Eeek! We have a mouse in our house! (Yes, indeed, my friends, I am absolutely certain it is just ONE and it is a MOUSE and not a rat. GOT IT?!)
Seriously, between the lice and a mouse in our cupboards I'm certain you all think we're the dirtiest people ever. But, truly, we are not!!!
So, feel free to assure me that a mouse in your kitchen is a common occurrence. Something pretty much everyone has to deal with at some point. Perhaps you've even had one? (And don't forget, lice like CLEAN hair!)
I discovered it--or the signs of it--yesterday morning. The cheddar goldfish cracker bag had a little shredded hole. I showed it to Abel who suggested that perhaps Lucas had done that. (What's that saying about denial?)
I cleaned out our cupboards (unfortunately the lower cabinets are our only space to store food) like they had never been cleaned before--seriously, a major cleaning. Yesterday was SUCH a busy, crazy day for both Abel and me that we just didn't get to the store for a trap. And then this morning we discovered a little hole in a bag of microwave popcorn and and the oatmeal. UGH!
I've put all our remaining food into a big plastic bin and traps will be set within moments. And then....what? I guess wait to catch one (okay, okay, where there's one there are more, right?) mouse and then...what? Wait to catch another? How do you know you've gotten them?
I just hate stuff like this. It so totally creeps me out.
Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!
We live in a two-level townhouse (no basement, and we're on a concrete slab), and there's definitely some sort of crevice that's open to the outside in the space under our stairs, which was use for storage. In the almost-7 years that we've lived here, we've had a mouse or a mama mouse and her babies make their home in that space in the late winter/early spring. I can TOTALLY relate to the crazy cabinet washing- along with every single utensil and pot and pan and bowl and dear-god-the-vermin-could-have-touched-ALL-of-this! experience. We tried "humane" traps, which didn't work, and one time we actually caught a baby mouse by trapping a bowl over it as it ran around our dining room. (We carried it far away down the street from the house and released it because we didn't know what else to do!) Otherwise, we've usually just used the old-fashioned spring traps (with peanut butter which works way better at luring them than cheese), and my hubby got good at wrapping the mess up in several bags, while I took on the job of cleaning up the resulting mess. Fun, fun, homeowner fun.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!!
We caught two mice in the kitchen of our old apartment, and have seen one mouse in the kitchen in our new house, but haven't had luck catching it thus far. Don't expect to catch it the first night the traps are set--it may take a few weeks. But be persistent! And good luck!
ReplyDeleteGet a cat...it work's great for us...
ReplyDeleteSmiling Mama....I am officially going to become a follower of your blog. Today is my first read of it....I too am totally creeped out by mice and or rats ...and I too would only have ONE in my house and would hear of no other number!! I told my husband if ever a mouse is in my house.....I'm checking in to the nearest Marriott!
ReplyDeleteI had to deal with lice with my son when he was about 8 and it was so so horrible...
So...I'm a fan with similar dislikes!
debi