Where is the fabled Better Mousetrap?

[hummingwolf]

It's Tuesday and we haven't seen a mouse since the one killed on Saturday. I keep hearing little noises and wondering if they might be made by a mouse, but there's no way to be sure if they were made by an animal with intent or by the wind or the rain or the twigs falling from the trees. You might think I'd start to relax by now, but you'd be wrong--I know that mice rarely come singly and I want any companion mouse or mice to be found and disposed of quickly. (Someone was telling me today about the first time they had mice in their home. They set out three traps, caught two mice within half an hour, and didn't get any more mice in the house for another five years. Lucky!)

Anyway, today I collected all the traps, cleaned them, and baited them with fresh peanut butter. The few that were in places where some kind of interest had been shown in the past were put back in place; the majority were moved to other spots. I was thinking after I'd set them that sometimes being overprepared (such as having a zillion mousetraps baited and set around the house) can make you feel more anxious rather than less. As I was thinking, I heard one of the traps downstairs go off. I checked, and yes, one trap had sprung and flipped upside down, but there was no dead rodent involved. Grr. I'm going to assume that Speedy Gonzales set that one off unless I have some reason to believe these traps can respond to stray drafts. I did start to wonder, though, how much of an earthquake it would take to set off a sensitive mousetrap. (Can't blame any earthquakes for this one--the trap went off two or three hours after the most recent aftershock, and the aftershock was too small to be noticed.)

So yeah, I'm still spending my time thinking entirely too much about mice.

I did a little bit of cleaning today. Not much, just enough to stir up some dust. It's a three-dwarf evening: Sneezy, Sleepy, and Grumpy. I was going to see a Doc today, but when the time came I wasn't feeling up to it. Here's hoping I can make it to the rescheduled appointment when that time comes. In the meantime, I hope the migraine & related ooginess will recede enough by tomorrow for me to do some serious decluttering.

Comments

[defeatedbyabridge]

Gah, good luck, honey. Having mice sucks.

[hummingwolf]

Thank you. We could use the luck!

[bluegreen17]

a better mousetrap indeed! hope you feel better today.

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

I'm beginning to think that invasion by an individual mouse or two--leading to a full infestation if the situation is ignored, but not if it is dealt with--may be more common than is thought. I mean, "if you see one mouse, there are many" is usually true, and it's good advice so people don't let the problem go (in which case there will indeed be a full infestation), but-- We had one dead mouse and a few sightings and then nothing; I had attributed this to the presence of the rats, which are predators of mice in nature, but I can see how one at a time could find its way in but not breed. Especially in the autumn, when they're seeking out warm places for the winter. OTOH, chances are a mouse did set off that trap. Are you seeing any scat?

I like the your 3 Dwarf phrasing. Some dust is being stirred up here today, and I should really take an antihistamine and a decongestant.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

The two times there were mice in the house I grew up in, there turned out to be just two mice each time, and I know other people who have had exactly two mice in their homes. We suspect we noticed this little invasion pretty soon after it began, so it wouldn't surprise me if there were just one more mouse. But I very much would like to catch just one more mouse before it gives birth or finds a new mate!

Nobody's noticed any fresh droppings since Saturday, but only two of us have been looking. One person says she keeps thinking she sees something moving out of the corner of her eye, but that could just as easily be some insect catching the light. Still, there is the matter of that trap that sprang into action yesterday.

I've been using the Dwarf phrase for years. I may have picked it up from musesfool, or she may have picked it up from me!

[kitten-goddess.livejournal.com]

Mark heard some rustling noises in the walls. We brought in our cat, who is an excellent mouser. A week later, there were no more rustlings in the walls! The only evidence of mice seen since then was a dead mouse on the hall floor about a month ago, courtesy of Morgan le Faye, mighty huntress!