Nocturnal Bag Rattler
I have a little situation here. There is a mouse in my apt. This in itself isn't traumatic for me but the natural progression will lead to mice in my apt. That will be a large problem.
This pic was taken tonight. The couch is right next to my computer chair and is about 2 feet away. "Mickey" has become so bold now that he will shuffle through my junk food bags with the light on, my music playing with me sitting within arms reach of him! There for a few days I thought I needed to up my meds, I'd hear bags rustling in the kitchen but there were no "signs" of Mickey left for me to find. He's now trancended bold to cocky. He looks at me from the arm of the couch, eating the remainder of my CrackerJacks all cutesy, taunting me......begging me to fire a shot at him.
So here's the question. How do I euthanize him? Mechanical snap traps? 22 caliber shotshells (I've alerted the neighbor to the possibility of me shooting the little guy)? Sticky traps? Which? I dont mind one mouse spooking around every once in a while but if I don't stop this, he'll be driving my car by Stressmas.
Try to limit his sugar intake before he posts, though.:)
you can borrow my cat if you want.
I got empathy for a mouse. He's just looking for a warm place to stay and some food. When you think of it, he's kind of a slang Jr. - he thinks your pad is pretty fly, and he enjoys the same types of food you do! Obviously having more than one mouse is a problem, though, so...
I would guess there are probably live traps. I'd use one of those. Find a barn or something for him and send slang Jr. on his way.
(That's just what I'd do. I understand that you're probably gonna kill him. I guess I would just use a plain ol' mouse trap. Something that'll be quick for him.)
Bruce
It seems the only way I can limit his sugar intake is by limiting mine. Lets go another direction, I wonder if he'd drink whiskey. SoCo is sweet. Maybe he'd sip some in a saucer and I could klobber him semi-painlessly.
Insoluable
I'd really like to have a cat but I need to "test out" a cat before one could live here. There are a lot of cat owners but none are willing to let their cat have a vacation here at Fort Slang. If I could find the right cat having one would be cool.
Dave
The goal of "operation goodbye Mickey" is simply to eliminate the chances of being over run with mice. I dont have a problem relocating critters but I understand their tenacity in finding new ways inside if I were to seal up his entrance. This should'nt be a full time pursuit. Animals shouldn't be tortured but killing them is not out of the question.
The traps dont kill quickly. I'm not here much of the time. So the traps would have to be set when I'm snoozing so I can snuff him when I hear him squealing. On the other hand, as fearless as he is now, he stands still long enough for me to blast him. Whichever way I decide to use, it's not my goal to punish the little guy. I just dont want 50 of his friends or decendants here shuffling through bags in the future.
Anyway, it's really not that complicated. The opportunity will present itself and he'll be gone. Then next year there'll be one other mouse that will repeat this cycle.
Well, if he gets that close to you, the cleanest way I know of to get rid of him is to shoot him with a BB gun, but you better aim for the head, or it won't kill him. Even if you hit him in the head, it may only knock him out (depending on how close you are to him), so you better be ready to do a point-blank follow up to make sure he isn't sufferring needlessly.
Yeah, they are cute, but they also carry fleas and diease. And they don't wash before they eat out of your food.
What fascinates me is when they run so fast that they are a blur, imagine how fast each leg must be pumping back and forth!
Originally posted by andcal
.... so you better be ready to do a point-blank follow up to make sure he isn't sufferring needlessly.
LOL. This isnt a mafia hit, I'll just step on his head.
More than likely, this is the last thing Mickey will see. Blammo. It's been a while since I fired a firearm inside. Coupla books or magazines covering the holes in the couch and no one will be the wiser.
BB guns arent powerful enough, they ricochet everywhere but the firearms embed the projectiles into the background.
Classic snap-type spring loaded mousetraps are popular for a reason...they work.
However, if you really don't want to kill the little beggar, they also make a nifty little plastic box type trap. the swinging door will open inward, but not outward, so when the little guy goes in to get whatever you bait it with, he cannot get back out.
Then you take him and dump him somewhere. May I suggest Marine guy's lunchbox?
nows the time for some serious weaponry ,
http://www.pipersprecisionproducts.com/In an interesting parallel ... I am also having a mouse invasion.
