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teachingmyown
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 9:23am | IP Logged
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Help! I have a cute little rodent who is having a grand time in my kitchen. He is leaving a trail of droppings in different drawers. This morning I had to dump out the silverware drawer and scrub everything.
I am having a party here in less than two weeks. This is not the time to have to keep all my utensils and pots and pans on the counter and to be constantly scrubbing while I try to catch this thing.
What should I do? I would like to get rid of it humanely, but I want to get rid of it quickly, too.
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Macmom
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 9:36am | IP Logged
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We have this issue, too! Try mouse traps. (Quick kill!) Or, if you insist on the "gentle" way, get a cage trap and bait it, then when you catch the little rodent, you can drive him far away to a new home OR (what we often do... drop the cage in a bucket of water and drown him. I don't recommend poison with little kids in the house. But we do lay out poison in the cars at night, and dh removes it in the morning.
Most importantly, find out where they are getting in! You need to block their entrance!
If worse comes to worse, there is always an exterminator.
Good luck! Here in the desert, we have large pack rats that move into your engine block and eat wires and hoses. Two snuck into the house this month, and we had to chase them down all night, with the help of our terrier! (Kids thought it quite fun!)
Peace,
Macmom
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Catholic family life works on the same principle as a washing machine- clothes get clean by agitation.
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Mary Chris
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 10:54am | IP Logged
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Molly,
I am all for humane treatment of animals but I draw the line at mice! I say get a trap and just get rid of it! You have more important things to do than being nice to mice.
Didn't someone write a book about that?....about 30 years ago I think it was an actress....maybe someone from the "Brat Pack"
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mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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Mary Chris
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 10:54am | IP Logged
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Oh we used to have them at our old house, I think they were getting in through the brick fireplace. I stuffed some of the holes with tin foil.
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nicole-amdg
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 11:34am | IP Logged
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She Was Nice to Mice by Ally Sheedy, when she was twelve years old. A novel about the mice in Queen Elizabeth's "court." 
We had to use the sticky traps a few years ago, but they're tough to stomach, in a way, because they don't kill but they're not "release"-friendly either. One of them caught a mouse in the bathroom but before I knew it, my 2yo went to use it--scared him witless to see a live mouse stuck to a gummy pad. But they were very effective.
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mary theresa
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 1:02pm | IP Logged
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Molly,
We had one in our cabinets eating the pasta etc. last year. I bought the greatest mouse trap at Kmart and I CAN't remember the brand name.
Basically it is a round container, shaped like a hockey puck. You unscrewed it, baited it and then sat it out. There was a little door in the side and once the mouse got in it snapped shut, killing the mouse.
But the GREAT thing for me, was that you couldn't see a THING! it just looked like a hockey puck -- no more hole -- but felt a bit heavier. Then you just throw it away -- mouse and trap together.
I know that's not really HUMANE, but it's non-gross -- no looking at poor little dead mousie and having to get him out of the trap. 
Oh, and it caught him within two days.
SO sorry I can't remember the brand! If you have a Kmart, try that, or just look for the black "hockey puck trap" with a yellow (and red?) label.
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JenniferS
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 1:07pm | IP Logged
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Hmmm...need a cat? We have nine kittens we need to give to a good home. We haven't had a mouse problem in a few years, since we had three cats(now they have multiplied obviously!). They are all outdoor cats, but they seem to keep the mice at bay.
Jen
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guitarnan
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 1:24pm | IP Logged
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The gummy traps aren't humane, definitely. We had mice in this house before we moved back into it the last time (not last year, the previous time). We had exterminators come out, and they left glue traps. I scrubbed all the floors with bleach, etc. but we still trapped one large mouse with the glue trap, gag.
A few days later I was doing laundry. I opened the dryer and a snake slithered over my arm onto the floor. (Imagine my shock!) I thought fast and trapped it in the laundry room...with the glue trap, which I totally forgot. Of course the snake ended up on the trap. My dh took nail polish remover and carefully worked that poor snake loose, scale by scale. He released it in the woods...
I think I'd skip the glue traps. I'd go with something quick...mice carry hanta virus and other awful things, which you don't want your family to get.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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teachingmyown
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 1:54pm | IP Logged
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JenniferS wrote:
Hmmm...need a cat? We have nine kittens we need to give to a good home. We haven't had a mouse problem in a few years, since we had three cats(now they have multiplied obviously!). They are all outdoor cats, but they seem to keep the mice at bay.
Jen |
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Unfortunately, they would only end up as doggie treats here!  I have two big dogs who are less than gentle to smaller creatures.
Dh is stopping at the store on the way home to get a trap. I will pass on the recommendations.
It is always something, isn't it?! 
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Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
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mavmama
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 2:04pm | IP Logged
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[QUOTE=guitarnan] a snake slithered over my arm onto the floor. (Imagine my shock!) I thought fast and trapped it in the laundry room...with the glue trap, which I totally forgot. Of course the snake ended up on the trap. QUOTE]
OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH---I would have just fainted dead away. Now I'm going to worry about a snake in my dryer
As for mice, Mother Earth News had an aritcle about finding the route the mouse is using and sealing it up. That worked for us when we had a closet where a trap went off every night. I can't link it, but go tho their4 archives and check--it was very informative.
