An Open Letter to the Mouse Living Under My Fridge

Dear Mouse,

I have to hand it to you, for all the resourcefulness.  You have out-smarted 7 traps set by two college-educated adults.  You have charmed my daughter, who squeals with delight that you are "wittle bitty and soooo sweeeet."  You have provided hours of excellent physical exercise for my sons, who have arranged and rearranged the furniture (without putting it back, I might add) in an effort to find you. 

But I'm onto you, you cheeky little rodent.

Behind that tiny little face that has enthralled my children is a sinister mind.  You are getting bolder in your torment of me, poking that little head out from under the fridge and looking at me while I sit here and type.  I hear you heartlessly chewing the wires on my fridge.  Since you're so smart, I feel sure that you are aware of the current economic crisis, and you should know that instead of replacing a broken fridge, I'd much rather spend my money on something exciting, like gas.

Furthermore, you are giving me no credit for trying humane, no-kill methods at the beginning.  I was going to set you free, for Pete's sake--free to take your mousey little mind games over to the neighbor's house. 

Thanks to you, I find myself looking for little mice in my peripheral vision, everywhere I go.  Every piece of gray fuzz or dirt in my house (and oh, there are many) is suddenly suspect. 

You have also ruined peanut butter for me, possibly forever.  Every time I see a glob of it now, I picture the residue left behind after you licked the trap clean, without snapping it.

Cheeky little rodent.

You are messing with me.

And it has to stop.  I have a friend with a cat, and I'm not afraid to call her, even if it means sneezing for the next three months.

It's you versus me, bucko, and one of us is going down.

And seeing as how I'm the one sitting here composing a letter to a rodent, I think we all know which one it will be.

Sincerely,

Me

Comments

[Susan]

LOL - mice are smart! I had one living in the insulation around my oven. For about 3 months. Ugh!! I tried EVERYTHING. The exterminator could never get him. My rotten cat could never get him. Eventually, one day, he just ran out the front door. Hope yours decides to leave soon!

[Janelle]

Have you tried glue traps? They're kind of evil in that the cheeky little rodent will have his face stuck and he'll still be alive, but they can't get out.

[Sarah]

I had to laugh at your letter!!! Thank you for a lift in the middle of a day when I'm not feeling so great (but I don't really care, since it's due to a precious baby growing in my belly!)). Not sure if I've ever posted here, but I do enjoy your blog.

We recently also had a run-in with a resourceful little rodent. I think he may have packed his bags though, because we haven't seen him lately. I, like you, also begin to freak out at every little fuzz-ball that I think could possibly be our Mr. Mouse. I'm especially nervous when we have company.

I do hope you take care of your sneaky little sanity-stealer sometime soon!

[Rachel]

Lol, this cracks me up. I would totally bring in the cat!

[Andrea]

Ewww, now I cannot help but lift my feet as I type this. Hope you catch him!

[Kim H.]

May be he'll fry himself one of these times chewing on the wires. I recently went to change a blown light bulb over my sink to find a crispy little critter petrified inside the glass globe - the little sucker met an untimely, but welcome, death! Of course, I think the neighbors heard my scream and well, I haven't been able to change light bulbs since - or at least that's the excuse I'm going with.

Hang in there - you'll get him.

[Laura]

What a funny post. The situation isn't funny, I know. I just enjoy your humor.

I've been there, and I HATE having mice in the house. They terrify me too!

I have 2 cats, let me know if you need them!
It's time to bring out the big guns.

[Roy]

Mousey beat the peanut butter trigger? You better beware.

I told my DW that "our" mouse looked so cute. In fact, I found that mouse absolutely impressive in getting thru tiny openings. Talk about double jointed. The only critter I knew that could beat it has eight legs and no bones. My DW observed that mousey would likely find my library interesting. In the same way I find Home Depot intersting. As in shred books, get material, build house. Mousey lost cuteness, tho I still admired its agility.

My brother had a white rat. We found, much to our delight, that rat loved peanut butter. Would stuff her cheeks with it. First time we shared some with her we thought we'd killed her. How does one give cpr to a rat gagging on peanut butter she can't swallow since it's sticking to the roof of her mouth?

Remembering that rodent, I smeared peanut butter all over the top and side *and* bottom of a trap's trigger. Resulted in one trapped mouse. The peanut butter on the sides and bottom had gotten it.