Different mouse. And as far as I know it didn't accompany me home in my luggage on my last trip to slangsylvania.
However, I got one of the little bastards loose in here.
Well ... perhaps I used to.
Suspicion of the existence of the mouse-guest resulted in a trip to the fine Sears Home Center store that is three miles from my residence.
Took me a while to find the aisle of mouse-death, which I found to be near the lovely garden center "walk of poison spray."
I was confronted by a vast array of pest-ridding devices for pests in a variety of sizes and hardiness of constitution.
I ultimately selected some poison bait blocks (still unopened, incidentally ... they represent my stockpile of weapons of mouse-destruction) and a pair of sticky traps.
I set the sticky traps in two likely spots in the living room, along the wall where I have noted he likes to take his evening constitutional.
One morning I was rushing out to work and noticed the sticky trap was GONE.
Missing.
Not where I left it.
Worrisome.
But I had to be at work and was already running late.
When I returned home I began my search ... looked around the original placement area ... nothing.
Moved the couch.
No mouse. No trap ....
Started to worry.
I clearly was dealing with something out of the ordinary ... supernatural ... perhaps mousezilla ... or even something larger and scarier. Tried to remember prices of the rat-sized sticky traps and calculate whether I could make it to the Sears Home Center before closing ...
Finally found the trap. Empty (nearly) in another corner of the room. The little bastard had apparently scooched himself across the floor until he reached a child-sized rocking chair. He had maneuvered the trap under the back of the rocker, and somehow managed to scrape or lever himself off of the sticky trap.
I did confirm that the culprit was a mouse though ... plenty of little mousehairs, mouse pee, and mouse turds released in terror during the struggle.
Bought the snap traps the next day. Fuck this sticky-shit. I want him DEAD.
The snap traps remain untouched.
Mouse either died of fright as a consequence of his sticky-trap adventure, or said to himself "fuck this shit, I'm heading next door where they leave the twinkies out on the counter. "
In an interesting parallel ... I am also having a mouse invasion
It's that time of year when the little beggars move inside. They're the cute little field mice of so many childrens fables. Granted they carry lice and worse, but they're soooo cute.;)
Originally posted by wolf
...Bought the snap traps the next day. Fuck this sticky-shit. I want him DEAD.
The snap traps remain untouched.
Add peanut butter!! Those little buggers can't resist it.
We were having some work done a couple yrs ago and while the house was open, a family of four moved right in.. Heard the off and on again scratching in the walls for a week before we realized what the hell it was.
4 snap traps..2 in the attic 2 in the basement, little bit of JIF and voila, no more mice. The 2 traps in the attic went off 5 minutes after I went to bed.
Originally posted by xoxoxoBruce
Granted they carry lice and worse, but they're soooo cute.;)
They certainly are. If I could train them to do a few basic things, they could hang here no problem. They have potential to make great (unpettable) pets.
Rules for Mickey(s) at the slang crib/winter resort:
1) Take a bath in some disinfectant and get yer shots.
2) Use the mouse litterbox
3) Wear a condom
4) Chew gum not the wires
5) Let
me finish the bag of goodies before you plow into it, like you
own the fucking place.
6) Always leave the car filled will gas when you return it.
7) Do not cling to or brush up against slang or his clothing
8) Always cover the food you put in the microwave
9) Do not open the door to strangers (especially the cable guy)
10) Use your own login on the cellar.
Pretty simple.
I think this guy is hysterical when he sprints across the floor. He likes the carpet, such as it is. It's like a running track for him. Sometimes he runs out from under the couch and stops right in front of my chair as I'm sitting in it. As if to say "look at me zip around".
At these times I look back at him as if to say "if you could only follow my simple rules you could stay here". :3eye:
If you love it, get it spayed or neutered. ;)
It's just a
mouse . :p
But, seriously, I've been there. I was once driven to use poison.
When I moved here in 1998, I was moving in with my father who had just begun to experience living on his own for the first time. It didn't take long for me to realize that we had a mouse, and that my dad was feeding it.
And I don't mean just leaving food out.
He was putting food in a little dish and setting it next to the radiator in the living room, "for the mouse." I was living upstairs at the time, so I wasn't sure if I'd be affected. But, one day, I saw a tiny chunk was bitten out of a button on my remote control.
My REMOTE CONTROL!
After that, I had a little talk with Dad. I forced him to get a cat, and that was the end of the mice.
1) Lower the temperature of your house to below freezing. This will drive him out.
2) Get the garden hose, saturate the carpet with water. The next time you see him, drop the plugged-in and running hair dryer.
3) Buy a bunch of mice from the pet store, release them in your house. Then when he sees just how much competition he'll have, he'll give up.
4) Suffocation. Get a calking gun, and seal off the doors, windows, and any other possible air leaks your house may have. Eventually he'll run out of air.
5) Starvation. As per above, he'll eventually run out of food.
6) Drowning. As per above, you could turn on the faucet, and eventually your house would fill with water, and he'd drown. You may want to add a one-way valve to the bathroom ceiling vent to allow air to escape, so that the water has a better chance of filling the house. If the whole house was air-tight when you turned on the faucet, it may have a hard time filling with water.
7) Smoke. Start a small fire in your house, and when it fills with smoke, he'll leave.
Quzah.
WOW. Quzah made me laugh. I especially like option #2.
Hmmm..I wonder if Quzah is planning on running for office like Radar?:)
c'mon, mice are so cute. you aren't going to be setting an example to other mice by killing this one, so i'd suggest you just get rid of him in a nice way. for instance, catching him and driving him 5 miles away, then letting him go outside.
mice are too cute to kill intentionally. besides, you know when you picked up his poor little lifeless body, you'd feel terrible about it. :(
He was inside my Doritos bag last night as I picked it up. The surprise of having something moving in the bag startled me and he jumped out.
That little bastard now owes me for 2 bagsa CJ and a large bagga Doritos ($5 )!
He might be catchable without a trap. When the bag starts rattling maybe I can just close it up somehow. Then I can release him in the backyard and the "wild cat" can feed his family.
The mouse doesnt have a name Jeni. He doesnt have a job, he doesnt give blood or go to church. He isnt the soccer coach for the local schoolkids. He doesnt pay taxes and he doesnt have a driver's license. He wont be recieving social security when he "retires" and he doesnt have health insurance or a bank account.....
[size=3]<b> Hes a MOUSE! Not a person!</b> [/size]
So I might feel bad for about 10 seconds for killing him, but I might not have to.
And, yes, he sure is cute munching on my food, zipping around on a sugar high. When I find mouse poops, they'll be cute too. And if I get the Plague, that'll be cute as well.
Hey, maybe I can just let him eat the fat food and wait for him to get diabetes or have a massive heart attack and die somewhat naturally?
Heh. The thought of an obese mouse sluggishly running around slang's couch gives me quite the hearty chuckle.
Originally posted by slang
He doesnt have a job, he doesnt give blood or go to church. He isnt the soccer coach for the local schoolkids. He doesnt pay taxes and he doesnt have a driver's license. He wont be recieving social security when he "retires" and he doesnt have health insurance or a bank account.....
I didn't rent it shoes. I'm not buying it a fucking beer. He's not taking your fucking turn, Dude.
Sorry, I thought of
Walter reading that quote. Slang strikes me as a guy with minor Walter-ish tendencies. :)
Originally posted by xoxoxoBruce
It's that time of year when the little beggars move inside. They're the cute little field mice of so many childrens fables. Granted they carry lice and worse, but they're soooo cute.;)
True. This reminds me of the time that I was working for a photography company. It was in an old building and had high grass growing outside of one of the doors that lead to the outside. Perfect place for creatures to hide out right?
So, one night, I'm working and everything was fine until...I hear this loud ass scream from across the room. A young pregnant (!!) woman is literally hoping up and down on her desk and pointing. Everyone is like, "Huh?" and then we see it. A cute little brown field mouse...a baby! One of the guys went to get a sticky pad to set out to trap the mouse. Eventually, the mouse ran upon the pad and was stuck. Poor thing: he was squeaking so pitifully..it was too cute, but he had to go! :D And it was too sad to see him get peeled off of the pad....it looked like it hurt! :( But, they managed to set him free. We used to laugh and say if we saw a mouse with a patch hair missing, that was "our" guy. :cool:
i live in a very old house in louisiana and like many of it's kind it is on cement blocks due to the flood plain...well, we have a field in the backyard that is fringed with woods and when it gets wet- here come the mice. the thing about it is that i have cats. you would think that they would purge the house of this problem...but no! they couldn't be arsed to do anything about it...just watch them scamper about, so we have to use those little traps. have to kill them or they just come right back.
A similar thing happened at a place I worked in Champaign, IL which had a corn/soybean field nearby. Similar screams too, but this time it was a guy.
I can't blame him though. The thing had gone up his pants leg.
I used to have pet mice.
First, once they grow up wild, you cannot tame them.
Second, that mouse you have looks like it was a pet mouse or the baby of...either way it's probably wild now.
This means that it will run like the wind, jump from insane heights (to it's death possibly), bite you if you try to catch it.
Best "harm" free way to catch a mouse is to grab the very tip of it's tail (never do it to a pet mouse, you may pull the skin of it's tail, but wild? Whocares..) and then flush it down the toilet. (Yeah that works)
As long as you got the tip of it's tail it cannot reach your hand. Middle is ok too, but anywhere lower than that will probably get you a bite mark. (depends on the size of the mouse, if it's fat enough to look like a door knob you're safe holding it by the base)
The spring loaded traps SUCK. Yes they always kill the mouse, but more often then not they clamp their limbs instead of breaking the spine/neck. When this happens the mouse either dies slowly from the injury, chews it's own limb off, dies from starvation.
The traps that don't kill mice right away usualy work ok.
Having said all that, mice are surprisingly easy to kill, being small and all. Just throw something at it, even a tenis ball will probably knock it out or damge it's internal organs badly enough for you to be able to just dump it down the loo...
i'm too much of a girl to flush a live mouse down the toilet...but more power to you!
[SIZE=3]Update, Update[/SIZE] :confused:
Operation "goodbye Mickey" is on hold. I'll issue a press release when it's finally launched. ;)
I found this last night about 20 minutes after cooking some burgers. These are little mouseprints.......and it pisses me off, so the happy shit is over and their demize is near.
Your going to kill them for helping with the dishes? Ingrate!
Oh, and get your chloresterol checked.
Well Damn slang !!if you didn't give them somany hideing places !!
View INSIDE Fort Slang ,
See if I ever have you over for beers again, smartass!
But I DO have to say that the beer cans are stacked MOST neatly :rolleyes:
Hell you could recycle all those and get ,, oh ,, say ,, a buck fifty
I got one of the little fuckers and he is in good health.........at the moment.
His lust for MY chocolate milk snared him in the carton he couldnt escape from.
Now what!? Here kitty, kitty.
Model rocketry is at once amusing, stimulating to the mind, and a sure-fire way of disposing of vermin in a creative fashion. Just a suggestion.
yep. cat food! or if you've got piranha's for pets......
no no! crucify it and post him as a warning to the rest of them!
Careful, the rest may rally around
him.
If you really need something to do with the mouse, my friend has a few snakes, he always has to buy live mice for them. If you wanted to send it my way, I could make sure he finds a useful purpose in life (errr...death). Hmm, now that I think of it, the post office doesn't appreciate sending live animals through the mail, do they?
His king snake would bring a slow death, constrictors take a little while while to suffocate the mouse, but his copperhead or rattlesnake would make it quick and painless.
Originally posted by lumberjim
no no! crucify it and post him as a warning to the rest of them!
They did that with Jesus, and look at how fucked up things are *now*!
Originally posted by slang
I got one of the little fuckers and he is in good health.........at the moment.
Congratuations! You get to cross something off the list.
If it's not too late ... here's a thought:
Get a small, sturdy, unchewable container with breathing holes.
Insert Spartacus (The name is officially griff's fault).
Take mouse to shitjob.
Attend to mouse, talking to it frequently. Make it a miniature sink, identical to whatever you're making on the line that week. Make sure that the mouse has tiny ear protectors and an apron. Ask supervisor to have mouse put on payroll.
Get paid time off. Crazy-guy disability pays very well. Just don't get committed, because you don't want an Act 77 form filed on your behalf. If they require it, go voluntarily.
hey wolf, can i have what's left of the mouse after you hit it with theeeeee .40, is it? i could use the remnants for NBN's heater intake on his acura:D
That's a subcompact .45. As far as remnants, I don't think there will be much left, but you're welcome to them, unless slang is gonna tan the hide of Spartacus and the rest of his family and make something out of them.
All of your suggestions are good. Some are also pretty damn funny too. I dont think I'm going to euthanize him right away. Unless he pisses me off in some way, then hes a gonner.
My preferred method of disposal will be by gassing via propane gas. He'll go softly to sleep....and wake up dead. No pain or anxiety, no muss, no fuss. It has a certain Nazilike flavor to it but I really think it'd be the best method since I cant give him a lethal injection.
Spartacus is resting quietly in the bottom of my garbage can right now and he may just stay there enjoying "3 hots and a cot". The next stage is to see how many others there are and maybe catching them too. There's plenty of room at the bottom of the can for a coupla mice.
I can hear him right now munching on some Doritos I left for him.
He's got food and water.....and some furniture down there. He might actually like it there.
As soon as reasonably possible, he'll have cellar access with his own login.
I lowered the cam into the can for this close up ( do I have time on my fucking hands er what )
He's much cuter now that he's not sticky with chocolate milk remains.
You understand that its cruel and unusual if he doesn't have cable in that lock-up.
He doesn't have cable for himself. :eek:
If Spartacus wanted cable he could have gone next door or downstairs.
The trash can looks like it's plastic. Unless it's really thick, I would expect a breakout at any time. Mice are really good chewers.
Aside from fears of mice carrying fleas which have PLAGUE, you could keep him for his natural lifespan of about two years and let him die a natural death.
Or how about a nice drive to the country and a quick toss of mousie out window into a field.
I still think you're missing an opportunity to add another page to the ever-growing repository of valuable pseudo-science on the Internet if you don't launch him.
Blackpowder can be used as a propellant ...
Nah, wolf is right the slow daily death of shift work with NEPA woodchucks will teach Spartacus the true cost his free loading lifestyle.
Just take him and let him out somewhere in a field somewhere...
I know it's not as satisfying, but... at least then he'll make a good meal for some fox or farm cat... ;)
Originally posted by dar512
The trash can looks like it's plastic. Unless it's really thick, I would expect a breakout at any time. Mice are really good chewers.
Damn straight. My dad had one get caught in a fiberglass tank and chewed it's way out through a half inch thick wall.:eek:
I'm hearing him crunch a Dorito right now. He asked me for it.
At this point I think hes enjoying himself.
I made a little house for him after seeing him shiver. Christ, I've turned into a liberal Democrat!
Whatever you do, don't offer him universal healthcare.
(oh my gods. I am quite concerned. Could someone please run up and check on him? It's the cold. It has to be the cold.)
Looks like a young mouse. Think you got about 10 more where that one came from.
Whatever you do...don't put them all into the same bin or you'll have 60 of them.
And while mice are very good at chewing, if the bin has nothing to bite down on, they can't get out. That means as long as it's fairly flat they'll have a fairly tough time. They'd need to relly on their front claws to scrape enough material off to start taking bites out. Once they can bite, it's as good as a 1' hole for them.
Now go get an excercise wheel!
He looks like a Deer mouse rather than your regular house mouse. Can anyone confirm? Of course Deer mice carry Hanta virus but he probably doesn't have it.
He would appreciate a running wheel and you could keep him in a good sized aquarium but you might have trouble moving him. Wild mice jump like popcorn on a hot pan when they are moved to express themselves.
Some wood shavings would probably make his stay more comfortable too along with some paper towels to shred.
Peanut butter is also a favorite snack. Put some on his doritos.
Originally posted by Beletseri
...you could keep him in a good sized aquarium but you might have trouble moving him. Wild mice jump like popcorn on a hot pan when they are moved to express themselves.
The water should reduce the jumping problem. :blunt:
Originally posted by Slartibartfast
Or how about a nice drive to the country and a quick toss of mousie out window into a field.
just make sure you slow down a little bit first:D
Originally posted by Beletseri
He would appreciate a running wheel and you could keep him in a good sized aquarium...
