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I had a horrible mouse problem when I lived in Oklahoma. I am deathly allergic to cats, but my minature dachshunds are excellent mouse catchers! Who knew? They catch em and kill em!
Dachshunds? Little long merchants of death on four legs? Those little beasts with those sharp teeth who would go down in burrows to take out badgers? Who knew?.......I thought everyone knew that.
Growing up, pet mice and hamsters didn't do well with our dachshund. If they got out of their cage, odds were the dachs would dispatch them before we could catch them. At Clark AFB when the house boy took her out for walks, the stories were a tropics field mouse would run across her path and she would snap their necks without breaking her pace.
Back to the present, when my black cat Melas found a field mouse in the house, OH SHE WAS SO HAPPY! She was playing literally "Cat and Mouse" with the poor guy and I don't think she had any intentions of bringing it to me as a present. Poor guy had the course at her paws.
Having a biology degree, I have become the family's "house keeping" when it comes to dead animals, developing ways to safely handle them. With Melas's mouse, I put a Parmesan jar over him, knew to have empty (and not full of horse radish like one does with tarantulas), slid a paper card under him, and took him outside...but he was done for. For a dead squirrel in Mom's yard, Mom told me to get rid of him, I think I used double shopping bags on both hands, a plastic laundry detergent container that was lined with bags, and a shovel to get him off the lawn and into packaging, then dropped him off somewhere. For Endora, Melas's sister, I used rubber gloves and then a card board box to take her body to my Vet.
I haven't seen any more mice INSIDE the house (seen them playing outside through the windows) but I know that if they get inside, the cats will welcome them.
Hi, all. Looks like someone revived this thread with post #36 -- I had posted back in late 2012, and the thread "ended" with post #35 within a couple of weeks (as threads usually do), but then 6 years later in 2018 someone revived it (probably didn't notice the original dates). Not sure why, and I was no longer subscribed so I had no idea until I happened to come upon it now.
Anyway ... my struggles with mice continue. In the scheme of things, I guess my situation isn't so terrible since I actually see maybe half a dozen mice or mouse corpses in a year (since I've lived in this house, which I bought in May 2012 and moved into in June 2012) -- usually fewer than half a dozen, actually. But alas, today was one of those days ... I woke up, went downstairs to make coffee, and saw my 2 youngest kitties, Chloe and Jack, hovering around the small refrigerator that is part of the bar area in my kitchen remodel. Yep, there was a mouse back there. He's dead now, and I'll deal with the corpse tomorrow (just can't stomach it tonight), and Chloe is still hovering because she doesn't realize Mom killed it during one of Chloe's "breaks." And yes, it was as awful as it sounds.
I'm not QUITE as squeamish as I was in 2012 (as shown in the OP of this thread!), but I still find mice quite terrifying (despite the fact that they are WAY less than 1% of my size), horrifying, disgusting, etc. I know I have them in my basement and/or crawlspace -- I live in a 1960 house on 1.29 wooded acres, so it's hard to keep them out -- but the very recent kitchen remodel definitely, positively, plugged a lot of holes, so the biggest issue I'm having now is I have no idea how they got from the basement (where I know they come in in the winter) to the living area. Ugh, ugh, ugh.
My cat solved the problem for me. After proudly showing me the mouse she swallowed it whole.
My cats are wonderful but they have not "solved" the problem, which is figuring out how the mouse got into the living space. Chloe and Jack ARE great at telling me there's a live one hiding behind something.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AddyW
OP. Watch the movie "Never Cry Wolf". It will give you some ideas.
I'm somewhat familiar with the film but have no idea what you're trying to say here. Clarify, please.
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It looks like I originally posted this in CATS back in 2012 (my first year on C-D) -- I should have posted it in HOUSE. I may ask a mod to move it.
The cat bite and cat scratch toxic bacteria can kill a chipmunk. So you don't have to see much of a bite.
Now, if you come downstairs and they're going to town on it for breakfast in the sun...well. Ours have brought home ducks and chipmunks and I've had to find quick replacements for some commitments I
had as I felt there are certain wildlife I don't want to wait to deal with.
