I am smarter than a mouse. For the past several evenings, when everything gets quiet in my house, I have been hearing a rattling in one of the waste paper cans. Last night when I heard it, I was quick enough to see an ice cream sandwich wrapper moving. I found a mouse trap, baited and set it and was confident that the little creature would be my captive this morning. No such luck. The trap was just as I had left it and the ice cream sandwich wrapper had disappeared. This evening I emptied the trash can, put an ice cream sandwich wrapper in the bottom of it and went back to my recliner. Just a bit ago I heard a racket under the sink and found that the little mouse was in the bottom of the can and couldn't get out. He was less than half the size of an adult but he was sure making a lot of noise trying to jump out of that can. Not wanting to kill him or risk his getting out of the can, I put a towel over the top, carried the can to the back porch, set it down where I could reach it from the door, partially closed the door, upset the can, then quickly closed the door. I think the can will be safe on the back porch until morning and I am sure the little mouse will be gone. You see, I am smarter than a half grown mouse. ;D ;D ;D
I caught another mouse. Same method. This one a bit bigger than the other but just as noisy in his attempts to escape. And he didn't assume the prayer position like the little one did. I disposed of him in the same manner and hope that there will be no more.
You are so funny! :D :D :D
Your story reminds me of a "humane mousetrap" that a friend gave me when I had a mouse problem at my store. Though I can't find it right this minute, I know I still have it packed away somewhere because it is so very cute.
You baited it with a soda cracker covered in peanutbutter. The mouse went in this little acryilc house-looking box in one end, and the cracker closed off the other end. The spring would lock the entrance with the mouse inside. Then you were supposed to take it out of your home and the mouse would eat the cracker & go on it's way prepared for the outdoors with a belly full of peanut butter cracker.
It worked great, but my whole family loved the part of the instructions that said something along the lines of:
'...After you have caught the mouse, gently move the box to a place that needs a mouse...'
For the life of me, I could never think of a single place that needed a mouse. ???
OK, the mice have won, temporarily. I opened a drawer in the bathroom this morning. Calling cards. I started digging deeper. More calling cards. By the time I was through, the whole drawer and 2 other drawers have been cleaned, a bunch of stuff is in the dishwasher. The drawers have been washed with lysol, all non-dishwashable stuff has been wiped with lysol and a load of towels, etc. has been washed and a bunch of stuff thrown away. Not what I had intended to do today. But, being a human being, supreme to mere animals, I might have the last laugh yet. I have put D-con on the floor under the drawers, where Bud can't get to it
By the way, their favorite food is Preparation H hemorrhoid lozenges. Next favorite is soap.
Maybe the little mice will just shrivel up die!! :D :laugh: :laugh:
Just find an owl tree and leave the live mouse there. No more problem.
UPDATE: I caught another little mouse in the trash can last night. I have decided these are country mice as they are not as plump as city mice. I didn't want to upset the trash can on the back porch because of the trash that was in it, so I just left it out there, covered with the towel and first daughter retrieved it this morning. She says the little mouse was curled up inside a plastic wrapper. She tipped the can and the creature scurried off, probably to the hole that it had come through in the first place. Should have tagged it so I could tell if it had been caught before.
Wilma, I do believe you have trained a mouse. He is not house broke yet, evidently...since he leaves his calling cards, but if you could drop some cake coloring or a dab of paint on his little head, you can determine if he is "recycled" or brand new occupant each day.
;D ;D ;D ;D
ha ha.. that is a great idea mama...
or you could just trap them in a regular mousetrap and when you opened the trap to throw away their 'dead' bodies.. you would know he wouldn't be setting up housekeeping anymore.
I opt for that method. I hate them. They chew inot and ruin all kinds of food and they are disease carriers.
Yuck!
You need my little Bingo Dog to visit for a week. He would clean up those mice in a hurry ,along with any snakes that are lurking around. He's a killer!!!!!!!!!
