There’s a Mouse in My House
...and we’re going to battle tonight.
I first saw him last night. I screamed, of course. So, I put more glue traps down. I hate this. Their trapped screeches are awful.
Seems early for mice. I’m really clean, and I always have traps set, just in case, but I have attached neighbors who are pigs. Plus, they don’t have traps and think they don’t have mice.
Wish me luck!
by Anonymous | reply 86 | October 27, 2020 12:43 PM
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Stop with the bloody glue traps already. Then you won't need to winge about screaching. They're cute little buggers. Get the catch and release traps.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | July 25, 2019 12:06 AM
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Dude. Use a conventional rat/mouse trap. Kills them instantly and is therefore more humane. No need to make them suffer.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | July 25, 2019 12:07 AM
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There is never one mouse.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | July 25, 2019 12:12 AM
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Agree with R2. I used glue traps one time at my BFs apartment: never again.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | July 25, 2019 12:20 AM
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OP, this better be a fucking joke. If not, I am going to your house and box your ears severely.
Show the mouse the door, and it will gladly leave.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | July 25, 2019 12:21 AM
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Clean people don't have mice. Mice come to eat, which means you have food not kept properly. Stop living in the Egyptian river and clean your house.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | July 25, 2019 12:28 AM
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My house is impeccably clean. I do have fruit on the counter, a breadbox, and cereal on the countertop. Should I change that?
I live in an apartment, so mice are in the building, for scouting reasons, no matter how clean I am. Especially in the fall. They’re early this year.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | July 25, 2019 1:24 AM
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Mice can smell food through most packaging. Put your cereal boxes in the cupboard, and put your fruit either in the refrigerator or in a container of some sort. They will stick around if they smell food. If the glue traps don't get them I recommend mice & rat pellets.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | July 25, 2019 1:34 AM
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You have to find where they're coming in. Otherwise you'll get more and more. Look in the cabinet under the sink, where the sink's plumbing pipes enter. Is there a big hole in the drywall around the pipe? That's where they were coming into my apartment. Then, they would open up the cabinet door enough to squeeze their way out. However, they were unable to reopen the cabinet door, so they were trapped in my apartment.
Once you find the hole or gap, plug it with steel wool (or better) copper mesh.
I put out the Tomcat live catch & release trap (for multiple critters), and I caught each mouse within an hour. Once you catch the critter, you can look at him up so close. He won't look so scary then. Take him to a park five miles away and release him. (Make sure there are no cats, hawks, or snakes around.)
by Anonymous | reply 10 | July 25, 2019 1:53 AM
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Thanks to commenters.
I have found in the past that I can just kill the one*. I think they’re usually a scout. My neighbors are cluttered and filthy, so I think they must be happy there.
*once I had what must have been a brood, as I had a series of them caught under the fridge. They’re screams were really unnerving, one after the other.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | July 25, 2019 1:59 AM
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I keep glue traps out, under the oven and fridge, at all times.
I haven't had any luck with other kinds of traps, and they so unnerve me, that I don’t want to experiment.
My city prohibits “catch and release”. I think the parks were getting too many pests released there.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | July 25, 2019 2:02 AM
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Rodents do eat fruit. I awoke one morning a couple of years ago to discover that a banana had had a few bites taken out of it. So I started hanging them from the pot rack, and that took care of *that* problem.
Re: multiple mice, shortly after moving into my current place, we spotted a mouse. And then again the following evening. We ended up capturing it under a bowl and flinging it off the balcony. I’m not sorry about it.
We haven’t seen a single mouse, or any mouse turds, since then.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | July 25, 2019 2:09 AM
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OP, post pics, or at least audio recordings.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | July 25, 2019 2:10 AM
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[quote]Put your cereal boxes in the cupboard
Better still, buy one, or a set, of those airtight cereal containers. Not only will your cereal stay fresher but the mice won't be attracted and, even if they are, won't be able to do anything about it.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | July 25, 2019 2:13 AM
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R14, nothing yet. We’ll see. I looked at the traps under the stove, but not the fridge. I always have traps set there.
I just put traps under my couch, today, to be really aggressive.
R19, I think that’s what I’ll do. Just for the mental peace. Many years ago, my bf and I were going to town on a box of cookies, when he realized it was filled with those tiny brown ants. He then vomited. I’ve never seen ants since, but because of that, I’ve kept almost all food in the fridge, including cereal. It’s only recently that I’ve started leaving them out.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | July 25, 2019 2:18 AM
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R10 knows what he's talking about (don't watch).
