A mouse in the house

[mistymassey]

I live in the country. Well, sort of. I live out away from town enough that it looks like country, including a thick stand of woods behind the house. We see deer and bunnies on a regular basis.

We also see the occasional field mouse.

Those who've known me a while may recall the unpleasant problem of the last mouse who got in. It ran around for a couple of days, startling me whenever it would tear through the kitchen, and generally making me jumpy. I don't have a real issue with mice, just that I live inside my house and they may not. But you can't just tell a mouse to hit the road. Thinking it would be more humane, I bought some of those sticky pad traps and put them out. Soon we'd caught a mouse.

Anyone who tells you those things are humane must also believe the WWII concentration camps were loads of fun for those imprisoned in them. Because it doesn't just incapacitate a mouse - the poor thing was glued down tight, and every struggle made things worse. If we'd tried to remove it to let it go, we'd have ripped off its skin and killed it in the attempt. It was either kill it quick, or let it starve to death. I felt awful, and had to let philipmcavery put the little guy out of his misery. I swore I'd never use those horrible things again, no matter what.

Well, three nights ago, a field mouse decided to try his luck in my house again. We hadn't quite decided what to do, until last night, when the Beetle cried out, "There's a mouse in my room!" Somehow the mouse got behind B's door, and couldn't really find his way out once we were surrounding him. I ran and got the box we use to transport Scarlet, and we caught the mouse in it. Yay! philipmcavery and I drove down the road about a mile, warned him not to come back, and released the little guy.

It was more effort, yeah, but so worth it.

Comments

mouse-es

[faithhunter.livejournal.com]

Long ago on a mountain trip to a friend's house, there were mice.
Said friend set traps. Mouse got caught, but instead of a clean kill, trap caught it's leg. And mouse was screaming. At 2 am. It was one of the most awful things I ever heard. Another person took mouse and trap outside and did the dirty deed.
I like your method better. Catch and release.
Yeah. A better mouse trap.
Faith

[dwlikeebeinlost.livejournal.com]

Have you ever tried those little things that you plug into the sockets in your house and it gives off a frequency that scares pests off?

They sell them at walmart or any other major retail place. I'm sure you could find them online somewheres too.

I have a friend that lives out in the country and her family swears by them.

[madkestrel.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, the Beetle has a guinea pig.

We don't get too many mousy visitors - this is two in ten years, so I'm not that worried. But thanks!