In the 1970s while living in Mulvane, Kansas, mice invaded my house. Being single at the time, I never kept much food around. I had been there three years and never saw one up to that time. I put traps out and caught several.
I discovered one mouse moseying around in the basement and I tried stabbing it with the sweeping end of a corn broom but it was just too fast. I finally threw a bucket at it. Somehow, the bucket landed upright with the mouse trapped underneath.
I was in a hurry and needed to get on my way to Indiana. I decided I could not raise the bucket in any manner that would not allow it to get away. Therefore, I left the bucket where it was and walked away. When I got home two weeks later, I swore I would never do that again!
I finally called an exterminator after I had killed twenty-four of the varmints. The exterminator found there was a colony living just outside the house under a concrete air conditioning slab.
The exterminator did an excellent job and I never again saw another mouse by the time I moved out two years later.
This mouse war might end soon. Yesterday I found that I can no longer use traps. They are cruel and painful. My trap finally did it's job and trapped a little mouse. I had to let it die in the trap as it was too injured to turn loose. I will not be setting any more traps. The mice either have to drop into the empty waste basket or eat the D-Con that I have hidden. I won't let Bud have them, either, as he could be just as cruel, besides probably letting them get away from him. If he catches one on his own and I don't know about it, he can do as he wants. I don't think he has ever caught one. In fact, I think if he saw one, he would say "What's that?" He's such a good little boy.
Wilma,
Use a live trap and let someone take them to the country. When you let them out of the door they just go back to their trail and come in again. As it gets colder they will be looking for a place to stay, no one is safe.
Army Mom
My cat Sheeba loves to catch them and then bring them to the front door to "show" me.
The she proceeds to eat it!
Ye Gads... I can do without either one.
But she is soooo proud of her catch so I have to brag and brag. Only then will she settle in and eat it.
Tiger on the other hand.. catches them and then plays with them until they are dead and then walks away. He loses interest after they don't move anymore.
I have five cats and have not seen a mouse, mole or snake in my yard or house in a long time but the last time I did I took some steel wool and poked it in around where the water pipes and drain pipe holes are and haven't seen any inside since. The mice can't chew through the steel wool.
Good Luck getting rid of them.
Son-in-law brought me some steel wool the other day, but I haven't felt like trying to stuff it anyplace. Besides I need to figure out just how I am going to do it, since I can't get down to floor level. I was going to use my extend-a-reach, then I remembered that it has a magnet on the end of it. I don't think I would have much luck leaving the steel wool anyplace with it.
When we had lots of outdoor cats we didn't have a mouse problem. Maybe twice a year a couple would set up housekeeping in the kitchen towel drawer (always the same drawer), my husband would set a couple of traps and when we had caught 2 or 3 we wouldn't see any signs of any more for 6 months. It didn't bother me to trap them then. My husband took care of the traps and I didn't have to see them suffer.
When we go camping, I use steel wool to start a campfire.
Set a match to it and it burns better than paper as a fire starter.
Never heard of that before. Now I will have to try it just to see if it works. Wonder if it would work in a fireplace.
A number of years ago, I was working on a workbench in the garage.
A three-foot length of thin wire was stretched out on the bench as I was working.
I plugged a drill into the plug in receptacle of a trouble light also lying on the workbench.
As I manipulated the drill, that wire somehow found its way into the plug in on the trouble light contacting the two plug in prongs.
The instant result was a short circuit, a poof of fire, and a loud noise.
After I jumped back from fright, the wire was a three-foot length of ash laid out perfectly on the workbench.
Although still having the same outcome as a regular trap (just seems a little nicer since there is no physical harm), those sticky traps work WONDERS. But, use my trick (since once there is a mouse on the sticky trap I don't want to get my fingers within 2 inches of the mouse)... tape a piece of long string to the bottom of the trap. That way, you can also push it far underneath things or way back in corners and the string will still allow you to pull it back out. These flat, easily sliding trays might work better with your extend-a-reach, too.