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 17 | July 25, 2019 2:24 AM
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Same thing with cookies; there are airtight cookie jars and containers for those, as well. Keep your pasta, cereal, cookies, etc. in those types of containers. If you have dry dog or cat food, you should do the same with that.
Anything that a mouse can smell, want, and gnaw into is going to be fair game for them.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | July 25, 2019 2:25 AM
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Some years ago, I had a creature that I could hear in the ceiling. He was coming from three or more abutting doors down. He never entered my living space, because I had lots of traps.
The people many doors down gutted their place. I bet they scared him out of their place. I used to hear him, and imagined he was leisurely reading the newspaper or similar, up above the ceiling. You might like how I got rid of him. I took my floor speakers to the flight above his living space. I put the speakers face down, on the floor, above where I heard him on the flight below. Then I played the Gypsy song, “Bump it with a trumpet”, on repeat, really loud, for maybe twenty minutes. The ceiling below was vibrating. He left and never returned.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | July 25, 2019 2:28 AM
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R17, that’s awful, except it’s the circle of life. Birds have to bird, after all.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | July 25, 2019 2:30 AM
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[quote]I screamed, of course.
Pussy.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | July 25, 2019 2:31 AM
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It’s counterintuitive, but I heard that a home with pets actually has more mice, because they come out at night to eat the dog or cat food and drink their water,
R21, it’s not the mice, per se, it’s the darting about in places they shouldn’t be. It’s the element of surprise.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | July 25, 2019 2:33 AM
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I ordered those high pitch things from Amazon and haven’t seen one for six months.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | July 25, 2019 2:35 AM
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I bought a sound device of some kind when I had those ceiling critters, but I put it away when I saw mice.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | July 25, 2019 2:47 AM
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I read once about a hoarder of some kind, who had a mouse nest IN HER COUCH! OMG.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | July 25, 2019 2:48 AM
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I am a softie so when I saw the mice I thought they were adorable. One came in my room and tried to climb into the trash basket because I had left a cookie wrapper in there. That was a bit alarming. Then I put the noise things in every room. They have really gone away; no more mouse droppings in the broiler. Now I have a gigantic groundhog, but he stays outside. He eats weeds, so I think he is a contributing member of the household.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | July 25, 2019 2:55 AM
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Poke salad Andy, the groundhog
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 27 | July 25, 2019 2:59 AM
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I posted upthread. We kept finding mouse turds all over the place (especially the kitchen counters). My poor BF was getting more and more upset about them, so I bought glue traps, and left them around the home. We came home one night (from a horrible viewing of 'Blue Velvet') and entered the home to a little scampering of feet, then screams. My BF panicked and was in tears. I dragged the couch out, to find them. And in the next room, too. I took them outside to kill them. They didn't deserve that, and I'll live with that shame all my life. I wasn't built to kill.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | July 25, 2019 3:38 AM
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[quote]I read once about a hoarder of some kind, who had a mouse nest IN HER COUCH!
It doesn't only happen to hoarders, though. When I lived in the city we had a mouse problem due to large gaps in the foundation and a shitty, do-nothing landlord. As clean as we were, I still found mouse droppings under the sofa cushions. Since they are mostly nocturnal, they like dark places to hide during the day. Creeped me the fuck out, and I got rid of that couch when we moved even though it was still good.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | July 25, 2019 3:50 AM
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^totally creeped-out, as I lounge.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | July 25, 2019 3:51 AM
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[quote]My BF panicked and was in tears.
Pussy.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | July 25, 2019 3:55 AM
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R21, He really was in tears. He's a rather petite young man. The problem is, I'm the same. I sprung to action, to protect him, but it was awful. I went home very quietly that night: what could we say?
by Anonymous | reply 32 | July 25, 2019 4:02 AM
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Time you both grew up. It was a fucking MOUSE.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | July 25, 2019 4:16 AM
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I feel for you, OP. A few weeks after moving into my last apartment, a mouse ran across my living room floor and I freaked. Caught that one but then another one appeared. And then another. And another. Over the course of the next month, I spent quite a bit of money making the place "mouse-proof" (turns out they had been coming in through a hole behind the dishwasher), so hopefully whoever is living there now is having no problems at all.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | July 25, 2019 4:26 AM
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[quote](turns out they had been coming in through a hole behind the dishwasher)
Did they have to remove the dishwasher in order to diagnose and then repair that?
by Anonymous | reply 35 | July 25, 2019 4:31 AM
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R35, they just pulled dishwasher out from the wall, stuck some steel wool in the hole, then pushed the dishwasher back up into place. Never saw another mouse after that.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | July 25, 2019 4:35 AM
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get some humane traps you monster. What sort of sick freak uses glue? Imagine if that was you - it's not even that difficult to imagine in these oh so very dark times. Once you stop having compassion for living creatures you start becoming complacent to other abuses b/c they don't "affect" you
destruction of the earth...
immigrants in cages..
oh wait...
by Anonymous | reply 37 | July 25, 2019 7:34 AM
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No luck last night. Nothing in my traps.
