I am human, therefore I kill mice
So I killed two mice a few weeks ago, using an old-fashioned mouse trap. Some construction in the basement of my apartment building drove a whole colony of mice up into my walls, and they started running around my apartment, eating my rice and squeaking at all hours of the night and pooping everywhere. At first, I tried to negotiate with them. Really, they were cute and sort of awesome and I just wanted them to leave. I put all my rice in bins, threw out anything that might attract mice, and put out “humane traps.” But they ignored the humane traps, and continued to run around squeaking and zooming under my bed and pooping. They also ate the edges of a bunch of my books.
So I acted like the predator that I am, and put out deadly traps. Killed two mice the first night. After that, I didn’t have any more problems. I believed that I had finally conveyed a message that mice could understand: If you come into my house, I will kill you. It wasn’t a pretty thing, but it was effective. When I wrote about my mouse struggles, I got all kinds of hate mail. Was it the PETA joke I made? My ruthlessness? Read my column about killing mice, and find out more!
September 20th, 2007 at 10:26 am
Remember Harvey the mouse must die? I loved that:
http://www.axis-of-aevil.net/misc/2002_01/harvey/harveymustdie.html
September 20th, 2007 at 10:36 am
that article (or this blog) needs a picture of the geriatric cat being blissfully ignorant.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:41 am
Here is aforementioned geriatric cat, pretending to be a tribble while mice eat my copy of Capital vol. 1.
September 20th, 2007 at 10:55 am
Annalee, Another trap you might consider is a bucket trap. Bucket traps use a liquid to drown and contain the victims. Mice drown in about two minutes or die from hypothermia or shock in about thirty seconds. The ISS (It’s So Simple) mouse trap is a multi catch trap that can be either lethal or live catch (leave the container dry using bedding and a little food). It uses most any high aroma food as bait and is much more efficient than any other trap on the market. Nothing usually gets to the bait and anything that attempts to is caught. Peanut butter with bacon bits mixed together is almost irresistible.
They are very easy to use (no moving parts and nothing to set) and economical; can be used anywhere and nothing about it is scary to mice so those not yet caught do not get trap shy. For the best in mouse control, check it out. An added plus is the iron clad satisfaction guarantee. http://www.issmousetraps.com
September 20th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Blarg — I don’t want to drown the mice. The thing that was nice about the conventional traps I used was that they kill the mouse instantly by breaking its neck.
September 20th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
“[T]here is really nothing worse than a leftist with anthropomorphizing tendencies. This is exactly why people join PETA instead of unions and protest animal experimentation instead of how humans are treated in jail.” Amen, sister.
September 20th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
But Annalee, you don’t HAVE to drown them (it is only an option - you can use the bucket or container dry). Once they are caught, you can gas them with your car or whatever - take them to the park, zoo or pet store); the point is getting them caught. What is done with them afterwards is every one’s individual choice. The ISS bucket trap with the right high aroma bait (it might take a little experimentation) will catch them when nothing else does and it will catch them all.
September 20th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
@Fred, well luckily I got rid of the mice so I don’t have to contemplate gassing them.
September 20th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Annalee, It is good that you are rid of them for now; but you never really get rid of mice because they urinate with every step and once they are in a place, it is forever marked. The best one can do is to seal up any holes and hope the trail turns cold before some family members or friends pick up the scent. Even new construction has mouse scent because it comes in on the building materials.
My guess is that you will have mice again and again if there is a way for them to get in. When you have to deal with this problem in the future, just remember that there is an alternative that works. I’m sure you can figure out what to do with your catch.
September 21st, 2007 at 6:57 am
yay! pet pictures!
thanks.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:26 am
total agree with killing them i tried the humane way it did not work got fed up of finding it in my cooker and my daughter found one in her waste basket.still having hard time to catch the little bugger