Help! I just saw it climb up on top of the book shelf. I can't go back to slp, and I don't dare go back upstairs, where I might fall asleep without my alarm nearby. And school starts today. And I'm SCARED OF A MOUSE.
That is all. Thank you for listening.
[ October 10, 2005, 06:12 PM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Oh, get Tom to catch it. And don't worry, Jerry doesn't mean you any harm! Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
I can sympathize. Hugely.
I found a rat in one of our bedrooms this morning. It was building a nest with leaves it brought in from outside, and it gained entrance through a hole in the grate. Fahim, after hearing me scream, confirmed it was, indeed, a rat and not just a large mouse, and then we repaired the hole from the outside.
This also explains our rats from a couple of months ago - they must have been using this as a port of entry.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Oh, Quid, I am so unscared now! Thank you. (shudder)
Ah!
I just saw it, and it is a chipmunk, not a mouse!
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
It has half a tail, poor baby! The cats must have gotten to it already. It is rather slow, too. I just got it out of the bedroom/office/small animal slaughter-house, and opened the dorr to outside, but the silly thing is hiding in the hallway.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
I can't imagine why me telling you about a rat in our house has you unscared. It wouldn't change how I felt! I hate the things, and I scream every single time I see anything that moves, including stupid geckos. And they're not that big.
Of course it's hiding in the hallway. Why on earth would it go free? It would have to risk exposure to the giant (you) to get there.
Be glad it's not the four-foot long lizard we had in our house a month back. That thing was stoopid and would not go out the open door. Oh no!
Fahim had to open the garage door for it to go out that way. Because it was trying to break down the door into the rest of our house, or go up the stairs to the bedrooms up there, rather than going out the other open door.
Dumb thing.
Finally, it left. And I've since confirmed that we have, in fact, at least three lizards living on our roof. The four foot long one is the biggest. The others are 3-3 1/2 feet long, and 3 feet long. Measurements approximate.
Sigh. Life in the tropics.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Even Eden had its snakes.
Elizabeth, the only sensible thing to do at this time is to jump up on a chair and flutter your apron while shrieking adorably.
That ought to get results.
Posted by Javert (Member # 3076) on :
Or you can call the Acme company and order lots of complicated and scary looking "do it yourself" equipment for destroying or catching vermin.
It worked for this coyote I know.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
One time I was sharing a rather nice townhouse w/ several other women. One of them was moving out, and we were recruiting a new housemate that we liked to help us w/ the rent. We had her over to dinner one night. We NEVER had mice. But of course that night an incredibly bold mouse showed up and zipped across the living room and up and down the hall several times. Really. We NEVER had mice. She didn't move in.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Uprooted: Murphy rules! Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
Corwin: Ain't it the truth.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
At least it's not a tarantula. Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
Awwww... good mousy... good spider...
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I'd feel bad for you, adam, if I weren't such in awe at the little mouse's sense of humor! Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I know, but it's nowhere as funny to answer if I don't take into account your simulated frustration. Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
Mouse nothing... We had freaking raccoons in our farmhouse this summer! Stupid darn raccoons... I used to think they were cute with their little hands... but now I know them for the horrible things they are. They ripped a hole in the attic, used everything as their toilet, and just trashed the place. We trapped three, but then my brother accidently let one escape. Hopefully the traps we left behind will get him.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
We had a mousie infestation problem a couple of years back. I set out mousie poison. The meeses skulked down to the basement to die, so I would regularly check to see if there were any little mousie corpses. If there were any, I'd let rip with the "Eek -- a mouse!!" screams, and dispatch my son to dispose of the mousie. He did not dispose of the meeses. He refused the delegation of that responsibility, and returned it to me.
