I knew there was a mouse or maybe two visiting the laundry occasionally, I thought they came in to steal the dog's biscuits on the rare days that he didn't finish them all. Then, last week, I went to get an unopened bag of muesli off the shelf and they had chewed a hole in the bag. They had eaten most of my muesli.
During the week I started to notice mouse droppings. Every day there seemed to be more, many more. In more places. Then, the most horrific of all, I SMELLED MICE.
Yesterday the house was unusually quiet and I could hear them chewing into a pasta bag. They didn't even stop when I kicked at the shelf.
It was broad daylight !
How bold could they get?
I got out the baits I had bought. This was no longer a couple of innocent little mice. This was war.
No longer could I excuse them, no longer would their cuteness save them. I placed the bait. This morning there was mouse crap ON THE BAIT BOX.
Not much healthy reserve with this lot, was there?
I spent the day today tidying the admittedly disastrous dumping ground I call the laundry: moving stuff, binning stuff, washing stuff and vacuuming up mountains of mouse turds........GROSS!!
Obviously there have been more of the little buggers than I ever imagined. And they have been there for longer than I ever suspected.
There is still more to do but tonight, when they were once again boldly acting like they owned the place, I took great satisfaction in knowing that their days are numbered.
Fight the good fight... the health of the commonwealth is at stake!
ReplyDeletejust bob
eeeewww, mices, meeses, unruly things! I hate them all! I know they're animals, but I just can't stand them!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have some real keepers there, special!
I think you should get a cat.
love ya hun,
Peej xx
I don't know what to say. Wow. That's a first. I think you caused a problem you could have avoided and now mice will suffer. Damn!!! I hate the killing field, but understand. If you'd only taken a few extra minutes to clean up, no mice would be killed. Damn. I hate the killin' part of it. But I love you! ;)
ReplyDeletehi bob
ReplyDeleteprecious pete,
ReplyDeletei never thought much about mice....they're rather adorable but not in my house.
love ya
yes, suze, if only i could give up on blogging and sleep i might cook better, play boardgames with my kids, have a tidier house, a happier husband, prevent global warming and save the mice.
ReplyDeletelife is full of "if only"s..........
cheers
k
HI Kylie! boy, am I sympathetic to this. We waged such a war this past year with mice. It's really not always a matter of cleaning up per se. Sometimes they just want a nice warm place to be...so, that said, I began by trapping our mice in "have-a-heart" traps and letting them go in the park across the street. We got about 8 this way...and I began to suspect that some of these were the same mice all over again...
ReplyDeleteThen, they began to take tea with our previous hamster in his cage. Yes, one night we found THREE mice in the cage with him. This was the beginning of the Great Mouse War of 2007-2008. Those little buggers are both persistent and diabolical. Not to mention gross. You have to ignore the darling little quivering whiskers and take no prisoners!!!
And don't blame yourself. Mice are mice, they set up shop anywhere and everywhere. That's just how they roll.
xoxo
Oh Kylie, I saw one scamper through the yard yesterday. He ran right toward my open garage door. Today Mrs. Skeeter and I went to the store to stock up on traps. Soon enough the world will have one less mouse in it.
ReplyDeleteHope you catch them all too!
Skeeter
hi leah
ReplyDeleteit's nice to know it's not just me!
3 mice with the hamster is a little but cheeky, isn't it? i have seen mice with our rabbits and also in the aviary so i guess i should have expected that they would eventually find the house but i just thought they were out there.....out of sight, out of mind kind of thing.
they have eaten the baits i laid so here's hoping that's the end of the matter.....
xoxox
hi skeeter,
ReplyDeletethe baits i laid were supposedly enough for eight mice, with your one we might get rid of nine!
best wishes
k