Mice

[Charlie B53]

We have more mice than the average home.  Wife 'collects' clothing.  I suspect this is an insecurity based on her childhood, but I admit that I am partly to blalme as I enable her, allowing her to amass such quantities.

What started as simply intending to save a few dollars and keep the kids, now the grandkids clothed, has ballooned into a house fill of cloth.  Bags and bags of clothing stacked along every wall, on every horizontal surface, until the house is filled, including the basement and garage.

Mice have moved in.  What perfect places to hide, tunnel, and breed. And the little buggars eat into everything that isn't sealed behind tightly fitting wooden doors, or steel.I am afraid of using poison as we have pets.  The cats do eat what they catch.  I'm not sure sure the dog wouldn't. But I would be horrified if any pet ate a poisoned mouse and also became ill.

I have a number of traps and have learned those that have the larger yellow platform type trigger work far better than the original style. Wifie Girlfriend bought us a couple of live traps, metal boxes with one-way entrances.  They actually work pretty well but then I have to deal with the livie mice, dumping them into a bucket and killing them myself quickly as I refuse to drown them and cause any suffering, even to a mouse.
O.K. now comes the cute part.  Since I quit smoking in the house some 30 odd years ago, I go out in the garage. I've insulated the garage and in colder weather I turn on a couple of baseboard heaters.  I tell myself I heat it so the cats don't get too cold, but I know it is so I can go out them in my underwear in the middle of the night.

So I'm standing out there smoking and notice one of the cats looking at the wall strangely.  There is an extension cord hanging down alongside a window stapled in place, leading up and across the ceiling to a garage door opener.  I have seen a mouse climb that cord up then clawl along the top of the wall then into the ceiling insulation.  Well, cat was watching something go behind the window curtain.  I see about a six inch long black tail moving up and disappearing behind the curtain.  I am very puzzled as to what this tail belongs to, it is way too long and black to be a mouse.  A few seconds after the tail disappears at the bottom of the curtain I see a small head appear coming out the top along the cord.  A SNAKE!  A Black Snake is crawling up that cord.  When it reaches the ceiling it turns right for a few inches and stops, sensing the air, then turns left, the same direction the mouse always goes. 

I stood them and watched in awe as that mouse eater went up that wall, along the top then into the ceiling insulation, seeking dinner.  Since I know a Black Snake is NON-poisonous, except to mice, I aren't worried for ourselves or our pets.  I just thought it interesting that nature drove this snake out of the wild, where there may be fewer food sources, and into our garage.  Where the hunting may be much more productive.

I did have to tell the Wife about it as I don't doubt that one day that snake may have the garage about cleared out of mice and decide to start hunting in the house.  I wouldn't want her to freak out when she sees that Black Snake in the living room.

So I was telling this tale to my Dialysis Tech yesterday at treatment.  And she told me about her 'pet' snake.  She lives half out in the country as we do, only instead of next to the woods like us they are next to the corn fields.  They have an above ground pool, ours is still un-assembled.  I have yet to get around to setting it up.  It's been 15 years already.  I'm in no hurry.

Anyway, she comes out on afternoon intending to cool off in the pool and finds a 'Corn' Snake basking on her inflatable mattress drifting in the pool.

 Corn snake, is a black snake that liives in the corn fields eating mice.

So she grabs the skimmer net and manages to capture the snake.  Not wanting to hurt it she takes it to the edge of the corn field and releases it.  Puts the skimmer away and gets ready to climb in the pool, and finds the snake has already returned, again climbing onto that air mattress floating in the pool.  She again gets the skimmer net, captures the snake and releases it at the edge of the field.  And the snake AGAIN returns to the pool.

THREE TIMES she had to move that snake before I got the idea she didn't want it in the pool.

I am trying to decide.  Should I plant corn in the garden this year?

Or put up the pool?

[cassandra]

 

[Michael Murphy]

My wife is a cat person so at the time of the mic invasion we had 5 cats 2 Siamese and three calico cats.  I was eating breakfast in the kitchen with 4 of the 5 cats in Che King out what I a.m eating, suddenly a mouse ran accross the room all 4 cats watched it but just sat there doing nothing.  This started my several week war against the mice.  My wife insisted on catch and release so for the next several weeks I was buying every humane trap I could find.  The cats still were sitting out the war,  finally I broke down and bought the snap traps and finally won the war, but the damn cats were still oblivious.