Latex gloves -- two pair. Ziploc bags -- two. Brown paper bag -- one. Plastic grocery bag -- one. And a face mask, to protect against any possilbe Hantavirus. I double glove and mask. Pick up mousie ("EEK!"), place in ziploc bag and seal. Place THAT in another ziploc bag and seal. Place THAT in a brown paper lunch bag. Place THAT in the plastic grocery bag. Take THAT outside right away to put it in the trash can. Remove gloves and mask and throw them in the trash can, close the lid. Now I can stop screaming.
The combination of the mousie poison and the screaming has prevented any further mousie invasions. The screaming may actually have driven them from the neighborhood.
Posted by Boon (Member # 4646) on :
We had a mouse in the house yesterday. It was sitting on the ledge of the sliding glass door. So I went and got the cat.
Ashlynd does not like to be picked up or held. So it was a chore to get her into the dining room. But once she saw the mouse, she stopped struggling to get away from me, went very still and tense. I let her go, she nabbed the mouse.
Then she played with it for over an hour, batting it around and daring it to run from her before she'd pounce on it again. It's little, high-pitched squeee squeee sound was annoying. Finally, we heard a crunch sound...then another crunch crunch crunch, and the mouse was gone.
Good kitty.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
There are no mice in the house (that I know of) so our kitties are relegated to the chore of chasing and killing spiders.
Good kitties. VERY good kitties. Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
I love how Elizabeth goes from scared stiff to pitying the beast in under two hours...
And Adam, I think mice are hardwired to do that. My sister (when she worked at a grocery store) used to tell me stories all the time of mice that would burrow straight through a case of chips or Cheetoes or whatever snack food they managed to sniff out.
Because I live really close to the railroad tracks, (or at least this is the explanation I got) I get squeakers every winter. I use glue traps to catch the little beasties, then take them out still attached to the trap. (a small wastebasket overturned onto the trap and then a cardboard lid prevent any form of contact) I also set out poison one year, but the boxes were emptied within a day or two and no apparent reduction in the number of creatures, so I've given up on that. Besides, I'd really rather not risk a child getting into those boxes.
I've discovered that a blend of peppermint and spearmint essential oils (NOT cooking extracts), mixed 50/50 and sprayed on the carpeting just at the doorway to the kitchen seems to keep them confined to the one room - or at least I've never seen evidence of them making it to the pantry or beyond. Plus then my apartment smells minty. Pure peppermint also works but not as well as the blend. If I could figure out where they're actually getting in, I'd fill the hole with steel wool and cottonballs soaked in mint mix, but I suspect it's in the crawlspace somewhere.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I'm afraid of chipmunks.
Rabies, plague...
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Mice, schmice. They don't frighten me. Anything with less than 6 legs is not too repulsive. Big spiders, however....
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
A few years ago I had a mouse infestation in another home (not the townhouse noted above) and I put out mouse poison. Never again! My little mouse did not skulk down to the basement to die. It died under my bed in my room. After I'd been gone for a couple of days. (note to self or anyone else: never put out poison and leave town.) It smelled really bad, and it made me so, so, sad, as there was *Gross-out warning: You may stop reading here* blood and other signs of intense suffering and struggle on my carpet.
I don't think I'll ever use poison again. I use mousetraps baited w/ a little peanut butter. Bang, you're dead, and for disposal just use a gloved hand to grip corner of trap and toss. And you know just where to look for them, because you know where you left the trap. Of course, if there are small children around this isn't the best solution, but that's not the case for me.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
My mice were far too smart for spring traps. Every morning I'd find them stripped of their peanut butter and still locked n loaded.
And yeah, that was a gross-out...
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
Uprooted, rodent poison is often a potent blood thinner. They bleed to death.
Posted by The Amazing Squirrel Boy (Member # 5158) on :
quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: I'm afraid of chipmunks.
Rabies, plague...
But chipmunks are your friends! Didn't you ever watch Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers?
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Only when I was sick. Other than that, I wasn't allowed to watch cartoons much.
And I spent a lot of time hiking and being told not to approach any animal because we were hiking where bubonic plague was endemic.
