Mouse (?!) in my house

[Slewdledo]

:eek:

Not cool. I had a…vermin in my kitchen the night before last. Let’s call it a mouse because I can’t handle thinking of it as something bigger. :disgust: I found out about it at 4:30 AM when my chickensh*t dog started barking and I heard a noise coming from the kitchen area. Sounded like a person. Dog wouldn’t get up…I couldn’t find anything at that time, but yesterday when I got to searching I found that it ate part of an apple. :dead:

Help. :uhoh:

The whole kitchen has been disinfected, food thrown/put away where it can’t be gotten to. Countertops bare. I can’t get under/behind the stove which I think is where it got in. I’m sure it’s been coming and going but this was the first I’ve heard or seen evidence. No droppings anywhere, no other food has been gotten into.

The thought of setting a trap (glue or snap) makes me hyperventilate. I live by myself so I don’t have a hubby or little brother to dispose of whatever was caught. i can’t do poison because of said dog, also because I don’t want it to die somewhere I can’t get to and then start reeking. Getting a cat is also not an option.

I can deal with this stuff in the barn. I expect it in the barn. If I keep all food under lock and key, will it just…go away? Please say :yes:

[cowboymom]

Freak out much? :lol:

[Slewdledo]

LOL. Only about things like this! SO. GROSS.

[cowboymom]

Get a snap trap and tie a piece of twine to it and stick it behind the stove-it will be icky and graphic when it snaps but throw it away by the twine and do the icky dance and be done. No biggie!

The other night one of our SiX! thank you SIX cats was fussing in a cardboard box in the closet in the middle of the night. Very annoying-bad cat! throw the cat out of the room, set the box up on the shelf again… wake up the next morning and the cat STILL wants the box of Christmas decorations. NO, bad cat! Go away! I go to work for six hours-come home and kids and DH are complaining b/c all the cats are playing with this box. Really? I grab the box, head to the front porch and start pulling out decorations. Sure enough-a trapped little mouse at the bottom. Frantic. I’m a sucker so I haul it out in the trees and leave it to its own devices. The very next day, the initial cat jumps in the open window with I SWEAR To ALL THAT is HOLY the very same mouse in her mouth and gives me a look like “lady, just Back Off”…

It’s not gross at all-it’s just critters. Stay calm.

I should clarify when I say snap trap I mean the old fashioned wood and metal snap type one-no glue. My manly man cowboy husband nearly had a meltdown the one time we used a glue trap and he caught a mouse in it. He had to kill a bald struggling little mouse by dropping a rock on it. Not fun. The tom and jerry traps work quickly and efficiently.

[Simkie]

Alright. This is not the end of the world. You’ve got to set some traps. Good snap traps are humane and quick to kill. Glue traps are extremely barbaric.

I have found these traps to be extremely effective:

http://www.amazon.com/Ortho-0321110-Defense-Press-2-Pack/dp/B003YL4MG0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1359780640&sr=8-7&keywords=mouse+traps

And they’re set up so you don’t have to touch the dead mouse, at least.

Buy a LOT of them–I would go for 6, perhaps, if I thought there was one mouse. Bait them with peanut butter.

Clean up ALL available food sources before you put the traps out. Everything goes in glass or in the fridge/freezer.

[pompeiii]

A disgusting story, but I had mice issues in my apartment last year and a landlord unwilling to do anything about it (all food was in rodent proof containers (metal cookie tins are great for storing food)). But, regardless of food, rodents were after warmth. I found chewed receipts in my handbag, destroyed paper towel rolls under the sink, etc. All my landlord said to do was to get rid of food… Anyway, caught some with traps, but I could never get rid of them. My dog was useless (she heard shuffling from said mice/mouse and jumped on the bed and hid under the covers… useless jack russell/lab/sheltie dog)!

I cook on my stove a lot, but use my oven rather infrequently. I used the oven one day and suddenly there was a horrific stench, the most horrific smell I’ve ever smelled. Turns out the mouse house/nests were under the stove top between the stove and the oven. Using the stove didn’t do anything over than provide warmth, but the oven? Cooked them all. My landlord did take care of that issue (thankfully), but I’ll never forget the smell. I’ve since moved out (for a multitude of reasons, this being a small one) so who knows if the mice are still living in the apartment…

Turns out the situation isn’t necessarily unique. A few weeks ago my mom was listening to the radio and someone called in with a similar story.

So all of this being said, if you think they are behind your oven/stove and rarely use the stove, be careful. If you turn on your oven and start smelling something terrible…

[SquishTheBunny]

Cat not an option? They are often very good deterents for those nighttime visiters. They also clean up the mess, so you dont have to worry about dead mouse in a trap!

[Chall]

Haha. I have a vintage 1930s magic chief stove, with it’s own separate chimney.
It has a vent in the back of one of the ovens as in an rectangular open vent.
Heard a noise, opened the oven and saw 10 little paws and a face like a prisoners squinting through the only contact with the outside world.
Bushy tail revealed Mr. squirrel went down the wrong chimney.
Had to get the gas company out so we could remove the gas pipe to move the stove.
Thankfully the kitchen window is next to the stove, so he exited tout suite.

