Pompadour

Wednesday 22 September 2010

A mouse in the house.

It's no great suprise to see the odd mouse in an old stone house, but one day, seemingly out of the blue, we saw about three of the swines in the kitchen.

We are definately not a fan of poisoning (and refuse to), we hate mousetraps although they can be reasonably effective, so I half heartedly said - Well, we will have to get another cat then. Neil said, "yes, well I think we should".

Having lost Tam on the road outside (which still seems so unfair given the limited amount of traffic we get on the lane) the subject of another cat has been a bit of a no no subject. It broke my heart when we lost Tam, but as Romey the older cat who came with the house has put herself in mouse catching retirement, we may consider another.

I did however buy this tastefully designed(!) mouse deterrant.



The photo is the wrong way up but you get the general idea. It emits a sonic beep that is undetectable to humans, cats and dogs but should keep us mouse free if you believe the hype.

I have to say though, since plugging it in we haven't seen any in the kitchen, although Tess found one in the hall and chased it in the direction of the kitchen. I had a mental image of a mouse with its paws over its ears going AGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!

I have started putting a few feelers out for a kitten. Watch this space!

10 comments:

  1. Roz we had two in the kitchen when we returned a couple of years ago after winter in the UK. I found traces of them in the cupboard!!! I did use traps and had both of them within 5 mins so they were very effective. I have never seen a mouse (or traces of) in the house since. Diane

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  2. No mice and no cats. You must be a fantastic housewife Diane! I do hate traps though. What did you bait them with?

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  3. I wish I was a fantastic house wife but..... I just put a small piece of bread in the traps it was all I had having just arrived. I had hardly shut the cupboard door and Nigel said what was that noise, hey presto. There have been mice in the barn, but that is a lot more difficult to keep them at bay as there are so many places they can get in! They must just stay out of my kitchen:-)Diane

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  4. We do traps as well. Tried the humane type of trap when I espied a mouse in the house back in the UK. Nope. No luck. Tried for three weeks to catch the blighter by which time it had multiplied such that, after Hubs's forceful instructions to 'Get some proper mousetraps', we caught thirteen in total! The traps were snapping like gun shots for the first couple of hours they were baited! Don't like poison, too slow. Traps work fast, but not baited with cheese, but with bread. We act quickly now when a mouse is espied! Good luck with your search for a new feline friend.

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  5. Neil favours currants on the traps, but I don't think we have tried bread, I'll give it a go!

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  6. Ours borrow in from the outside when it gets really cold....traps with chocolate work best...they must have refined tastes.

    When we bought the house, it still had some furniture and when we stripped back the blankets, in every bed the mice had made nests in the straw (!) mattresses!

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  7. Bread's the best thing in traps for sure. I'd love a recipe for butternut squash Roz, thanks.

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  8. I think they will get anywhere Helen - I know a mechanic who found one nesting in an engine once!!
    Jan, I will try to root it out for you xx

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  9. What a shame you live so far from me - I have three beautiful fluffpot kittens that need homing. One Ginger and white, one back tabby and one tabby with a white bib - so so sweet. I am sure you have plenty down your way though lol x

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  10. They sound gorgeous - but then aren't all small fluffy animals!! At least you can enjoy them until they get a home. Thanks for reading the blog.

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