Mouse (and other Pest) Wars

['andersom']

There is a part of me that senses the presence of an animal, so today I turn around in my office and at first nothing.
Then, a mouse the size of a - no, smaller than a tablespoon, comes out and walks under my chair and out into the pantry area.
i was so surprised that i did not use my cup to catch it. clearly the parents should be cited for neglect. my guess is that they are ill or maybe dead from ingesting crap from around the house that is food based but not food. Or maybe the guy downstairs is poisoning them.

In any case, this is the worst kind of mouse, because it's too stupid to stay away from me, which means it could go anywhere.
It might run across my feet or decide to sample my skin, or worse, decide to nest in my boots.

i am wearing slippers. not used to them because went barefoot most of the time in florida. maybe i will have more motivation now.

Next time, catch it. Barehanded if need be.

[WolFish]

need to figure out how to sneak up on them. i got one foot close to this last one and then it scurried off.

[WolFish]

the big one is almost a tablespoon in size. I got close to the little one but lost it - teaspoon sized. are they really old enough to be on their own at this size? still wondering what happened to the parents.

[WolFish]

Meet Teaspoon. It's probably bad that I named him. But seriously. That white thing next to him is the thing used to close bags of bread. He's twice that size.

['andersom']

Meet Teaspoon. It's probably bad that I named him. But seriously. That white thing next to him is the thing used to close bags of bread. He's twice that size.

I think you are doomed to have Teaspoon as a pet now. Naming is serious bonding. 
Time to catch it and give it a home in a big glass container with a decent lid on it. Though, who knows, Teaspoon could be pregnant already, and then you'll have a whole set of spoonettes.

[WolFish]

Meet Teaspoon. It's probably bad that I named him. But seriously. That white thing next to him is the thing used to close bags of bread. He's twice that size.

I think you are doomed to have Teaspoon as a pet now. Naming is serious bonding. 
Time to catch it and give it a home in a big glass container with a decent lid on it. Though, who knows, Teaspoon could be pregnant already, and then you'll have a whole set of spoonettes.

I was thinking of a ramp that goes up to a glass jar that's tilted at an angle that it won't be able to climb out. Then a nice nap out in the below freezing temperatures. It's actually too small for the traps I bought online. The trick will be to get it to go in. It hasn't taken any of the food I've left for it.

When I find out what it likes I will set a small trap.

[WolFish]

Py saw Tablespoon while we were eating dinner. She says he really is bigger.

They are chewing on the styrofoam bumper for our dishwasher.

This morning, upstairs, I found rice on the floor. Haven't found the hole yet, but clearly they got into Py's weighted blanket, which was filled with rice. It was a prototype; I have nice blue beads (not crystals) to use for the actual blanket.

Giving myself until tomorrow to come up with something that will capture the kids live. If not, I will just put out poison. The little ones shouldn't make too much of a stink in the walls. Also going to check the trap upstairs - weird for the parents to disappear so suddenly.

["couldbecousin"]

Meet Teaspoon. It's probably bad that I named him. But seriously. That white thing next to him is the thing used to close bags of bread. He's twice that size.

I think you are doomed to have Teaspoon as a pet now. Naming is serious bonding. 
Time to catch it and give it a home in a big glass container with a decent lid on it. Though, who knows, Teaspoon could be pregnant already, and then you'll have a whole set of spoonettes.

  Ah jeez.  I don't know whether to laugh, melt, or freak out. 

[WolFish]

Meet Teaspoon. It's probably bad that I named him. But seriously. That white thing next to him is the thing used to close bags of bread. He's twice that size.

I think you are doomed to have Teaspoon as a pet now. Naming is serious bonding. 
Time to catch it and give it a home in a big glass container with a decent lid on it. Though, who knows, Teaspoon could be pregnant already, and then you'll have a whole set of spoonettes.

  Ah jeez.  I don't know whether to laugh, melt, or freak out. 

only if it's true that teaspoon could be pregnant....

['andersom']

Meet Teaspoon. It's probably bad that I named him. But seriously. That white thing next to him is the thing used to close bags of bread. He's twice that size.

I think you are doomed to have Teaspoon as a pet now. Naming is serious bonding. 
Time to catch it and give it a home in a big glass container with a decent lid on it. Though, who knows, Teaspoon could be pregnant already, and then you'll have a whole set of spoonettes.

  Ah jeez.  I don't know whether to laugh, melt, or freak out. 

only if it's true that teaspoon could be pregnant....

Don't know how old she is. Four weeks is old enough for a female mouse.

[WolFish]

haven't seen the kids in a couple of days but a couple of nights ago the parents got into Py's prototype weighted blanket (made with rice). we hung it over the railing but she heard them again last night. sure enough there was rice on the floor and we uncovered a nest in the folds of the blanket. we are going to empty it tonight since it's also been making me ill - possible mold. the rice wasn't cooked, but it was Florida and the blanket is a couple of years old at least.
turns out i forgot about the candy cane i put out to see if they would eat it. found that in the folds of my rope bag.

no interest in the traps of course. going to get some snap traps today or tomorrow.

[Icequeen]

Seems like they'll let you get fairly close.

Get yourself a container, coffee jar, or one of those clear ones pretzels or cheese balls come in...plop it over him, ease a sheet of thin cardboard or stiff paper under it (notebook cover)...pick up carefully, then quickly invert so that he's now in the bottom of the jar.

Cover the top of the jar with some saran and a rubber band, poke a few air holes...wait until dark, take him for a walk over to your neighbors (maybe the nice one that parks his cars out in front all the time). 

[WolFish]

Seems like they'll let you get fairly close.

Get yourself a container, coffee jar, or one of those clear ones pretzels or cheese balls come in...plop it over him, ease a sheet of thin cardboard or stiff paper under it (notebook cover)...pick up carefully, then quickly invert so that he's now in the bottom of the jar.

Cover the top of the jar with some saran and a rubber band, poke a few air holes...wait until dark, take him for a walk over to your neighbors (maybe the nice one that parks his cars out in front all the time). 

i wish i could but it's right across the street and the mouse likely will come back here because the neighbor is too ornery to leave even a crumb.

[WolFish]

today i fell asleep after eating too much ice cream and woke to hearing scrabbling noises like a mouse was getting into a box.

the scrabbling noise turned out to be the mouse getting one of my heating pads - it was filled with rice and an earlier casualty. i hung it on the door thinking i would repair it. i took it down, but no mouse. took some other things off the hook. no mouse. finally i got impatient and whacked the things remaining there - mostly shirts - and it fell out and ran like the wind. i am thinking of baiting the trap with ice cream on the little ramps.

[WolFish]

still no luck and one of the snap traps in the package is defective so no mouse trapping tonight.