Regarding your mouse, get the rat zapper. 6 DD batteries will fry em faster than Leavenworth, pick up with gloves, tilt into the trash can. Run away and cry like a girlie :lol:

[clint]

I have nothing to add to the options for eliminating your problem, except to say that if what you heard in your kitchen sounded like a person, I think you have a bigger problem than a little mouse.

[sk_pacer]

I quit panicking about stuff like that when I was a kid - 90% or more of the older farm homes here have traps, either bought or meowing to deal with mice in the houses. Someone caught one this morning again; it’s almost a dead cert when a storm moves in that a mouse will get inside. I doubt that mouse even had a chance and most likely didn’t make it much past the porch. Country living almost guarantees mice at some point.

[JanM]

I’ve been through this, and you can handle it too. Get snap traps, and set a few in front of the stove, or any other place where a mouse can get under and hide. Dishwashers are prime mouse areas also. Put snap trap, baited with peanut butter, right next to the cabinet base, with the baited part where the mouse will step on the trigger mechanism while trying for the bait. Get some kitchen size plastic bags, bacon tongs, and when mousie gets it pick the trap up with the bacon tongs, deposit in bag, and get rid of everything. Then bait another trap, put where you got the mouse, and wait for another snap. See if you can find out how they are getting in, and close it off if you can. Leave the baited traps out for a long time after you think the last one is gone. If you have a stove drawer, take it out and see if there is mouse poop under the stove, or nesting material. It’s disgusting, but you can do it. And anyone with vermin problems should tell the medical personnel about exposure if you or anyone in the house gets sick. Hantavirus, and other mouse borne diseases are very treatable, but the doctor has to know about exposure.

[Slewdledo]

Oh f*ck. So it/they have been hanging out in the laundry room. Dryer was running funny, I pulled the washing machine out to check the dryer vent and there were some TURDS back there. Pushed it back and took a walk. (The laundry room is on the other side of the wall from the kitchen stove.)

So I vacuumed the area in front of the washer and dryer. Trying to convince myself to pull them out and get behind them and clean. Would running the vacuum have chased them away if they’re hanging out back there? I DO NOT want them running out when I pull the machines out.

[JanM]

No, they just hang out certain places, but wander elsewhere. Put snap traps where the dryer and washer is next to the wall. And if the dryer vent is low in the wall, then the mice might have come in that way. Check the dryer vent for holes too. PUt traps right by the wall/floor edge, especially when something like the washer or dryer forces them through a small area.

[Slewdledo]

[QUOTE=JanM;6814961]
No, they just hang out certain places, but wander elsewhere. Put snap traps where the dryer and washer is next to the wall. And if the dryer vent is low in the wall, then the mice might have come in that way. Check the dryer vent for holes too. PUt traps right by the wall/floor edge, especially when something like the washer or dryer forces them through a small area.[/QUOTE]

Thank you. I broke down and got some snap traps today, just two of them. One is in the kitchen up on the countertop (:eek: ) and the other behind the washer. I got one of the guys from the farm to come in and help me set them up, and I think he said he will help dispose of whatever is caught. :no:

This TOTALLY sucks. It paid us another visit last night in the kitchen, noise woke me up at 2:30AM but I was too chicken to go out and look. I have now thrown away all the food that was in the house except what’s in the fridge/freezer. (And the cheese in the traps.) So gross. Please cross your fingers for us that this ordeal ends soon!

[Slewdledo]

Have not caught anything, no sign that It has been back. Until a few minutes ago, there was a scratching noise coming from the laundry room and then the attached garage. Hearing that had me at my wit’s end. I turned on the washer and dryer…

[Slewdledo]

OK S***.

Just SAW the freaking thing run across the kitchen to behind the dishwasher. WTF do I do now??? There have been NO signs of it for weeks and now I’m freaking because it just came out in the light with me sitting here. I can’t set a trap because would have to put it on the floor and can’t do that because of my dog.

O.M.G.

[TKR]

Not sure if this will work with your arrangement, but using cotton balls soaked with peppermint oil (NOT flavoring – oil – found at drugstores or health food stores) got rid of whatever was in the attic. They don’t like the smell and it is pretty permeating. You could try it behind your appliances and see if it runs them out (might run YOU out, LOL!) and then you need to find any “entrances” they are using to get in and plug those. You can use steel wool in small holes. Good luck!
PennyG

[alabama]

Well, at least you don’t have raccoons in your attic.

[jetsmom]

A large bucket of water with some grain thrown on top. Put a piece of wood angled from floor running up to it. Mouse will climb up, fall in and drown.
Harmless to your dog.

Or buy the humane traps. I’ve used them and they work. But empty them FAR from home.

[Slewdledo]

Thanks, ladies. I was stressed enough (this was a small rat, not a mouse, and it moved so leisurely with me sitting 15 feet away) that I went out and bought some traps. The stores open this late only had mouse traps, not rat traps, so I got two “spin traps” - one is set by the dishwasher and the other partway under the oven. We’ll see if these work.

The bucket is a good idea, might try that next.

thanks again. hoping this can be over and done with by morning. If there’s been no sign of the things for several weeks, what are the odds I’ve got more than one? No food moved or stolen, no footprints or droppings or ANYTHING.