If you’ve been following along on my Facebook wall – you’ve most likely seen the images of our most recent home problem…
Mice.
Yep…We’ve got ‘em.
The weather here in MN has cooled down significantly and therefore the mice have started moving in. Thankfully, I wasn’t the first to see one – and when I did see one, my husband had it in a container for me to look at.
Isn’t he CuTE?!
That’s what we thought at first. Joe brought the little mousie up to Andrew’s room, where Andrew and I were reading bedtime stories. We grabbed some Cheerio’s to feed him in the container – and then we said our goodbyes, and Joe drove the mouse out to a nearby cemetery – far enough so he can’t find his way back home.
Aww – How sweet, Right?
Well.. The next day while I was putting laundry into the wash, Two little mice ran out from under the washing machine.
I scurried to find the container that Joe used the night before, having Andrew keeping his eyes on the mice. Grabbed the container, and put it up next to one of the mice.
AND HE WALKED RIGHT IN!! Yep!
Grabbed another container, and the other little mousie did the same thing! Jumped right in. How cute and friendly, right?
I was still Ok at this point… thinking it was just another random fluke, and due to the cold weather and whatnot…. But I still spend the next 6-8 hours getting *EVERYTHING* off of the floor, vacumming in every nook and cranny, and making sure that these mice have no reason to be in my house.
The next night my husband set up the iBaby Monitor downstairs on the floor to see if we could catch them on camera and see where they were coming from. Well we saw them… But not where they were coming from.
Cute?? NotSoMuch.
Now I’m sure we have a ‘problem’. I’m mad at them. They need to get out of my house.
That same night that we set up the iBaby, I was upstairs working on blog posts on the couch with the basement blocked off from all intrusions – and I saw one… out of the corner of my eye – run across the living room near the wall.
I *flipped* out. Joe and I spent over 20 minutes chasing this mouse – who eventually got away from us (because we didn’t have any way to catch them, and this mouse was not as friendly as the others…).
That next morning I was on the phone with Terminix. They’re going to come out and evaluate the house and figure out everything that’s going on, and how big the problem really is.
Meanwhile, I’ve gone to the store to get some sticky paper and some traps – and have started being a little more aggressive when we see them. We’re not trying to be inhumane – but we also want our home to be safe and free of pests.
Have you ever had pest issues? What have you done to get rid of them?
I am working in coordination with Terminix, sharing my stories of pests with you all in exchange for their services. The opinions and stories here are 100% my own and not influenced by my relationship with Terminix.
wow my boys would want to keep them
Hope you get your mice problem fixed soon!
No! I can’t stand them! The mere sight of them gives me goosebumps! No, please!
ewww, gave me the goosebumps. I am afraid of them although they are so tiny. I remember seeing one many years in my kitchen and stood on a chair until someone could help me. Horrible. I’d have traps everywhere. That is what I ended up doing. Cats help too I guess but we had one and I saw this mouse go right near her paw and she didn’t move. Maybe we just had a not so intelligent cat
Sticky traps are horrible and inhumane. Try a have-a-heart trap so you can catch and release them far away from your home. I personally wouldn’t want my grandchildren to see a mouse stuck to a piece of paper as it slowly dies of dehydration and starvation.
I have to agree with the sticky paper…. mice will literally scream when stuck on it, and when you pick it up they are NOT dead. Ditch the sticky paper you honestly wont like what happens. As for trapping them…..well I have no pity for mice they are a pest. Get the traps and snap them.
Better yet………. get a cat or two. I live in the MidWest myself and this is the time we get field mice, they are trying to stay warm. My cats have no problem taking care of them.
Also remove all of the food sources. If you have a dog, pick up the dry food. If you are seeing that many there is some food source they are returning to. If it is dog food please DUMP THE DOG FOOD or whatever they are in. Mice will sit inside the bag and poop and if you dont see it and feed your dog you might make the dog ill.
WOW i would freak out! try some cheese:)
I’m shocked they were so easy to catch! I have seen some electronic thing that plugs into an outlet and supposedly emits some tone or vibration that only mice can sense and are repelled by but i’m not sure if they work or not.