R37, he’s not paying the mortgage. He’s persona non grata, here. Maybe he took the hint and is gorging himself on the neighbor’s pet food?
I love animals, but vermin spread disease and are disturbing. No mercy for them!
by Anonymous | reply 38 | July 25, 2019 3:39 PM
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I always had pretty good luck with the traditional Victor snap traps, baited with peanut butter. The only sound you hear is one loud snap and death is instantaneous, so no screeching or whatever.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | July 25, 2019 4:57 PM
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When I had mice last year and I put out glue traps, an electronic mouse zapper, even the standard mouse trap with bait, but they wouldn't touch them. After a few months I put out Just One Bite Rat and mouse pellets and they did go for it and they were gone in about one week.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 41 | July 26, 2019 12:10 AM
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Maybe that creature just hates Sondheim r19. If you hear it again, try playing the “Into the Woods” cast album and get back to us.
by Anonymous | reply 42 | July 26, 2019 12:47 AM
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Well, yes, R42, there’s always that.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | July 26, 2019 12:50 AM
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Do a catch and release you evil fuck. The city won't know cuz it is in your apt. Otherwise, you are just trolling and like the screeching of the trapped mice.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | July 26, 2019 12:54 AM
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R44, Otherwise, no. Let’s not be hysterical. It’s a mouse, you louse.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | July 26, 2019 12:58 AM
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If you use poison, the mouse is going to die trapped somewhere behind your walls, and the smell will linger for some time. Why not use the humane catch-and-release method? No violence for you to have to commit or look at. No mess. It's a win-win.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | July 26, 2019 2:37 AM
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My city prohibits catch-and-release. Nobody wants a used mouse.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | July 26, 2019 3:01 AM
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Such a BS answer, city does not permit, etc... One can purchase anything on Amazon, or other internet outfits. I hope the mouse wins tonight OP.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | July 26, 2019 4:22 AM
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Kill those nasty fuckers!
by Anonymous | reply 49 | July 26, 2019 4:38 AM
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I had a bad infestation a few years ago, and it finally settled down after having an exterminator in and being vigilant with traps. So, it looks like the fuckers are back - been finding poop on the stove top and sink. I put the traps out again and caught 4 in a week. Yesterday, I go in the kitchen and see movement in a skillet I left on the burner and see a mouse in it.
He freezes, so I throw the skillet in the sink which the mouse is unable to climb out of. What to do now? I boil a pot of water and toss it on that motherfucker. You ain't living in my apartment!
by Anonymous | reply 50 | September 7, 2019 12:32 AM
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Damn, R50, you’re hardcore!
by Anonymous | reply 51 | September 7, 2019 12:35 AM
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I noticed some water damage to my kitchen ceiling, so I went upstairs (which I never do) and found some splintered wood right about the water damage. A RACCOON has torn a hole in my roof! I called a pest removal service, and the guy was here this afternoon. He showed me a photo of the hole in my roof (I wasn't willing to get up on a ladder, since I'm old, and my house is 2 stories). He set a trap for the raccoon, and I'm supposed to check it first thing tomorrow morning, and let him know if one is trapped. He won't close up the hole in my roof, since he might trap one inside. I would prefer to handle a mouse than a raccoon, any day. Years ago, my parents had a hole in the roof repaired, and the workmen trapped a raccoon inside the house. It destroyed all our old glass Christmas ornaments before I was finally able to trap it and take it miles away to get it away from us.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | September 7, 2019 2:12 AM
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I despise mice and will take any action needed to kill the little fuckers that get in my house or garage.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | September 7, 2019 2:20 AM
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R52, did you take the cage and throw it in a lake? That's all raccoons deserve.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | September 7, 2019 12:50 PM
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OP didn't you see Disney's "Cinderella"? Name him "Gus", knit him a little sweater, and make friends with him.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | September 7, 2019 12:54 PM
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Raccoons are so gangsta! I saw one climbing into someone's house while walking my dog once - he shimmied up one of the porch posts holding up the porch roof, and squeezed his large, fat self between the small slit where the porch roof and porch ceiling meet, disappearing into the house, I assume - home sweet home. Last week while walking my dog, I heard "twiiiiiirl, twiiiiiirl, twiiiiiiirl" sound while walking past a dumpster. "What sort of birds make THAT sound?" I asked myself as I drew nearer for a peek inside the dumpster - three raccoons having a feast, and all ceasing their eating simultaneously to stare back at me as if to say "Did you need something?" GANGSTAS!
