How adorable are these mice!
I just found them in an Asheville shop - part of an early
display of Christmas items.
The fact that there were girls and boys, dressed in
trousers and flirty skirts, with cute tails
and perfect mouse ears, made a purchase of just
two quite easy, and not expensive.
My biggest fear however is that with the cold weather now settling in, the
real mice may be back before I can shake a stick set a humane mouse trap!
Sad as it may be to catch them this way, I cannot have those little nightly
visitors running around the cottage. We've stuffed all access points, around pipes,
back of stove etc. with copper mesh but, as the exterminator told us, a teeny mouse
only requires a tiny 1/4" opening to get through! The house is on a crawl space,
apparently they come up from there, so traps are set down under.
Sad as it may be to catch them this way, I cannot have those little nightly
visitors running around the cottage. We've stuffed all access points, around pipes,
back of stove etc. with copper mesh but, as the exterminator told us, a teeny mouse
only requires a tiny 1/4" opening to get through! The house is on a crawl space,
apparently they come up from there, so traps are set down under.
We didn't spy a single mouse for the first twenty five years we lived in this house,
now, for the past several years, they seem to enjoy sharing our home, especially
during the winter.
Any tips for sending those tiny creatures on their merry way are welcomed, thanks.
during the winter.
Any tips for sending those tiny creatures on their merry way are welcomed, thanks.
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As long as they are not the real thing, you would not want them running round the house
ReplyDeleteDear Mary, We have the same problem. Come October we see signs that mice have come to stay. Of course the obvious is to ask a cat to come live with you. Because we live in the country, we somehow end up with a cat or two. Our Pasha is a fine mouser but watching him dispatch a mouse is not for the faint at heart.
ReplyDeleteI think the most humane approach is setting the new type of mouse trap. It is very similar to the old wooden mouse trap,but has a couple of new features. You will find them in any house ware store. Good Luck.
Adorable! I'm always enchanted with animals in clothing. '-)
ReplyDeleteLike you, I hope the real ones don't want to seek winter shelter in my basement.
Those are sweet. As far as real mice, knock on wood we have not had any in this house. In previous houses we set the traditional trap, but used peanut butter instead of cheese. Works like a charm.
ReplyDeleteYes, Penny, that's what we use too - those tiny nuisances love it! I dislike peanut butter so get to keep the cheese (my addiction) for myself, haha!
DeleteMary x
Your new little clothed friends are adorable.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there's the live mouse that is somewhere in the walls - chewing while you are trying to sleep! We had new siding put on our house; maybe he got trapped.
Yes, Joyce, any stopping by fully and fashionably clothed are welcome, but none in real fur coats!!!
DeleteThanks for the comment….please come by again.
Mary
I hate killing anything, as you know, but we have the same problem and we've had to resort to a monthly visit from an exterminator. Our house was built in 1891, so there are lots of places they can get in. I tried humane trapping the first couple of years, but we were quickly overrun. So it is what it is, I guess.
ReplyDeletexo
Claudia
I had one recently that dined on the remains in some shrimp shells and Lindor Truffles and somehow got the food out of the humane trap. I'm surprised the little stinker didn't open a bottle of wine. I finally had to go for the brutal 50 cent mouse trap and I was upset all day afterward but I got it. My cat was no help at all!!
ReplyDeleteMoth crystals work wonders in crawl spaces but be careful not to overdo it or you'll smell it in the house. You could also sprinkle a bit of moth crystals on the outside where you think they might be coming in. It's how I keep the rabbits out from under my deck.
I love the mice you got in Asheville. They are perfect with their little fat feet!
Touch wood, we haven't had mice since moving to our modern house 12 years ago, but before we lived in a 16th century thatched cottage and that had mice inside and rats in the thatch. A very hard and depressing job each year to keep these away and one that we had ask the local farmer to help with. Hopefully you can find a more humane way to deal with these little ones. xx
ReplyDeleteYour Asheville boy and girl mice are really cute, Mary. I definitely don't like real mice; can't tolerate them in any fashion. They're nasty. I would recommend doing a Google search on "how to keep mice out of your house" and you'll get some results that may help. I wish you the best with this! xxx ~ Nancy
ReplyDeleteThe little beasties used to come in to our house in France at about this time, waiting with their suitcases outside the door. I'm afraid we put traps, and they werent the humane kind. Bait them with chocolate, they love it!
ReplyDeleteFortunately we don't have mouse troubles (knock wood), although this past year has been horrible for rats in the yard (not in the house, thankfully). I don't have any advice to offer, but those dapper mice in your photo would be welcome in my home, too.
ReplyDeleteLove the fake mice quite alot.
ReplyDeleteNow as far as the real ones, maybe you could get a witch to conjure up a spell.
When we moved into our house surrounded by a wheat field in Kansas many years
ago the mice ran rampant through the house. We didn't even need to put cheese in
the trap, but just learned their path and we caught 13 the first week. After that it was
poison in the basement and they would eat it and travel out into the field to die. Not
pleasant, but it worked most of the time. Oh the stories of jumping on the kitchen
counter when one would scuttle across the floor. Good luck ridding them. Eek!
Those little mice are adorable. Yes, we do get mice in our house in the fall. Usually in late August. We haven't figured out where they get in but thought it might be where some wires come in the basement wall so we put steel wool in the hole and haven't had any since. They always look for warmth in the fall. We trap them with peanut butter in spring traps. That's the only way to really get rid of them. The humane catch and release method just allows them to return. They always find their way back. Good luck with getting rid of yours Mary.
ReplyDeleteOh such cutie mice. I love them. There is an electronic thing that looks like a timer that you plug in and put under the house and it makes a sound that scares the mice away. Not sure if it is a high beeping or the sound of a cat. LOL
ReplyDeleteLike your ornaments. But I'm afraid if we had a mouse problem that I couldn't deal with I'd 'get a man in' to deal with them. The reality is that they're all over the place anyway, of course - as a re rats - but boundaries are required...and, apart from potential health issues, you don't want rodents chewing through electric cables. I did read somewhere that (as Pam suggests above) that if you catch the little darlings you have to drive many miles before releasing them. It's the same with spiders, apparently...
ReplyDeleteWe would get field mice at our former cottage now and then. It was this time of year when they would try to sneak inside. We always put out traps for them. So far (knock on wood), we haven't had any slip inside our newer cottage, even though this house has a crawl space too. They really like to get in through crevices around crawl vents, so be sure to caulk those areas really good.
ReplyDelete