Good luck!
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guitarnan
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 2:09pm | IP Logged
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Liz, don't avoid your dryer...it was a strange set of circumstances that you probably don't have. The house had been empty for a month (except for mice, which equals dinner to a snake). A nearby cornfield had just been cut down to make room for over 100 houses, and the snakes who fed on the mice in the cornfield were looking for new homes. Also, it was winter and the poor snake was probably trying to get near my dryer vent for warmth.
Yes, it was freaky, but when I calmed down, the whole thing was very easy to figure out. We've never had a snake since that day.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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chicken lady
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 3:43pm | IP Logged
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Nancy I have to tell you, that would have been the end of me!
I have cats and we have a mouse problem I even stopped feeding the cats and we still have a mouse!! I think it is part and parcel to country living! I think I wil look into those mouse traps that look like hockey pucks, I don't want to see what I have trapped.
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mary
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 5:48pm | IP Logged
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ever since we started feeding the birds and keeping birdseed and pb in the garage, i have had mouse issues. imo, the best trap is the rectangle with a hinged door. my kids check the trap every day (we haven't had a mouse in months) and then release it into the neighbor's cow pasture. everyone is happy - the mouse has a new home, the kids feel good about moving the rodent (and sometimes there is even a science lesson!) and my house is mouse-free.
i have seen (and used) the puck traps. they bother me because there is poison in them and don't want to touch it or have my baby find it. i also don't like to kill the mice.
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mary theresa
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 6:18pm | IP Logged
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mary wrote:
i have seen (and used) the puck traps. they bother me because there is poison in them and don't want to touch it or have my baby find it. i also don't like to kill the mice. |
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Hmm. The puck traps I used you baited yourself. Must be a different kind.
Also, they were pretty child proof as far as the child getting into where the bait was. I guess, the sping release/ snap shut part of it could pinch little fingers, if they were sticking them far enough into the hole.
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missionfamily
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 9:53pm | IP Logged
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i read somewhere that mice hate peppermint. when we had them in our old house, after we trapped, i put peppermint oil in the pantry and pot cabinet and they never returned. Found multiple links that this is true. Apparently, they are allergic to it. It says use 100% peppermint oil.
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Mrs.K
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| Posted: July 31 2007 at 10:31pm | IP Logged
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The simplest 'humane' trap is just a smooth plastic bucket - we use the kind cat litter comes in. Put some peanutbutter in the bottom. They go in for the treat but can't climb out.
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Rebecca
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Mrs. K, If they can get in (climb up the sides) why can't they get out (climb up the sides)? Just wondered why that works.
The sticky traps are creepy. Sometimes a desperate mouse will gnaw off the body part that is stuck to free itself. Gross, I know (from experience).
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: Aug 01 2007 at 6:37am | IP Logged
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The hockey puck traps I got were at WalMart and I think they were by D-con. Little hole covered by a sticker in the bottom you put the p-nut butter in and closed it back up.
We found a mouse in a bucket in the garage-on more than one occasion. We think they fell in from the workbench.
We used steel wool to cover hole we thought the mice were coming in from. Seems to have worked for the house--they still "own" the garage
I have heard moth balls work to "repel" them too. I can't stand the smell so have never tried that. I need to go find some peppermint oil--nice!
So nice to know we aren't the only ones with "extended family." My kids think they are soooo cute--and they are, but not in my house!!!!
Anne
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chrisv664
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When we get the occasional mouse my husband deals with it, but if he's not here,I place a traditonal snap-shut trap in a brown lunch bag. If we snag one, I can dispose of it with the least amount of contact.
However, for the squirrels who found their way in last fall and were scampering across the inside of my bedroom ceiling , I opted for the humane traps and drove them a mile away to release them! I still get the willies thinking of them!!!
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lilac hill
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We use the old fashioned traps, buy them in multipack s and toss when used. Peanut butter and Strawberry Bubble Yum have been effectve bait here.
Our regular mice like the knife drawer above the garbage can, so I just have to empty that drawer unitl they are done.
Although not ideal, when the mice come I set the traps and put poison on the rafters in the basement. I have some bait hidey-holes that the occasional cat cannot reach. The cats are not supposed to be in the basement but occasionally get down there
After a mouse died near a heat vent (the smell lasts as long as it takes a small Yankee candle jar to burn down), we did not set out poison. After battling them for a few weeks,with the mice rousing the dogs every night and droppings in more than the knife drawer-- the poison went out and I bought a few candles , just in case.
We have not had any trouble with the dogs or cats and poisoned rodent bodies.
I use the little bags of poison and tuck them up under the kitchn floor. In the fall I tuck some up in the attic too.
Good luck.
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Topic: There's a mouse in the house :-(
