No tongue twister intended. There is indeed a mouse in the house. I have named him Shredder and he possibly killed my brother.
This is not something I would normally admit to many people, much less the internet public at large, because frankly it makes me feel like I live in a pig-sty. But here goes. Try not to judge.
My name is Carrie, and I have a mouse problem. 1
I started to suspect foul play a few weeks ago but talked myself out of spotting the mouse poo with my own eyes using a nice heaping dose of denial. However, last week, I caught a glimmer of this undeniable troublemaker out of the corner of my eye when I was writing. 2 A second and less shocking glimpse came the next day. Confirmation stage complete. Mouse in house.
I start to call around, seeing what my options are for my little problem. There are apparently two. Trap or poison. (Note, there are many sub-options within these two seemingly simple headings.) And the lovely hairy sounding man on the other end of the phone said that he was happy to come set one or more of these options out for a small fee of $160. Yeah that’s not going to happen. Also, I find funamental problems with these two methods of riddance.
Trap. Traps kill. I will then have to dispose of the little crushed mangled body of this little being who really just wanted a piece of cheese.
Poison. Poison also kill. Things that include my rabbit and/or my dog, whom both of which eat anything they can get their noses near. And even if that didn’t happen and the poison did find it’s correct mark, the mark would then retreat to some unseen, unknown part of the house to die and cause stinkage.
Today I saw him again. He is much bolder now, which obviously comes when you are comfortable in your new home, so this time much he was closer and looking right at me. He is so small and very un-repulsive. Now, not only have I had a run in with Denial, now his friend Guilt has come collapsing on top of me.
So, I have a mouse. I have named him Shredder.
I did try to make my own humane trap….
(Though mine looked a bit more like this)
Good news, it works.
Bad news, it caught my rabbit.
So here I am, with yet another furry house mate.
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i feel as though one significant (if i do say so myself) inhabitant of said house was not factored into the equation.
hm.
Your brother had it coming.
Sorry Care, but you have to kill the mouse. Not only are they very unsanitary and could lead either you guys or your pets to become sick, but the smell of a mouse will attract other mice and pretty soon you will have a plague.
I am very much against poisons and glue based traps. And neither option is safe for your pets. Pick up a grey, plastic easy-set trap at any supermarket. You just click it open and set it down. Those old wood and metal trap are not only a bitch to set, but they are ten times stronger than they need to be and can hurt you or pets. They also have a tendancy of spraying gore around. Use a plastic click-open trap and just to be sure the dog doesn’t set it off, leave it on a counter top. When it catches the mouse, you can pick it up by the handle end without getting too close to the body, and then click it open over the trash or just dump the whole thing in. These traps kill instantly and humanely and mouse heaven is even nicer for them than living in your house. Not nicer than any house, just yours. :p
Do NOT name the mouse.
You can buy metal traps that just catch the mouse alive (too small for your rabbit!) and then take it out somewhere far away and set it free.
But a trap that kills the mouse instantly isn’t inhumane, it won’t have time to feel anything and, like Ben said, you don’t actually have to ever touch the mouse itself.
hahahahahaha @ your trap.
Any update since posting? Splinter…umm Shredder still around?
Nope, no more Shredder. He and his family (wife and 4 kids) were safely removed and set free in a field far away from me.