Posted by The Amazing Squirrel Boy (Member # 5158) on :
You weren't allowed to watch cartoons much?
O_O
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
"I love how Elizabeth goes from scared stiff to pitying the beast in under two hours..."
Well, the fact that it turned out to be a chipmunk did help. And the fact that it was about 4 or 5 Am when I first saw(what I thought was the) the mouse did not help.
Now, I am not sure if it went out the door or not. My husband has not seen it.
Really, it is the surprise of the whole thing that is scariest about small rodents in houses. But Quid's stories, well, they are just plain frightening! Give me New England, and its creatures of forest and field, and day.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Amen, sister.
(how'd school go?)
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
So it doesn't bother ya that your mouse morphs into a werechipmunk
Mack, it went fine. it was teacher day, the kids come tomorrow. We had an inspirational speaker who was entertaining, if not inspirational, and that kept me awake.
The mousemunk really did not help, though.
I hate our new bedroom. We had wanted to have it all ready and bedroom-like by the time school started. I am sort of weird about sleep. I have to feel like I am in my nest, and not the nest of some woodland creature.
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
What happened to the bedroom to make it new?
(I still don't forgive you for changing the kitchen )
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
The kitchen got changed? o_O
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Yes, the kitchen floor went from 70's orange and brown tiel to a lovely off white with green diamonds. I saved you a piece, though, Myr!
We moved downstairs so the kids could have their own rooms. They are all cozy and cool in the a.c, while we are down here in the basement. When the door opens to the garage, the whole room smells like garage for half an hour. The cats bring animals through the cat window, or just scare th crap out of me by coming through. When I shut the window, they yowl, and/or bang the cat window against the glass. It is 70's panel, probably another Myr-loved item, and we have not had time to paint it, because Steve is insisting on filling in all the grooves with putty.
It just isn't "home" down here yet, and I need it to be.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote:You weren't allowed to watch cartoons much?
No. Except "Captain Planet", which we were allowed to watch once a week. Mostly we watched hardly any TV at all.
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
Ahhh, I did enjoy the paneling much. We had it in our old house's finished basement, it was so fun!
But as a bedroom wall, not cozy. :-/
Posted by Avadaru (Member # 3026) on :
I have mice and rats in my kitchen...of course, they are all in cages and have names, but still.... Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
One of my childhood friends, when she was around fourteen, found a tick on her leg.
She was alone at home and the tick was in a spot where it was impossible for her to pull it off herself, so she had to wait for someone to get home before said tick could be removed.
She hated ticks.
Now, she had to deal.
So she named it Oliver.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Now there are beetles! They are coming from the litter box! We clean the litter box regularly, and yet, here they are, walking across the floor. I am going to have to move in with my son upstairs. Isn't that supposed to be later on, when I am much, much older? What the heck ARE these things? Has anyone had beetles in their litter box before?
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Nope. But we have tick beetles here. We found one a week ago, and had no idea what it was at first. Thought it might have been a rat. Fahim took it outside and liberated it.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Wait, you had a beetle big enough you thought it might be a RAT?!? Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
That was my reaction, too, rivka...
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Elizabeth, have you tried using an insect identification chart to figure out what it is?
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Er, sorry, no, not because it was big enough to be rat. Because it made enough noise that we thought it might be a rat. It was before we actually found it. It was hiding in or under a bag in the corner making a lot of noise, so we poked it delicately, me standing on the stairs above it so I wouldn't be in its path of destruction, and that was how we figured it out.
Thanks for the laugh, though.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Oh.
I'm not sure that's much better.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
I live in the tropics. Whaddya expect?
Or should I tell you about the squirrels that come in and run up the curtains, too? Or the snails I find in the kitchen sink (1.5" or so long shell)? Or the millipedes that come in the house? Or . . . The freakishly huge spiders with even larger egg sacs?
