hummingwolf | Well, *that* should help with the insomnia.

Last night in my insomniac irrationality, I had myself just about convinced that there was at least one mouse in my bedroom. I mentioned to the landlord this morning that I wanted to get a mousetrap, just for my own peace of mind. He thought I was being silly. After all, my room is far from anything interesting--whatever could motivate mice to come in here?

As it happens, the fact that I'm paranoid doesn't mean that I'm imagining things.

On the positive side, while the housemate next door and I each found what appeared to be small rodent droppings in our bedrooms today, neither of us found any evidence that mice had actually eaten anything. And since I was storing some cereal in my room until very recently, that's a pretty big positive. I'll be inspecting all my clothes for signs that they've been shredded and used for bedding, but I haven't seen any terribly suspicious chewing marks while I was cleaning last week or today (I had to take a break Saturday & Sunday when my body reminded me that it's still the one in charge here).

On the negative side, as I was sitting here at my computer a little before midnight, I heard a noise coming from the direction of the trap--and I turned around to see a tiny blur zipping away. Apparently the allure of the tasty tasty peanut butter has not yet been enough to overcome the rodent's basic fear of this thing that moves. Maybe Mickey and/or Jerry will go back to the trap in the night and go all the way in. Or maybe it will taunt me all night as I try (and possibly fail) to sleep. Well, if this humane trap doesn't work out, maybe I'll go back to the store tomorrow in search of something more efficient. It might be a good idea to buy a second trap anyway, just on principle, even though this one is supposed to be reusable and able to trap up to four mice at a time.

My main problem at the moment is the sure knowledge that this critter is living in my bedroom. I'm sure it's a cute little thing when it stays still long enough for you to get a good look at it, but I don't want wild animals living in my bedroom without my permission. And no, nobody needs to tell me about the health threats posed by rodents and their hangers-on--my insomnia's been bad enough as it is, thanks.

In other news, I did see a lovely red-streaked sunset during my evening walk.

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Ack, gd mice, have been there done that. :( We had a couple infestations at the old house and it was just *bizarre*, like we'd get them for weeks and weeks and then they'd all vanish even though we were doing exactly the same things we'd been doing at the beginning (i.e. as soon as we realise we have mice, we clean up massively and start putting traps down, sob).

I hope you can get rid of yours quickly! I have no problem with mice existing, and at times don't even mind them being in other parts of the house, but jeez it sucks when you're trying to relax and you keep hearing little rustles.

(v different from hearing little Russells)

The thing that gets me is that I keep hearing little noises coming from the direction of the mousetrap! It's like they're interested in the nice-smelling food inside, but too afraid to go and get it. I keep wanting to tell them, "Go in, little mouse! The trap will not hurt you! Unlike the traps I will buy for you if this one doesn't work!!"

Yeah, only invited rodents are good; volunteer rodents must be dealt with as the trespassers they are.

In addition to trapping, you need to find where the mice can get in--into the building as well as into your room--and block that up. Because mice can make themselves so tiny (their bodies can fit anywhere their skulls can), this can be very difficult. (If they can get into the building, they could maybe even be coming under your door.) We've always gotten an Orkin person--but they're not all good at it, so keep going until you get one who is.

Also, if you have no pets or babies, they can put poison out. Maybe you could buy it in a store. I'm not happy about poisoning animals, but see above about volunteer rodents; it's the next option if traps don't work, and not a true horror like glue traps.

In North Carolina, we had a lot of mice, which did go into humane traps. Here we've never gotten one in a humane trap, but we only see one & then it goes away. Our theory is that they don't like the presence of rats, which do eat mice in the wild.

Oh--I've also heard of cat urine keeping mice away. But then, you know, your house is full of cat urine! And if the mice have toxoplasmosis, it attracts them!

Blocking up openings to my room isn't really feasible--new doors to the room would be required. As far as blocking entrances to the house, that's the landlord's responsibility, and one I *hope* he'll be taking seriously. Likewise, any hiring kind of professional is also something the landlord would have to do, not us tenants. But trapping is something I can do, assuming I can find a trap that traps!

It's interesting that mice went into the humane traps in one state and not in another. I wonder if New York mice are better at transmitting the wisdom of their elders.

i was gonna suggest getting a cat but it sounds like you already have one or two? anyway,i'm sorry this is going on with you. i hope you are able to resolve it and get yourself some sleep.

As much as I love cats, we're not allowed to keep them here. We've got to find less warm & fuzzy ways to deal with the little invaders!

When we had mice, they were attempting to come in through, and set up in, my kitchen. This was NOT ACCEPTABLE. Then, it turned out my cat... is allergic to mice. Only in my life.

Mice hate certain scents and stuff. Particularly mint, but they are also very un-fond of things like cayenne. You can get pre-scented repellent, or go DIY. Since my "guests" weren't actually living in the house (coming in through the walls to visit, it is an apartment complex so blocking it up was not an option from the outside), I got rid of them in our space by going with the smelly stuffs.

I've already got a couple of bags with dried spearmint and peppermint here in my room, which may or may not explain why my food's been avoided.

I was hoping today's earthquake would scare a mouse into taking shelter in the mousetrap, but no such luck.

I'd get a box of cheap mint tea bags and scatter them around. Can't hurt, and it is likely to help.

Well, that should help with the insomnia.

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