Only if someone else will take care of it. I can watch a hog strung up over a tree branch and cut one end to the other, an animal being gutted in the field, Steven Seagal break a man's elbor or knee backwards, but I just can't do the mouse trap thing. No excuses or apologies, just the way I am.

Okay, I'm going to share with you folks the real challenge for a firearm-bearing female living alone. About an hour ago I spotted a small, grey mouse in my bedroom. I lost track of it as, unfortunately, there are many things for a mouse to hide behind in my bedroom. After a slight panic attack, during which I called my mother (the only person you can really count on not to get pissed off when you call at 1:46 a.m.) and was somewhat calmer after about 5 minutes. Of course I then realized that the box of antique, many irreplaceable(?sp) African maps I've been collecting for the last two years was over in the area of the mouse's last direction. I was able to move the box with the aid of alot of kicking and making noise.

I now feel much better. I know I cannot shoot the mouse with my Sig .380 that I keep handy always, so after placing that weapon out of my own reach, I am now armed with a broom (so that I can poke places close to me occasionally) and a bottle of Ferrari Carano 2001 Reserve Chardonnay, and believe that I can make it the remainder of the night without losing my sanity.

If you guys had any idea of what a challenge this is for me, you would all be proud.

Shannon
gotogirl3

Get a cat that will take care of your problem now and in the future.

Did you se the H&W post ?

Cheers,

Andr�

I replied, you just must not have gotten it yet. Suffice it to say that you are greatly appreciated.

As for pets, I'm a little too spontaneous for the responsibility of a pet. I have twin boys that are almost 9 that only live with me part of the time and that is plenty. Other than that commitment, which is the most important, I like to be able to pick up and go whenever I want. I always travel with my passport in my purse "just in case."

Shannon

mousetrap will do then i guess.

Cheers,

Andr�

Let the mouse itself take care of the problem. Fasten an old fashioned razorblade upright on a piece of board, and put a piece of cheese on one side, and make sure to always put a fresh piece of cheese as soon as the mouse eats it. Then after a couple of days you forget about the cheese. When the mouse comes along for a snack it will look over the razor, realize there is no cheese, shake its head in disappointment and cut its throat. OK?

Boha, master of mice

gotogirl
get an empty sheetrock mud pail. Poke a small hole on opposite sides just down from the top. Poke a similar hole through a soda/beer can through the center, end to end. String a wire through the can and attatch it through the holes in the pail. The can will spin on the wire easy now. A yardstick leaning up to the pail and a little peanutbutter on the can, presto mouse trap you dont have to handle the critter in. If you want the mouse dead, a little water in the bottom and it'll drown. Otherwise, take it outside, dump it out and open fire on it with the .380!

You know one of the things I like about this forum is the diverse, alternative solutions to problems I can get. I thought about leaving a trail of food from my bed to the back door or garage, etc., but decided with my luck he would start at the other end and I would have a most unwelcome bed partner. I would venture to say that anyone on the forum would be able to hear the scream that resulted from that scenario.

I really don't think I would have any problem shooting it - other than the obvious holes in furniture, walls, etc., but I can't hit it in the head, stomp it, or drown it. Of course if it actually touched me, all of those options might become extremely likely.

Shannon,
Depending on when you next will have the twins around, I guess they might be the solution? In that age, the possiblity to have their own hunt not only without your interference but with your actual ecouragement would be like X-mas! In notime you will have a complete trap-line around the house and the problem solved!

You just have to stop any attempts of skinning and tanning!


Regards,
Martin

When I was married, we had a cat who was extremely well-fed - from our dinner table half the time I might add - and yet she was so funny about "wild game." Our neighbors didn't even mind that she sat under the hummingbird feeder and caught them because she got rid of ALL moles. She would eat all of them except the head - that she would bring to the back door, scratch to get in and then bring it to us like she wanted it mounted. Fortunately/unfortunately, she would have needed her own trophy room - if you included the blue jays, mockingbirds, hummingbirds, etc.

You're right about the boys though. They got their first .22 rifle for Christmas 2002 and are in a 4-H program this year. Of course that would probably be their weapon of choice and then what would I do?

I think I hear the rascal in the attic above my bedroom now. How did it get there? Well, at least I got to drink about 3/4 of a bottle of good chardonnay to calm my nerves. Glad I don't have to work today!

#1. Get a wide-mouth jar.



#2. Lean it against a book or something high enough to make a reasonable "slant".



#3. Do this in an area the mouse frequents.



