Um ew.
I walked into my kitchen today to refill my mac and cheese from a pot on the stove and I was greeted by the sight of a wriggling mouse butt squeezing into one of the burners. (cheap gas stove)
We have been having mouse problems in our building… a little while ago we got a note from the management company telling us that they would be “treating” our apartments. (Casey wrote a post about how successful that was…. argh.)
Now every time I go into the kitchen, I clap my hands and announce my presence because I don’t want any more of the little buggers sneaking up on me.
My new strategy consists of a plan to seal up the gaping hole in the wall behind our stove… not sure how I will do that but I will use a lot of duct tape. I was going to use cardboard but after a bit of reflection, that doesn’t seem very smart since we have a gas stove, as I mentioned.
The stupid exterminators keep putting sticky traps on the hole but I cannot stand those things- they are horribly cruel and I am still having nightmares about our experience with them last time. I am going to try to find some humane traps- what I am going to do with the thing once it gets trapped in there, I have no idea. Probably squeal and give the box to Casey.
Ah, nature…
September 20th, 2005 at 1:02 am
I will no longer compalin about the silverfish I keep finding in my apartment.
September 20th, 2005 at 4:02 am
Two words: Steel wool (they can’t chew through it and get out of the hole).
September 20th, 2005 at 5:43 am
definitely don’t waste your time with cardboard and duct tape. any mouse worth its salt will be through there in about a minute. steel wool is a good idea though.
September 20th, 2005 at 8:10 am
I second that or putting firestop in the hole may work. so so gross!
September 20th, 2005 at 8:34 am
Argh, I hate it when apartment management “fixes” things like that so inanely. Any way you could trap the mousies with humane traps and let them loose inside your landlord’s place?
September 20th, 2005 at 9:30 am
Don’t bother with duct tape. The mice’ll chew right through the stuff and then give you an evil “is that the best you can do?” glare. Go down to a hardware store and get some plain steel wool (it’ll be in the paint department) and stuff that into the hole.
As for traps, we use these Raid things that are basically old-fashioned SNAP! SQUASHED MOUSE traps, but in a black plastic box. Does the trick instantly and, if you’re lucky, the whole mouse is contained inside the box (there’s a little flag thingee that pops up when it springs). If you’re not lucky? Um, that’s why I’m grateful my wife isn’t quite as squeamish as me
.
September 20th, 2005 at 11:03 am
Usually I’d say that a cat’s the best way to go in terms of pest management. I have two of them and they’ve more than earned their room and board here. If you can’t have one or don’t want one, the steel wool thing works well enough.
September 20th, 2005 at 11:30 am
Just make sure they are not trapped in the walls and can’t get out. If so, then they will smell horrible when they die. Know what works wonders for mice? A cat. [as mentioned above]
September 20th, 2005 at 12:13 pm
Eek! Mice! Not good. We had some fleas here in the apartment when we first moved in…but thats about it. I can’t even imagine mice…
September 20th, 2005 at 1:46 pm
There is absolutely no need to kill them. it surprises me how humans just assume that anything smaller than them that crosses their path deserves to die. peta.com has humane traps for $10 each.
September 20th, 2005 at 1:51 pm
um…we have some extra cats we could send you.
would you like the fat one, the dumb one, or the orange one????
let us know - we’ll put them on a plane right now.
once, when I was in jr high, we had mice in the house and one ran up my sister’s nightgown. at least it hasn’t come to that yet….
September 20th, 2005 at 6:36 pm
MmmmMMmmM…mac and cheese…I can’t blame the mouse!
September 20th, 2005 at 7:20 pm
As a little warning, they will try to eat the steel wool, which will then cut up their little insides and they will die inside your wall. So, you come home to nasty, nasty smells.
September 20th, 2005 at 10:05 pm
no advice, but so sorry to hear about this! i had some cockroaches — it is new york — and had to keep experimenting with things until i found the perfect spray that seems to keep them away. i love that you “announce your presence” — too funny.
September 21st, 2005 at 12:20 am
Um, isn’t steel wool somewhat flammable?
September 21st, 2005 at 10:37 am
The glue traps are terrible. They either don’t work reliably or they leave you with a mouse that you have to “dispose of” yourself. I had to do that a few times in our apartment and wasn’t really too excited about it.
Unfortunately, killing the critters is about the only way. You probably only have one or two hanging around.
Those old fashioned spring-loaded traps work wonders and they cost next to nothing. Put a little tiny bit of peanut butter on the latch and put it behind your stove.
Your problem will be solved in one day. Two days tops.
-Ben
September 21st, 2005 at 9:46 pm
We had ROOF RATS a year after we moved into our house. We plugged up all of the holes with heavy duty steel wool and they never came back. That was after my husband found 12 of them, though. Some dead, some alive. EW! I do not like the sight of them. Good luck!
September 22nd, 2005 at 12:58 pm
Oh yuck! We had this problem in our old apartment. We got some humane traps (the ones you put food in and this little box closes them in). The best was waking up one night to find my cat walking around with the mouse in its mouth. Not eating it! Just effing around with it. Freaking it out. Poor mouse.
September 23rd, 2005 at 1:22 pm
We currently have a spider infestation in our apartment. I feel like there’s spiders everywhere! But a mouse? EEEEEK!
September 23rd, 2005 at 3:40 pm
awww….I always have this huge dilemna. See, I love animals, even the little ones, like mice and gerbils. I’ve even had pet mice! but there’s something quite unsettling about little micies outside of a cage running around like little hoodlums! I hate trapping them, it makes me sad, the snap-down ones are the worst, but the sticky ones are just sad. They squeak and squeak to their micey friends *sigh*. Maybe the boxey kinds would be the best?
good luck!
September 23rd, 2005 at 9:23 pm
I hate to say that I really chuckled to read about the mouse butt… LOL!! They are so FAST!!! I think that’s why you get startled because of the scurrying. We’ve used the snap traps (which are very effective if they are set right) and the humane ones. Problem with the humane ones… if you just dump them outside they come right back in… My gramma used to drown them in a buckett of water… They’ll chew right through the cardboard. Good luck!!
September 24th, 2005 at 7:09 am
You can borrow my dog - she’s a good mouse hunter. She’s gotten five so far this year; Scotties are bred for rodent hunting.
Li
September 25th, 2005 at 1:31 pm
Ewwwwww…..I am NOT a rodent fan. So sorry you are having mice issues!
September 25th, 2005 at 10:38 pm
Do you like cats? Might be the perfect excuse to get one.
A few weeks ago my daughters talked me into BUYING them mice. Oh I admit it, they were adorable! (I say WERE adorable as on the third day we had them the stench coming from the cage was criminal. Do you know how much they stink?!) We now have 2 completely sweet dwarf hamsters now
Get a cat!
September 27th, 2005 at 1:28 pm
One day I was super cleaning the kitchen and realized that I could open the top around the burners. (Yeah, I’ve done this on other stoves, but this one must have proven too stuborn during the move-in clean.) What do I find there, but tons of mouse poop! Eww!
We haven’t seen/had problems w/ the lil’ boogers since we’ve moved in, but the house was vacant for a year prior. They probably had run of the place. Well, no more!
Good luck w/ your rodents!