Note: These things can catch all sorts of crawlies, including bugs and small snakes (don't ask).
I don't think I have heard of those before. Do they catch cockroaches, too? I have no problem with mice unless I have to see them suffer. You wouldn't believe the things my girls would bring into the house including snakes. I soon made that a no-no.
I would imagine they could catch anything that would crawl on them (as my snake experience proved). Probably you'd have to figure out which bait to put on them. They come pre-loaded with grain (milo or something). They're about 3 inches by 5 inches or so, and I've bought them at Cookson's. If you leave them alone for a couple of days, then you'll find a dead mouse on them. If you happen to check the day that the mouse gets stuck... then you'll see there is no suffering... just no ability to move at all. Although I did have a larger mouse get half-stuck on one... and he proceeded to drag the tray around for a bit. But the noise was obvious and I was able to catch up with him. Just tie the string to something (table leg or something) and that will prevent it from going too far.
NOTE: I do not have mice in my house now! These experiences were from when we first moved into our house 2 years ago and it was October and the builders had left the house open to all sorts of critters all summer long. I think we caught about 6-9 mice in the first week, plus the snake, and that's been it.
I have to share a story about those sticky traps.
I used to have long haired Powder Puff hamsters and the regular brown hamsters. I raised them, and although I hate mice, I loved my hamsters. I had 3 sets of married ones :D and then 2 that were single that I didn't breed.
.. Sam and Sadie. I think that Sam was gay and Sadie was a horrible mother. They were the best-ever for pets though.
I would have her cuddle by my neck while I watched TV and she would set there and then crawl down into my shirt pocket and there she would ride and stay until you put her in her 'house'.
And Sam was wonderful and loved the boys to play with him. They would put him in his clear ball and he would roll all over the house and even got to where he would run inside the thing and steer it to the room he wanted. But Sam was also a magician.
That little devil could get out of any cage and finally we had to wire his door shut so he wouldn't open the latch and get out!
Hamsters can live without water for only about 24 hours. They can go without food a bit longer.. but water is a must for them.
Well, I got up one morning and Sam was gone. He had worked all night I think until he finally got the corner of the lid chewed so he could push up on it and crawl out the top. Hamsters are nocturnal and so they will find a place ..curl up and sleep generally in the day and then tear around in the night.
We looked everywhere! And in all the places he had gotten before. In the rolled up carpet under the bed , in shoes, under divans and chairs and up inside the furniture. in the box of Kleenex( yep the Kleenex box ::)) in the duct work that goes from the vents in the floors, everywhere.
No Sam.
I was panicking.
Then we noticed that the basement door off the kitchen was cracked open ever so slightly.
I thought that if he had fallen down those long steep steps and toppled over the side of them, he was probably laying dead somewhere or injured and couldn't move.
So to the basement we went.
Our basement was huge. Full size, unfinished with the main part being the total of 5 big rooms. It was all open with the freezers, washer and dryer, full work out equipment with treadmill and 3 weight benches and 4 station gym, then all my Holiday decorations are stacked and stored.. plus winter coats and totes of seasonal clothes. Marks tool and work bench.. and then off of that was a wood room that had an outside chute that we slid the wood in through the window and filled up with cut wood for the wood stove.
( Get my idea of what I was facing to be able to find him??..NOT an easy task)
Well, I looked and I looked and I looked.
Nothing.
I was heartbroken. So I went to bed, knowing that he was going to be running on borrowed time if he was still alive by morning.
Late that night, I woke up and had an idea. I jumped out of bed, and of course Mark thought I had lost my mind ( after all, he said... it was JUST a hamster) >:( Not so with me.
I took his cage down stairs and filled it with his favorite foods..( slivers of carrots, cheerios and his treat food) had fresh water in his bottle and wired the cage door open. Then I sprinkled flour all over the floor in front of the cage and all over the floor in a big circle..( to track him)
Next morning, he had eaten and drank and was gone again.. but I could see by his little tracks what direction he had gone. But I still couldn't find him.
