Split: Mice (from Cinderella Pumpkin thread)

[Italiancook]

Okay, I know I probably have mice given the close location to woods, but I quit chasing after them a decade ago. At that time, I realized the poison I put in the basement probably meant they'd die in the walls. I quit setting traps when a contractor said, "For every one you catch, there are ten that get away." I've never seen a mouse in the house, so I don't fret about uncleanliness in the kitchen from them. I have a cat who'd probably play footsie with a mouse rather than attack it. But all these posts on mice make me think I'm a negligent homeowner. I guess I'll send my husband on a trap-buying spree now that I know so much more about bait.

[BakerAunt]

I would only set a trap in the house if I saw a mouse. I think that I had three in the six year I had my first house. My husband's house was more mouse prone than mine was. Here, we have been fortunate. The mice are so far a problem only in the pole barn across the roadway.

[BakerAunt]

I would only set a trap in the house if I saw a mouse. I think that I had three in the six year I had my first house. My husband's house was more mouse prone than mine was. Here, we have been fortunate. The mice are so far a problem only in the pole barn across the roadway.

So, Italian Cook, if you do not see them or evidence of them, relax. Make sure that any holes they can enter are covered or stuffed with steel wool.

• This reply was modified 7 years ago by BakerAunt.

[Italiancook]

As far as I know, we have no miceable holes, but the steel wool is an excellent idea, BakerAunt. Thanks for passing it along.

I'm laughing at myself: As I thought about what I posted, I remembered I had mice-proofed the house a few years ago. Or so I tell myself. My husband and I bought devices that plug into electrical outlets. The plug-ins supposedly emit a sound that only mice can hear, and the sounds sends them running back outside. Maybe they actually work and that's why I've never seen a mouse.

But I did see a frog attached to the bedroom wall once. I awoke one morning to find the critter on the wall behind the bed. I wasn't alarmed, having grown-up in the country, but I also had no intention of grabbing it.

I roused my husband from bed and told him he needed to catch the frog behind his head. He didn't believe me until he looked. The frog was probably the most scared of the three of us, but he/she was soon happily on the ground outside. We have no idea how the frog made it in the house and up the stairs without being noticed. I had someone check our house for openings and none were found. He surmised that it came in when the door was opening to bring groceries into the house.

[BakerAunt]

That is a great story about the frog, Italian Cook. I've had Geckos when I lived in Texas. We actually had a bat in the house here, about a month after we moved in. I was typing at the computer, and my husband heard it before he saw it. The next thing we know, the little critter was flying back and forth. I held onto the dog, who was showing no interest, but I wanted to make sure that she continued showing no interest. My husband opened the back door, and I yelled at the front of the house, and the bat sensed the open door and flew out.

We then tried to figure out how it had entered. I suggested the dryer vent to the outside. Sure enough, the flap was broken.

[aaronatthedoublef]

We've had a couple bats. The first one hid in the house for a week before we saw it again and caught it. We all went through a round of rabies shots which are inconvenient and expensive.

The second time we saw it I snagged it in a towel - apparently its claws get hooked in the terry cloth loops. I then put it outside for animal control.

We've had all sorts of creatures through our yard - coyotes, foxes, wolves, bobcats, and something that left major claw marks in my trash bins (I'm guessing raccoons). Some of my neighbors have seen bear. And we live in a fairly urban area. So it doesn't take being in the woods.

Reading about geckos, I had friends in Boston who had salamanders or chameleons (can't remember which) running loose in their apartment because they kept out the cockroaches better than any other trap.

• This reply was modified 7 years ago by aaronatthedoublef.

[cwcdesign]

The house we lived in for 27 years in MA had been a Greek Revival, then turned on its side, moved backed from the road and added on to as a summer house. There was a tiny basement and the rest was crawl space which was very porous. In the fall, when the mice started moving in to keep warm, we would use DeCon bait which would make them thirsty and then they’d go looking for water. The only time we might have one die in the walls is when we’d forget to bait - that taught us - there was nothing you could understand do about the smell.

[RiversideLen]

My mother in law lived in a rural area. The house was surrounded by fields. The house was old, not tight, with plenty of entry points. She would set snap traps. Then one day a pregnant cat showed up at the back door. My sister in law could never turn away a cat in need. She fed the cat and convinced her mother to let the cat stay at the back door area, which consisted of a small landing, stairs down to the basement and a small bath. The cats had her kittens and the mamma cat taught her young ones how to hunt, even though my MIL and SIL kept them well fed. Those cats were ferocious when it came to the local small wild life. They wouldn't let the cats out during the day to protect the birds. And the mice, they had no chance. Let cats out in the evening and they would instantly get mice. My MIL no longer had mice in the house. One cat wouldn't eat the heads, so it was common to see the walkway lined with mouse heads. Over the years, the cats passed away, but there is one surviving. She is more than 19 years old. It seems that fresh air, plenty of room to roam, Fancy Feast and fresh mouse agrees with the cats.

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