Mysterious black crap under the dog's bed. Holes through the dog food bag that had been left on the floor. I explained those away, cuz who the hell has mice in a 3rd floor appartment in the city?
Apparently, WE do.
Last night as I was sitting at the table working on my laptop, I could have sworn I saw a small dark creature scurrying along the baseboards toward the radiator. I looked, saw nothing, crossed it off as an overactive imagination from an overtired brain. BUT. This morning, same thing except it was daylight, I heard a scratching sound and turned my head in time to see
THE BASTARD MOUSE
making a mad dash for safety. While the two stupid dogs slept and never alerted me to anything, not once.
OK I am seriously creeped out now and facing a dilemma. What to do?
I abhor vermin yet really, it's just a poor creature in the wrong place, so what right do I have to slaughter it with a barbaric neck-snapping mouse trap? Gad. I just can't do it.
Yet, if we somehow capture the mouse and set it free outside, in all likelihood the neighborhood alleycats will chase it down or it would die of cold or terror or something.
Help!
In other news I stumbled out of bed too late, got to work too late and am quite annoyed at having to spend such a gorgeous breezy warm summer day locked inside an office, specially when the next five days' forecast calls for crummy rain and showers. Mleh. Like I told Vegas, I guess it's movies, food and sex baby.
His answer: "w00t!"
PS: just had the brilliant idea of putting up a poll to help me deal with the mouse-in-the-house problem. I need to get something done by this weekend, latest, before those things start breeding and UGGHHH! GROSS!
/end of WWJD post/
25 comments:
Ohmigosh; the idea of mice anywhere near me makes me goose pimple. I am not a rodent friendly kinda girl.
I just don't like uninvited creatures using our place as a restaurant and lavatory, you know? yeeeeeeeeecch!
They can only breed if there's another mouse in the house.
Mouse lifespan is very short if that's any consolation??????
Myself, I don't know how many are around, nor how long it (they??) have been here, since the summer for sure - when I noticed holes in the dog food bag. Shit!
gotta kill em. Or borrow someone's cat to kill em
City mice are smart. I had this problem in an old apartment and I set traps. The mice knew how to eat the bait without setting it off. It scared the crap out of me. We didn't want to set poison because then they crawl in a wall and die. That is when you get that horrid smell as they rot. We had to get sticky traps. It was terrifying and it worked. Good luck!
PrincessB, not an option with my two cat-killing dogs...
Knight, OMG I had not thought about the crawling into the wall and dying part. UGH! Gotta investigate humane traps and see if that works... let the critters fend for themselves outside, I say.
I had a rat in my attic once, it came in from the mountain and started eating the floor boards at night, sounded like it was about three foot long and wore hobnail boots...
Fortunately my brother keeps ferrets. We sent our cuddly assasin into the floor space and no more Mr Rat.
I then threw ferret bedding about the murder scene which also works as deterrent.
Good luck! ( I was going to say "have fun" but no, not really...)
yuckyuckyuck!!!
*screaming like a girl*
WHEN IS VEGAS BACK? I hate the play the maiden in distress, but this requires the legwork of a man. You can pay him back with sex, lots and lots and lots of sex.
Sian, I now see the use of ferrets! Awe man, why can't my dogs just do their damn thing and kill the rodent!!
Curly, I don't see how that is payment, I mean what does it cost me! :-D
It costs you nothing. You're happy, Vegas is happy, effing mouse and his buddies are gone and all is well in the world again.
Or you can always get a cat or two. Then when the mice are gone give the cats to the dogs (evil laughter).
Oh, also, don't they have giant tupperwear-ish containers for the dog food? I'd invest in a few...
We had a bitch of a time when we had mice in the house. Our cats are far too lazy and domesticated to do anything about it so we resorted to...slaughtering them with barbaric neck-snapping devices.
Curly, I was saying that tongue in cheek... I'll happily "pay" that price! Actually I give it away for free. Vegas has it good. he he
Frank, I can set the traps out but I could never look to see if they had worked... I'm too squeamish and I just know I'd cry. DAMMIT.
Mice don't really bother me too much, however, I would want it out of my house. I would get a humane trap and set it free outside where it can fend for itself...
Mice? I would freak the f- out. When we first moved into our house (we built) there were field mice EVERYWHERE! PH got one of those electical zapper-traps. We would catch a mouse a day for months!
LOL, and here is where my country girl mentality comes in to play for the whole world to see ( or atleast TD's blog)
Mouse trap, little bit of PB or cheesewhiz however PB works much better, they have to sit there to work it off. Dead mouse, you throw the whole darn trap away and never think back.
Or.
Drown it.
Get a bucket, make it easily accessible for the mouse to get to the top of it, open an old fashioned clothes hanger and put it through a pop can, put some PB on the pop can and balance it so that the "bait" is on top,
Mouse comes along walks the plank to get to the pop can, falls off and drowns.
OR.
Get a minnow trap ( or any other thing along those lines with an awkward indented entrance point) put some bread and PB in there ( Peanut butter really is the be all and end all here) block off the extra entrance up against a wall or something, cover the inside of the minnow trap entrance with tin foil or something else like that which a mouse can not get traction on to get out.
Mouse goes into the easy entrance, sits down eats some PB and now can not get out.
Take a lid from an old margarine container and cover up the other end that was against the wall, and take your furry full mouse outside for the street animals to kill.
Just make sure it doesnt follow you back in. LOL
I could go on and on for ways to kill or remove mice, but thats enough for now, I really doubt you have easy access to minnow traps though.
Good luck.
And its just a mouse! ;)
City gurls *rolls eyes*
Sweet T, I just feel sorry for it - mice belong outside! ick!
Dolce, I never heard of those! OMG they sound horrible :-o
Zedder, I knew you'd know what to do! LOL! Spoke to my landlady and she's not bothered, says they get them at the cottage every year... put out dishes of special "mouse bait", they eat it, walk away and die. Problem solved. Guess who's taking the weenie way out and going to the hardware store this weekend... *looks away*
Rats are the one thing I can not do.....snakes, spiders.....no prob....but RATS/MICE....Can't do it!!
We had a problem, until we got cats :)
WW, if only I could do cats!
I would rather have mice than Silverfish. Trade ya! At least traps work for mice. Nothing kills silverfish (and there are more of them!)
Daring! *shudder* I'll take mice over bugs any day, I promise.
*shiver*
Only thing with the poison dish of delight ( and main reason why I do not do it) the mouse will search frantically for water ( it severely dehydrates them) and they could die where the furries could think its a snack. Then they are ingesting the poison as well.
Unless you crate up the dogs, put a little water dish that the mouse will sit and drink and drink and drink from until he dies and then dispose of him/her.
Good luck which ever route you go lol
Well I found the hole, I'll block it best as I can for now... no more dog food laying around so if it breaks the barrier it won't find anytning to eat anyways.
At least I know it just visits, it doesn't live in my place. Shudder.
If I see it (or evidence of it) again, it's poisoned bait near the hole and more cordonning off of sorts. Freaking things.
Remember that mice can knaw through just about anything. Cheese laced in some sort of poison (push thru the hole) is your best bet as you remove all other dog food for them. Good luck!
Finally I'm trying the traps, I'm too scared to risk poison cuz of the two dogs... "you never know" :-(
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