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
O_O
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*remembers why she doesn't live in the tropics*
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
The reason I live in the tropics? Fahim. I think I'll keep him.
But I wouldn't be upset if we had to move to, say, England or Germany or something.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I have not yet met the man I would move to the tropics for. I seriously doubt he exists.
I am perfectly willing to be proven wrong. Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Maybe you should get yourself a blog, rivka... Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
*snort* Right, because I need another time sink, and I don't talk online nearly enough . . .
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Hey, I thought that's how you met men you're willing to move to the tropics for.
Or maybe it's just quid. Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
The only blog I am likely to have is mostly friendlocked and currently gets written to at about 3 posts per year . . .
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
I think it's just me, kq. Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Oh. Well, my bad, then. Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I will have to let Nathan know that if he moves to the tropics, I'm not going with him.
...just informed him. He called me a wuss.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
There is a spider on my monitor. He is not as large or frightening as your tropical spiders and I see no eggsac. I post this because earlier he was running around the actual screen for quite some time, exploring. I tried playing with the cursor, to see if he responded to it, but I'm not sure he did. He is small and very pale, and has now settled down on the side of one of the speakers.
I think he wanted to post something.
--Enigmatic
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
If he is indeed a he, of course there is no eggsac. Didn't you read Charlotte's Web?
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I just felt the need to mention that there's a crapload of spiders on the small porch on the outside stairs of our building.
And by crapload, I mean we've lost count of the number of spiders and webs. One of our neighbors stood outside with us last night looking at them all.
Then all of us got the shivers and went inside.
The praying mantis on the door frame, however, was very happy.
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
quote: Didn't you read Charlotte's Web?
Nope.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
*thwap*
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Enigmatic:
quote: Didn't you read Charlotte's Web?
Nope.
WHAT?!? Get thee to a bookstore or library now!
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Well, the saga of our wildlife-ridden bedroom continues. Last night, a skunk was in the garage, which is next to the bedroom. My husband wanted to "deal with it," to get it out somehow, and I said noooooooooooo, whatever you do, do nothing! It tore apart the garbage, but left no other sign of its entrance.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Better stock up on tomato juice just in case, Elizabeth!
Enigmatic, have you read Charlotte's Web yet?
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
quote:Originally posted by Telperion the Silver: Mouse nothing... We had freaking raccoons in our farmhouse this summer! Stupid darn raccoons... I used to think they were cute with their little hands... but now I know them for the horrible things they are. They ripped a hole in the attic, used everything as their toilet, and just trashed the place. We trapped three, but then my brother accidently let one escape. Hopefully the traps we left behind will get him.
Oh, Telpy! The raccoons are the biggest vandals! I feed them on my deck because they're so cute, especially the little ones, but wow they destroy everything! Ungrateful gets! They pull the bird feeders down and eat sunflower seed shells and all. Talk about your high fiber diets! They drag off all the bowls and who knows where they leave them. I got so tired of them taking my bowls that I started putting out a huge heavy bowl for the water, just so there would be some left for the birds, squirrels, and chipmunks but what do they do? They BATHE in it! They take a nice drink then walk all in it, leaving mud on the bottom, the heathens. Why can't they learn manners? If they weren't so cute I would be very tempted to quit putting food and water out for them but then they'd probably take the house apart trying to get to the food.
They are clever as can be, too! There's no way you can keep them from getting into things for long. I think they're smarter than me. One day when I hadn't put any food out, a raccoon came around to the opposite side of the house from where I feed them, and jumped up and slapped the window right beside where I was sitting, typing on the computer. So not only did they know the food came from me, they even knew where in my house I was sitting! It was creepy. I have dozens of little raccoon stalkers!
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Raccoons are evil.
Evil I tell you.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
This thread is making me all nostalgic for that movie The Great Outdoors.
At least, I think that's the name of it. The one with John Candy?
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Mack, I feel like my bedroom is that movie: "The great Indoors."
