How To Catch a Mouse in the House
Posted on December 1, 2006 – 11:25 am by admin
For the past few weeks, I have been engaged in a fierce battle with a mouse in our house. An evil vermin, if you will. Recently, our cats have been sitting quietly on the kitchen floor, staring at the lower cabinets. Laura claimed there was a mouse in there, but I hesitated to believe her.
I was wrong to hesitate and I can admit that. The reason I can admit that is because I really do have a wonderful personality. People tell me that all the time. Ok, really now…
Anyway, I decided to purchase those little gray humane mouse traps. I got the ones made by Victor. Well, the first night, there was evidence of a real mouse. He (or she) decided to enter the trap, eat the peanut butter and leave. Ok, fine. I reset the trap.
The second night, the mouse entered the trap, ate the peanut butter and the trap door shut behind him. Well, the mouse decided to kick the door off the hinge and escape.
I knew I was in over my head. This mouse, or whatever it was, was stronger than me. Stronger and smarter. I needed some heavier ammo. I went to the store and purchased the next trap up the chain of traps. I set that sucker and hoped for the best. Morning came and I checked the trap to see if my prize was there…ummm…all I found was a trap with no peanut butter and a bunch of chew marks on it. At this point, I concluded that this was no mouse at all. It was either a raccoon or a bear.
I repaired the trap by using a hose clamp to tighten down the lid. No luck. The mouse entered the trap the next night, laughed and proceeded to eat the peanut butter and leave. How he does this is a mystery to me. After his good meal, I think he may have climbed up to our sink for a quick back stroke and sponge bath.
I contemplated getting a bigger and better trap. The one I wanted costs about $18. But first, I wanted to try the last cheap method. I happened to be in Wal-Mart the other day and saw this very simple box with a hinge-door. It was so simple and cost only $1. I bought it to give it a try.
I set the trap and waited. Two nights ago, I heard some commotion in the kitchen and woke up to see what was going on. I saw the trap just sitting there in a new position. Nothing.
I set the trap again last night. Well, around 5:30 this morning, I heard a very distant scratching noise. My ears were very sensitive by this point. I went out to see if there was an empty trap and LOW AND BEHOLD, A MOUSE!!!!! I caught the beast. I cute little (but very strong and smart) field mouse. We stared in each other’s eyes for a good long time. I saw the defeat in him and he saw the pride in me. Nothing but respect. We both knew the game was over. Check mate.
I drove down the road and let him go in the woods. He quickly bounced away and stopped to give me one last glance. I swear I heard, “Good bye my worthy adversary.” Maybe it was the wind…
14 Responses to “How To Catch a Mouse in the House”
By Paul on Dec 3, 2006 | Reply
Where are the pictures?
By Kat on Dec 19, 2006 | Reply
Aww that’s a cute story and one fit mouse.
It’s good you let him go. Even though now he’ll be able to build a whole family of really smart mice!
By Tra on Jan 1, 2007 | Reply
What was the name of the trap that you found at walmart? I came home to discover I have a field mouse in my house.
By admin on Jan 1, 2007 | Reply
I am not sure. It is shaped like a simple clear/blue rectangle box. It has one plastic flap as the door. If you take a look at what they have, you most likely won’t confuse it with something else.
By Jules on Mar 30, 2007 | Reply
I have been trying to catch a stack of crafty little critters in my house for the past few days!
They love peanut butter….and pumpkin seeds! And they always get the darn food without getting caught! (like 5 minutes after I set it out for them…little rascals!)
I will persevere though….your story has given me hope….lol
(I wonder if we have traps like the last one you mentioned down here in Australia….hmmm)
By nicki on Dec 5, 2007 | Reply
I can so relate to your story!! I have caught 5 crafty little creatures but this last one (hopefully the last one) has been eating the peanut butter and running away. I don’t just set 1 snap trap I set 2 or 3. So now I must call in the heavy artilery, snap traps, glue traps and the little house that catches them alive. I even ordered off the net some stuff you sprinkle around your house and can even put inside to keep them away. I am glad someone else has a smart mouse in the house, but I will PREVAIL!!!!!
By jayadmin on Dec 5, 2007 | Reply
Just remember that the snap traps and glue traps kill the mouse. The mouse really didn’t do anything wrong, so it probably doesn’t deserve to be murdered. That’s why people are now using the animal friendly traps.
By bas256 on Nov 13, 2008 | Reply
cool story man i have caught 13 mice so far and i know theres more
By Brian on Jan 8, 2009 | Reply
You are insane.
By Chris on Aug 18, 2009 | Reply
I’ve caught 5 field mice, BY HAND! Well, I just use a plastic container! I trigger them to come out and then, boom! The plastic container is over them! I suppose I’m fast! I do juggle you know! Well, there was one time when one jump out of a kitchen cabinet! I catch it in the air! I’m so freaking awesome! That was a real man vs. mouse battle! Another was too easy, the mouse was so small he couldn’t get out of the bathroom sink! Kept sliding from it! hahaha! I just gave it a push to the container! and all of them I released them a few blocks away! sorry I couldn’t go further! they’ll be another guys problem now!
By Diane Eberle on Sep 5, 2009 | Reply
I haven’t had success with the traps. What has happened is the night before trash day, I removed the trash bag and put it out and did not get a chance to put a clean trash bag in the container. So there is this fairly large trash can empty and twice I have had a mouse fall into the trash can. The first time was s small can that I usually keep in the bathroom but for some reason I had left out and I awoke in the middle of the night to hear the mouse trying to get out so I took it outside and released it as far as I could from my apartment. The second time was a larger trash can- smaller mouse. I think I am going to try the peanut butter because I am pretty sure there is at least one more – maybe two.
By Nyne on Sep 10, 2009 | Reply
i got a Mouse problem in my home right as we speak!!! well this isnt just a mouse i swear he was a MothaFn RAT!! a Big Freakn RAT!!! i live in New York by the way. im using a glue trap and ive got him cornered in behind a flow cabnit im gona catch this. “let him loose.”???…. Let him Loose My Balls im gona kill him with this golf Club!!!!
By yvette on Oct 1, 2009 | Reply
these are very funny stories! my sis is staying wit me bcuz there’s a mouse in her house that she swears is a baby rat! We’ve tried everthing 2 catch this fat b****!
sticky traps, houses, moth balls and electronic devices! When we catch him it’s lights out!!!!
By Homomorphism on Oct 3, 2009 | Reply
2:19 am, I kept myself awake with a zombie movie, while waiting for the little creature to come out. Last night, I saw it 4 or 5 times while writing emails. Tonight, I saw it happily take away 2 pieces of cereal and heard its happy chewing sound. I tried 4 different humane traps. The Wal-Mart box didn’t work because it never pushes something open. Even if I lifted the door with a piece of cereal, it took away the cereal without entering the box. The toilet paper bridge didn’t work. It took away all the cereal leading to the bridge, but never entered it to get the last piece, maybe pushed it into the bucket below once or twice. A covered bucket didn’t work. I could see the 3 pieces of very light paper holding some cereal was pushed down, but the creature didn’t go straight to the center, otherwise it would have been in the bucket already. The glue didn’t work. I saw it touch its edge with one foot, pulled away immediately feeling some stickiness. When I sit still, it often walks on the carpet in a joyful zigzag way, but as soon as I move a little bit, it vanishes into shadows and corners. It’s frustrating trying to be humane! Give me a sniper rifle, I blow off its head.