Inconvenient Annoyances

I've actually cornered a mouse in my kitchen and stood still and as silent as I can be watching to see its escape route before... for ages!  My husband laughs at my obsession (when he's not moaning about how it's bedtime and he needs to be up for work in so many hours).  But if I could figure out how it's/they're getting in, then I can plug that hole and stop them for a bit.  Maybe.

When we first moved in, we discovered the mice had been living IN the old cupboards.  Evidently for years.  That's why we ripped out the semblance of kitchen that there was.  We planned to redo it, anyway, but finding the mouse nests rapidly accelerated the demolition.  I have pictures, but you really don't want to see them.  *assure*

Oh I know I don't want to see the photos.  I can't unsee what I've seen in my own kitchen!!!

All I can think is they must be IN the fridge.  There are no signs of poop anywhere else.  And we've moved the fridge away from the normal spot (still plugged in) and all 5 mice have been caught in the void where the fridge belongs.

I hope and pray they are NOT under the cabinets but only time will tell for that. 

We know the exterminator is going to take one look at our garage and say we have way too much stuff in there - which we 100% do.  My husband would LOVE to be a hoarder if he could.  I think this will help him part with things finally!

When I first discovered the mice were in our utili-kitchen, I surmised that they were climbing up the coils on the back of the fridge to access the worktop.  So we built a wall 30 feet high (or maybe only about 30") to block them from using the 'fridge-ladder to get up and down.  It stopped them for a while, but then they found another way.... I think I have them stopped again, but they are constantly finding new ways.

This is why all my food is stored in airtight containers, my cutlery and dishes are kept in a different area where the mice can't access them, and I sanitize the work surface before I start every single meal.  And it's why I feel like I'm camping in my own house. 

You need a big hungry cat. A story coming..........the last place we lived before we retired (a place called Norwood...or since it's N Yorkshire....Norud) had a bit of abundance of rabbits. Our landlady was a German lady who in the late Spring hired a couple of guys to sit out in back of her part of the property with guns...and they were waiting to shoot a few of them. They had spent a decent part of the day there and had shot a couple of them. I just laughed at them....by that time one of our cats had killed (by my estimation) at least 70 of the damn things....and eaten them. Great cat.....but this habit was more than a little disgusting. We were eating an afternoon lunch with my wife's son and wife one day.....the cat came in through the kitchen window with another rabbit and dropped it for us at the table.....My wife's son was more than a little startled(actually screamed a bit and hid behind the tv.....a running joke now....forever)...my wife and I hardly blinked....the cat was nuts. I can't imagine a mouse ever getting anywhere in our house when it was alive....   

You need a big hungry cat. A story coming..........the last place we lived before we retired (a place called Norwood...or since it's N Yorkshire....Norud) had a bit of abundance of rabbits. Our landlady was a German lady who in the late Spring hired a couple of guys to sit out in back of her part of the property with guns...and they were waiting to shoot a few of them. They had spent a decent part of the day there and had shot a couple of them. I just laughed at them....by that time one of our cats had killed (by my estimation) at least 70 of the damn things....and eaten them. Great cat.....but this habit was more than a little disgusting. We were eating an afternoon lunch with my wife's son and wife one day.....the cat came in through the kitchen window with another rabbit and dropped it for us at the table.....My wife's son was more than a little startled(actually screamed a bit and hid behind the tv.....a running joke now....forever)...my wife and I hardly blinked....the cat was nuts. I can't imagine a mouse ever getting anywhere in our house when it was alive....

We told our cat last night that he is officially the most useless cat put on the face of the planet - ever.  But damn is he sweet!

If Copper was still alive, we wouldn't have a mouse problem.  Guaranteed!

Rawrrrrr. US mortgage servicers are my current IA. I have updated my mailing address with them multiple times, received a mortgage statement for another customer at my new house here in the UK (unlikely they used to live here, more likely someone screwed up) and still haven't received my escrow refund because they sent it to my old US address and it wasn't forwarded. Today they told me they can't mail things outside of the US, but that's BS because I got that other person's statement. So the nice gentleman I spoke is figuring it all out. I really hope I don't have to make my mom receive more mail for me. I feel badly because this will be the 4th thing related to the house sale.

MOUSE HUNT 2018 UPDATE:

Only one mouse caught over the weekend.  Again, in the kitchen.

Mouse man came out on Friday and gave us some poison to put in the loft spaces and in the garage.  We did put the poison out yesterday in the loft spaces but haven't yet in the garage.  Hate to do poison but we've caught 6 mice inside the house at this point.  We have a cat and two children to protect.  We have to make sure we eliminate this problem.  We are reasonably optimistic that we may have captured the mice at this point as there was little to no evidence of mice in the loft spaces.

We have "cat cam" set up in the kitchen as of last night to see where the mice are coming from.  Of course, no mice last night so we are none the wiser.