I’m from mn, so I know how you feel! I still jump on the couch & scream if I ever see one!
no, i would *die*. the mere thought of them makes me cringe. I have no problems with sticky paper or any other method to get rid of those suckers. they would have to go and NOW!
I can not stand mice! I have had problems with mice! But I have not had any mice problems lately because I put Decon in the basement, and there is a gap at the bottom of my basement door and I have since plugged this. The mice can get in to your house by squeezing in a gap the size of a dime! So I plugged as many gaps as I could around the foundation, and I have not had a mouse since!
I don’t like mice – we had them and then hubby sealed anyplace we thought they were getting in from
Eeek! I hate mice. I never have an aww cute thought when it comes to them I think about disease carrying rodents…a couple years ago on our old house we had one that got into our house and hubby set up a trap and caught him, never saw another one after that. Hope you get them out!
Sorry to hear about the pest problem. Yes, you have to get a handle on this situation, for your health! They are cute but they are awful creatures and can cause problems. Never had to deal with them and I hope I never do. Way to go about using the night video cam!! LOL GENIUS!
omg i found one in my room yesterday
We usually put out those little bags of mice poison. We put it behind the stove or washing machine. Anywhere little children and animals can’t get to it. This seems to take care of them. Last year we had one in our house and this year we have had two mice so far. We have lived other places that were a lot worse then this. But I don’t want them in my house either.
I hope there are no more mice. it gives me the creeps just thinking about it.
Once-we’d just moved into a house and there was a mouse on the floor. My mattress was still on the floor, and all of the furniture hadn’t been moved in yet, and my dad told me I just had to sleep there, until the exterminator came the next day, going in and out of my bedroom and the bathroom, scurrying at top speed!
once, many many moons ago…we had a much larger, not so cute one. A neighbor had demolished their shed & apparently a family was living in it! One decided to try & relocate in our home. Lucky for us, my cat was young & attacking!
Im not as nice as you are,,I put out mouse traps that will destroy them,they can ruin a house,we have a cat also who is a great mouser,the only problems iwth that is he will eat them,not so pleasant ,,so Id drather use the mouse traps an then dispose of them
This has worked very well for me:
Ortho
Home Defense Max Press ‘N Set Mouse Trap
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202601814/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=mouse+trap&storeId=10051#.UKmSRIcQbEY
Yuck! Never had mice before. We do have our fair share of spiders and these creepy crawling things with a million legs.
Oh yes, we have mice, we live in a log cabin. My husband keeps the trap baited and ready. We try to stay on top of them so we don’t get overrun. I wouldn’t use the sticky traps though. They will die but a long slow death. It’s more humane to use the spring traps.
Yikes!!! That would freak me out! As much as I love animals and don’t like to see anything happen to them, I really don’t know that I wouldn’t have gone out and got traps the first day.. It would scare me to walk around!!
Usually in the winter I hear them and set traps we get maybe 3 or 4 all year. I use traps and sometimes D-con . That does the trick unless I get one real smart mouse that I set double traps end to end to get him. Or the cats get them before they get in the house and lay them on my door step. Funny story tho one day I was in the bathroom and saw something move out of the corner of my eye and here was this tiny rolly polly of a mouse, like the one on your sticky tape, just looking up at me . He didnt move the whole time so I got up and got a cup and caught him in it too.
We have only had one get in the house… it was a baby mouse. Our cat caught it and carried it around showing it the food dish, water bowl, litter box and his bed. We finally got it away from him and it seemed relieved to be caught and released outside. Never did try to come back inside for some reason 🙂
I hate mice, I use to have a dashhound, and we had some mice one time, she would go in the kitchen and continue barking, barking…. on & on. We couldn’t figure out what she was barking at until we got up the next morning and she had killed the mice/rat, who needs a cat when you got a dash, love too.
I used Terminex also. It was so bad the darn mouse was on top of the trash can looking at me like I was bothering him.
Amazing how something so cute can be such a hazard to your family and your home huh? I appreciate that you tried to do the humane thing for the first one, but it’s you or them at times. But I understand the thought of chemicals / bait / poison isn’t a great thought either. Good luck! Come one warm weather!
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