[Mishababy]

I told Patsy that a cat was no good. They don't get rid of mice...the cat will bring it TO YOU as a GIFT!!!!

[HeresTheDiehl]

Um, use the glue traps. They really, really work. I'm not humane when it comes to rodents!

[suburbancorrespondent]

My deepest empathy....we set 4 traps right in a row - that usually works. Good luck!

[Holly @ Crownlaiddown]

What a delightful post!! The title alone made me laugh!!

Hope you catch the cheeky little guy.

[[email protected] Picture is worth....]

Your post is cute and funny...but having a mouse is not!

I have to agree with the glue traps...try them...I think you'll like the results!
Diane

[Lori]

Hilarious!

[Amy]

Try gluing a nut to the trap with a little hot glue. When the mouse tries to nibble on it or pull it off... snap! Worked for me.

[Tay]

Mice are gross, dead mice are also gross. Maybe if you catch it alive your daughter will talk you into keeping it in a cage. Personally, I hope you catch it and you don't have to deal with beridding yourself of it.

[southern]

Oh, how funny. We bought 10 wooded acres and cleared enough to have the house on it. We had a mouse come in through the bath sink and I could hear him in the drawer of the bath. My husband couldn't hear anything, I think he was just scared. One night he was working late and the cutest little white mouse came out of my bedroom. When I turned to see the movement he stopped, I screamed and it scared him back in my bedroom. When my husband came home we tracked him down to our closet. He gave me the trash can and told me to hold it outside the door and he was flushing him out. The mouse went into the can and started climbing up to the top so I threw it down. All the kids were on our bed squealing with delight watching us. He ran into the bath and we all went in and closed that door. The kids got in the tub and I was again in charge of the trash can while my husband got him from behind the toilet. I couldn't do it. He grabbed all he could find- an unhung curtain valance rod. Those little metal ones that attach to the hooks on each side of the window. He stabbed the mouse too death in front of the kids with a curtain rod. What a Marine!

[AnnieBlogs]

You are cracking me up, Shannon. You know that one that was in my bedroom? Yeah, I put him in an envelope, mailed him to you, and said, "Try to be a little smarter next time".

Sorry about that. I didn't realize he would take me so literally.

[Whitney @ Baby Tunnel Exodus]

Cheeky indeed! Might be time to call the Pros in? If I had to replace my fridge right now I would cry. Well, if I had to see a mouse peeking at me from under it I would cry too. There you have it. I am a cry baby, lol.

Blessings, Whitney

[MamaHenClucks]

Oh mice. We had a few that died in our garage about a month ago. I think hubs put some poison out there but the smell! Gag! My friend was having problems with mice and then realized they were coming in through the doggy door. Gag again. And another one was so over run they had to call the exterminator and take the baby to gramma's house. Mouse poo in the pack and play. Gag, gag.

[Normal to Natalie]

ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

don't worry...you will win even if you have to call in exterminator help!

[Mama Hen]

Oh, cats don't help. We have three and I think they have tea parties with the mice instead of killing them. The glue traps really do work and setting the traps every night will help too. I have heard that mice hate the smell of mint so I put a lot in my pantry and so far so good.

[Shawna]

Funny stuff!

One thing though, please don't use the glue trap. They do work, but the poor thing will be squeaking in agony. It's more humane just to kill him than to do that.

On another note, my mom woke up in the middle of the night once to find a mouse swimming in her toilet! She flushed him, lol!

Hope you get rid of him soon!

[Stretch Mark Mama]

Those glue traps always ended up being shoes for me. Pesky little things.

[jpritchard]

so there are these things you can buy that emit a high frequency signal that "humanely" kills the mice & scatters any of this cheekey guys friends to the woods across the street :) check at your local hardware store--you plug them in & YOU can't hear the signal but the rodents & bugs can. my grandpa bought us one and we found FIVE dead mice the following month in the garage...thank the LORD it was winter or else we would have had one smelly room!

[JULIE PRICE]

We had a Mickey in our house - took us about three weeks to catch the little guy. We ended up catching him in a sticku strap - of which he almost escaped!

[carol at A Second Cup]

Did the mouse leave after reading your note?

[Robyn (3girlsmom)]

Surround the peanut butter filled trap with glue boards. If he figures out a way outta that one, then sit back and clap for him.
And call NBC b/c you have a story on your hands.

[Sarah G.]

I enjoyed your letter...so sorry your having a mouse problem, though. I hope you catch the little guy soon!!

