Things that Scurry in the Night....

Well, on top of our bird in the vent we have some other visitors.

I'll start with my day yesterday. I was sitting on the couch when I heard the bumping/scratching/chirping in the wall again. That meant that although Ben sealed up the vent from the outside, the bird was still on the inside. Damn. So I called the pest guy and he said he'd be out between 2 and 4. I got a call from him at 12:30 asking if he could come now. So of course i agreed. I was in the middle of straightening up and as I was wiping down the counter tops, I looked at the paper towel that I used and was shocked to see small brown mouse droppings. Damn again. So when the pest guy showed up, he confirmed what I already knew, those were in fact mouse turds.

Being that I am an animal lover, the thought of buying those horrible snap traps made me sick. The pest guy said that they bait for mice with a poison that dries them from the inside out. Sounds like a good time. He also mentioned that we may find the dried carcasses around and it is ok if the dog eats them because there is not a secondary poison. It may be ok for him to let his dog eat mouse carcass, but it is not ok with me. Not to mention, once I researched this method of extermination I read about the awful smell of the rotting mice carcasses in the walls. I think i'll pass.

I don't want my house infested with mice, so I decided to research some humane ways to rid us of our unwelcome visitors. I read all about the Havahart traps (but they're expensive) and I also read that mice can't take the smell of peppermint. So the site recommended putting peppermint oil on cotton balls and placing them in areas where you've seen evidence of mice. So I thought, what a great, easy, and safe way to get rid of the rodents! So I set several cotton balls soaked in peppermint around the areas I found the mouse poop.

This morning, I discovered that this method DOES NOT WORK. I believe I may have given the little critters some nesting materials with a fresh peppermint scent. A few of the cotton balls have been commandeered by our newest house guests.

We are going to buy some traps today. They are humane live traps that we can catch and release the mice (a couple miles away of course). I know it is probably not the method that most people would implement, but I am really hoping it works for us.