Friday, September 18, 2009

Caught One!

Good morning! And it IS a good morning for me, because we caught a mouse overnight! Yay! One down and hopefully no more to go, although we are keeping traps up for the time being...just in case.

I don't remember if I showed you what has been successful for us in terms of catching the wily little buggers.

I have about 7 of these traps set up around the house. They have peanut butter and an M&M in them to entice the mouse into it. These have been completely ignored this time around.
I like the idea of these because you don't see the mouse, and therefore, I don't do the icky girly dance (hopping from foot to foot going ew, ew ew) like I did when we caught our first mouse, years ago, when the girls were very young and we used the old fashioned trap. Um, yeah, that's when I coined the phrase icky girly dance, because that's exactly what I did when I saw we caught on. And I had to pick it up and throw it away. (can I get a big EWWWW) because Steve was at work and it was in the morning and he wouldn't be home til dinner time and we had two little toddlers, a dog and a cat and it was in our living room. I couldn't leave it til he got home. It was after that incident that I found these traps and they worked...for awhile.

Then Steve researched how to trap mice and he came across this "humane" trap. One wouldn't think it would work, but it does. We've gotten at least 3 or 4 mice this way.
Notice the high falutin' techno gadgets used to create the trap. A paper towel roll, flattened on one side. A bit of wax paper, with a smidge of peanut butter and an M&M on it. It's perched so it balances over a shelf or counter and you need a tall canister. The idea is that mice like tunnels. They run through the tunnel to get the peanut butter and they simply fall into the container. Granted they don't die or get hurt, but they DO get trapped!
And I take a short drive over to our local dog park (by a field) and I empty the can, pick up the trap and head back home, feeling infinitely relieved that another mouse has left our house.

Up until just an hour or so ago, I used our kitchen trash can, so we've been using plastic bags on the counter for our trash. I got the bright idea to use my wrapping paper bin instead so we could have our trash can back. Okay, I'm a little slow as it just occurred to me this morning to use the wrapping paper bin, but at least I finally thought of it!

I thought I'd share this just in case any of you who read this find yourself with a mouse in the house and want a relatively simple way to trap and get rid of them. This wasn't our idea...Steve found it on the internet.

The girls are off school today, but I'm not sure just yet what we'll be doing. I suspect cookie baking may be on the agenda and maybe making zucchini bread...Hope your Friday is a good one!
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9 comments:

Sparkplug17 said...

Yeah for getting one! Thats really interesting, but great stuff to know! Have a great weekend!

Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs said...

Yay!! You know, if we get mice this year, I'm going to have to try that little trick. I would HATE for mice to be getting into all of my new cereal!!

Jean said...

I know that icky girly dance! I did it when I had to smash a centipede in the dining room, and I needed to be quick, so I grabbed a frying pan. Bleah!!

Sharli Schaitberger said...

Jeanne,
I love your blog! I never know what kind of fun - or nature thing - you're going to be sharing! ;-)
The trap that Steve designed is absolutely brilliant!

I've tried catching them with a broom or a box, but those little devils are -----------FAST! My only successful mouse trap in the past was my cat. This is also not something for the dog, toddlers, etc. to find.

Thrilled for your success!

Carol said...

What a great invention lol. Athough I would have to admit that I would still do that icky girly dance seeing a live mouse trapped in the bin.

Glad you caught another.

Jena said...

Hooray - glad you caught one and hopefully there are no more! That sounds like the best kind of trap so you don't have to see it - yuck! And your humane trap sounds very interesting - good to know!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Carolyn said...

YAY for you guys getting that pest out of the house! What a neat trap and you get to set him/her free to bother someone else.LOL That's their job right?

stampmonkey said...

Yay for you!! Hopefully there aren't any other. ;) It was funny to see all your different trapping devices. I remember when you shared about capturing the one in the trash can and having to drive somewhere to go throw it out. lol I hope we don't see any rodents around here, but if we do, I now have some good ideas on how to get rid of them. ;) tfs

Jen said...

haha love the humane trap idea....however....i currently have an empty kitchen drawer with a nice snap trap waiting for the one that has been eating my towels...my cat is such a slacker lately! Best of luck with your trapping.