Mice!

[beccatoria]

We have a mouse.

Last time we had a mouse we named it Love the Mouse.

This time we have named it Chairman Mouse.

We'd put down traps or poison or something, but it seems sort of mean, not to mention futile since it's not an infestation (and never seems to have developed into such in our two years of living here) and we live in crummy old terraced housing so the mice have, basically, the run of the whole street.

In other news I am crap at keeping up with the internets these last few weeks. Hopefull this will soon change.

Soon I shall leave Chairman Mouse with the run of the kitchen and go buy the new Harry Potter book. For yes, I am going to a midnight opening for the first (and obviously last) time.

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

You can get humane mouse traps. So that you can catch them and look at them and go 'awww', then carry them outside and release them and watch them run back inside your house before you've even started moving yourself.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Indeed and as fun as it sounds to capture them, release them, and then watch them run back inside to start the cycle again, it seems rather cheaper to simply leave the bugger and go AWWW! every time we see his little tail disappearing behind the cooker.

I'll get worried if they start showing up more often, but so far, it's infrequently, and they don't seem able to get up onto any of the countertops or appliances or cupboards, so our food is safe and there shouldn't be an immediately dreadful hygiene problem.

Plus the other problem is, like I said, even if we get our house well and truly trapped-up, unless the rest of the houses in the row do so (and at least some of the houses/flats are empty/abandoned at the moment) it's an exercise in futility as they'll just keep moving through. *sigh*

At least I'm not afraid of mice? Unlike my 6'2" 16-stone flatmate?

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

I saw a little mouse in the garden today chomping a really long length of grass. You know the old cartoons with the carrots that vanish into the ground when a rabbit comes along? It was almost exactly like that.

[nomoreanonymous.livejournal.com]

I bumped into a midnight opening in my local Asdas and I only wanted a pint of milk . Was surprised that the average buyer seemed to be female 20-30 and not the horde of kids the media has led me to believe. Though Perhaps they were all tucked up in bed due to the late hour. Tempted to join the hour plus line just to enjoy the atmosphere.

Glad your not afraid of mice. Ive allways wondered if the cheapy £10 ultrasonic mice/rat repellers work.

http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/invt/0250097&temp=enlarged&layout=flashpopup

Seeing as some of them seem to list every pest under the sun on the box (badgers, foxes even cockroaches!!!) id worry about frying the brain of some poor pet dog down the road.

Uhm...

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

take it from someone who used to think 'well, it's only one mouse, it's not an infestation' for about two years:

Do something now, or before long, you *will* have that infestation. Mice... breed like rabbits. And do you know your mouse never goes to see other mice? ;-)

Also: mouse shit is highly infectious, so you want to disinfect any place where you've found some, rigorously. Alcohol will do. And use a separate broom/cloth or whatever for cleaning it up - i.e. whatever you use to clean up mouse droppings, you use *only* for cleaning up mouse droppings.

And keep all your food in mouse-safe containers. That will also prevent other mice from moving in with you, after you've got rid of your current one - if there's nothing for them to eat, they're usually not interested in staying.

(Yes, I do know all of this is hard to do in a shared flat. But... yeah. This is a serious health/hygiene issue.)