There's a rodent somewhere

dreamdaisy

I wandered into the kitchen last night, aiming for the bathroom (it's behind the aforementioned room) when I was stopped dead in my tracks - strangely enough not by the arthritis. There, in the small lobby between the back door and the bathroom door, lurking by a purple Croc, sat a the sweetest little, soft brown mouse. Tiny little thing, it was, with biggish ears. It looked at me, and I looked at it, and said 'Hello', like one does. Then I remembered to do the time-honoured 'girlie' thing of yelling, well, squeaking more like. An odd sound emanated from my lips, a mix of 'Aaaaaaaagh' as in how sweet, an 'Eeeeeeeek' as in yikes! and an 'Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr' as in slightly discombobulated. The mouse turned and legged it into the bathroom, so I shut the bathroom door and summoned, in my best, stentorian tones, Mr DD. (This was 10.15pm, he had just come in after a very foggy drive home and was SO NOT impressed). We couldn't find it. Not under the bath, not in the cupboard, nowhere. Apprently I should be buying a trap today: I think not, that little beastie has as much right to be in in this cold weather as we do. PLUS we have nine cats that use our garden as their lavatory - what the **** are they doing apart from defecating everywhere? Not being cats, that's for sure. Pampered, lazy, wouldn't-know-what-to-do-with-a-mouse-if-it-ran-up-their-faces creatures. I blame the owners. Come on moglets, there is sport to be had! Today I shall keep the bathroon door closed. DD

julie47

Morning DD

Well delboy must have really put the heeberjeebies up you.
I didn't know a mouse could jump that high. You will have to wear bike clips then, or if you are wearing a skirt , leggins underneath, will keep you warm as well.

Wonder where it went, I too would keep door closed but i reckon it has well and truly gone. Although if I lived next door I wouldn't open it for you to check

You will have to do a bit of blue peter stuff. String sticky tape box ruler and cheese and choc (cheese and choc for mouse not you)

Have fun
Juliepf x

dreamdaisy

I am made of sterner stuff then del suspects. I have been in and out of the bathroom today quite happily: I am keeping the door shut tho! I really don't want it in the kitchen, for obvious reasons. I knew that they are agile little beasts, and I suspect it may be tricky to rid ourselves of it: we have had them before, despite this being an urban environment we are heavily wooded around here, have a number of foxes and rats galore opposite the front of the house (at least three a week are squashed on the busy road outside the front of the house). Rodents' paradise round here! The amount of fast-food litter that is chucked down (and up) by late-night revellers may have a bearing on this. DD

daylily

If it's really bugging you DD you can get humane traps so you can take it far away when you've caught it :!:

Beautiful little things :!:

Know what you mean about cats :x
I've bought an electronic cat scarer and it actually works.
My budgies are in the bay window and cat used to sit on windowsill, not anymore. Can well recommend them

dreamdaisy

Thank you, kind Sir! DD

barbara12

Hi DD
Its the time of year again, they are coming in to keep warm, we have fields backing on to where we live, so they think this is there hotel for the winter.
Get one of those electronic repellents, do it now before it brings in a mate.
Good Luck
Barbara x

cthornley

Lots of cats are rubbish mouse catchers - one of my earliest memories is of my dad holding on to our cat's legs as it tries to leap out of the window to get away from the mouse its been put in the room to catch....it was a farcical scene as mum and great aunt were both standing on chairs screaming and me and the mouse were just sat in the middle of the floor staring at the adults and the cat wondering what the hell all the fuss was about!
We have since then had a cat who until he lost his eye would bring us a little rodent/ bird/ rabbit / slowworm present every day
:roll:
Chrissie

tillytop

EEEEEEEEEK! :shock:

There's a moose loose in the hoose!

Maybe little wee mousie will find his way out the same way he came in....

Tilly xxx

frogmorton

Daisycat has packed her bundle and is about to get on the train to suffolk - If you could meet her at the station please - due in at 7.15pm.

WSoon have the wee beastie away!

Love

toni xx

mellman01

Just remeber this where there's mice there could well be rats soon, I would catch the little bugger in a humane trap and drop it off a few tens of yards from your house then I would find the whole where it came in and block it up, also mice and rodents are Arboreal so need to chew to keep there teeth short so any wire or electrical stuff could be a target for this little bugger, best get it out before it's shorting out your electrics. :shock:

dreamdaisy

Oh colly, I had to smile! My bladder control etc ain't that dis-similar! Aging is a dreadful thing.

