THE MOUSE THAT SQUEAKED – ADVENTURES CONTINUE!
Several months ago I posted about a mouse problem we had in our house. This little critter and his buddies made a mess of my pantry cabinet. I inadvertently left all kinds of snacks that they liked in packages or plastic bags on the shelves. I believed, now I know better, that if the crackers, cookies, etc. were in plastic bags or unopened in their original packing that mice would not be able to get into them. Ha! I was fooled by these dastardly creatures and their sharp little teeth.
Everything is now in plastic and metal containers that they can’t get into ever.
Here is the post to get you up to snuff on the story. I don’t get freaked out about many critters but mice I hate and will run screaming in the opposite direction. This behavior drives my husband into action to be the hero. The last time we had a family of mice he killed the mother after chasing her around the room with a broom. Poor little thing, I felt terrible. Now he had to deal with four tiny babies which were hiding.
I don’t know how many of you out there have had mice in your houses. Well, if you kill the mother and don’t capture the babies they wander around giving off a musky scent in order for the mother to find them. Each night they would wander around the house. I could smell them. I closed our bedroom door and stuffed towels and would groan and moan about them coming into the room. I slept with one eye opened and my nose sniffing the air.
The next morning we were watching TV and something ran out from under the cabinet below the TV. I jumped up, screamed and ran for the kitchen yelling to John – get him! Well, my hero saved the day again. He scooped it up with a broom and dustpan and threw it out into the back yard. He announced that all was safe for me to return to the room.
I tiptoed in, looked around, and put on more lights to make sure. Just as I got myself settled with a cup of tea I saw another one race by. Up I got and ran in the opposite direction. John had to do his hero thing again. This went on for another half hour when one another the other – four in all – came running out looking for their mother. Yikes! John got them all and sent them flying out the door. I doubt that they lived to tell the story of the crazy woman.
These mice did a job on my pantry. I had to clean and throw out all the chewed up packages of goodies and place traps everywhere. I read everything I could about how to get rid of these things. I learned that they do not like mint. I now have mint plants in the house and down in the basement. Luckily we haven’t seen any signs of any since.
Now for another surprising thing that these mice did. One day we noticed that we had a leak in our ceiling in the finished basement. My hero, John, pulled out the ceiling tiles and noticed the leak was coming from our kitchen sink or dishwasher or maybe the washing machine. We pulled out all the cleaners from under the sink and noticed mouse droppings and that the bottom of the cabinet was wet. After testing the dishwasher we noticed that there was a leak coming from it. We never put the two together – the evidence of mouse droppings and a leak.
We went shopping for a new dishwasher that day. When it was delivered the man pulled out the old one and yelled out to John, “You’ve got 🐁 infestation! They chewed right through the plastic connection to the water.”
Mint Plants
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Hearing this I went beserk. I planted mint in pots in the kitchen, placed more traps in the garage and basement, sprayed mint oil under the sink and around the house and waited. We did catch a few more but then nothing. The mint is growing profusely and taking over the window over the sink. We plan on moving some of it outside as the weather gets warmer. Mint also keeps away 🐜 🐛 🕷.
Well, all is quiet and clean and smelling fresh now in the Spina home. I hope to keep it that way. I pray that you will not have any unwanted visitors in your homes.
Thanks for stopping by to read about these adventures. I’m sure I will have something else to complain about soon. Ha!
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Blessings & Hugs!
Janice
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Oh, my goodness, Janice. I’m sure I laughed in all the wrong places because mice don’t bother me. In one of the the clinics in Afghanistan where I worked, the staff had covered the walls of my room in cloth and every night when I went to bed I heard the mice scampering about between the wall and the cloth. The only time I was really annoyed was when the DH arrived bringing chocolate and, yes, in the morning the mice had found it. Spiders, now, are a different thing and I do tend to get a bit hysterical about them. I noticed you said mint discourages them so I will be investing in some pots of mint for the house. Great post.