Sarah G.

[Karen {simply a musing blog}]

I second the glue traps. I've not missed a mouse yet. (well, not that I know of) ha

[Nikke]

OK, I just about wet my pants. I am laughing because about a year ago we had a sneaky little mouse in our house too. Only I had realized he was enjoying our bedroom. So I made my husband set a trap under the headboard of our bed. I awoke later that night and could hear the little guy nibbling away. I tried to wake up my husband who of course was unshakeable!! Anyway, a few minutes later the nibbling stops and here comes that little (no let's say FAT and happy) mouse from under my bed seriously looking at me while he licked his chops. That is when I made some kind of noise and my husband woke up. I told him how the mouse looked at me all happy and stuffed! He laughed at me and rolled over! I told he should set another trap and he said it was pointless because the mouse was full now!

[midwest mommy]

Have you ever seen this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9C4pyr_HZQ

Ahhh! When we had mice in our garage that is all I could picture. I never knew we had them til they started leaving droppings everywhere. It ended up we had like 8 of them. We think it was a family of imbreeders. Thank goodness they never made it into the house. I think I would have had to move.

[Sarah]

Gosh! This open letter brings back so many memories. We has a bold mouse once. He scampered out from under our bed, across my feet in the kitchen, etc. I went to war with that booger and bought ever trap too. I confess I wasn't humane at the beginning. I brought out the big guns immediately. The only problem is that he brought friends. Yep! Every night for a week we would hear the occasional "SNAP!" and I would wonder if I had caught HIM. No, I had just caught one of his minions. Finally, on day 6 of the mouse war I caught the general whom I named Osama because he was terrorizing my house. After that, no more mice. I depleted the army and then nabbed their leader. Ha ha! We have not had a single mouse in the house since then. Good Luck!

[Suzanne]

I feel for you! I had a mouse in my last house that had climbed up on the track to the doorwall blinds. I knocked it down with a broom and corralled it out the doorwall and off the deck. We never saw it again....my husband said, "I wouldn't come back either if you hit me repeatedly with a broom!" But I always kept looking up there every time I entered the room. :)

[My Precious Pennies]

Careful on the glue traps. My parents had a rat problem, but my mom hated the whole trap-idea, so we got glue traps instead. One morning we wake up to find a LEG on the trap...the damn thing had gnawed his own leg off to escape.

My stomach is turning just thinking about it again.

[Emily]

I'm facing the same situation under my bathroom counter! It keeps taking the peanut butter without setting the trap! These are some brave mice...

[Gwendolyn]

When we had a mouse, our cat brought it to us, alive , and merrily tossed it around the room. From that point on, every time that cat walked into the room my heart skipped a beat. LOL

[Summer]

A hamster we once owned escaped and was hiding out in our apartment for 6 days. After scaring it out from under the fridge I stuffed the entrance with blankets so it couldn't get back under. I couldn't find it after that for another couple days. Until one morning I heard it scratching around in our walk in closet. I grabbed a shoe box with lid, tip toed in there, shut the door and stuffed a blanket in the crack. I tore the closet apart until I caught it. Then the hamster went back to the store!

[Carrie of Ceaseless Praises]

I've been following you on Twitter, and it's so funny, because I've had a mouse for a couple weeks in my house! Finally someone recommended the glue traps (not humane, but when a mouse is chewing up my stuff & eating my food, I just don't care)...Anyway, we set the glue traps last night, and today we are rodent-free.

I was pretty much going insane about it- I dreamed about rats chasing me & thought every sound was the mouse!

[Brandi]

i got a snake in my pantry, coming in after the mice. that's when i got serious.

those plug-in things worked for me. i don't know how but they did. also a mouse trap right next to the bread, which is what they kept getting into.

[penny Raine]

Shannon, can I have your permission to print this out and give it to the rat living under my stairs? The same one who chews on who knows what between 2 and 6am. Loudly.

blessings, Penny Raine
http://pennyraine.com/blog

[Big Mama]

Gummy bears. Set the trap with Gummy bears.

[Charlotte]

We got a mouse one year. It had babies before we caught it. I think those babies had babies. We tried every type of trap. They would catch mice, but there would always be more. After asking around we found out it was a common problem in our area. Only one thing worked. When my husband took the kids out of town, I set out poison. No more mice.

