Well, I officially live in a rat-infested sh*thole

[HEyHEY]

I'm kind of honoured. Actually I think it's just a mouse. But at night I've been hearing wierd clicking noises behind the stove. Whenever I got near it they stopped. At first I thought it was just I was unlucky and not getting to them, and that the noises were something wrong with the stove. Then last night I saw it scurry from behind the stove.

Now, I'll have to do something.......and it might involve DEATH!

[boobooday]

1. I hate that

Don't buy those glue traps if you want to be humane. Someone gave me those and I found myself in the backyard trying to pry the squeaking mouse's feet out of the glue to set him free. It couldn't be done. It was horribly traumatic.

Cats are good.

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

4. Ha . you beat me ! Cats ARE good :)

[eyesroll]

5. The glue is oil soluble

Next time (not that there will be one), try mineral oil, or, failing that, cooking oil.

We use live traps.

[HEyHEY]

7. only thing

If I trap it live and put it outside, it will surely freeze to death this tim eof year.

[ironflange]

39. Don't worry, he'll find a nice warm spot

That's why he's in your kitchen. Catch him and set him loose next to your new boss's house.

[eyesroll]

2. Exciting!

I live in a mouse-infested (118-year-old, so it goes with the territory) not-quite-shithole.

Actually, I think they're gone now. They show up in the summer.

Except a month or so ago -- one showed up in the bottom of my bird's cage. She wasn't too happy with that (the bird, not the mouse).

[TolstoyAndy]

33. Yeah one of my birds got attacked

in 2001. That was the first we knew of having mice.

Plugging holes helped a lot - now I see them in the yard (since I can't stop feeding the outside birds) and in the garage.

Glue traps (in an apt long ago) are evil. They get their whole bodies stuck on them and squeak and struggle horribly. I had to kill them and I'm still traumatized.

The ones I see outside now are probably the descendants of the ones we live-trapped. Just stay outside, and no problem.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

3. If you can , do what I did ...

borrow your friend or neighbors cat . It worked for me . Needed only a day for " Smuggins " ( my neighbors cat ) to hunt the mouse down . Cheap and no exterminator needed . Just find the hole where the mouse crawled through and stuff it - ( okay then you'r gonna needed the exterminator for that ) .

[NJCher]

16. not to mention

that it thrills the cat to no end.


Cher

[papau]

20. steel wool around pipe entrances to rooms should stop problem

If coming from a dirt tunnel outside, there is no way to stop, so only solution is to make area unproductive to rat -

as in no food because clean and food supplies protected.

If you enjoy feeding them then try traps with cheese - refill daily!

:-)

[NJCher]

36. I had a mouse once

And stuffed the entrance with the steel wool stuff. Worked great but then the kitty pawed it out so the mouse could get back in! Cats--ya' gotta' watch 'em all the time.



Cher

[HEyHEY]

6. do those old-school traps work?

The kind in cartoons.

[JohnyCanuck]

15. I tried the old style trap once

I was living in a studio apartment in an older house and sometimes I could hear the meeces scurrying around in the walls at night. One night I got up to go to the bathroom and when I turned on the light I saw a mouse scurry behind the stove. I finally decided to do something about my mouse problem and a couple days later, I set out one of the old time mouse traps next to the stove and then went off to bed. Within about 10 minutes of the lights going out I heard the snap of the trap going off, followed by what appeard to be some anxious sounding mouse type squeeks.

I went to investigate and when I turned on the lights there was a mouse in the trap and it appeared to be dead, but next to the mouse caught in the trap were two little baby meeces. They were presumably the ones doing all the squeeking. They scurried away to their bolt hole immediately I turned on the light, but I felt guilty at killing what appeared to be a momma mouse and leaving two grieving orphans to fend for themselves. I didn't set any more traps after that. Fortunately I was able to move into a slightly more upscale place shortly afterwards.

[blindpig]

21. victor rules!

a clean, quick exit, compared to glue. Proper usage is required; place the trap about a week before setting, place it along the floorboards behind something but where you can get to it. Its best to saturate the area, at least a few traps per room. When a trap has done its job clean it up and soak over night in weak bleach water to remove the scent of death and dry well. It's worked for me.

[thom1102]

8. There are no kill traps that you can use.

You can catch it, then take it and release it somewhere not nearby. The trouble is, if you have one mouse, you probably have more, so you may have to repeat the process a few times. Additionally, the mouse got in somehow, and that means other mice can get in too. You need to address that issue too. Good luck. BTW you guys don't have that Hanta virus up there, do you?

