Over the course of the last year, we have been plagued with mice both inside and in the back yard. Mice, of course, bring diseases, so we’ve also had more than our fair share of animal illnesses.
Kitty isn’t interested in chasing mice, but the Puppers have caught three large rats in the last month or so. There is even an owl that uses the background as a mini-hunting ground, which totally freaks out the Puppers.
Mice were still getting in the house, however, and causing a ruckus. I tried spreading lavender around as a deterrent but the mice just pushed it out of the way and carried on. So we tried some mouse traps.
First we tried the sticky traps. Sure enough, mice were caught. Only it was icky to dispose of them and the traps only could be used once.
Then we put out the regular old spring traps baited with peanut butter. Again, we had moderate trapping success, but it was still icky to clean up.
In desperation, I ordered these humane mouse traps from Amazon. They came four in a set. We baited them with cookie bits. The first night we caught three mice. My son took them up the hill and released them into the wild.
The second night, we caught three more. This time my husband bashed their little heads in. He said that they just come back if you don’t. The third night, we only caught two. My son got up extra early to run them up the hill before my husband got up.
These traps work so that once the mouse enters and moseys on down the tunnel to the food, it triggers the door to close behind it. The mouse still gets to eat the cookie and seems quite content to wait until it is released. My son said that the mice often give him a side-eye stare when he releases them before scampering off.
I’m not sure how long this mouse trapping is going to last. Or if more mice will be executed or pardoned. I guess it depends on who gets up first in the morning. However, I’m feeling better about having fewer mice leaving poop trails on the countertop. Wouldn’t you be too?
