Nibble, Nibble Like a Mouse
The scene above looks like our kitchen for the past two weeks. After having not seen a mouse all summer, one day, they were just there. And not just one or two, but a lot. On Saturday afternoon, Mrs. B walked in to the kitchen, and three of them were having a powwow on the…
The scene above looks like our kitchen for the past two weeks. After having not seen a mouse all summer, one day, they were just there. And not just one or two, but a lot. On Saturday afternoon, Mrs. B walked in to the kitchen, and three of them were having a powwow on the counter. As yesterday’s article in The Times points out, the common house mouse “weighs about an ounce, has a two-inch-long body and can slip through a hole just a little bit bigger than a pencil.” So the biggest preventative measure you can take is to seal up as many holes as possible. We had someone come in last winter and spray a hard foam-like substance around (steel wool is another DIY option) but in a house like ours, there’s really no way to cover all your bases. Traps and poison are the two standard remedies; if you’re going with the former, the article recommends, you gotta go all out: If you’re not starting with a dozen traps, you’re not serious about catching mice, said one expert. As for bait, forget about cheese and go with peanut butter.
When Mice Move in to Spend the Winter [NY Times]
Photo by viralbus
So, 10/9 at 5:15 who uses glue traps and glass to cut the throats of mice, the very very very rare chance that your child would get bit by a shy mouse who is only going to hide from humans – is that more dreaded in your view, than your child learning to be cruel? That seems the kind of reasoning a parent really regrets when a teenager ends up in jail someday for assault or murder. Every single expert in the entire world agrees that teaching a child to love animals teaches them empathy for humans.
I know I’m the only one, but I think the mouse in that photo is adorable. I had a pet mouse once, when I was young. It was far more intelligent than we’d think mice are, and it was truly affectionate and loving. He would chatter away at me, loved to be held and petted, never bit me, would come when I called him (when he was on the dining table while I cleaned his cage) and he loved music. He would get very calm and sit still, listening when I had music on.
My husband is now a 100% believer in the cat idea to keep away mice. He’d never had a cat before until I moved in, and he said before, he was always the only one in our building with mice because every single other unit had a cat. Then when my cat arrived, no more mice. My husband also said at another place years ago he lived in, he never had mice and then someone moved in next door with a cat then he suddenly had mice. He assumed that happened because they were driven from the cat’s apartment into his. SO, if you are someone without a cat and your neighbors do have cats, you’re going to be getting the mice refugees from the other apartments.
Agree about the cruelty/disgustingness of glue traps. But does no one use snap traps anymore? Have used snap traps more times than I care to remember, and they have never failed to deliver an instant kill. Faster and less painful than poison, as well. And cats are not necessarily known for following the Geneva Conventions with their mousey prisoners. Though I guess if the cat scares the mice away altogether, that’s ideal.
Those glue traps are so cruel – we used the clear platic traps that mice can get in, but not out of, and brought the mice back outside. Once we got a cat, we never had another mouse problem.
Here Here on the RATZAPPER. I have used this for 6 years and anytime there is a mouse, this device does the trick. To this day I am amazed at how good it works. This weekend cleaning up my yard I saw a mouse running around my Composter. I guess they like the heat in there. As long as he stays in there and not the house, God bless him.
Anonymous at 5.46 – you just took gross to a whole new level.
Browstoner – I’d loan you my Clinton Hill mouser, but I have a feeling the mice would just come back. I’d recommend adopting a cat, or kitten, from the pound – the kids will love it and the mice will run next door!
I don’t like the rat poison method. Your place ends up smelling like dead mouse for a week depending on where the little bugger finally decides to kick the can. You end up wasting more time searching for the location of the stench. If it’s behind the walls, you just have to suffer through it.
And if you have carpet forget about it! One year a poisoned mouse died and decayed in a corner, on our plush carpet. One day we started noticing HUGE flies in the house (in the middle of winter). It took us a while to notice where they were coming from… fly larvae was breeding in the carpet where the mouse had decayed. What we saw was disgustingly shocking… at least 50 little black “holes” buried in the carpet waiting to hatch. We had to call an exterminator to kill the eggs and dig them out. I still shudder thinking about it.
Sylvia,
Where do you live? Anywhere near Clinton Hill? We might just take you up on your offer! Email us if you’re serious. Anyone else in Clinton Hill with a good “mouser”?