CraigSca
12-29-2004, 06:57 AM
My wife, kiddos and I moved into our brand new house in June of 2003. It's our first single family home, so it's the first time we've ever had to take care of our own lawn (which is a pain when the developer plants single-season rye grass on your lot, but that's an entirely different story altogether).
In the fall of 2003, clueless homeowner decides it's time to throw around some grass seed that will survive more than a single season as he is embarassed that his front and back yard looks like Murray Slaughter of the Mary Tyler Moore show (whoa, that's a blast from the past). So, after a trip to Lowes and about 50 different (and conflicting) words of advice from the people there, I start throwing grass seed around the front and back yard as a stop-gap measure, fully expecting to really tackle the issue the following year (some of the advice I received was to replace the top soil hauled away by the developer during initial build - since this would cost mucho $$$ this piece would have to wait until next year). The majority of the grass seed was placed around the yard, and about a quarter of the bag was put into the garage for safe-keeping. This was my first mistake.
A couple months later, I open the door to the garage and I hear and see a glimpse of a cute little gray thing tear off along the perimeter of the garage. Oh, how cute - we have a little mouse! Being a moron when it comes to pest control, I (and the family) decide to let the little bugger live in the garage. Hey, he's not hurting anything, right? Plus, he's a downright tiny little furball!
Flash forward to spring, and the annual "cleaning out of the garage". Mouse dropping central, easily swept away. Move the bag of seed - the bag is chewed through - oh, that's what he was eating (duh!). We then begin to move things around including our $250 stroller which apparently had been turned into a combination condominium and buffet for our little guy during the mouse tourist season. I then go into my tool chest, which is nothing more than an old (and really cheap) chest of drawers from Caldor. The bottom drawer had every piece of scrap paper, material you can name. Apparently this was ground zero for "Mice Gone Wild 2003".
Still, no action has been put into place to eradicate the little doofus. We thought, "ok, we rescued him during the cold winter - run along little fella!". After removing his stomping grounds (the stroller and chest of drawers), we see no signs of the puffball for the entire summer. Yay, we helped save a life!
In late fall, I opened the garage door during a routine visit and see that streak of gray again. Ok, hmm...well...we removed everything of value from the garage. No big deal. However, the mouse crap was soon to hit the proverbial fan...
Three nights ago, I wake up in the middle of the night. I hear what sounds like a single little mouse scratching in the attic. Uh oh. Same thing happens the next night. Last night, no scurrying/scratching, but after reading up on this on the web, I'm reading that these little puff balls chew through wiring, poop all over the place and are basically the second coming of the plague when it comes to disease. It's time to hit'em where it hurts.
After some reading, I decide to get some standard mouse traps and plan an expedition to Lowes. I discuss with my wife, and she's against it. She tells me that a certain part of having a mouse is "cute" (and I agree), but I tell her that mice in the house are bad news because they can tear the house apart. After reading further, it is decided that standard traps are absolutely disgusting. Basically, the mouse can be cut in half, guts flying everywhere, etc. Not surprisingly, I'm not a big fan of that scenario. The last thing I want to do is walk up to the attic with a flashlight and see some scene from the director's cut of "Silence of the Lambs". Bugspray.com lists a number of methods for eradication, namely regular traps (be prepared for "YUCK!"-fest), glue traps (be prepared for mice that separate themselves from the stuck part of their body - YUCK^2!), electrocution traps (be prepared for mice that relieve themselves in a huge gooey mess - Yuck^3) and lastly "humane" traps that catch them in a container. One advantage of this style of trap is that the mice (supposedly) will not learn to avoid these traps as there is no death involved. One disadvantage of this style of trap is that you still have to "dispose" of the mice. The site suggests 1) drowning (oh, that will be fun - bleeh), 2) freezing (I guess you tuck them into the freezer next to the Tater Tots and Hot Pockets) or 3) suffocation (though it gives no method - I assume I run into the room and put a pillow over it's head). Unfortunately, one of these methods HAS to be picked as just releasing them in the backyard is like dropping off recent patients of the Betty Ford Clinic at the local TGI Friday's for happy hour.
So....within the next few days, I will be ordering a set of traps and putting them in the garage and attic. In the meantime, I'd love to hear if anyone has any advice if they've gone through this before. Apparently there is no quick fix and I will be actively defending my home for the length of time we live here as mice are creatures of habit. This could be the longest dynasty ever :(.
