wherein Liz kills a mouse
Jan. 18th, 2016 06:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edenfallingI 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.
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.
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-19 03:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-19 03:35 am (UTC)(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.)
(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-20 04:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2016-01-20 05:23 am (UTC)