I am fearful of it finding its way into the kitchen - what do I men? It has already! It has been chewing the wooden skirting board by the kitchen door, it's had a right old go at that. I think it's coming in from under the bath somewhere, but I cannot get down low enough to investigate. It may be time to find a little man: MrDD qualifies on that front, being only 5' 3" but I also need a little man who is happy to go on a rodent search. I could not buy any traps today - all sold out. frog, I will be at the station to collect your resourceful moglet - she will know what to do, yes? mell, I am now worried. :? and unwilling to stand in the bath for my shower - I will let MrDD go first tomorrow. Just in case. DD

joanlawson

Just to make you feel better, DD, are you aware that two mice can produce 120 offspring in a year, and each offspring can reproduce from the age of 8 to 12 weeks :?: That could be an awful lot of mice running around your house, so good luck in catching them.

c4thyg

DD, as Joan says they can reproduce like you wouldn't believe. They can have a litter every 6 weeks! 3 weeks pregnant, 3 weeks til weaning then it starts over again.

The cheapest way of catching a mouse is to get an old fashioned milk bottle or something similar with a shaped neck and put a piece of chocolate in it. Lie it on it's side and let the mouse go after the choc. Once it's in, it can't get out again as the sides are too slippery and the neck too narrow to jump through. Mice liking cheese really is a myth. Chocolate wins every time... well it does for me anyway.

dreamdaisy

Damn. Re-cycled all the empties earlier today - will just have to sink an entire bottle tonight! (of beer, only of beer.) Little breeders. DD

c4thyg

Well to be certain, maybe you should aim to have several bottles with chocolate in them for tomorrow morning.

dreamdaisy

Now that's a plan! DD

elainebadknee

This reminds me of my sister's house in Inverness last year...They got the decorations out of the loft for crimbo and a mouse leaped out in the processs....My niece Hannah screamed and legged it...Anyway there was work being done in the kitchen also and they do live behind a huge forest so get loads of creepy crawlies n such....Hannah went in kitchen cupbaord to get some cereal and found there was all sorts of shredded other food packaging sorts in the box...Lilttle bugger had been busy! They got traps in and cleared all food into plastic boxes and set the traps (not humane ones)...Next time we spoke to them they haad caught two, one was like something out of a looney tune and as stiff as hell...The other one was still alive but had got a foot caught in trap so had to be killed...It were hellish they said but they went soon afterwards...

Glad it werent me!!!

Elainex

lupin15

You can borrow our cat little bugger brings them in dead alive etc but normally eats them. No charge.

mirabella

OH!DD,thats the best laugh I've had for a long time I live in the country in a very old cottage,1640 or even before that.A few years ago I decided to clear out bottom of airing cupboard situated in the bathroom,ground floor.Amongst winter jumpers,kept there to keep warm,ready to wear,I found a nest of baby mice! I can hear you all saying oh! my! god! The little mum was running round frantically squeelling like mad.I did not have the heart to put in a bucket,these tiny babies and this mum trying to protect her little ones,so I kept them in the jumper that they had nested in carefully put them in a box,and put them in a sheltered space outside.Well within 2 wks these mice had ransacked my kitchen cupboards,got into everything,peeded everywhere,so I let my cat go do what she loved doing best,hunting,and I think she got every single one.Sadly she is no longer with me but then neither(touch wood) are any mice Mirabella

tonesp

A few weeks ago a mouse built a nest and raised a family under the bonnet of our car I wondered where it got the material.Found out it was the sound deadening insulation.Must have had a few exciting trips

mirabella

Tonesp! Brilliant,how clever these little beings are!!M

dreamdaisy

It's a fieldmouse - seen it again in the bathroom (door firmly closed now). My neighbours over the road have one, called Marchbanks. Ours is Waldegrave. Hell. I've christened the little blighter. DD

frogmorton

Has Daisycat arrived DD?

She is not here....

remember that bundle is made up of a knitting needle and one of my best teatowels so I need it back in one peice

Love

Toni xx

dreamdaisy

I will return everything in due course! Do you want the mouse too? As evidence of her genius? Thank you for the loan. DD

mellman01

You can use a glass milk bottle as a trap by laying it down on it's side, prop up the neck so it can't tip down and put some chocolate in it not much mind, mice can't grip the glass neck so get stuck in it, years ago I learn't that discarded milk bottles were a death trap for them, if you find one and there's water in it tip it out and you normally get quite a few mouse skulls and bone out of them, so if I ever see a bottle of any sort out I tip it up so they can't kill anymore of the lickle fings they don't deserve to die that way they mean no harm.
And don't worry to much about your electric DD if it's just the odd one your fine, you'd need a fair old infesteation to cause problems just don't encourge the little blighters!

frogmorton

Well she's back DD

she was saying "easy peasy lemon queasy" - so i reckon she has done the business for you

Love

toni xx