In the fall of 2003, clueless homeowner decides it's time to throw around some grass seed that will survive more than a single season as he is embarassed that his front and back yard looks like Murray Slaughter of the Mary Tyler Moore show (whoa, that's a blast from the past). So, after a trip to Lowes and about 50 different (and conflicting) words of advice from the people there, I start throwing grass seed around the front and back yard as a stop-gap measure, fully expecting to really tackle the issue the following year (some of the advice I received was to replace the top soil hauled away by the developer during initial build - since this would cost mucho $$$ this piece would have to wait until next year). The majority of the grass seed was placed around the yard, and about a quarter of the bag was put into the garage for safe-keeping. This was my first mistake.
A couple months later, I open the door to the garage and I hear and see a glimpse of a cute little gray thing tear off along the perimeter of the garage. Oh, how cute - we have a little mouse! Being a moron when it comes to pest control, I (and the family) decide to let the little bugger live in the garage. Hey, he's not hurting anything, right? Plus, he's a downright tiny little furball!
Flash forward to spring, and the annual "cleaning out of the garage". Mouse dropping central, easily swept away. Move the bag of seed - the bag is chewed through - oh, that's what he was eating (duh!). We then begin to move things around including our $250 stroller which apparently had been turned into a combination condominium and buffet for our little guy during the mouse tourist season. I then go into my tool chest, which is nothing more than an old (and really cheap) chest of drawers from Caldor. The bottom drawer had every piece of scrap paper, material you can name. Apparently this was ground zero for "Mice Gone Wild 2003".
Still, no action has been put into place to eradicate the little doofus. We thought, "ok, we rescued him during the cold winter - run along little fella!". After removing his stomping grounds (the stroller and chest of drawers), we see no signs of the puffball for the entire summer. Yay, we helped save a life!
In late fall, I opened the garage door during a routine visit and see that streak of gray again. Ok, hmm...well...we removed everything of value from the garage. No big deal. However, the mouse crap was soon to hit the proverbial fan...
Three nights ago, I wake up in the middle of the night. I hear what sounds like a single little mouse scratching in the attic. Uh oh. Same thing happens the next night. Last night, no scurrying/scratching, but after reading up on this on the web, I'm reading that these little puff balls chew through wiring, poop all over the place and are basically the second coming of the plague when it comes to disease. It's time to hit'em where it hurts.
After some reading, I decide to get some standard mouse traps and plan an expedition to Lowes. I discuss with my wife, and she's against it. She tells me that a certain part of having a mouse is "cute" (and I agree), but I tell her that mice in the house are bad news because they can tear the house apart. After reading further, it is decided that standard traps are absolutely disgusting. Basically, the mouse can be cut in half, guts flying everywhere, etc. Not surprisingly, I'm not a big fan of that scenario. The last thing I want to do is walk up to the attic with a flashlight and see some scene from the director's cut of "Silence of the Lambs". Bugspray.com lists a number of methods for eradication, namely regular traps (be prepared for "YUCK!"-fest), glue traps (be prepared for mice that separate themselves from the stuck part of their body - YUCK^2!), electrocution traps (be prepared for mice that relieve themselves in a huge gooey mess - Yuck^3) and lastly "humane" traps that catch them in a container. One advantage of this style of trap is that the mice (supposedly) will not learn to avoid these traps as there is no death involved. One disadvantage of this style of trap is that you still have to "dispose" of the mice. The site suggests 1) drowning (oh, that will be fun - bleeh), 2) freezing (I guess you tuck them into the freezer next to the Tater Tots and Hot Pockets) or 3) suffocation (though it gives no method - I assume I run into the room and put a pillow over it's head). Unfortunately, one of these methods HAS to be picked as just releasing them in the backyard is like dropping off recent patients of the Betty Ford Clinic at the local TGI Friday's for happy hour.
So....within the next few days, I will be ordering a set of traps and putting them in the garage and attic. In the meantime, I'd love to hear if anyone has any advice if they've gone through this before. Apparently there is no quick fix and I will be actively defending my home for the length of time we live here as mice are creatures of habit. This could be the longest dynasty ever :(.