I have an irrational fear of mice. This I freely admit. I thought I was doing better after a couple of encounters earlier this summer when I saw a mouse and didn't scream my bloody head off, but alas, I am as pathetic as ever.
WE HAVE MICE IN OUR BATHROOM. We have caught three (did you hear that? THREE!) in the bathroom so far. If you have been to our home, you know that we only have one bathroom and that presents a significant problem for me. Just this morning I had to wake Joy out of a sound sleep to have him to empty the trap so I could use the facilities. He told me not to look and to go anyway. I told him I would go outside first.
What do they possibly want in our bathroom? I am just dumbfounded over this. I understand that we live in the country and mice are just a fact of life, but isn't that usually a winter kitchen problem where there are crumbs and such? The bathroom? I just don't get it.
Oh wise friends and family blog readers, do you have any advice for:
1. How to get rid of these mice (none of that humane stuff either - I want them DEAD).
2. How to get over my irrational fear.
Any and all solutions are greatly appreciated. I anticipate that building an additional bathroom has now moved up on the priority list of home improvement projects. But then would I have mice in both bathrooms? Oh dear.....
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Of Mice and Myself
Posted by Kathryn Maberry at 7:46 AM
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5 comments:
Kathy,
I am glad that you asked...your fear is rooted in your lack of familiarity and understanding of your unwanted visitors and the social bias that has been placed upon their heads. My suggestion for overcoming your fear is to set up a feeder and observation area or even get a mouse as a pet and build a relationship with your furry friends. By having a close association and careful observation you will develop an understanding and maybe even an appreciation for the Mus Musculus (Common House Mouse)and other members of the Rodentia Order such as Tamias striatus (Eastern Chipmunk), Marmota monax, (Groundhog), Sciurus niger (Fox Squirrel) and Tamiascurius hudsonicus (Red Squirrel). Over time you will develop a relationship with the mice and begin to view them as unique creations designed and build by the mighty hand of God and not as a nuisance and something to be feared. I hope this helps in your quest to overcome your fears and gain a greater appreciation for all life that is carefully, wonderfully, and intricately designed by our Lord. ;-)
As far as your second question goes...rat poison works nicely...although you are going to want to make sure your dogs do not get in to it. It is an equal opportunity killer.
Have a GREAT DAY...
Clayton
Kathryn,
You hate mice and I hate scorpions. I feel that we are getting bombarded with these creatures from hell in our heavenly home. I have learned to deal with them only because I have had to. I saw one the other day upstairs and anxiety stuck me. "Crap" Kurt is out of town so I do the rational thing. I scream and scare Kenzie have to death so now she is also afraid of these things. I get my shoes on and get the biggest butcher knife and I go scorpion killin'. Alas, the hunter in me comes out. And now, I enjoy hunting these things now that I have been victorious. And now I will start going by the title "Scorpion Hunter". As far as your mice problem, I think they are nasty too. We used glue boards once. We caught them, threw them in our trash outside and also caught one of the 100 neighbor lady's cats. The cat got in the trash and had a glue board stuck to it's face and paw! Very interesting. Or you can do like Gary and Kurt did. Hide out in your bathroom with a bb gun and go on a mouse hunt. Good luck with that.
Seriously Kathy, mice are absolutely harmless!!!
Creepy, but harmless!
If you don't have a good "mouser" (farm cat) that you can allow inside - I'm no help. Clayton absolutely cracked me up. Did you notice he left out the white squirrel? Be careful with rat poison...mice slink away and die who knows where and then you have a dead stink problem. Good Luck!
P.S. You have the best back drop thing ever!!!!!!! How did you do that?
- Min -
And now a few facts about these furry little friends...
Mice are afraid to jump off high vertical drops.
Mice make their own vitamin C.
Mice will nurse babies that are not their own... isn't that generous?
Baby mice curl up when they are being carried... how sweet.
Japanese bred white mice 300 years ago.
The name mouse comes from "mus", a Sanskrit word that means thief.
A baby mouse is called a pinky, or a kitten... again, how sweet.
A female is called a doe, and a male is called a buck.
Mice live for one to two years and can start having babies at 6-8 weeks old and have 5-10 in each litter (pregnancy lasts only 3 weeks). One mother mouse can produce over 100 babies a year.
Everybody, let's hear it for Kathy's mice!
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