Now you may think me a heartless middle-aged woman... but if you'd seen the rodent conga-line we had here last fall you would understand! Those little bounders must have sent out tweets to all of their little rodent friends that there was a par-TAY! in Joanie's dungeon. They moved in by the herd! (Is that what you call a bunch of mice? Inquiring minds want to know! So I inquired... it is a colony of mice! How appropriate!!) Those little furry-free-loaders would lay low all day, snacking on anything their little teeth could gnaw through but as soon as I went to bed they would bring in the dancing girls and entertain Gordon; who is a night-owls, skittering from the dungeon -- furnace room -- bedroom -- under the TV -- bathroom -- under *Stuart's* couch and back again. And would you like to guess what they left me as presents all along their conga-line... yeah, that's what I thought...
In the past I've only had to trap and release the mousey friends that Simba left alive after a fun play time. I soon realize now that Simba is in the *great litter-box-in-the-sky* that he probably wasn't bringing in all of his little friends BUT I AM SURE he brought in the birds... what a naught-kitty-boy!
But I digress... I've used the sticky traps, but they really upset me. What do I do now that I've caught the little furry-fiends? Leave them in their sticky plight? No! That is heartless! But how do I get the squeaking, squirming creature off the glue? My last experience with sticky trap release ended badly with me in tears and a *burial at sea* for the mouse. So... yes, I'm a mouse executioner with the old fashion snap-trap... fast and clean. All I have to do is pick it up, with gloved hands, and drop it in the wheelie-bin, trap and all! I've found I have to embed the peanut butter in the little snap-trap hole...
Oh, this whole subject upsets me... isn't there a way to put out an NO VACANCY sign and have them respect that? Hmmm, I guess not!
6 comments:
If I do nothing else in this life, my time on facebook will be for good!
Scott is setting the traps now, and the kids think it's hilarious. I however am sitting in the office with my feet up and out of the way of those pesky critters. :)
Great post. Maybe me laugh a lot. We had a rogue mouse in the house. We got it with the snap trap and I didnt feel bad at all.
Hey Joanie, do you remember when we had the mousie condominium in the kitchen, i.e. the counter-height water heater? The mousies moved in there and nested all over in the insullation. And then they would have who-knows-what-kind-of-parties (I'm not even going THERE) and squeak and squeal. We fixed that problem by getting the new water heater and putting it downstairs with DeCon under it.
And I guess that is WHY I put up with the woodpile cats. Since they have been in residence, we do not have skunks, and not too many mice (they may not even get near the house), and the squirrels haven't even been tempted to set up residence any where closeby. That's a good trade for letting the cats sleep sometimes on the swing cushion on the porch swing!
I do think you are brave, setting mousetraps -- but I would have to use gloves too, dearie.
I love the way you wrote about your past-residence mousie ghetto!!
Love ya, Joanie!! Annie
When we had rats in the attic in Hawaii, my landlord dropped off a "rat cage." This thing was huge and historic looking, big enough for a raccoon. It would trap the rat but keep it alive. I asked my landlord what I should do with the trap once it catches a critter. He told me to fill a garbage can up with water and then submerge the entire cage until they drowned!!! I couldn't believe it. I don't want rats in my house but the thought of drowning an animal made me cry. I never looked at my landlord the same way after that.
The only way to put out a "no vacancy" sign that the mice can read is to install a new cat as mousetrap-in-residence. Like Ann, I allow the garden kitties to congregate on my patio furniture as a trade-off for their mousing services. The cats have to been well trained by their mommas on mousing or they're only good for purring and cuddling. Since you don't want to adopt a friend for Harley, I'd say your solution is really the only other option. It's better than putting out poison which can have disastrous results if a pet gets into it.
Cindy
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