scads of rats hiding in the rafters.
What if I'm only seeing one Private out of an army of mice?! THAT is what worries me!
6 comments:
Rob says use the spring traps. We filled the holes up in our closet and haven't seen but one mouse since. Here's to hoping your hunting is successful!!
Ew! I'm not sure which is worse, the mice or the ants that we have. Today I found one crawling on my son's brocolli - at the dinner table! And while I was cooking I had one crawling around on my neck... gah!
And they give off this funky smell when you kill them that I am quickly learning to hate.
Again, I say STICKY/GLUE traps. I went through this EXACT same thing back in 1993 when we moved into our first home. We spent WAY too much money on all kinds of traps and NOTHING worked for over two weeks. We even found spring traps that the mouse had removed the peanut butter succesfully WITHOUT setting off the trap! We were referred to the sticky traps by our Pest Control company and literally an hour after putting it out, we had our first victim. Turns out there were a total of 3 mice, and we found their nest in the "attic" that was off the crawl space under the stairs. (hard to explain) End your problem today by getting the sticky traps. Yes, you will have to see the mouse stuck to the trap and it is not pretty..but they WORK. (Not only are mice a nuisance, but they carry disease.)
did i ever tell you about the 2 snakes we found alive and well in Ben's room?
We actually used a sticky trap right next to a spring trap with either peanut butter smeared deep on the top and bottom of it. It's been 50/50 between each catching the mice we had. That was last winter. This winter we only had one in the attic. We have actually also put chocolate on the trap and caught one too, Why? Because it ate the chocolate in my pantry, so we let it's final meal be just that. Praying you catch them quickly, so gross!!!
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