[Kim @ My Little Corner of History]

I've never had a mouse, but now I have the theme song from Pinkey and the Brain stuck in my head..."We're going to take over the world!"

[Shara]

We recently killed an entire family of mice who were living in the closet under our stairs. We tried peanut butter, too, and it didn't work for us either. What finally worked was Easy Cheese (the squirt kind). I guess it was too hard for them to get it off the trap, but it worked every time. Good luck!

[Peggie]

At least it is not a bunch of little opossums like we had peeking out at me and playing on my washer.

Loved your post!

[Amy Edge Truth Intersects Life]

I've had a mouse in my van and in my house and I promise we are not dirty people! Ok. My van was dirty. But here is my tip: Orkin brought this green stick of stuff that mice evidentially like to eat. The inside my house mouse ate the green stick, died, and I never smelled it. When you get desperate enough call for the green stick!

[Dusty]

Oh, I can totally relate to you right now! I live across from a cow pasture and this past summer, they cut the tall grass and oh lordy! It started out with one, but now I've lost count! We've killed over 20 and our neighbors said they have killed at least 15! It's so gross! I sit with my feet up in the furniture and I'm always thinking that I see something out of the corner of my eye! We have the snap traps everywhere the kids can't get to them, and sometimes we find the peanut butter gone and no mouse. My husband has taken a piece of dental floss and tied it around a piece of cheese and onto the trap before, so that the mouse has to tug at it a bit more to get it. That seems to help some for the smarter ones. Good luck! I should print out several copies of this letter!

[Mrs. Bick]

We had a mouse problem in our old house. We backed up to a field. And we had cats. Plural. 2 of 'em. They saw the mice as a form of entertainment! The sticky board traps worked wonders for us, but they were terribly hard to find. Good luck to you in the mousey battle. May you be victorious!

[Kriscake]

I grew up in the country and every winterwe would get a mouse that would come in the house via the stove vent. Whenever we saw our fat cats laying around watching the stove with super swishy tails then we would take away the cat food and let the cats go to work. 1-2 days without food and one of them always got the mouse. I felt bad about taking away their food but sheesh they had no other job.

[Amblin]

I had to laugh at your letter to the mouse! I totally understand the ick of a mouse and it's truly not funny. But your letter...*snort*...I needed that chuckle today! Thanks!

[Ohilda]

Soooo funny!! I've never had a mouse issue, but I'm betting that if I did, I'd probably be writing him the same letter.

Good luck! You will outwit him!

[Andrea Frederick]

Too funny. My husband and I were laughing b/c we just bought mouse traps and wine at Wal-Mart. We figured we looked like hillbillys after cheap entertainment. No offense, but I hope we catch our mouse before you catch yours! Happy Hunting....

[Jules from The Roost]

One Word! Hilarious!!!

[[email protected]]

Ooh, I need to borrow your letter. Your mouse's cousin has moved in with us. And he brought some of his buddies.

Who knew little pieces of gray fuzz could make a person so jumpy?

[Alicia]

I'd bring in the cat. I have an excellent mouser.

If you can find the hole where he's coming in at, plug it with aluminum foil. Little [email protected]#$%^&! can't chew through it.

[susieshomemade]

We had little field mice in my first home. I had to move...not really but I couldn't take it. I hate rodents.

[Staci at Writing and Living]

My mouse is in the wall in the bathroom. He likes to come and scritch-scratch around while I'm putting on my eyeliner. I usually end up with eyeliner streaked down my face when he makes me jump.

[Betsy]

Bring on the cat, sister, and I don't mean one of those "I'm spoiled! I live in a house and eat Fancy Feast Kitty Chow" kind of cats. You need a real-live BARN cat. Mine are AWESOME. The only mice I find are the dead ones that they occasionally leave on my porch (because they love me so much). That's OK... dead mice are just the kind I like!!!!!

[The (Almost) Amazing Mammarino]

Some glue traps can be folded into open-ended boxes, but they work better as boards.

Have you tried toasting the peanut butter on the trap with a match? I did this, and caught a mouse in 15 minutes!

I just read about a trick you can do to keep the mouse from stealing the peanut butter without getting caught. I wish I could remember exactly where! I could have SWORN I read it on someone's WFMW link in the last 2-3 weeks. Wish I could help more!

Funny story: I had set out glue boards to catch a mouse in my pantry, and soon I heard squeaking. Just as I was going to investigate, my cat comes tearing through the kitchen with her paw stuck to the same glue board that had the mouse! It was hysterical - the cat crying and running around like she was hopped up on some ultra-strong catnip, while the little mouse was squeaking away!