I still think they could have been living in the fridge.  My husband doesn't as there wasn't any nest material.  But LORDY there was enough mice piss to fill a milk bottle in the drip tray!  We gave everything a good clean but it's hard to reach a lot of the parts.  We fear we may have to buy a new fridge.  We'll see how this week goes.

We spent several hours cleaning in the garage yesterday.  I'm being brutal and tossing things left, right, and centre.  My husband still has all of his school books and CD's that he's refusing to part with.  He thinks we'll only be able to get one car in the garage.  If I was in charge, we'd get both cars in no problem.  SO MUCH CRAP that could be tossed.  (side goal is to get the garage functional again as it's currently boarded out but we'd like to put the cars in there).

The pee offends me more than the droppings.  I don't know why.  If there was that much under there, I think you might be right about them living in the 'fridge.  Did you ask the pest control man about it?

They can't get to the food cabinet part of the fridge from the outside, right?  The contents of your 'fridge are safe?

The pee offends me more than the droppings.  I don't know why.  If there was that much under there, I think you might be right about them living in the 'fridge.  Did you ask the pest control man about it?

They can't get to the food cabinet part of the fridge from the outside, right?  The contents of your 'fridge are safe?

Correct, it's just a small space (maybe only one cubit foot) in the lower part of the back of fridge.  Completely self-contained and unable to get to the actual fridge/freezer.  Just the smell.  Ugh.  I think it'll dry and air out if the problem is gone and be fine.  It's MUCH improved since we gave it a good clean.  Just we couldn't reach everywhere.   

Correct, it's just a small space (maybe only one cubit foot) in the lower part of the back of fridge.  Completely self-contained and unable to get to the actual fridge/freezer.  Just the smell.  Ugh.  I think it'll dry and air out if the problem is gone and be fine.  It's MUCH improved since we gave it a good clean.  Just we couldn't reach everywhere.   

Well, I really hope you get your problem sorted.  I need you to restore my hope/faith for a mouse-free existence one day.

I tried a new mouse-barrier over the weekend.  This morning, I found evidence that it failed.    Even when there's nothing for the mice to eat, they explore looking for food.  This is going to take a long time for us to resolve.  Or a new kitchen. 

I still think they could have been living in the fridge.  My husband doesn't as there wasn't any nest material.  But LORDY there was enough mice piss to fill a milk bottle in the drip tray!  We gave everything a good clean but it's hard to reach a lot of the parts.  We fear we may have to buy a new fridge.  We'll see how this week goes.

Gagging reading this. UGH.

Gagging reading this. UGH.

Last night, my husband asked me what was wrong as I seemed upset.  I looked at him and said, "we live in a shithole."  He disagrees but it's a tough argument for him to make at the moment! 

Last night, my husband asked me what was wrong as I seemed upset.  I looked at him and said, "we live in a shithole."  He disagrees but it's a tough argument for him to make at the moment!

Didn't you say you wanted a new kitchen, though?  Maybe it's time to go Rambo and destroy your old one, seal up all crevices and holes, and rebuild. That's what we're doing (not just because of the mice, but they did accelerate our start)... we're just stuck after the demolition phase. 

Last night, my husband asked me what was wrong as I seemed upset.  I looked at him and said, "we live in a shithole."  He disagrees but it's a tough argument for him to make at the moment!

it's tough isn't it though because something like this can totally change your whole opinion on where you live. My husband constantly talks about how we live in a "shithole" because of all the work that needs doing on various bits but to me it's definitely not a shithole. I think he'll feel differently once we get all the work done but it just seems miles away for now just as I'm sure you feel like getting these mice out will never happen. I can definitely appreciate why you're upset and I would hate to be surprised by mice piss in the place where you store food but it's out of your control.

Hope that you're able to get them all out for good soon

Didn't you say you wanted a new kitchen, though?  Maybe it's time to go Rambo and destroy your old one, seal up all crevices and holes, and rebuild. That's what we're doing (not just because of the mice, but they did accelerate our start)... we're just stuck after the demolition phase. 

I was going to say, the silverlining might be that it gives you a reason to redecorate if you're wanting to?

I've been hesitant to tell this story because of the inherent (unintended!) cruelty involved, but maybe you can appreciate it...

Many, many years ago at my mother's house one afternoon, I was preparing some food to go into the oven.  About halfway through the prep work, I turned the oven on to preheat.  After a minute or two, I started hearing a soft scratching/scraping sound.  I kept working on the food prep as the sounds kept getting faster and more intense, then they slowed and stopped.  And then I started to smell burnt hair.  Finally, it hit me what was going on and I opened the oven door in a panic to a waft of very unpleasant smoke billowing out and the charred remains of a dead mouse under the heating element.

I was traumatized by what I'd done, and the house smelled so bad, that I didn't have any appetite for dinner that night.  I don't know what my family did, but it didn't involve the oven.

Thing is, we didn't know my mother's house had a mouse problem.  In fact, that was the only one we ever encountered.  My brother and his then-girlfriend (now wife) had cats, so I think this one mouse was just on a desperate mission that ended in disaster.