Some wood shavings would probably make his stay more comfortable too along with some paper towels to shred.
Peanut butter is also a favorite snack. Put some on his doritos.
Actually I think he would be most comfortable at a Ritz Carlton. Get him a Suite there. Never mind the money, you two are buds after all.
Originally posted by FileNotFound
And while mice are very good at chewing, if the bin has nothing to bite down on, they can't get out. That means as long as it's fairly flat they'll have a fairly tough time. They'd need to relly on their front claws to scrape enough material off to start taking bites out. Once they can bite, it's as good as a 1' hole for them.
From the picture the can looks like it has lumps on the inside for stiffness. Good place to chew.;)
the truth is out now slang! you've been busted training Spartacus for the "Extreem Mighty Mouse Special Olympics"
[SIZE=1]i put a twenty on the trap![/SIZE] :D
The helmet is part of his flight training, right, Slang? And the trap is to see if he is smart enough to work the controls on the spacecraft?
Hmm anyone have a link to the movie of a mouse getting catapulted by a mouse trap when it stepped on the wrong side of the trap?
Quick update:
2 small. 2 large mice..........dead.
Cracker Jack bags have since been silent through the night.
Dude...you can't just tell us "mice are dead", and not give details.
Did the neighbors notice the gunshots?
In slang country the neighbors get suspicious when there aren't any gunshots. If nobodies shootin' something untoward must be going on.
Ok, here's the scoop.
I finally had enough of the bullshit and set the traps. They worked great. I put some pnut butter on a Dorito and set it on the trigger of the trap.
so then I caught 4 of them. One died from his injuries and one other one was a slow mover from getting the trap across the head.
After about a week there were no more customers, so I decided to kill the inmates. I wanted to gas the little bastards but my friend said that if I did then the animals that might like to eat the mice would get sick. Ok, so what would you suggest? Let them freeze to death then leave them out in the yard. I bet they arent in the yard more than a few hours.
He was right. So now they're gone and there arent any rattling bags or little mouse poops or tracks. That makes me happy.
At one of my previous jobs, the boss was totally enchanted by alternative mouse-ridding technology. My favorite was a plastic ramp which you were supposed to hang off of the edge of a wastebasket. The ramp ran to the floor. At the top of the ramp was a flexible "diving board" type thing upon which you'd put the bait. When the mousey type victim ventured out onto the flexible piece, it would fall into the wastebasket.
We never really asked what happened to the mice that fell in, although we were led to believe it worked as a trap. Then, one day, one of the office staff comes in the front door with an odd look on his face, saying "What's the deal with the frozen blue mice out on the lawn?"
Seems that our shop foreman had come in early and found his wastebasket filled with four mice courtesy of the boss's trap. He didn't want them in there, so he reasoned, like Slang, that it was cold enough outside that they wouldn't last long, and they didn't.
He didn't really have a good explanation for why he had spray painted them blue beforehand, though.
Those weren't mice, they were [COLOR=blue]SMURFS[/COLOR]!
Although I am no longer experiencing mouse-related problems myself (Mr. Crinkles was the apparent one-and-only, and I have since plugged in too many of those "pest repelling sound barrier" thingies for the size of my apt), but I would love to see one of those mouse diving board contraptions in action.
Or....if you wanted to use the regular traps without being "mean" to the little bastards you could modifiy one of the cheap traps without a lot of hassle.
Wrap a piece of foam rubber (or something soft) around the arm of the trap. I havent tried this but I bet it would still trap them and they'd prolly be alive.
Just a thought.
I want the little fuckers DEAD. I just think the diving board method is cool.
Even if I would have to strangle them by hand.
Didja think I went all soft on yah or something?
In the house I owned in 1998, I had a few mice too. I built a drowning trap similar to the one mentioned above.
I got a bucket and filled it half full of water. I set up a ramp to the edge and placed a rod across the middle from the ramp to the opposite edge and fastened it in place. In the middle of the rod (and thus over the center of the water-filled bucket), I placed a breadcrumb container so that it rotated freely and coated it with a few dabs of peanut butter. This worked well to get rid of the mousie problem within a week.
Brian