[HEyHEY]

11. to my knowledge no

But as I said, this time of year, if I put it outside it will freeze to death anyway.

[thom1102]

12. well get an aquarium tank and put the little buggers in there til thaw...

a few cedar shavings and s little mouse chow every couple days until spring then toss the little rodents into a field... they'll do fine.

[achtung_circus]

28. Hanta Virus

Yes you do. Several people contract Hanta Virus each year, and occasionally one dies. HOWEVER, it's carried by deer mice (brown with white bellies) which are found in rural areas, in granaries and such.

Your house mouse is just that, a house mouse.

BTW the BEST bait for Victor traps, if you use them, is bacon tied to the trigger.

[Roon]

9. Humane mousetrap

http://members.ispwest.com/patrussell/mousetrap/Mousetrap.htm

[lovedems]

10. AARRGGGGHHH! I hear ya!

We have an alley behind our backyard and slum lords to the right of us. Pack rat slum lords (20 lawnmowers that don't work, old doors and windows, 3 cars that won't start, do you get the drift?) Thank God for privacy fences.

Anyway the neighbors combined with the alley cause mice from time to time. Our cat was hit by a car and while he was recovering and unable to "mouse" for us, a couple found their way into our kitchen. Thank God "Disco" is recovered, he caught 3 of them in 2 days last week. I think they are all gone now. If we have a mouse, he lets us know. He sits in the kitchen by the dishwasher (they tend to hang out under the dishwasher) until our house is free of any of those nasty little critters.

You must get a cat.

Edit: if you can't do a cat, a mouse trap with peanut butter will do the trick.

[Melsky]

13. Just learn to live with it

Mice are cute!

Hah.

[HEyHEY]

14. It's funny, usually I'd be all "oh let them live" and blah blah

But I guess I'm a big hypocrite. Because I don't have a problem rubbing them out.

[Another Bill C.]

17. There's an old saying,

"if you don't see any, you could have up to 100 of 'em. If you see one you probably have more than 100."

[HEyHEY]

19. No way? is that true?

[put out]

22. Yes and yes.

They are lively, fertile, and prolific. Even the smell of my cat keeps them away, or hidden. Before Princess Stupid-Head came to live with us, we were amused often by their antics. My little one thought they were cute, until they ate all his chocolate candies. Then, he thought they deserved death.

[mobuto]

18. We don't have mice in the City.

[BlueJazz]

23. Let the little mousey live

They don't eat very much and at least they'll keep you company.

[HEyHEY]

24. I just bought the biggest baddest moustrap I could find

That fucker is going down TONIGHT. I'm gonna send a message to his buddies too.

[mobuto]

25. The World's Best Mousetrap

I suggest placing this in an area of your abode frequented by mice and infrequented by humans.

[HEyHEY]

27. hmmm didn't see that one on the shelf at allied hardware

:-)

[mobuto]

34. Must be Canadian regulations

Because here in the States, you can find them at every corner drugstore.

Or something like that.

[BlueJazz]

31. Alright, but when you start seeing "Mouse-Ghosts"

you'll wish that you had been more humane. The damn things are pretty scary.....and they eat your toes while you sleep....after
injecting you in the throat with their paralyzing venom.

[Lars39]

26. Having a mouse in the house doesn't constitute living in a hell-hole.

Roaches are the standard hell-hole denizens. Nasty things. :shudder:

[HEyHEY]

29. We don't have roaches in Canada

:-) or at least in great supply

[Lars39]

30. Lucky you!

I'm roachless now, but my first 2 apartments were generously supplied. Boric Acid works great. :)

[MisterP]

32. we had a possum and a rat walled into our attic space when

the roof was reshingled some years ago; they would party at night until a hole was put in the attic wall in the garage with some food and an open back door

[Catshrink]

35. I used those little D-Con bait things...

The ones that are wedge shaped. The mice were in a crawl space inour house back in Chicago. I shoved one of those things in the crawl space and never heard from them again.

I think the poison dessicates them or something. Whatever -- it worked.

For the mice that got out of the crawl space and into the rest of the house, Ryno and my little Susie Princess (RIP) dispatched quickly and rather proudly.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

38. Dude, that poison DRIES THEM UP...

My mom uses that stuff...and everytime she finds one, it's DRY...like crispy. It's not pretty, but they don't smell, so that's a plus.
Duckie

[ironflange]

37. Can't be a rat

There are none in Alberta, it's officially a rat-free zone. Except for one big fat one by the name of Ralph.