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
My sister and her kids came to stay (niece is still here), and my sister found a huge spider in her bathroom.
She promptly put a plastic ice cream container over it to trap it.
She told us about it, and then I promptly forgot about it.
The day she and my nephew left, I went into her bedroom to get towels & linens to toss into the laundry and generally clean up. I see the ice cream container in her shower and pick it up.
*scream* And spend the next minute trying to trap said spider again.
This spider is one of those spiders with super powers. Huge huge furry legs a couple of inches long and a body an inch in diameter. I get shivers just thinking about it. Ick.
That was several days ago. The spider is still trapped.
How long will it take to die? As in, when will it be safe to remove the plastic container?
Posted by andi330 (Member # 8572) on :
I think you'd do better to slide a paper or cardboard under the container and take it outside if its too big to smush. It's probably getting plenty of air.
Posted by Nell Gwyn (Member # 8291) on :
Agreed. Don't the big hairy spiders eat a lot of icky nasty bugs that I'm sure Sri Lanka has an abundance of?
Posted by andi330 (Member # 8572) on :
Yes, they do eat bugs and usually without a web which is a nice bonus. I wouldn't want it in my house either though.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
I've already removed parts of three legs in the process of capturing it.
Yes, sliding cardboard underneath it and releasing it would be the logical next step. However, when it comes to spiders, I'm not logical.
I could try drowning it. Would that work?
And that bathroom doesn't have any bugs in it at the moment other than that spider, so I suspect it's starving. I hope. Please?
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
We used to drown scorpions in the toilet. They'd sting themselves while drowning. It was...disconcerting.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Oooooh! That would be fun to see! Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I hate scorpions.
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
I think scorpions are cool, but I may feel differently if I lived someplace that they did.
Rivka: Nope.
--Enigmatic
Posted by gnixing (Member # 768) on :
My wife mentioned the other day that her grandfather once used one of those humane traps to catch mice. Once he caught a mouse, he would take the thing and thwak it on the ground by its tail to kill it. Then, he would throw it away.
It seems that he didn't realize that the live trap was to avoid killing the creature.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
What are you waiting for? If I send you a copy, will you read it?
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
I just killed a mutant gecko. I say mutant because, well, it's the only one of it's kind. I KILLED A SPECIES! I MADE A SPECIES OF GECKO GO EXTINCT! I AM A MURDERER! Yeah, whatever.
It was already in a weakened state, hence my ability to catch up with it. I sprayed it with ant poison, and it wriggled a bit, then the wriggles slowed down, and it stopped moving.
Then I took pictures. Cuz, you know, I'm weird that way.
And then I flushed it down my niece's toilet.
My life is complete. Posted by Dr Strangelove (Member # 8331) on :
Ok, I have a problem that seems as though it would go in this thread. Rats. We had the pest control people come out and geniuses that they are they placed poison in the attic. It worked. Now we have this horrific dead rat smell and after spending a very lengthy amount of time in the attic yesterday (I'm in Florida mind you. Still hot here), I could not locate the dang rat. Any suggestions on how to get rid of the smell or how long it will take to go away on its own?
and on a side note, I have a friend who saw a cockroach in his room one night and went on a crusade against it. Ransacked his closet, tore the sheets of his bed, the whole 9 yards. After finally killing it and straightening up his room, he slept on the couch for fear of its 'family' coming after him. And yes, he went so far as to plug up the crack under his door with a towel. All because of one little roach. And this is a big, quite intelligent, reasonably macho guy. lol. I thought it was amusing anyways. Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I got over my fear of spiders by being nice to them. Catch and release! Don't use nerve gas and poisons! They're bad for the environment and bad for you.
The only wildlife I summarily execute are the ones that bite me, like mosquitos, or anything that harms my cats. I draw the line at being eaten alive.
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Thanks for the laugh, though.
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I think I'll keep him.![[Laugh]](graemlins/laugh.gif)