Monday, November 26, 2007

Mouse problems

If stories of mouse death or mouse suffering disturbs you don't read the following.

I came home this weekend after a quick 24hr trip to NC, to find one dead mouse in the kitchen. I was happy because that little bastard has been difficult to catch. Sadly, he might not be the only one. So I'll still be watching the kitchen entryway, where I have occasionally spotted him or his family members scampering across.
I have a contract with a pest control company. They come out and have bait stations in the rear and front of the house as well as various spots inside. They also have glue traps around and about, and the glue traps so far have been my best bet. The thing with the traps is that they have to be in the right spot and somewhat unnoticeable to the mice, because the mice are smart.
I have seen mice go out of their way, to avoid the glue trap. I have noticed them change course from scampering along the baseboard to expose themselves to open space just to avoid the trap along their path. How do they know to avoid the glue trap? I have no clue. Anyway with steel wool, masking tape and a hidden glue trap I managed to capture this one. I hope the rest ate poison.

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Thursday, October 14, 2004

Big pile of mouse dung

That's what the Pro-Tech guy found in the corner of the basement. A big pile of mouse dung. I thought it was wood rot.
This Summer we got a mouse problem. The last straw occurred last week when I went in the kitchen, turned on the light and saw 2 mice scurry into the stove. That and the ever increasing mouse evidence I see in the kitchen. Absolutely unacceptable. That's and my traps don't seem to be working. Darned things have eaten the peanut butter off the traps without getting snapped. There is a glue trap that keeps moving to various spots under the fridge. Time to call the professionals.
The guy came out yesterday and looked in the basement and the first level. He did ask about the top level but didn't venture there. There is evidence of mouse invasion up there too. I had a bar of Ivory soap under my bed, 1/2 eaten. Unacceptable.
Sitting down to tell me about the different packages and what the company does to deal with my mice problem the guy decided to try humor. He said the initial job is $2,800. As I mentioned before in a previous post, thousand is a very bad word in my house. I reacted by arching my eyebrow. He tried to explain his joke and I explained that "thousand" is verboten. The actual price is $280something with followups being $80some odd dollars every quarter.
Not only will he deal with the mice, he said they deal with spiders and other bugs. I have no real problem with the spiders in the house, provided they stay in the basement, and out of my way. I've been lucky in that I rarely see bugs in the house.
Anyway, they worked miracles in M&K's house where there were rats and many roaches. I hope they can get rid of our mice, so there will be no more huge piles of mouse dung.

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