We’ve been having mouse problems for a little while now. First there was one sighting. Then a second. On Wednesday I went out to look for a solution at our neighborhood hardware store.
I never knew there were so many options. We could squish it in a mouse trap or glue it in a glue trap. I opted for electrocuting it in a battery-powered mouse trap so that I didn’t have to deal with anything trapped or half dead.
On Wednesday night we got back from a party fairly late and collapsed into bed only to hear a rustling sound from the kitchen. After a couple of attempts we pinpointed the noise to a three-story wire rack. It was about 1.30am and we were tired. I gallantly knocked over a box of matzo using the end of a hammer and prodded the box for effect but really the last thing I wanted was to find a mouse. I got my wish. Sofie waded in with both hands but to no avail.
We were standing next to each other when Sofie picked up a box of dried pasta that was sitting on the top shelf of the rack. She tipped it towards her face and peered inside. Then she screamed, dropped the box and out popped a mouse that bolted for the cooker. Some waving of hands and stamping of feet and gurning ensued. I just stood there with the hammer. I’m not sure which shocked me more the mouse or Sofie’s scream. I think it was the scream.
We’ve just spent the entire evening throwing away anything in a cardboard box or an open packet. All surfaces have been cleaned and disinfected. There’s a glue trap behind the futon, a glue trap under the wire rack and a miniature electrocution chamber next to the bin. The perimeter is secure. The only question now is what to do if the mouse opts for death by glue instead of death by 4 AA batteries?
We were on holiday once, and young.
mouse
The only effective way to ensure rodents and roaches stay away is a cat. Cats are experts at catching them, and the pests sense their presence. Get an older cat from a pound so you can see their personality. Seriously, the only way.
I was going to comment about cats being the only way but someone jumped ahead of me
Get a cat and I guearantee within a week you will not have mice
Electrocuting a mouse seems absolutely absurd. Somehow it says to these creatures how desperate we are! Yes, I agree with the above. The natural order of things -get a megapuss.
But what about the, ahem, smell? Our bathroom barely accommodates one human being let alone a cat litter tray…
PS The electrocution method is advertized as the most humane way to kill a mouse. I’m not so sure. Lethal injection may be better but trying to strap the mouse down could be a little tricky. And how do you find the right vein?
Paul, I’ve heard firing squad and hanging are much more effective and humane than electrocution. If it’s good enough for crims, I don’t see why a mouse shouldn’t meet the same fate. But, yes, there is the wriggle factor. And once can so easily get the noose-knot wrong, although I presume you and Sofie are experts in that sort of scouty/brownieish thing after your hol.
I can assure you this flat is rodent free, although I did spot a ladybird as I drew the curtains this evening. I couldn’t think of a suitable execution method on the hop so granted a (temporary) reprieve.
The only problem with getting a cat is, once it’s caught all the mice, you have to figure out how to kill the cat.
Find a mouse-hunting cat rental service (yellow pages under …um) or start one yourself! BIG money in that, you’d have an instant monopoly.
William, I think you just keep going up and up in the animal kingdom, until you eventually have P&S sharing their flat with a polar bear. Smelly, crowded, messy and extremely dangerous…
Mice are not nice. I had no problem living with cockroaches on a number of occasions, but when our flat near Cleveland Street was invaded by mice from the Thai restaurant downstairs, my stomach turned. My parents’ house had previously had mice from a neighbour’s pigeon loft, and I frequently heard the a snap followed by the death screams of a mouse as one of the creatures wandered into a trap in my room. When the came into our flat, one was caught in a trap (and I, being the male, naturally had to dispose of it). I found a second dead mouse in amongst our clothes a couple of weeks later. Not a pleasant experience.
You could always buy some darts - very effective, I’m told. And you would improve your pub game skills.
Ah, the horror of mice. We had a few. We went out on an all out raid to get rid of them, and so far because of our efforts have not seen them since December, and that’s without a cat. First, go to the container store - put everything edible that you can’t fit into the cupboards into containers - cereal, pasta, chips, etc. We then got this amazing stuff that fills up holes from the hardware store near where I teach - it’s this magic foam. It fills up the cracks and is poisonous to mice and rats, additionally use steel wool for holes. We also found that the more high tech the mouse trap the less that it worked. The old fashion mouse trap, while gross works with peanut butter as bait, as do the large glue traps (that smell like peanut butter, but also be prepared to hear one of the worst sounds - the scream of the mouse). Good luck. I’ll get back on the name of the foam.
This is what it looks like when you catch a mouse on a glue trap. Yes, I filmed it, to preserve that sacred moment before I chucked it in the trash.
William, I slightly wish I hadn’t clicked on that link.
[…] He’ll have his own bedroom by Saturday, but he has had to give something up in exchange. Last night we took a confused Mouse to EiNY’s house. If Paul and Sophie don’t take to her she will be moving to Baltimore in June to live with Heidi’s brother. Paul has a mouse problem and we can’t take her with us. Things have worked out nicely. […]
[…] We haven’t seen any mice since the pasta box incident last week, but by a happy (or rather unhappy) coincidence, our friends Simon and Heidi are moving into a pet-unfriendly apartment and needed to find a new home for their cat Mouse. […]
[…] On the one hand she is a pleasure to have around the house. She’s settled in well. She keeps me company. And she tends to chill me out between interviews and stories. Sofie likes her. And I’m confident if those mice make a reappearance they won’t stand a chance. She is a mouse machine. […]
What type of cat is the best at catching mice? I’ve had cats who have just ignored mice?
I have got no idea. Anyone?
The best thing to deter mice is an ultra-sound plug-in. I had mice a plenty in my studio until some canny fellow installed them. They honestly do work.
The glue traps work well, and in the interest of mercy, you can resort to the old Chemistry 101 concept of things in the house Not to mix together. A bit of bleach followed by a spray of ammonia (best done outside) causes an immediate termination without the mess of a more aggressive approach (hammer, spade,etc..) so you don’t have to let the critter suffer for a long time.
I bought a sonic contraption for the humane of keeping mice away. Hasn’t worked a bit for me.
I got two broken cats and a mouse. When I saw a mouse running over my cat’s tail while the other cat freaked out and ran to hide under a bed, I realized I got a problem. Bought sticky tape in hope to catch that rodent, instead one of my cats got trapped and woke me up howling in the middle of the night. Im screwed…