Good luck, Shannon!

[Llama Momma]

You make me laugh, woman. Thank you.

[CC]

Can I borrow that friend with a cat? I'm being evicted from my own house!

[Melanie]

Let us know if he writes back.

[Brandy]

Hi! I just LOVE LOVE LOVE this post. I even read it to my dh. I am also fowarding it to a few friends. I have been reading your blog for a while now, and I have it on my own blog role. Thanks for another great post!!!

[MamaMay]

And my mother wonders why I actually like snakes....

Hope you catch him soon... and I hope the cheeky little guy isn't a girl and have a litter...

[:: Suzanne :: Adventures in Daily Living ::]

How timely. I woke up this morning to find mouse poops all over my baking pantry which means that all the drawers and shelves and counters had to be emptied and sanitized and all the bowls, pie plates, cookie tins etc. had to be run through the washer on hot-water wash and super sani-rinse and heated dry. We worked all morning sanitizing the pantry.

Lucky us. While we were emptying one drawer, the one with the nuts and chocolate chips, I saw a little wiggle in the corner. I grabbed the whole drawer and dumped it out on the front porch. Sure enough, our unwanted guest scampered off.

Living in the country as we do, we are surrounding by field mouse seeking shelter in our all-too-accessible old farm cottage. We have cats, but they just can't keep up.

More cats, I think.

[:: Suzanne :: Adventures in Daily Living ::]

er
mentally pluralize that field mouse please. I meant to type field mice.

[Queen B]

That is too funny. In an "I feel your pain" kind of way. We have a chipmunk under our house that is getting pretty close to the floor vents. He'll win, because my daughter is fairly certain he is a relative of Alvin, Simon & Theodore.

[plea the fifth!]

ok...i'm posting anonymously so as not to embarrass myself in blogoland!

but..

if you have a mouse...do NOT waste time in trying to rid yourself of him. We found ONE mouse in our house this past January. Because of my love of all things furry, we waited, hoping he'd leave.

He didn't.

He (and his entire family) set up housekeeping - and within less than 4 months, we seriously had a terrifying infestation of literally hundreds of mice. It was a nightmare!! Do you know how fast they multiply? A field mouse can (apparantly) breed within a month or so of being born - and they give birth to large litters (i found a little of 5 mice, and the momma, in a box in our closet).

We tried traps, we tried store poison, we tried glue traps...NOTHING worked until we finally had an exterminator come and put heavy duty poison bait traps out in 5 of our rooms - it took about a week for the population to begin dying off. (We are STILL finding mummyfied remains of tiny field mice in various obscure places in our house).

It was a truly disturbing experience for me - something I would not wish on anyone. And it was all caused by my not wanting to hurt that first "poor little defenseless cute mouse". lol

[Melinda]

This post was so funny! Sorry you're having a mouse issue though. Ick, I hate mice. Yea sure they're cute, but not when they live in your house. Sorry I have no real advice to give you, good luck!

[Missus Wookie]

Umm should I point out that my cats have brought in the last two mice? Very helpful... next time I'll take Kriscake's advice and stop feeding the cats. :)

[Jerri]

I can so totally relate. Mice have always scared me to death. Even dead ones. When I was first married, if one died in my house, I would wait until Hubs got home to dispose of it. But when the kiddos came along, if one died, I had to dispose of it then or else have a houseful of hysterical females. I learned to sweep it up in a dust pan and then carefully walk out to the field next door without looking at it, and dump it into the grass. Ewww... but really it gets easier -- or else I'm shellshocked!

[applesofgold]

Two words: Glue Trap.

You will hear the poor mousie slapping the base of the trap on the floor in the middle of the night, but he will be stuck.

[[email protected]]

OMG this cracked me up. Especially when you called him bucko. Ha ha! I've been there my friend, and it ain't pretty. I'll spare you the details. Once I caught the little devil in our pantry. I stuffed a baby blanket under the door so he couldn't escape. When my husband got home, he was supposed to get the little vermin. He opened the door and stood there with a shoe box expecting to catch that rodent. But the man has lost some speed over the years. And the slick little mouse escaped. I was furious, let me tell you. I warned him, but he was very cocky about the entire thing. Until he let the rodent escape, of course.

