Of mice and women

I caught one!

The snap trap got it.

The little thing was about as big as my thumb and so darn cute.

I feel wretched now.

RIP little mouse - I'm sorry.

They're baaaaaack - again

Those pesky little critters!

Mice!

So far they seem to be in our garage only. Usually we get them in the basement as well, but I haven't been down there to properly inspect the place since our new roommates have moved in.

They were freaking out over crickets, can you imagine if they knew there were mice down there too?

In the past I have used snap traps, glue traps (horrible, I do not recommend them) and poison. I have even tried gizmos that are supposed to kill the mouse and then keep it in one container so you don't see it.

Usually one of the above techniques work. Except for that last one. What a waste of money that was.

This year the mouse population in my neighborhood have put up little bulletins in their little mouse dens and have spread the work that I am out to get them because they have alluded capture so far.

First was the snap traps. I tried Cheese Whizz- they licked it clean off without setting off the trap. Then came the peanut butter - I thought it would be a bit sticker and hard to lick off. They licked that off too! One little bugger not only licked the peanut butter off the trap but it must have gotten caught on his/her tail and they dragged the trap to the middle of the garage and left it there. No sign of blood so I don't think it was injured.

Getting really ticked off now.

I put two glue traps down. I really don't like these because the mice get stuck to the glue and basically starve to death and you have to pick that trap up and throw it away eventually. It's not humane in my mind, but I am getting determined.

Two days...nothing but a few little mouse droppings around the glue traps.

I tried to put a dab of peanut butter in the middle of the trap and do you know that little varmint licked the peanut butter clean off the glue trap without getting stuck!!! one trap actually had some pieces of insulation on top of the glue so it wouldn't be sticky.

I even think I see a little teenie tiny, itty bitty, little teenie tIIIIny (think of Emily Litela people).....paw print on the adhesive.



You can just make them out in this picture!

Seriously!!!

WTF?!?!

This is one smart little mouse.

I have to say I am very impressed with his evasive maneuvers!
BUT I am the human - I am "supposed" to have a superior brain!

Now this is personal.

Now I feel like Wyle E. Coyote chasing after the Road Runner. (looking for the ACME anvil to drop on my head any moment)

:::drumming fingers:::

I would try the catch and release traps but I have heard that mice can find their way back to your house unless you take them far, far, FAR away.

With my luck I'll let it go in the woods and he'll tell all his little mice friends and next thing you know I'll have a Willard situation on my hands.

Any tips, tricks, helpful hints from Heloise will be considered!

Stay tuned...the saga continues.

Maybe I can hire this guy:

Shazza vs. the mouse

Part 3 (parts 1 and two are here)

As I was cleaning out the garage yesterday I found the tell tail signs of little vermin everywhere.

Mouse poop!

Dagnabbit!

I found the poison traps that I put out before - all empty. One little bastard even had the quejones to make a little nest in one!

Bastards!

At first I was having a hard time killing these little guys. I mean look at how cute your average house mouse is:

But they are very destructive and their excrement smells horrible and now it's personal.

Here are a few facts about these pesky little pests:

Mice have keen senses of taste, hearing, smell and touch. They are excellent climbers and can run up any rough vertical surface. They will run horizontally along wire cables or ropes and can jump up 13 inches from the floor onto a flat surface. They can slip through a crack that a pencil will fit into (sightly larger than 1/4 inch in diameter).

I am not one to catch and release these little guys because there are just way too many of them and they breed incredibly fast. Did you know that female mice will become "mature" at about 3 months of age? The gestation period for a mouse is 19 - 24 days and a female can get pregnant again within 48 hours after giving birth.

Average litter size: 9 - 20 pups

You get one breeding pair in your house and that's it!

Corky and Casey are very good vermin hunters. We find little dead mice all over the back yard, but once they are in the house they can't get to them because they run along the sill of our basement which is up way too high for their little Westie legs to reach.

So unfortunately for Mickey, Minnie, Speedy, Mighty mouse and all their little mouse friends it's curtains for you:

They're baaaaack

Nudge, nudge.

Huh?

what?

"Mom! wake up! There is something crawling in the insulation in the basement!"

Wha? Huh?

Nudge, nudge.

"MOM! WAKE UP!"

What?

"There is something crawling around in the insulation in the basement!!!"

Fa-king A - I just got to sleeeeeep! ugh

I grudgingly trodded downstairs to the basement where my daughter was multi-tasking: watching TV, IM'ing her friends on the computer, texting her friends on her side kick.

She calmly pointed up towards the ceiling where you could actually see...the padding of the insulation "moving".

I rubbed my eyes...looked again. I asked her to turn down the TV.

scritch, scratch...scratch.

"It's kind of creepy" she nonchalantly tells me.

I nod - still fairly groggy.

Ugh.

"Looks like the mice are back again" I tell her.

"Yup...looks like it. I just wanted to let you know."

:::sigh:::

"Ok...thanks. I'll take care of it in the morning"

"Ok! Good night!"

"Good night!" I kissed her on the head and padded back upstairs and went to bed.

M murmured sleepily: "What's going on?"

"The mice are back." I tell her as I get back under the covers.

"No way!"

"Way...I'll take care of it in the morning."

"shit"

"uh huh...sneaky little bastards they are." I whisper as I snuggle back in. "Good night again."

"g'night."

We go to bed with visions of vermin running through our heads!

In the morning I re-baited the traps.

Last night as I was sitting at my computer I could hear them gnawing at the poison. Victory and defeat all at the same time.

None of us are happy about killing the mice, but they weren't invited and we don't really have a choice.

:::sigh:::

Poor little bastards.