Oh, it’s on
March 4, 2010Sometime last year (probably about the time Xander decided he could leave the house on his own, and hearing cars honk horns as our escapee darted out the door) Zach and I decided that we needed to move. We needed to get off our busy mostly-college-student-populated street and go somewhere that our kids could truly run and play and be boys without the fear of broken beer bottles, speeding cars and late-night parties.
So, we put our house on the market at the end of the summer. Much to our surprise, it sold in November. So, in three weeks we packed up all of our earthly belongings and moved into a rental house for the winter. We lived out of boxes and desperately missed our carefully collected possessions as we searched for the perfect home for our children.
Despite our realtor’s concerns, we insisted on looking at this house way out in the middle of nowhere. The town population doesn’t even come close to 100 people. Despite that, it’s still only 15 minutes from work, and we knew some people with kids the same age just down the street.
We fell in love. Sure, the house needs some love and some updating, but it’s in pretty good shape, and it’s huge. It’s got a brook running through the property (perfect for throwing rock into, and getting completely wet and muddy in) and it’s got a Harry Potter closet under the stairs.
So, we bought it. It took lots of super-human effort, and begging and pleading with numerous local and state officials to get the paperwork completed, but we finally did it.
And we moved. Good God we moved. Our beloved (and exhausted) friends all turned out one sunny Saturday in February and packed all of our belongings from a storage unit and the rental house into a U-haul and a few trucks and poured it all into this new (and now not-so-spacious-because-it’s-filled-with-all-our-crap) home.
And then we started to settle in. We sorted toys and washed clothes. We rearranged furniture and learned how our house worked. And then we lost power for 3 days (gotta love living in the sticks…). And we worried about pipes freezing, and our children became nomadic, shifting from home to home staying warm, fed and occupied while we prayed for the electric company to fix all those downed lines in record time.
During this move and settle period, I knew there were mice in the house. I had seen evidence of their existence when we first looked at the house. That first week I could hear them rustling somewhere as I lay in bed, and I actually saw one running around under a couch and behind some boxes.
Now, the mice have gotten used to us. I actually think they like the company. We brought in two not-so-neat children who love to leave discarded food on the floor. We keep the place warmer than they’re used to, and we’ve given them lots and lots of new things to chew through.
They are so comfortable in fact, that they don’t run when they see Zach walk into the basement anymore. Last night I found mouse poo in our silverware drawer (is there anything in the world ickier? It certainly gave me the heebie jeebies for the night). So, I spent the evening sanitizing everything I could get my hands on. The glue traps have been out for three days now, but not a single mouse has fallen for that trick yet (we have smart mice people!)
So, creepy, icky, pooping, scratching, chewing, dirty mice it. is. on. We paid good money for this house. We own it. We aren’t moving (and couldn’t afford to even if we wanted to). We will not cohabitate with you. The snap traps are coming in tonight. Spray foam for every crack and cranny will be added this weekend. We will continue to unpack boxes and place things in plastic bins where you can’t get them. We will win because we are bigger, smarter and stronger than you (unless you are Pinky or Brain, in which case, we’re doomed).
If anyone has any good suggestions for a) getting rid of mice; b) keeping them away; or c) cleaning and sanitizing things that clearly have had a mouse visit, I’m all ears (no pun intended)
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GET YOUR CAT BACK!!!!! And spray foam in every nook and cranny is only a temporary fix…we have tried it!! We use the sticky traps that they go into and can’t get out (but they can dry up quick) I guess the old fashion ones with peanut butter on them work best (just don”t put them where the kids will accidentally get them) ….and prepare for Zach to yell alot when setting them!!!! (oh and really icky bloody messes…sorry to be so blunt but whoever sees it first in our house has to clean it…) GOOD LUCK…doesn’t matter the age of the house…they get in anywhere!!!
I agree about the cat. Cats are one of the most effective ways of getting rid of mice. I’m a dog person, so cats are only slightly more appealing than mice, but cats don’t die in your walls and stink up your house for days (hopefully you’ll get rid of the mice before that happens!)
Good luck!
We will hopefully retrieve our cat, Oscar, this weekend. He used to be excellent about catching mice, and then we didn’t have any for years and years and he got lazy. The last mouse we had, he barely lifted his head when he saw it… I’m hoping he’s gotten his energy back! Also, we needed to find a way to block off the green house with the cedar floor, since we don’t want Oscar to think that is his personal (ginormous) litter box
oh Angi – I’m so depressed to hear that we can’t just get rid of mice and be done with them… I’m also hoping I can stick fast to my “ew mice are gross” face and let Zach clean up the bloody messes (wish me luck)
Hey Sara I can say that we too have used the snap traps and perhaps you will be comforted to know that while we had at least one trap going off every two or three days we have not seen a mouse now in about 6 months!
So between the traps & our cat we are doing well although shortly after we stopped seeing them, Angi & Mike had them at thier house, perhaps they are migrating in that direction! (Sorry Ang)