wherein Liz kills a mouse

[edenfalling]

I have had, off and on, a minor problem with mice in my kitchen -- or, more specifically, with mice in precisely two cupboards and one drawer, because those are the ones with holes in the back to let the water pipes reach the sink, and they don't offer access to any other storage area, let alone the open floor. (Well. Assuming the doors are shut, which they always are unless I'm actively using them, in which case a mouse would probably be more interested in fleeing back into the walls than in bravely exploring.)

I don't store anything edible in those particular cupboards and drawer, but the mice do nibble at any plastic or rubber components of my utensils and containers. They also poop. And having mice wander over one's measuring spoons, corkscrew, and potato peeler really is not sanitary.

So a week ago, I finally remembered to buy a four-pack of mousetraps and a candy-bar to use as bait. I use snap traps, partly because they are vastly cheaper than poison stations, partly because they are reusable, and partly because unless you get a horrible rotting stench inside your walls, you never really know if poison works -- you may not see any more mice, but absence of proof is not proof of absence -- whereas a snap trap provides incontrovertible evidence of effectiveness in the form of a dead mouse. (Live traps are a nice idea but not practical.)

On my first attempt, I didn't put the trigger on a sensitive enough setting; a mouse ate the bait and got away safely. I made the requisite grumbling noises, and yesterday afternoon I rebaited and reset the trap.

This evening, I opened the cupboard door and found a dead mouse. Said mouse is now gently freezing on one of the yard waste piles in my back yard, where it will either be eaten by an enterprising scavenger or slowly decompose. Either way, it will be useful, and either way, it is no longer contaminating my kitchen.

...

I doubt it was the only mouse. I will set another trap.

Comments

[autumnia]

I applaud you for handling the mouse situation so well -- I could never do that and usually end up screaming or shrieking if I see a mouse in my kitchen. :-)

[edenfalling]

The one time I was actually scared by a mouse, it was because I didn't initially realize it was a mouse. I went into the back room of the smoke shop, lo these many years ago, saw a gray body skittering toward me over the floor, and had a panicked moment of, "Oh my god that is the biggest silverfish I ever saw get it away get it away get it away!" This only lasted a second, since by the time the mouse got close enough to literally run into my shoe, I'd figured out that it wasn't an evil bug of darkest evil, and was amused and annoyed more than anything.

(I'm always a little regretful about killing mice. Silverfish, though, I just smash with extreme prejudice and go about the rest of my day feeling that I have done a noble and just service to the universe.)

[autumnia]

One other thing you might try is peppermint oil. Some sites I read about dealing with mice says that the peppermint smell is too strong for their noses. We put a few drops in areas where the mice would come up and it seems to help a bit in keeping them away.

[edenfalling]

Hmm! Well, if I remember that when I'm near a store that sells essential oils, I may buy a small bottle and try it out.

[branchandroot]

Good that the trap worked, and worked fully! I've had some luck with duct tape and chicken wire to seal off pipe holes like that, but mice are persistent little buggers.

[edenfalling]

Hmm. I have duct tape, but no chicken wire. I'll see if I can find any at Target the next time I'm in the mall. (But yeah, mice have a way of getting through holes you'd swear were impossible for them to fit.)

[branchandroot]

What worked best was fairly heavy gauge square-hole wire with little holes, maybe a quarter inch square. I cut a line to the middle of the piece and then hacked out a hole a bit smaller than the pipe, wrestled the piece around the pipe, and bent the wires outward to make it fit before duct-taping it down around the edges. It was a bit of a pain in the fingers, but it worked! The wire was too heavy for them to move or chew, and the holes were too small to get through.

[edenfalling]

*takes notes*

I'd have to do that on three separate holes (two drainpipes, plus the entry hole for the kitchen hot and cold pipes), and given that the kitchen drainpipe does a right-angle turn at almost exactly the same point it cuts through from the sink cupboard to the neighboring cupboard, I'm not sure I physically can block that one. My hands may not fit.

But I could definitely make the bathroom cupboard inaccessible with that strategy, and that's a lot better than nothing!