I can laugh about it now but not at the time. Spiders don’t bother me. I have been bitten twice by them. Mint does work though on keeping mice and bugs away. Let me know if it works for you. Hugs x Did you see my note to you about your book, No More Mulberries? I loved it! Reviewed it on Amazon and Goodreads! 💕
I did, Janice, and emailed you to say thanks for such a wonderful review. I’m so pleased you enjoyed it. Now, I’m off to stock up on mint!
LOL! Hugs
Love to have you on my blog, MARY. Contact me by jjspina@myfairpoint.net to set up time and what you will need. Hugs xx
Oh, I am with you, Janice. Older houses in New England = mice. I hate them. Any other animal doesn’t bother me, because they’re not inside my house. Mice are there, and we don’t even know. We keep a wood box inside, and our basement bulkhead must not be totally mouse proof. Sigh! Thank goodness spring is here and I can put bags of chips back on top of the fridge.
To me they are vile creatures! I don’t keep anything out anymore, afraid to entice them. Sigh! 😀
Me, too. Sigh! 🙂
I don’t know if anyone’s already mentioned this… And you probably don’t want to hear it… But a determined mouse can chew through plastic. Metal is fine, but rodents can chew plastic if they put their minds to it. So keep an eye on the plastic containers. If any of them start lookng chewed, you might need to switch to metal only.
Personally, I like rodents. Now spiders… That’s another matter entirely!
These containers are pretty thick and clip down securely. So far so good! They did chew through a plastic tube that connected to our dishwasher. That wasn’t a good thing! I keep so much mint in the house that i think they are being repelled. I hope! Sigh! 😆
Reblogged this on Viv Drewa – The Owl Lady.
Thank you, Viv! Hugs xx
Oh, Janice, you poor thing. I’m glad to hear John got all of the babies out of the house, though the problem is they always grow up. When I was growing up we lived in the country with a large woods along the side of the house. We often got mice inside and my mother would stand on a chair and scream until someone (Dad or one of us six children) came to rescue her. LOL! Then there was the time when my sister and I had gone to bed (we were both in elementary school). Our bed was up against the wall and next to a window. My sister had gone to sleep when I saw a mouse run down the curtain and jump on top of my her. I ran downstairs and left her to sleep with the mouse. She tellls this story about her mean older sister every chance she gets. 💗💗💗
OMG, Michelle! That’s what I was worried about – mice coming into the bedroom and sleeping with us! Yikes! Too terrible to think about! Yuck! That must have been funny just the same, huh? You are one of six. How man girls? Hugs xx ♥️
Yeah, I’m not fond of mice in the house. I have three brothers and two sisters. My parents were Marvin and Mildred and we were named (in order of birth) – Michael, Michelle, Mark, Marcia, Mitchell, and Manette. My brother Mike married Minnie and they have Melissa and Mac. Mark married Mary and they have Mariah. The rest of us broke with tradition. However, my son Todd married Tricia and their two sons are Tyler and Taylor. LOL Hugs, my dear friend. 💗💗💗
Oh, I love that! What a wonderful family you must have with so many siblings! God bless you all! Hugs & much love, my friend! ❤️
I am the oldest of three. My mom lost a baby in between my brother and I. My sister came along 16 years after me. My brother five years after me. Small family compared to yours! 😘
We are indeed blessed.
So amusing, Janice. We have also had a problem with mice in the past and had to find some innovative ways of getting rid of them. Now we have cats.
Cats will work! I’m not a cat lover though. But if they come back again I could become one! Lol! 😀
Holy crap Janice. My biggest fear – mice! If that was me I would have moved, lol. Once when I was a kid I saw a mouse in our kitchen. Me and my dad stood on the kitchen table LOLLLLL. He called the exterminators, no wasting time with traps and such. Of course exterminators couldn’t come til the next day and unlike you, I wasn’t even sleeping there in case it made its way to my bedroom. I packed a back and slept at my friend’s house around the corner LOL. Exterminate! ❤
Ha, that must been quite a sight! I was freaked out about them. Now I have mint in the kitchen and down in the basement. No sign of them or even bugs. Bugs hate mint too! Success! ❤️
That’s amazing that the mint is working! Great tip. So glad they are gone. You are much braver than me LOL 🙂 ❤