Houston, we have mouse...

[lagilman]

Fortunately, we also have -- much to my surprise -- mousers. Every time he (a wee little field mouse the size of my little finger) tried to make a scoot for it, there was a cat, tail erect and whiskers a-quiver, trying to play. Or nosh. I'm not sure which Boomer had in mind. Pandora was definitely all about the noshing.

Poor Mousie.

He disappeared, and has not shown himself since then (and the cats, while occasionally sniffing where he was, are distinctly incurious). As I said when retelling the story "mice, I can deal with. Mice are no big deal." I did go through the pantry and make sure that everything was properly stored in containers and bags, though.

(As there has been no mouse-sign previous, I suspect that he was flushed out via the radiator when the heat came on, and, upon discovering himself in an apartment cornered by two rather inquisitive and paw-y cats, thought "I knew I shoulda made a left at Pismo Beach." He really should have -- this is a cat-heavy building. But in case he didn't get the lesson, O. the super Super will be Dealing With It this week.)
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EtA: at 10:45, about seven hours after first sighting, very wee mousie was spotted by Pandora. It was either very ill or quite terrified, as it stayed still while Pandora sniffed at it, long enough for me to get an old tupperware container and lid and scoop it up. Once captured, it stayed quite passive, and I brought it downstairs and across the street, where I released it into the wooded area.

What, you thought I was going to kill it? Have you met me?

Hopefully this was Sole Mousie.

Comments

[lagilman]

I've set up the on-hand mouse repellents that I know of (clove/spearmint oil, and Bounce dryer sheets). Traps and poison are last-ditch issues for me, since the cats are inquisitive.

[sfmarty.livejournal.com]

Do not count of plastic bags to stop mice. I had a lovely loaf of sourdough bread. It seemed to have risen with a great hole in the center. After digging thru the loaf for two decent pieces to make a sandwich out of, I discovered a very small hole in the plastic. Soon after that I realized I had a mouse. shudder.

[lagilman]

Oh, the bags go around opened boxes, where container aren't really workable, and tend to be temporary. The containers are all either glass or such thick plastic a mouse this size would be chewing for a week -- I use one to store cat food in, and despite bet efforts, the felines have never been able to get a claw or tooth into it.

I'm actually less concerned about the pantry being invaded than I am something dying in an unreachable place. That's the 'ugh' factor.

[quarkwiz.livejournal.com]

Ick, yes. We found a dead-long-enough-to-be-stiff mouse under the subwoofer back when the tabbies were still relatively new to the house. We think the local rodents have finally realized there are three skilled hunters in residence.

[smoemeth.livejournal.com]

How we discovered our building in Boonton had mice:

We went to Newark Airport to pick up a friend (who had never visited us before). When we came home, we found Mousy Bits smeared all over the kitchen floor, with Puck looking *very* pleased with herself and licking her chops in the corner.

I *think* our friend believed us when we explained we didn't usually keep house that way. :} But EWWWWWWWW.

[handlebar605.livejournal.com]

my parents have two cats (a black boy & his sister a calico) they are very playful and will trade off playing with mice and insects. My parents live either in the wilds of Maine on a lake, or farming type country in Georgia. The cats have discovered that mice are fragile if played with too roughly.

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

This house is full of mice. I found one sitting on the arm of the armchair a while back, eating a chocolate bar. Recommend jars - as someone else has said, they'll just chew through plastic.

Currently, we have a small invasion of slugs. Nice.

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

Eeeuuuuw! Slugs! We had a ton of them in our courtyard. They were eating all the leaves, especially of the basil. One night we came home at midnight (this is a rare occurence; se are usually snug-a-bed by 9pm) and found many HUGE GINORMOUS slugs on the walls of the courtyard and the pots and and and. We hacked and slayed until they were nothing but pieces. Then, we had relative peace in the courtyard until I found a laying mother slug, which I smooshed and smooshed her eggs. I felt bad, but I did it.

[lagilman]

a single slug or two I can live with but when they come via a fleet I agree, Something Must Be Done. Ugh.

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

Quite revolting. I actually bought a book called The Little Book of Slugs on Saturday, which is all about the slug slaying. Presumably word has got out and these ones were planning a pre-emptive strike.

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

Please tell me if the solutions recommended in the book are effective. Then I will have preventive medicine on hand.

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

I used to have mice when I lived in the apartment in the city center. We agreed that they could stay in the bathroom and there they stayed. Until I went away for 2 months and left my BF in the apartment. Then they moved into the kitchen. I had to rewrite the contract to make them move back to the bathroom. I think mice are kind of cute. I certainly couldn't kill them.

[lagilman]

That's my deal with spiders. There's one that lives in the bathroom and never bothers me, so I don't bother it.

I used to raise mice, and my uncle had a pair of white rats I suspect he liberated (he was at MIT, back in the day) so rodents are nothing new to me. If it wasn't for the possibility of these guys carrying diseases, I'd probably be very live-and-let-live.

[windrose.livejournal.com]

My first cat, Lou, was a consummate hunter, despite the fact she had no front claws. Her usual prey was insects, crickets being a particular favorite, but she also caught lizards and birds on a regular basis and, on one notable occasion, a frog which she left on my pillow as a present. I never found any evidence that she caught rodents, but I don't doubt for a second that she could have.

My current lads ... I have no idea, though Ezra has been known to pounce on any lizards unfortunate enough to make it into the house. I suspect he'd go after a mouse if given the opportunity.

(Edited to use the correct icon.)

[caryabend.livejournal.com]

I'm still convinced that my parents' cat, the one with no front claws, who had a rear leg amputated as an adult and yet still regularly made meals of birds, ranks among the world's top domestic feline hunters.

What, you thought I was going to kill it?

[saare-snowqueen.livejournal.com]

I am totally with you. What doesn't harm me can live. When I lived on Crete, I once found a scorpion inside a pillow case that it had crept into during a storm, while I was away. It seemed as surprised and frightened as I, so despite my friend's screaming I gently swept it outside into the garden

Re: What, you thought I was going to kill it?

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

I make exceptions to the "no killing" rule for things that sting and bite and generally wreak insect havoc. I guess I'm a specist (discriminates against other species that are not cute) ;-)

Re: What, you thought I was going to kill it?

[lagilman]

anything in the bedding or my shoes has waived all rights for a fair trial, and moves directly to eviction/execution, depending on my mood.

Re: What, you thought I was going to kill it?

[saare-snowqueen.livejournal.com]

There were extenuating circumstances here. The scorpions and I had a deal - they didn't come into the house and I didn't kill them. But i had been in Athens over night when there had been an awesome storm - waves high enough to pick up a passenger ferry and deposit it on the dock. I got in very early after taking the overnight boat down to Crete and went strait back to bed. A few hours later I re- got up and was changing the sheets when I found the creature, which had crawled inside because of the storm. I didn't kill it because I had slept with it for 3 hours without being harmed so I figured it had earned the right to live.

[egret17.livejournal.com]

Based on what happens to spiders and millipedes 'round here, I'm pretty sure I would just find a stray whisker or two...

[lagilman]

Oh, I'd love to have a millipede-killing cat. Milipedes are the one thing that will make me emit a girly shriek. *shudders* Too. Many. Legs!

[egret17.livejournal.com]

Ah, my great huntress. She's death on gnats, too. I wonder how many gnats it would take to feed a small cat for a day? Million or so?