My cats are wonderful but they have not "solved" the problem, which is figuring out how the mouse got into the living space. Chloe and Jack ARE great at telling me there's a live one hiding behind something.
I'm somewhat familiar with the film but have no idea what you're trying to say here. Clarify, please.
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It looks like I originally posted this in CATS back in 2012 (my first year on C-D) -- I should have posted it in HOUSE. I may ask a mod to move it.
I suspect the poster is suggesting various ways to add mice to your menu. Even though it may be tongue-in-cheek, it's obviously not recommended.
My only suggestion for you, OP, is to perhaps contact a pest removal company (myself, I'd go with a humane company) to inspect your property and see if they can find the areas of access, where mice are entering. If you find that, then your problem should be resolved.
This thread reminds me of the one time a mouse got into the apartment I had been living in many years ago. At the time I had 3 cats and 1 dog living with myself and my son. The morning I discovered a mouse in the house, cowering in a wee corner in the bathroom, I immediately called the troops - dog and all three cats - to step in and 'Help! a mouse! look!'.
The dog was the first one to run away in terror upon seeing a tiny Mus musculus. Then the cats, one after another, took a peek and said, 'Nope, not me...I'm not paid enough to do this', and one after another after another vacated the bathroom. Then I tried to enlist my son's help...but like the furrier family members, wouldn't set foot anywhere near the room in question. Finally, I was forced to take it upon myself to deal with the situation. I wound up trapping said mouse and safely releasing him to the great outdoors. Now, I know that mice can easily return to the scene of the crime if not moved far enough away, but this one apparently learned his lesson and never returned. And in hindsight, I'm glad that all of my housemates were so wimpy over the presence of the mouse. Personally, I love mice and would never unneccesarily harm one...heck, I grew up with a roomful of domestic mice, all with their own personalities and unique charms. But I do also understand those who get a case of the willies upon having a species that invokes inner fears invading their living premises. It can be annoying, frightening, and frustrating.
I suspect the poster is suggesting various ways to add mice to your menu. Even though it may be tongue-in-cheek, it's obviously not recommended.
Ah, now I get it. I was familiar enough with the film to know its plot but not this lovely detail!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bassetluv
My only suggestion for you, OP, is to perhaps contact a pest removal company (myself, I'd go with a humane company) to inspect your property and see if they can find the areas of access, where mice are entering. If you find that, then your problem should be resolved.
You are right, I will have to hire one again, I think. I did that before I moved in and he plugged everything he could find, but given where I live, he said it's not likely that I can keep them out of the basement/crawl space forever. There is absolutely no accessible food in the basement/crawl space (e.g., there are some canned goods, but nothing a tiny animal could get into) so I haven't even seen much evidence of them being down there. I suspect that my (ongoing) kitchen remodel has left something open; not all the trim work has been finished. My contractor is coming back this Thursday and I will ask him to look around.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bassetluv
This thread reminds me of the one time a mouse got into the apartment I had been living in many years ago. At the time I had 3 cats and 1 dog living with myself and my son. The morning I discovered a mouse in the house, cowering in a wee corner in the bathroom, I immediately called the troops - dog and all three cats - to step in and 'Help! a mouse! look!'.
The dog was the first one to run away in terror upon seeing a tiny Mus musculus. Then the cats, one after another, took a peek and said, 'Nope, not me...I'm not paid enough to do this', and one after another after another vacated the bathroom. Then I tried to enlist my son's help...but like the furrier family members, wouldn't set foot anywhere near the room in question. Finally, I was forced to take it upon myself to deal with the situation. I wound up trapping said mouse and safely releasing him to the great outdoors. Now, I know that mice can easily return to the scene of the crime if not moved far enough away, but this one apparently learned his lesson and never returned. And in hindsight, I'm glad that all of my housemates were so wimpy over the presence of the mouse. Personally, I love mice and would never unneccesarily harm one...heck, I grew up with a roomful of domestic mice, all with their own personalities and unique charms. But I do also understand those who get a case of the willies upon having a species that invokes inner fears invading their living premises. It can be annoying, frightening, and frustrating.
I don't know why I am so freaked out over the little buggers, but I am.
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