[Tabitha (From Single to Married)]

That was really funny. I feel for you though. During the winter we get those huge, brown crickets in our basement. (shudder) There's nothing creepier. Good luck getting rid of your little "friend."

[chanelireli]

ewww. I'm wishing you lots and lots of luck. Those mice can be sneaky. I saw that children's documentary "Mouse hunt".

[edj]

Oh I've had my share of smart mice like that! I'm on your side, Shannon. You go! Kill that mouse!

;)

[Lauren]

Remember the ice storm of '07? We were without power for a week and came home to find two little critters had taken up residency in our kitchen. GLUE TRAPS. They are awful. I could hear the little one squealing to get free- so sad. But they worked. And in the event any other mouse feels the need to cozy up behind my fridge? Glue trap.

[LC]

Okay! When my hubs was in law school, we had a little mouse who wouldn't leave. One night I told hubs that he just couldn't go to bed until that mouse was GONE (we were newlyweds, so he complied). After HOURS of trying and failing to catch this little rodent, he came up with this plan and IT WORKED!

Tools:
-Flashlight
-One wide (disposable) tupperware-like container.
-Shoelace, Yarn, or String
-Some kind of Prop (hubs used a film canister - yes, we're that old)

1. Tie String around Prop and use it to prop up one side of Container.
2. Chase mouse out of hiding place with Flashlight. With nowhere else to go, mouse will run under Tupperware.
3. QUICK! Pull String to TRAP mouse.
4. Dispose of mouse as you wish (if you set him free, take him at least 3 miles from your home).

It really worked! Hubs is still SO PROUD and continues to tell the story to this day.

[Leanne]

Electric shock trap. Sounds mean, but if you don't get the bugger quickly, you'll wind up in my position where you catch 22 of the little suckers in one year. You need to get them before they breed and trust me where there's one there's two.

Good luck.

[Leanne]

We tried glue traps as well. They work really well until you arrive down to the kitchen one morning to find one with a leg stuck to it and a trail of blood leading off under your fridge. Ick.

[Sarah Joy]

Yuk.

I worked in the kitchen at the college I went to and we had mice, so the kitchen superintendent (a man) bought us a bunch of those old fashioned snappy mouse traps. we used them, and then we still had mice, so I asked for more, and he just looked at me. "I got you traps." "yes, and we used them!" "Don't you know those are reusable?"

Hahahaha! I just laughed. "Maybe I can bring the bloody nasty dead mouse to you to take the mouse out? I'm not doing it!"

He got us these awesome little tubes with an electrical plate in the middle. You put the bait in, mouse runs in, and, ZAP! Instant barbecued mouse! You dump him out and never have to touch it! Yay!

But then, those were field mice. Your mouse might be a little more city savvy.

[Sally]

We have recently had a ton of problems with mice. They get into the tub we keep the dog food in, and jump out when the dogs(german shepherds) go after him, which was funny to watch except they didn't catch him. I had one on the couch next to me one morning while doing my makeup and watching the news. The same evening I had one run behind me while I am sitting on the couch and touch my shoulder while my husband is setting the traps in the kitchen. We have declared war on the mice in our house. So far in 4 days we have killed 8. And there are still more, and they are brave little things. But we will win this war.

[Lisa @ Stop and Smell the Chocolates]

That is funny...and not. We currently have rats getting in the attic and I've seen them in the backyard a few times stealing the dog's food - grrrr. I would freak if I saw something inside!

That does make me think of the movie Mouse Hunt - SO hilarious! If you haven't seen it - you should - might give you some ideas!

[Michelle M.]

That is great! We live in the country; so as soon as the weather cools down, the mice come to visit. We don't have a choice about being humane because our miniature dachshund is a regular little hunter. He always finds our mice, kills them and drops them in the hallway.

[Lori Drumm]

We had a mouse a few years ago, and the only person in the house he chose to reveal himself to was me, at night, when everyone else was in bed. My husband and daughter thought I was nuts and seeing things. He once ran right over my dog's paw, and the dog didn't even flinch.

It's too bad you can't train the mouse to use his powers for good instead of evil...

[Dear Daddy Blog]

This makes me feel heart palpitations just reading it. Me no likey the mice.

Michelle

[Kelly @ Wisdom Begun]

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

I hate those little varmints. They are just so gross!

[Pam]

Umm… does Sylvia still live at your house? Maybe Mousie just wants to get acquainted, which may also be the reason for his tenacity!