by Anonymous | reply 56 | September 7, 2019 2:41 PM
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I bought these Tomcat Press & Set traps because I've been seeing evidence of mouse activity. The first week, they worked great - caught 3 mice in a few days. Now, I'm tearing my hair out because every morning I'm finding the peanut butter gone but the trap didn't snap. I tried putting less PB, thinking that the mouse can reach it without leaning on the trigger. I put the tiniest dab so it really has to get in there but still no mouse. I tried testing the trap to see if it is malfunctioning, but it snaps if I touch it with a toothpick.
Whyyyyyyy? I'm tired of feeding these little menaces. They have no reason to leave now - it's a buffet.
by Anonymous | reply 57 | September 8, 2019 3:12 PM
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R57 here
I just did a live chat with the Tomcat people - they tell me those traps are one-time usage and that the spring gets too weak to snap under the weight of a mouse more than once. Really? Damn waste of plastic - they could make a stronger spring, but they want your money. So, back to Amazon.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | September 8, 2019 6:20 PM
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My neighbors think they don’t have mice because they don’t have traps. Damn, that is stupid. They abut my place so it is my business.
by Anonymous | reply 59 | September 8, 2019 6:43 PM
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[quote]OP, post pics, or at least audio recordings.
OP should've posted this . . .
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 60 | September 8, 2019 6:47 PM
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With all the love and pictures of kitties and pussies on here, why should there be any mice? What are cats for?
by Anonymous | reply 61 | September 8, 2019 11:49 PM
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Caught another mouse today. It was tiny. It smelled like ammonia. So gross.
That is all.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | February 29, 2020 8:55 PM
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How weird. I've trapped many mice over the years and I don't ever recall an ammonia smell. Was it decomp? Excessive urine?
by Anonymous | reply 63 | February 29, 2020 11:10 PM
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How horrid to use glue traps when the little catch and release traps are easy, and don't torture them.
by Anonymous | reply 64 | February 29, 2020 11:13 PM
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I am angry with you, Pierre.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | February 29, 2020 11:53 PM
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I live in a very old house. In the stone built part around the chimney breast we catch up to 30 mice in traps from September to April.
They are vicious cunts.
by Anonymous | reply 66 | March 1, 2020 12:06 AM
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"Clean people don't have mice. Mice come to eat"
Mice are curious. Even if you were a slob and cleaned the place, they'd be out roaming around at night. They mark (by pee) and like to retrace their steps. Doesn't matter if there's food around, and they usually bring the family.
by Anonymous | reply 68 | March 1, 2020 12:15 AM
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Caught an adult mouse via conventional trap a few days ago. Turns out it was female and a mother. Four babies nesting on a robe by the washer in my basement this morning as I suspect looking for Mum. Tiny but have hair, and an especially feisty one in the bunch. Anyway, wondering if anyone can suggest a more humane way to exterminate them? I hate doing it, but it's more of a mercy killing. They're CUTE!
Interesting side note: Just last week, I thought about this exact scenario as it played out maybe 15 years ago when I caught what turned out to be a female rate and I had to drown the babies who came out in the exact same spot after a few days. These ones are a lot older and have full body hair, so it's more involved as the others years ago still had that fetal look. Suggestions?
by Anonymous | reply 69 | March 28, 2020 3:23 PM
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[quote]R16 I just put traps under my couch, today, to be really aggressive.
I thought this said [italic][bold]crotch.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | March 28, 2020 3:59 PM
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I loved this book when I was little.
SPOILER ALERT: Loud Mouse ends up saving the family whose house he lives in.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 71 | March 28, 2020 4:13 PM
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R69, can't you just transport them to a grassy area? Like pick them up and dump them in some woods near you but not too near you? If not, kill the mutherfuckers with FIRE.
by Anonymous | reply 72 | March 29, 2020 2:04 AM
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Some mice only want to be helpful.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 73 | March 29, 2020 2:24 AM
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Which of those sonic devices on Amazon actually work?