#4. Put something the mouse likes to eat in the jar.



#5. Mouse enters jar....mouse slides to bottom....mouse eats the bait.....mouse can't climb out because glass is slippery and angle is to steep.



#6. This method is inexpensive, quiet and you have your choice of what to do with the mouse.

The little boxes of poison have always worked well for me.



Once eaten, the mice seek water outside and die.

When I was a kid, we moved into an old house that was infested with mice and rats. My little brother and I got very good at shooting the vermin with BB guns, with our parents permission.

Our sure fire approach to mice at the hunting lodge up near Toledo Bend Reservoir - Rampage bait and glue pads from Tractor Supply. My wife, the soon-to-be veterinarian, says the poison in Rampage is less dangerous to pets, etc. than other brands. Place the bait bags in hard to get to crevices, in the garage, etc. and place the glue pads where you have seen the mouse runnings - along walls and near entry-exit points. If you are really squimish, tie a long string to the glue pad so you won't have to get so close.

For God sake's, sell the house and move out!

I'm laughin' hard at this. Good work, Shan.

Whatever you do, don't turn your back!!!!!!

The D-Con (boxes) suggestion is good. Also you can go to a feed store and probably find some packets of mouse poison to throw around up in your rafters, if you don't live in an apartment.

The rodents eat this stuff, start bleeding internally, and go off to die somewhere.

You realise the mouse in the attic is not the same one thats in the bedroom, which is not the same one you have in the kitchen(you don't know about that one yet..)? Get the picture here?



Get some poison bait down and keep putting it down until it stops being taken. Mice are pretty disgusting creatures and spread just as many diseases as rats do.



Regards,



Pete

.......

Just kick its ass. Wear boots + loose fitting jeans and stab the sucker with anything... knife-ish...

Your choice of wine was outstanding - even at 1:46 AM..... Arrowood also makes a magnificent Viognier as an alternative.

Best mouse killer is a saucer of 7 UP or Coke...He will drink, bloat and go die...

I usually take a good Cabernet on a hunting trip but maybe varmints call for a white. If you get out some brie and pate next time and a few crackers, the mouse may come out to join you. Once you are well gassed, you may find that the little sucker was not such a bad guy after all and you'll end up fast freinds. Or maybe just kick his ass out of the house after he passes out.
BTW this is the African Hunting Forum so he must have been an African mouse?

A little Cheez Whiz squirted on the "#1" should do the trick!

Maybe one of the 45/70 guys could shoot it !

Blacktailer: Since I was working on things to do with Africa at the time of the mousal interruption, I figured it qualified for the African forum.

Pete E: I am an optimist and since the only time I have heard the sound in the attic is when the mouse is not present downstairs, I choose to believe it is the same one, which by the way appeared again about 2 a.m. today.

Me: I confess, once again, to being a wuss when it comes to mice/rats. My mother is coming over later today to set traps - she also retrieves any full ones, which is even better.

Eric & Blacktailer: Perhaps since the mouse is grey I should have gone with a Cab, but I decided that I needed something cold to keep me awake until the daylight appeared and somehow made things better! For future encounters, I think I'll keep a bottle of Silver Oak on hand just in case I decide red would be better! Of course, once my mommy has taken care of the problem, I can break out a bottle of Krug to commemorate the occasion.

I'll confess to sharing my food with pets, sometimes even off one side of the plate while I eat from the other, but I don't even like the little white mice spinning around on a wheel in a cage, so I'm definitely not sharing with him!

Thanks for helping me work through my mouse crisis (2 actually - yesterday and today).

Shannon
gotogirl3

Just wanted to let everyone know that they don't have to be concerned over my safety any longer. My mommy set traps out on Wednesday and then came over Thursday evening and found the culprit in the trap in the attic and directly deposited him somewhere out of my sight.

I'd be embarrassed to say my mother took care of this for me except that she is the greatest!

Now I can get on the forum without having to "watch my back"!

Thanks,

Shannon
gotogirl3

Glad to hear it is solved!

Since this is the African forum... did you charge your mother a trophy fee...?

Regards,
Martin

Charge her a trophy fee? Are you kidding? In this case she was the PH and did not charge ME a trophy fee. It is just a good thing I have the inside track and could get a discount on the hunt - I couldn't afford her day rate otherwise!

Shannon
gotogirl3

Well, the concession is yours, isn't it?

Think about it, you might have an income there, when the cousins of the late mouse moves into the empty nest...

Sorry Shannon, but I could not resist, I feel evil today...

Regards,
Martin