Hestia Homeschool for Young Wild Women

We have been Invaded by mice.  Not the domestic little ones, but the big eared, charming little unwanted visitors who poop all over the place and chew up stuff.

We are not the only house in our neighborhood to have been graced by The Wee Visitors.  Our neighbors on both sides are busily setting traps.  My dear husband also set some traps, after the live traps failed to catch any of them. They are so bold as to walk across the floor in clear day light. They chewed up two coats to make a nest. They poop everywhere.

My husband set some real, lethal traps.  Tabitha went around systematically stealing the traps and throwing them away. She declared him to be a Mouse Murderer.  I refuse to set traps or to remove dead critters. It breaks my heart, on the other hand, both of the destroyed coats were mine---one a nice woolen coat I bought for two hundred dollars twenty five years ago to wear to court appearances when I was a Social Worker.

My husband is concerned because not only are wild rodents destructive, they carry Hanta virus and other diseases.  I do know that we lost a few litters of baby gerbils--and the baby raccoons--once the Wee Wild Ones moved in.

This had not ever happened before.  I think they caught something from the mice.

Yesterday morning I walked downstairs to make my morning tea and noticed that, yet again, my offspring had left a loaf of bread open on the counter. I tied a quick knot in the bread and set in back in the bread box. I made my tea and then made my way through the house, picking up other things my kids had thoughtfully scattered through out the house for me to pick up.

Later on I made my way back downstairs and noticed that the bread box was making noise.  I opened it up and the bag of bread was Possessed, leaping about.  Bemused,I looked and there was a frantic little Wild Mousie in there.

My husband looked at the bread, told me to throw it away, and to make sure that the wild mouse "didn't survive."

You would think after twenty three years of living together he would know me better than that.  Although it was five AM, I got dressed, drove the wee beastie (and her bread) to the woods located nearby, and set her loose.

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• #9 Comment from donah42 
  4/16/05 10:53 AM | Permalink

  I'm with you & Tabby. I hate killing critters. At the house where I used to babysit, they were having a mouse problem. They put down glue traps. As soon as the parents left for the day, I would pick up the traps---then I would put them back before they got home:)
  That being said, I draw the line at living with rats :(
• #8 Comment from rgossett4195 
  4/16/05 9:56 AM | Permalink

  Yep!  It is that time a year the babies are growing up and looking for their own food.  I have 4 cats and 1 is a great hunter, but he likes to bring them to my daughter as a prize.  1 of the other ones likes to just play with them.  Ick!  rose
• #7 Comment from thekralikkid 
  4/16/05 8:23 AM | Permalink

  We too, have a problem with killing any "invaders" that come to live with us. A few years ago when we had mouseguests, I trapped them in live traps and built a nice cage so we could watch them. As new mice were caught, the method of putting them in the cage was to put the cage in the slippery-sided bathtub in case any of the got out during the transfer they'd still be contained. Here I am straddling the side of the tub putting a new guest in the cage, when one of them jumped out of the cage, ran over to my sock-clad foot, in then---right up my pant leg!!! I quickly  -  and carefully - walked over to the stall shower and closed the door. Now at least the mouse couldn't get back in the house. Slowly I removed my pants and started to search. No Mouse!!! To my horror I thought he'd gotten in my underware (you have the advantage on me here, Kas!!). With much care, the whitietighties were peeled off -- still NO MOUSE!!! I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye and here, sitting on my shoulder, was a very interested mouse also looking down at my now naked lower half with a "Whatcha lookin' at?" expression on it's face!!! After the initial shock, I almost collapsed from laughter.
• #6 Comment from thesheatons 
  4/15/05 11:19 PM | Permalink

  Wild. We had a stretch of mice in the house. We finally had to resort to Decon. The wee beasties were very good at getting the bait off the traps. Since Lucky and misty became exclusively indoor cats, the problem seems to be mostly solved. And no, no more Decon.
• #5 Comment from sugar1337 
  4/15/05 8:51 PM | Permalink

  My mom once found mice under the matress at our old ranch...I have never heard her scream so much in my life....lol