Mouse trap 

Alright, lets jump straight into a conversation I had with Lillian yesterday morning.  Imagine.  I was cleaning up in the kitchen and I find a drawer full of little black rice-looking pellets.  “Gross!  Not mice.”  “There’s a house in our house?”  Lillian screamed and jumped on a chair.  As if that would help.

That’s right, your favorite mommy blogger has a mouse problem. Chad tells me that my mouse problem started a few months back, and to start I’ll give you a little background. We live in an a mostly old house, and by mostly old really I’m saying it was built in the late 40″s early 50″s… well half of it is that old.  We also live across from fields.  It’s a nice home, but it has a few old home flaws. It wasn’t built like the newer homes were keeping pests out is built into the design.  These little creatures like drain holes and stuff.

Chad said he first noticed the mice a few months back by finding the occasional dropping.  What?  Why didn’t he say something?  I might be a little more neurotic, so much to the point that I wouldn’t have used any utensils, glasses, or flatware without rewashing them. That’s right perfectly clean, straight out of the dishwasher, and getting washed again because I find mice gross.  That’s why I have cats!

Mus Musculus

The mice that we have are the Mus Musculus or the “House Mouse”. They’re about 5 ½” to 7 ½” long (that includes the tail) and they weigh about ½ of an oz. They prefer cereal grains, but they really aren’t picky, if you leave it out, they’ll at least try it, and why not? Can’t say I’m much different. LOL.  Really, think of some of the weird stuff you’ve eaten at a potluck or a buffet just because it’s available? Mice aren’t that much different. They see the crumbs you left on the floor, and it’s their version of a smorgasbord.

Are house mice dangerous? If you ask some people, they are rabid people attacking animals, you should wear armored clothing at all times, and carry knives and bats to protect you and your loved ones. For the most part though, no they aren’t harmful, they are just really annoying. Many people automatically assume that you can get the Hantavirus  any time that you have mice in your home. That’s true, you can there is always that chance; however, according to the Special Pathogens Branch of the CDC, the mice that you need to be afraid of are the Deer Mouse, Cotton Rat, Rice Rat and White-footed Mouse. They are the carriers of the disease in the U.S. The CDC does caution that other rodents may carry other strains.

There are numerous ways to eradicate and remove the mice from your home, I started with a simple snap trap, but after a couple of catches, the mice figured it out, and actually pushed the trap away from their path, apparently crawling over it was inconvenient. Hello!  I put out traps with cheese last night.  This morning?  No cheese.  Traps un-sprung.  We’ve got smart mice.

Maybe I should try glue boards.  I saw them at the store yesterday.  This is pretty much how those sticky fly strips work, but only bigger and meant for mammals. This works perfect, until you realize this just traps the mouse, and you now have to remove the board with a really pissed mouse attached. Not sure I can do that.

I could always try one of the tried and true methods my dad used.  My mom could hear mice in the kitchen wall.  My dad knew just what to do.  He bought a bunch of garden hose.  He Duct Taped the hose the exhaust pipe of his truck.  He took the plug covers off the wall and inserted the garden hose.  He then left his truck running for a couple hours.  Viola! No mice!

There was on small result of my dad’s heroic actions.  Being summer… and the heat was on… there was some smell involved… but the last straw was the maggots by the thousands coming out of the wall.

Pretty expensive mouse trap.  My dad had to rip off the sheet rock and re-do the wall.

Reminds me of the movie – Mousetrap.  I love that movie.  So funny!  I don’t think I’ll go to those kinds of great lengthens to rid the house of vermin.

As of this morning one trap has proved fruitful.  Although she screamed when she opened the cupboard door, Lillian insisted on taking the carcass out to the trash can.  LOL.

So I’ll keep you posted on how many mice we trap and remove. So far it’s one and counting.

Posted 6th December 2012 by Wendy