7 and counting...
that's right ladies and gentlemen, we have found 7 mice in my house since October. So, I guess these mice didn't get the memo about how mice are supposed to be cute, help you do chores, and sew dresses like in Cinderella.
It all started when I heard scratching in my walls off and on for a few weeks. We had an exterminator come out ($) and all they did was determine that they THOUGHT it was a mouse, where they THOUGHT it came in, and set traps where they THOUGHT would be good to catch them. So, the scratching continued for a while. Then one evening my husband had gone over to my brother's house, my boys were sleeping upstairs, and I was cleaning the living room. I walk over to go down my basement stairs when a gray little ball hops out in front of me {Insert screech here!} The mouse ran under the couch, and I froze. I called my husband and told him he had to get home NOW! I tried to call a neighbor who was closer to come help me, but they didn't answer, and I am pretty sure that neighbor still has my crazy plea for help message on her voicemail! When my husband, brother, and sister-in-law got here, the mouse was gone. We set some traps in the living room and waited. The next night the little critter scares me again while we are watching TV. This time it took the bait and we caught it on a sticky trap. I don't like admitting to killing one of God's creatures, but I didn't want it to slowly die, so my husband took it outside and "took care of it." I wasn't about to let it go and have it come back in my house!
Whew, I thought my problem was gone! Caught the mouse, done, proud of being better than the exterminator, wahoo! And then a couple weeks later, there was scratching again! {insert obscenities here!}
Turns out these mice were smarter than the first, and bigger. We own a small vending business and keep our supplies in the basement. Well these little buggers got into our supplies, and we had to throw everything out ($$) We put everything in bins, and I have never used so much Lysol and Clorox in my life! Then a day later we found they chewed a hole where the pipes come into our kitchen cabinets, and they got into two cabinets and a drawer. Threw everything away ($), Lysol, Clorox, etc. This took my mouse hate to a new level, and we bought what was supposed to be the best mouse bait and had it shipped asap. After we put out the new mouse bait we caught 2 more mice. We thought we were done because we didn't hear anymore scratching. We had our carpets cleaned ($$) and thought we were in the clear.
We had a lovely family trip to Hawaii planned. Thinking we were mouse free, I didn't feel the need to have the house fumigated while we were gone. When we got home we had 2 little baby mice dead on a trap...that's right, all that scratching was nest building and baby making, yup gross. And then the scratching started AGAIN. I am panicking at this point. I am thinking we are like the Disney movie Ratatouille, and our ceiling is full of mice instead of rats. So we decide to get our ducts cleaned, suck all those nests out! We also have them spray anti-bacterial stuff into our vents, and they did what they called a fog that should kill the mice or force them out ($$$).
We decide to set a trap in the basement bathroom vent, because we know the mice traffic that area often. We use a snap trap and put the special mouse bait on it. The next day I can detect a stench, and I am pretty sure we have a mouse. My hubs wasn't home, but luckily my awesome neighbor (who helped my husband set the trap) agreed to come over and check it out. Sure enough, dead mouse. Yay! So he removes the mouse, re-sets the trap, and seriously seconds later I hear a snap! Yup, another mouse!
So far, no more scratching. I am keeping my fingers crossed! We think we have filled in all the holes, and just pray this family didn't have any more babies.
It all started when I heard scratching in my walls off and on for a few weeks. We had an exterminator come out ($) and all they did was determine that they THOUGHT it was a mouse, where they THOUGHT it came in, and set traps where they THOUGHT would be good to catch them. So, the scratching continued for a while. Then one evening my husband had gone over to my brother's house, my boys were sleeping upstairs, and I was cleaning the living room. I walk over to go down my basement stairs when a gray little ball hops out in front of me {Insert screech here!} The mouse ran under the couch, and I froze. I called my husband and told him he had to get home NOW! I tried to call a neighbor who was closer to come help me, but they didn't answer, and I am pretty sure that neighbor still has my crazy plea for help message on her voicemail! When my husband, brother, and sister-in-law got here, the mouse was gone. We set some traps in the living room and waited. The next night the little critter scares me again while we are watching TV. This time it took the bait and we caught it on a sticky trap. I don't like admitting to killing one of God's creatures, but I didn't want it to slowly die, so my husband took it outside and "took care of it." I wasn't about to let it go and have it come back in my house!
Whew, I thought my problem was gone! Caught the mouse, done, proud of being better than the exterminator, wahoo! And then a couple weeks later, there was scratching again! {insert obscenities here!}
Turns out these mice were smarter than the first, and bigger. We own a small vending business and keep our supplies in the basement. Well these little buggers got into our supplies, and we had to throw everything out ($$) We put everything in bins, and I have never used so much Lysol and Clorox in my life! Then a day later we found they chewed a hole where the pipes come into our kitchen cabinets, and they got into two cabinets and a drawer. Threw everything away ($), Lysol, Clorox, etc. This took my mouse hate to a new level, and we bought what was supposed to be the best mouse bait and had it shipped asap. After we put out the new mouse bait we caught 2 more mice. We thought we were done because we didn't hear anymore scratching. We had our carpets cleaned ($$) and thought we were in the clear.
We had a lovely family trip to Hawaii planned. Thinking we were mouse free, I didn't feel the need to have the house fumigated while we were gone. When we got home we had 2 little baby mice dead on a trap...that's right, all that scratching was nest building and baby making, yup gross. And then the scratching started AGAIN. I am panicking at this point. I am thinking we are like the Disney movie Ratatouille, and our ceiling is full of mice instead of rats. So we decide to get our ducts cleaned, suck all those nests out! We also have them spray anti-bacterial stuff into our vents, and they did what they called a fog that should kill the mice or force them out ($$$).
We decide to set a trap in the basement bathroom vent, because we know the mice traffic that area often. We use a snap trap and put the special mouse bait on it. The next day I can detect a stench, and I am pretty sure we have a mouse. My hubs wasn't home, but luckily my awesome neighbor (who helped my husband set the trap) agreed to come over and check it out. Sure enough, dead mouse. Yay! So he removes the mouse, re-sets the trap, and seriously seconds later I hear a snap! Yup, another mouse!
So far, no more scratching. I am keeping my fingers crossed! We think we have filled in all the holes, and just pray this family didn't have any more babies.
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