So that night I went to bed, and once again jumped up with an idea. ( My spirit guides help me the most after I settle down ;) )
So I grabbed the store keys and in my pj's I went uptown and got a sticky trap. Once again I baited the food cage and this time I set the trap in front of his door.
Then I set my alarm for 4:00 cause I didn't want him stuck in that thing all night.. and BINGO!
I went down there and there he was. Stuck to the trap looking at me like.. "what in the hell happened!"
He was struggling when he saw me, and I had to get him and the trap and pour baby oil all over it and on his legs to get him to gently come off of that thing. Then I had to give him a partial bath. Lord Have Mercy! What an ordeal.
( Ever try to give a hamster a bath?) :P
But Sam was safe and I was glad and Mark was resigned to finally knowing that I had totally lost my senses. lol
The End.. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
It sure took Mark a long, long time to learn that you had lost your senses. Those of us who have known you for a long, long time knew that part about you a long, long time ago. :P
You know? For someone who only gets on here once and awhile anymore..( I guess to grace us with your presence) ::)
you have to be the most nasty snotty old bag of wind I have ever listened to. >:(
That was a wonderful entertaining story ( far better to read than anything YOU have ever written) and what do you do?
You pick out one teeny weeny little part and you just HAVE to be mean to me about it!
I hope you are satisfied.
You have made me cry and I will be crying for most of the day now.(http://www.cascity.com/howard/forum/crykleenex.gif)
In fact.. because I love you so much and everything that you always say to me I take into my heart with unconditional love.... :angel:
I will ...................now.....for the rest of my life... be insecure and sad... all because of you!
Are you happy? You mean hateful ole' thing!
Teresa, sit down and have a nice cup of herbal tea.
Yes I will.
Thank you Diane..
At least SOMEONE cares about me...(sniff :'( sniff)
You know I love you. That's why you put up with me because I love you. :angel: :angel:
Great Gobs of Goose Grease......I do believe we all need a nice hot cup of herbal tea. Wonderful idea, Diane.
Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Soooo... back on track here... :police:
Wilma, did you try the sticky trap and did it work?
No, I haven't. I haven't been anywhere that I could look at one. Actually I have been but I forgot about it.
"If you happen to check the day that the mouse gets stuck... then you'll see there is no suffering... just no ability to move at all"
I have seen many mice try and chew their legs off to get out of these glue traps
I was looking for something else and found this thread and decided to read it again. I see that I never got around to posting the solution to my mouse problem. The solution was the hole they were coming through. When the new roof was put on, the vent pipe for the water heater was accidentally dislodged. It broke away some of the sheet rock that it went through and the mice were coming through the hole that was left. I discovered this when I tracked the source of a draft that shouldn't have been.
I had the hole repaired and I have had only one mouse since then. I keep an open box of Dcon where Bud can't get to it and when I see that it has been disturbed, I know there has been a mouse in the house. In a couple of days there is no further disturbance of the Dcon.
I noticed some of the responses, above, had to do with humanely disposing of or killing a mouse.
A few years ago in the sixties or seventies (it might still be around) someone introduced what they called a perfect mouse trap. It did not kill the animal. No blood, no fuss, no having to get near a dead mouse, no need to put your fingers on an un-hygienic spring bar to release the body. No need to kill the mouse if one did not want to.
The trap was a small square metal box resembling the shape and size of a cigar box. It had small vent holes in various places on each side and a small opening in which a mouse could enter through a spring loaded door to get to the goodies placed inside by the owner. More than one mouse could be caught, if desired, and none would be killed.
Once a mouse made it in, there was no way it could get out due to the spring loaded door design and chute where he entered.
After a mouse, or mice, was trapped, the owner could release the mice somewhere away from their house or could put the trap in a bucket of water to send the pests to their destiny.
After a reasonable time in the bucket, the trap would be retrieved and a larger door that was owner operated could be opened to shake the varmints out in the trash.