[Lynnet]

Love this! We had a mouse problem a few years back - glue traps for us, but we used peanut butter as well. We actually have PET mice now (we use them to raise our own snake food) - please don't call PETA on us. Mice can and will have babies EVERY 20 DAYS and up to 14 babies in a liter. We had mice in the garage and we got Bar Bait from the Farmers Co-op. Worked great. They eat it, die, and you don't see them again. Just beware if you have other pets! Happy hunting!

[Jaime]

Mice can be hard to get rid of. I HATE them, so I've researched every possible way of killing them. The best way I've found is through supergluing bacon or toosie rolls to a snap trap. BTW, they will die this way. It's not humane but they are dirty!

[Stefani]

Sorry to hear about your encounter with the rodent kind. I've only had one encounter myself. It was in our first house and my hubby thought I was crazy. Luckily, we moved within a month. And, wouldn't you know it, hubs saw him the day we moved out! At least he doesn't think I'm (totally) crazy anymore! Funny post!!

[Sandi]

This brings back fond memories of working at a mouse-infested bank. We called the exterminator when we started finding little mouse droppings in all the printers! Well, they couldn't trap/catch the mice and one of those little critters jumped off a high shelf in our storage room right on top of my head!! Everyone in the building heard me scream. It wasn't too long after that the mice were finally taken care of. I made sure of it. =)

Good Luck!

[PDXPam]

Snag a piece of raw bacon on that trap, and no more mouse!! Works every time for me.

[Katelyn]

Cats don't work for me. She just brings extra creatures in to play with. Live snakes, bunnies, voles... Gus the Scottie is my mouse hunter. He killed all three of the ones that got in this year.

[Christy]

We had a mouse that enjoyed living inside back part of the refrig where the motor is. The motor provided comfy warmth and there is a small water source for some refreshment. Good Luck

[Chris]

Mice...ugh! hate them!! What we have found to work the best is to sew some bacon on the trap...they are attracted to the smell of bacon, and can't get it off before they trigger the spring, and wham! one caught mouse is the result. Now, if you have one, you can be sure you have many...they are quick reproducing rodents after all! Another hint...we place the traps in open brown lunch bags, then when the critter is trapped we just pick up the bag and dispose of it with the mouse inside it. Hope this helps!

[Stephanie]

Omigosh, I don't know which is funnier--your posts or all these responses!

In the last house we lived in, the mice had an orgy--and we ended up with about 4 or 5 adults and at least 6 little babies all living in our garage, with occasional forays into the kitchen and pantry.

I was able to kill the adults off pretty quickly with traps, but the babies were smaller and could get away. They were also hungrier once the adults were gone, and less knowledgeable about the big bad world and the big bad lady giant. They would come out in the open looking for something to eat.

I hated to get rid of the, because the tiny ones really WERE cute, but just like kittens, they grow up. So I had to be ruthless and I baited several traps and put them all around where I'd seen the babies. They might get the cheese out of one, but their luck ran out if they got greedy and one of the traps would inevitably get them. I finally got rid of them all.

[Jill]

Oh I feel your pain! At first we tried to be humane, but that got old. Now it's an all-out assault on the nasty little rodents.

In our experience, there's nothing sweeter than the sound of that trap snapping! I like Melanie's gummy bear suggestion, because I'm getting tired of the pb method!
Our traps have a setting that is more sensitive. Hubs is convinced it makes a difference.

They get stuck on the glue trap and squeal, which is not a sound you want to hear in the middle of the night. The electronic gadgets don't work for us. Just today I heard about the green stuff. They eat it and somehow know to leave the house before dying. I guess it suddenly gives them the etiquette they certainly lacked before!

The only positive I can see to mice moving in is that it means the season is changing. I'm all for that!

[Sandi]

my parents have unfortunately had mice problems at least twice since they moved to a place a little more rural. They aren't in the country, mind you, they just actually have more than a few feet of land between them and the neighbor. You'd think with 4 cats, mice wouldn't be an issue, but no...

Like you, my parents started out trying to use humane methods. They tried every type of trap available to no avail, and found that poison was the only thing that finally worked. Of course, the mice destroyed all the Thanksgiving decorations and a large portion of Christmas decorations that were in the attic, and most of the insulation and wiring in the brand new dishwasher first. The second time, the mice went for the fridge.

Mice are sneaky buggers. Breed faster than rabbits, too.