Mice! Aaagh!

[OccamsTazer]

I was warned! I ignored the warning, but now I know it to be true!

When I moved into this place, the owners warned me that it can get "crittery" here. Given that they and I are both outdoorsy environmentalists, I figured no biggie. After all, I grew up in the middle of nowhere, Nevada, and you don't get mousier than that.

Wrong.

This house is a geodesic dome, and as I sit here, I can hear them skittering, plotting, and chewing. Always chewing. I am going to have a full-on, Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-tale Heart freak-out if the chewing doesn't stop. There is also a sort of horrifying doppler effect as they run across the inside of the domed roof. We had a few mouse blooms last winter, but after a couple days of a trapping blitz, they were gone. This time I'm almost afraid there will be a ransom note when I go to check my traps. I set a half dozen traps at around 5:00pm tonight, and a moment ago I checked them. Not only had I already nabbed a mouse, but his friends had already partially devoured their fallen comrade.
EEEEEEEHW!
And yes, we're clean here. All bulk foods are in sealed tins, bins, or tubs. Including livestock feed and dog food. There is nothing appealing here. They just love us.

On the bright side, someone here told me mice and rats dislike cohabitating, so at least it is just the little guys.

I won't use poison because of the dogs, the sonic thing doesn't even slow them down, any other ideas besides LOTS of traps?

ETA: please don't read this as whining, it's intended to be comedy. It's also unfortunately true

, so advice also please!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Don't they hate moth balls too like everything else? I KNOW they hate cats

 

[OccamsTazer]

Moth balls didn't even slow them down!
I kid you not, I've heard the snick of traps three times since I posted that. Last time, I emptied the trap, replaced it, and AS I WAS SITTING DOWN at the comp, I heard it snick again.

I am not a critter phobe, (who on here is?) I used to have pet rats as a kid, but I am almost afraid to go to bed

 

[Cindiloohoo]

That's pretty bad! We caught 4 at once in a live trap with a few pieces of dry dog food. then we fed them to our snake. I think the mice got the hint and left us alone after that

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Chickens will eat mice ya know

 

[OccamsTazer]

hmm, not a bad idea!
Nah, if I moved the birds indoors, the man would move out. Actually, so would I

Also, as a bonus, those little snick-goes-the trap noises occurred less than 15 feet from FOUR sleeping dogs.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Do live traps and release to the hens. maybe if the others hear their little death squeals, they will evacuate. Seriously, I SWEAR that's what they thought when I fed their little cousins to my snake! And it's the full circle of life..

 

[Laurieks]

Hmmm....add a pet snake?
Can you housebreak a snake?

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Probably not around FOUR dogs! Although, my snake got out in the house for 3 days once, and the dogs never found it. I woke up staring straight into his face though. He was in my wall heater staring me down..LOL!

 

[OccamsTazer]

To be honest, I'm not sure a snake isn't in there as part of the mix. There is a massive grey rat snake that lives around here. I've picked her up before to illustrate to the man of the house that snakes are friends, he's slowly turning around. Seriously though, I heard a scream from inside the wall earlier
Living here is totally insane, but I love it. My neighbor once told me that he couldn't take the main road one morning because there was a buffalo standing in it. Yes, the more distant neighbors have some