Yes, it was mice, not rats – for which we are devoutly grateful – that were sneaking around, gobbling up or distributing chocolate peanuts, at Christmastime. Our "ratzinger" gizmo trapped a few of the critters, in the space of a couple of months, and there has been no sign of any activity since. But today we had a professional exterminator come out to have a good look around and make recommendations for critter-proofing the house and grounds.
The good man did give us some free advice, and allowed as how this is Their Territory, and we must learn to co-exist with the forest denizens. However, he did not suggest that we offer them food and shelter; he showed us where and how to beef up our house-armor (inserting clumps of steel-wool where needed, clearing a couple of outside areas that a mouse might interpret as a sort of welcome mat, etc.) He gave us a list of foodstuffs that must not be left out uncovered. He inspected some suspicious little dust piles along the ledge of our bedroom "barn wall" and assured us that it was not termite issue -- it might be carpenter ants, but it might also be very old stuff that just shakes out of the tongue-and-groove construction of the wall with our occasional little temblors up here.
All this service (he was here for a half-hour) and advice, and he does not charge a cent; he said he likes to be helpful and also knows it's good will: when we do actually need him to do something we'll be inclined to call him, and then he will charge for work done. I like this policy!
Actually we have had little to no observation of "outside pets" coming inside; it's summer, and they are enjoying all the fresh air and free woodland foods. If we get some uninvited guests when the weather turns cold, later in the year, we can call our friendly service, and he pledges to be out here within less than 24 hours to help us.
I can say philosophically that I am at peace with the understanding that we have moved into "their" forest, and that one of the exigencies of living in such beauty is that we are sharing the space with the natives. But they didn't pay for the cottage: and I know Leenie and Greg would certainly not want us to lower the drawbridge for anything with four legs (or 100, in the case of a centipede) – they might even have some two-legged potential objections too! So behave yourselves, friends, when you come to visit!
1 comment:
We've found steel wool and ammonia to be excellent annoyances/barriers to mice. We had a mouse issue earlier this year. We're on the third floor, and while we have clutter, we keep the kitchen clean. We think they showed up because the two apartments below us were empty for long periods of time (one neighbor was living in Philly during the week, the other went to China for 3-4 months).
Morph killed two (we had no idea he had it in him!) and left the third maimed to return to the nest and warn of the killer within. That was the last we saw of mice in the apartment, but they were still in the walls, driving the cat nuts, and periodically we'd hear skritching and see a tiny mouse arm sticking out from under the baseboard, feeling around like it lost it's keys or something.
So I sprayed ammonia water in the crack between the baseboard and floor, then stuffed steel wool in the cracks. For about a day, we'd hear the mouse making its way to the usual spot, then hear it start screeching, angrily. We do not believe any mice were harmed, just really aggravated - the ammonia bothers their eyes and noses, but it loses potency after a day or two - I just out it there to give them a pavlovian notice to vacate.
Haven't had a mouse issue since. We tried traps, none worked, even the fool-proof Decon traps. These here city mice are no fools, apparently.
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