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Mice in the Kitchen

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 6:36 pm
by eephour_Archive
So, for the past few weeks I've been noticing a lot of mice poops in my kitchen area, enough to where I no longer feel comfortable cooking in my kitchen. My housemates and I have set a trap and caught just one mouse but I continue to see poop, even in pots and pans stored in the cabinets. It's taken quite a toll on my diet, I've been relying on microwavable food, takeout (when I can afford it), and cup of soup. What should I do? Just man up, clean up the droppings, pour boiling water over my pans, and attempt to cook decent meals again? Or call my landlord and bitch and see if he'll spring for the Terminex or some type of pest control? This really sucks.

Mice in the Kitchen

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 6:40 pm
by stewie_Archive
1. Call your landlord and have them bring out a pest control expert. That's most likely required by law in your area. Bitch repeatedly if this does not happen ASAP.

2. Buy 5 more mouse traps. Set them with peanut butter (not cheese) and leave them in corners and places where you've seen poop.

3. Disinfect your kitchen whenever you see mouse poop. It's poop, no matter how you swing it.

Mice in the Kitchen

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 6:41 pm
by dlayphoto_Archive
Call your landlord. Some cities have a provision in their tenant laws that require pest control...at least that's how it is here.

Good luck!

Mice in the Kitchen

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:10 pm
by Christopher J McGarvey_Archive
Burn the joint down.

Mice in the Kitchen

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:20 pm
by that damned fly_Archive
get a hammer and a block of cheese.

Mice in the Kitchen

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 7:28 pm
by dimpfelmoser_Archive
eephour wrote: What should I do?


Give them names. This way they become part of the household and the poo isn't that much of a hassle really. I named our mice Fritz and Marcie but you should choose names that you are comfortable with. In a time where people pay 300 dollars for a Chihuahua you should be grateful for pets that come for free and that have actually chosen you instead of the other way round. Oh, and they are such cute little buggers and so undemanding. I was devastated when Fritz died this spring (the diet wasn't that healthy) and so was Marcie. She never got over it and left for good. I hope she is happy now

Mice in the Kitchen

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 8:15 pm
by burun_Archive
Buy some steel wool (the non-soap impregnated kind) and spend an afternoon stuffing it into any holes you see along the baseboards, around pipes, in cracks. Mice can fit through holes the size of a pencil, I am told.

Steel wool hurts the mice when they try to chew through it, so they give up and go elsewhere. Filling as many holes as you can see will keep them from re-entering the house.

Do not leave food lying out.

If you have stuff like rice, pasta, sugar, flour in the cabinets, you should put them in plastic containers instead of leaving them in their paper bags. Pasta should be kept in glass containers anyhow.

This is not a substitute for having a pest control guy come, but it is a stopgap until they do show up.

I don't know if those sonic repellers work, but if you do not have pets it might be worth a try. Alternately, you can borrow a cat. Apparently the presence of a cat (and their scent) will make mice go away.

Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap is also said to be a mouse repellent because mice seem to not like the smell of peppermint. I am not sure of this either.

Mice in the Kitchen

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 8:40 pm
by Chapter Two_Archive
dimpfelmoser wrote:
eephour wrote: What should I do?


Give them names.


:shock:

If you take this advice, be sure to go out and get a bumper book of names for mice for future reference. Dimpfelmoser may have been lucky enough to have had gay mice, but believe me, in the case of most mice, when they're not in sight, they ain't watching tv.

Mice in the Kitchen

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 8:46 pm
by eephour_Archive
It actually did cross my mind to maybe embrace them and make them my friends but no friends of mine like to poop on my cutting board.

Mice in the Kitchen

Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 8:49 pm
by Christopher J McGarvey_Archive
eephour wrote:...but no friends of mine like to poop on my cutting board.
You and I would not make good friends. :twisted: