As a mother of 3 curious almost-four-year-olds you would think they would be my immediate suspects...but these pots are in a place they would have a difficult time reaching, and frankly, the digging had been done so neatly I disqualified the children as the culprits.Since I was trying to grow some wildflowers in those pots, I snapped a couple of pictures then replaced the soil. I mentioned it to my husband, who assured me that house mice don't dig in potting soil, it was probably just a beetle. (If so, I do not want to see how large he is!)
This morning I was again going for my cup of coffee when I noticed that there was another hole, it a different pot among that same group. My first thought was that my husband was fooling with me, but he leaves too early and in too much of a rush for that. Could this really be a little rodent who likes to sleep in my moist potting soil?
This afternoon as the children and I were getting some things from the pantry I noticed a peanut on the floor. I just bought that bag yesterday afternoon and we haven't opened it, I thought. Surely it wasn't opened when I bought it... Then I saw this:
The children, rather than being terrified are elated at the propect of a 'pet' rodent. Remember what chapter book they have been reading with our sitter? Stuart Little! "Maybe Stuart came to visit us!"
"Mommy, are you going to trap him so we can see him and play with him?"
I set off to Home Depot today for sticky traps to attempt to catch the little intruder(s). God help me when/if I find him/them! (Especially since I was informed this afternoon that they sometimes just drag the sticky traps along with them through your house. Ack!)
Tonight I set the traps up, baited with peanuts on either side of the herbs I bought to replace those fledgling seedlings! (I had to make sure something beautiful can come out of this. :-)
And now I am, quite unfortunately, on my way to becoming the Mommy that murdered Stuart Little.
15 comments:
At our old house the sticky traps had a tendency to disappear. Not fun. It's bad enough knowing they are running around your house at night, but to happen across a dead one on a sticky trap. Aghh!!! the horror!
Once when we lived in the NorthWoods of Minnesota we rented a old house that had a mouse problem. My husband caught lots in the traps until one day the traps were empty and never again did we catch a mouse that summer. I swear it was because of the mouse my husband had to kill with a paint can one morning who had managed to get himself caught in not one, but TWO traps. I think he screamed all night to his friends and family to get out while they still could.
Here's to hoping StuartLittle finds himself a new home asap!
We had a mouse problem when we first moved in. Called the exterminator who put out sticky traps - NOT GOOD! (especially when my granddaughter got "stuck" in it one day as did my dog who freaked out and almost dislocated her shoulder).
Someone told me about these things you buy at Lowe's or Home Depot that go into a plug and give off a frequency that YOU can't hear but the mice don't like it at all. With much misgiving I bought several and put them in the problem areas. NO MORE MICE! I kid you not - they worked like a charm! No poison, no traps, no sticky bits to get stuck on the kids, just NO MICE!
If you have any gerbils, guinea pigs, ferrets, etc. then you can't use them because it will drive them crazy. But if you only have cats, dogs, etc., you're okay. Read the box to find the list of pets that contraindicate this method. If you don't have any, buy these. I got the kind that came 3 to a package, are small and white - no bigger than 1" or 2" in diameter. I put one in the pantry, one in the garage (where they were coming into the house) and one in the bedroom next to the garage where they were coming in.
So no murdering of Stuart Little - just a little relocation.
Bless your darlin' heart, dear jmom. So hoping your traps work the first time around. If I'd find him/her at my house, you'd hear me screaming from yours. That's how little I like uninvited rodents around here.
Stuart Little or no Stuart Little, I was never meant to live with rodents.
Love, Love your new look. It's really calming and very elegant.
I too have heard that those noise makers work. Had a friend use them in her attic one time to get rid of rodents. Not that you have a whole group...I'm sure its just one Stuart Little...not the Little family!
LOVE the new template, I'm in desperate need of an update--I think I'll check out the link. Hope that you catch Stuart tonight (and can get him out without the kids seeing him!)
Yikes! I hate mice!!! Here's hoping you catch Stuart really fast & get him outta there!
Oh goodness, sounds icky. You seem to have a lot of strength regarding the matter.
I had to laugh a bit at your past two posts. Sounds like loopy is fun over there :) BTW, your template looks great!
Oh my - I would freak out. I pray you find them when the kids aren't around :)
I love your new look!
This is too funny! We too have a little "stuart" running amok in our home. My husband put out two sticky traps a few night ago. The next morning, one of them was completely untouched. The other was gone! Oh my! Lets just say, I try to prepare myself every time I walk around a corner in the house. Who knows what I may find?!
Sounds more like the mouse from Ratatoille than Stuart Little! Maybe he is preparing his fine little dinner with fresh herbs!
E
If the sticky traps don't work they do make a 'rat stick' that when the mice eat it they get thirsty and go outside to drink.
We use these in our 1950's giftshop building and they are great! Haven't had mice in years, keeping fingers crossed.
You can pick them up at an animal feed store.
Good Luck!
We had a mouse problem, and I didn't want to kill the mice, so we got a no-kill mouse trap at Lowe's. It's like a maze where the mice get stuck. It worked very well for us. You can then take them out somewhere else and release them through another "door" without having to touch or come near them.
Ooh, this makes me shiver. We live in an old house and "hear" mice in the walls once in a while. I haven't seen any for a couple years but there was a time when we were catching them in the old fashioned spring loaded traps. One time one got stuck, and didn't die, cried out to its family "squeak squeak" until I kicked my hubbie out of bed and made him put the thing out of its misery and out of the house! Ugh. Good luck!!! (and post an update!)
Delurking here but I had to say just be prepared for some sad times if you do catch it. I remember when my brother and I were about 5 and 7 and we had a mouse problem. My dad finally caught it in one of those traps but then had to finish it off. You have never heard so much crying and wailing because "daddy was a murderer."
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