[Rerun]

I hate mice and I hate snakes.  I hire Point Pest Control to come 4 times a year to spray and bate and knock down wasp nests to keep me safe.  Oh, I hate spiders too.

   

[Charlie B53]

LOL  I made a deal with the Spiders around here.  They prpetty much have free run of the property, But if I see one inside the house, it dies!

[Riki]

I had a pet spider in my bedroom one summer.. I named him Hector.. I didn't mind him being there, because he was taking on the fly invasion that was going on at the time... I'm sure he ate well..

[Charlie B53]

LOL  I could have used your pet spider over this weekend.  With the weather half decent we left a few windows open and the sliding door to the dogs yard.  We have a few flies in the house.  A couple of them are BIG, and very bold.  Very bothersome.  They need to die!

[PrimeTimer]

I once worked in an office that had a mouse problem. That was mighty unpleasant. Especially when it was time to call maintenance to let them know the traps were full. And it didn't help that coworkers kept their desk drawers stuffed with so many goodies that you could call it a "snack bar". I kept the bottom drawers to my desk empty for that reason. But it never failed, you'd always hear someone scream upon seeing a mouse in their drawer. You'd go running over only to discover they basically had a whole snack bar going on...well, duh, no wonder there's mice! And that's when you realized you were working next to slobs. My gosh...drawers filled with empty food dishes, drink cups, juice boxes and tons and tons of junk food. If I had to eat something, I got myself one chocolate bar and ate it. There was no way I was going to feed the local mouse population. But that was nothing. We also had coyotes. One door to the building wouldn't shut and I kept telling them that they had better fix it or else we'd see coyotes running around inside the office. Well, one morning, lo-n-behold, we did see a "pile", evidence that one had come in. Don't even get me started on snakes and scorpions.   

[Riki]

ok.. with scorpions, the doors would need to be firmly closed.. windows with strong screens, or they'd be closed as well.. all of my clothes would have tight elastic cuffs, and my shoes would live in a plastic container so there would be no "visitors" in them when I went to put them on my feet..

[PrimeTimer]

But you forgot one thing....the scorpion that fell from the ceiling vent on me. 

[Charlie B53]

But you forgot one thing....the scorpion that fell from the ceiling vent on me.

This sounds like an opening scene in an Albert Hitchcock movie!

[PrimeTimer]

But you forgot one thing....the scorpion that fell from the ceiling vent on me.

This sounds like an opening scene in an Albert Hitchcock movie!

I'd rather deal with a bunch of black screeching birds than a big fat black scorpion. Yes, was very much like a scene from a horror movie. The doc at the ER was equally horrified. 

[SooMK]

Charlie, I have the same deal with the spiders that live in my house. I explain it to them. Some of them get it but they taunt me with their webs. My method of dispatching them is the vacuum. I vacuum up some diatomaceaous earth and then the spider. I choose to believe they die in there. I googled this once but didn't like the answers. I know they are supposed to be good guys but I'm too creeped out. You can't vacuum up mice and snakes so I'll keep the enemy that I know.

[Charlie B53]

LOL  I bet you COULD vacuum up mice.

IF, you have a good vacuum that sucks in a LOT of air like my shop-vac.

And IF, you are quick as they are.

Them little buggers can move pretty fast.

And can hide very well.  They've had lots of practice.

I haven't seen that black snake in the garage again.  I hope it didn't starve to death!
He was moving pretty slow.  May have to lay in wait, ambush the little mouse as it's passing by.

[Riki]

But you forgot one thing....the scorpion that fell from the ceiling vent on me.

That's the stuff of f-n nightmares... *LOL*

[smartcookie]

If you want stuff of nightmares, we have Palmetto bugs in SC.  They are giant flying roaches.  Seriously, they are gross and huge and ugh!  I was sitting on the couch the other night wrapped up in a blanket and one decided to crawl up the blanket onto my knee!  I hate those things!

[kristina]

Charlie, I have the same deal with the spiders that live in my house. I explain it to them. Some of them get it but they taunt me with their webs. My method of dispatching them is the vacuum. I vacuum up some diatomaceaous earth and then the spider. I choose to believe they die in there. I googled this once but didn't like the answers. I know they are supposed to be good guys but I'm too creeped out. You can't vacuum up mice and snakes so I'll keep the enemy that I know.