I bought a Riddex one a few years ago and it doesn't do shit.
by Anonymous | reply 74 | March 29, 2020 2:33 AM
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Do not transport your vermin to other locations for release there. People living near the release-parks don’t want your crap. In Boston, it’s illegal to do catch and release.
My Dad used to flush them. I throw mine out with the trash.
by Anonymous | reply 75 | March 29, 2020 2:59 AM
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I couldn't and wouldn't transport these littles for release because they were much, much too young to have survived. As stated, they only came out because their mother had not returned for a few days after being caught by the conventional mouse trap. Anyway, I was at a loss of what to do so I put them in a coffee can, started my car, and got some exhaust fumes in the can hurriedly placing the lid on and hoped for the best. I just took my dog round the house and looked inside the can - three were dead, and as soon as I removed the lid, one started gasping for air - I just know it was that feisty one! That was damned near 24 hours later. I feel absolutely terrible about it - I HATE THIS! I hate to kill anything - I'll chase a wasp around the house with a styrofoam cup and envelope to catch and release out the window - I'll patiently wait for a fly to find its way to the expanse of the storm door window just to let it go free. I seriously hate to kill things. Anyway, I did what I had to do - I hurriedly mixed some bleach and alcohol and hopefully that gassed the little guy and he's done. -R69
by Anonymous | reply 76 | March 29, 2020 1:38 PM
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^ Anyone want to take this?
by Anonymous | reply 77 | March 29, 2020 2:17 PM
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Again, a mouse hoped across my living room. Will the tears never stop! I vacuum the couch, and put glue traps down. Fingers crossed in cold New England.
by Anonymous | reply 78 | October 26, 2020 3:31 AM
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There’s a stranger in my house!
by Anonymous | reply 79 | October 26, 2020 3:37 AM
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tis the season in New England!
also, glue traps are incredibly inhumane and immoral. get the snap kind if you must.
by Anonymous | reply 80 | October 26, 2020 3:41 AM
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Who used glue traps? Jesus. Get some humane traps with alarms. Let them go outside.
by Anonymous | reply 81 | October 26, 2020 3:44 AM
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r08 I live in far northern Maine (right at the border) and this has been an unusually bad year here for mice. I'm told it's because of the drought we had this summer. Locals tell me mice are eager to find both warmth and water.
So far this fall, I have trapped six mice. And it's not because I don't keep a clean house. But I have learned a few tips about dealing with the critters.
They can fit through a hole the size of a dime. Seriously. So it's crucial to fill gaps around pipes, especially in the bathroom and kitchen. I was told to buy the spray foam that comes in a pressurized can and that hardens quickly. You can get it at any hardware store or Walmart. The company that makes Tom Cat traps also offers a spray foam for deterring mice.
As for traps, I avoid the glue traps. I have been using the Tom Cat traps that are white and enclosed. You put a dollop of peanut butter inside at one end and set the trap door by pushing on a small lever. The mouse enters to sample the food, the front entry closes and a clamp suffocates the mouse. It's quick and I'm told painless. The traps come in packages of two and aren't very expensive.
If you don't want to go the route of spray foam, you can fill holes with aluminum foil. Mice hate the texture and noise of foil. And a fine wire mesh is also recommended.
To deter mice in the kitchen, don't leave foodstuffs on the counter. Cereal should be in a sealed container, or at least stored on top of the refrigerator. Same with flour, crackers and anything else that attracts mice. Believe it or not, they love soap (due to the fat content). So don't leave bars of soap on the counter. I had one mouse that chewed on an avocado. So fruits and vegetables need to be stored away from kitchen surfaces.
They hate the aroma of cinnamon, so you can spread a little of that around for good measure.
by Anonymous | reply 82 | October 26, 2020 8:30 AM
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Jesus. Just call the fucking exterminators. That's what they're for.
by Anonymous | reply 83 | October 26, 2020 8:35 AM
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R80: I can’t anthropomorphize a mouse. They carry disease and snap traps are more effective.
R81, it’s illegal to catch and release in Boston, because they will just infest someone’s else’s house, maybe even your own, again.
R83: I live in a condo complex with adjoining walls and the idiots here think that if they don’t have traps; and they don’t, that they don’t have mice, but they do. It’s actually easier to set glue traps in my place, that’s what they’re for, than to scheduled an exterminator. You seem fucking helpless.
by Anonymous | reply 85 | October 27, 2020 12:35 PM
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I’m in Los Angeles and a lizard ran through my living room last week. I screamed too, but rationally I know they are harmless so I ignored it and hopefully it went away.
by Anonymous | reply 86 | October 27, 2020 12:43 PM
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