Hello SooMK,
many thanks for that little smile you just gave me, it was very much needed...

[Charlie B53]

Grandson noticed a HUGE brown furry spider on the front of the house last night.

He isn't INSIDE the house.

But still, it is MY house, not his.

I may have to get the pressure washer out.  It has more 'reach' than the broom.

[SKS]

OK so I'm moved to add my mouse and cat story.  TMI BUT - I was a widow at 36 and remarried 3 years later.  Between us we had 5 dogs and 2 cats.  We used a garbage can in 1/2 bath closet to keep dog food. One night we heard a mouse scurry up and slide down the inside of dog food container several times.  Meanwhile the older cat is arron our bed snoozing.  After about 10 minutes of that going on my husband got up - took the cat - carried it to the can and dropped in it saying, "Tiggie earn your keep"  Next thing we knew we could hear the cat racing thru the house on the hardwood floors until we fell asleep.  The next morning the cat was back on the bed and a dead mouse was laying on the loveseat.  Always brings a smile when I think about it.  Since we are rural our cats were always inside and outside.  One night I came home from work and kept thinking I heard a bird in bedroom.    When I was talking about it AFTER my son got the bird outside where it belonged he said "Tiggie came running in door and straight to your room this morning but I didn't think anything about it."  It is now 34 years later and attrition and my allergies to cats that developed as well as losing my 2nd husband to health issues at 61,  I now have two 14 year old cocker spaniels and a significant other (of 13 years) I love very much and I'm back to being a caregiver.  For the record my 1st husband had PDA (Patent ductus) and died of CHF; my second had Agent Orange related issues and died of septus.  Of course at my age (74) it seems much easier to find someone of the Vietnam era than not.  Again Agent Orange has taken it's toll with HBP;Diabetes; neuropathy;  and of course CHK.  "The Dance" by Garth seems to fit my life perfectly.

[PrimeTimer]

I will tell you this: don't ever use Decon in your attic space unless you can crawl inside to remove "the evidence" afterwards. That is one VERY bad smell to have to live with.

Now, here at the apartment we do not have mice but we have cats so I'm not absolutely sure on that. I never see any nor do I see evidence of any mice. Thank goodness! We do have a lot of spiders tho. I hate those things. I see them mainly out on the patio and try sweeping them away with a broom. One caught my eye the other day. He was huge and he moved FAST. I slowly and very carefully moved the plastic bin he was hiding behind to get a look at him. My gosh! His leg span was nearly the size of my hand with fingers outstretchedt! Yikes!! But before I would kill him I decided to "look him up online". Wanted to know what exactly he was. Well, I have now made my peace with a Cellar Spider. They look like Daddy Longlegs only they aren't and they are much much bigger. And they are not poisonous. So, I decided not to kill this one. In fact, I want him around. And he has a mate! I want her around too! Why? They kill other spiders....hee, hee... This might very well cut down on my time spent sweeping out there. 

[Charlie B53]

It's been a few years, but...................

Carried all the groceries in and set bags on the stove and in the sink.  Put most everything away but for unknown reasons I left the big green sweet peppers on the stove.  Maybe I was planning on using them that night.

Puttering around in the kitchen and went to reach for something on the back of the stove and  all STOP!!!!

There was a spider, sitting still, on top of one of those big green peppers.  BIG, very dark, Hairy.

So BIG that his legs were hanging way down the sides of the pepper.  It's body was almost the diameter of the pepper.

I didn't want o even move as I knew it would take off.  And I did NOT want that thing in MY house!

I grabbed my most favorite knife.  It's BIG, and VERY sharp.  Sharp enough to shave.

I did one of those Japanese sorta half Karate chop, with a knife.  Sliced that spidy in half.  Had to get a couple of paper towels to wipe up the mess, then soap and a rag and clean the stove.

Tossed that pepper, I had another.

Never did figure out what type it was, nor how it came to get into my kitchen.

But I made well sure it was dead.

[solid98]

You know the internet rules: Pics or it didn't happen.

[SKS]

Re: the decon - I know the odor - I lived in an old house on a farm growing up and on occasion a critter would die in the walls - Chipmonks and mice could be heard running between the lathe and siding at night.  This that I use does not have that effect - at least for the 4-5 years I've been using it - no mice, no party poop, and no smell.  And my niece next door in house built at the same time and refurbished the same way (my husband & I did both) has the critters every time they mow to make hay in the field.