A little grey mouse has been hanging around the apartment recently, getting bolder every day. Last night it wandered all the way into my bedroom (which happens to be the farthest area in the apartment from the kitchen, where I am pretty sure it lives). I even saw it in my bed, TWICE — along with my sleeping dog!
The first time Kerby didn’t even wake up. After that I did a thorough check of the room and barricaded the gap under the door. Of course, mice are really fast and good at hiding, and all I did was trap it in the room with me.
The second time I saw our little buddy up on the bed, it seemed to run right over Kerby, who jumped up with quite a startled look on his face. I can’t imagine why my bed is so attractive to this critter… it’s not like I eat in bed, and it smells a bit doggy. Maybe it has a crush on Kerby and wants to cuddle. Or, maybe it’s just mocking me. Needless to say, I couldn’t go to sleep for worrying about it returning to the bed.
After my roomie woke up, we did a thorough search together and found Mousie at the back of my closet, behind the laundry basket. Roomie stood by with a broom as backup if my attempt to capture it with a box failed. Which it did, and then we both screamed like little girls as it ran between us, and then screamed again when I very nearly stepped on it.
Now, of course, we really can’t find it, so I set up a rudimentary but clever humane trap while we figure out the next step. Roomie had put a springloaded mousetrap with peanut butter in the kitchen, but our Mousie is clever and sprung the trap without getting caught. Roomie wants to put out glue traps next, but I’m thoroughly against the idea. We used those at a restaurant I used to work at in an ancient building in Baltimore a lifetime ago.
One day a mouse got very stuck while I was there and it started screaming. It was a horrible sound, and there was no way to get it unstuck. I ended up having to do a mercy killing (blunt trauma to the skull with a heavy duty coffee cup) to save it a slow death by starvation. I really don’t want to go through that again, and while I don’t want stray mice making themselves at home, I would rather avoid cruelty.
Update [11:28 AM]: Well, I just looked up as I was writing this and saw Mousie hop casually out of my room. I can’t figure out where the hell it was hiding, we looked everywhere, I swear!
Update 2 [4:37 PM]: Good thing I lifted up the couch pillows before laying down on it to try and get a few hours of sleep. Hello, Mousie! Of course, after that I gave up sleep as a lost cause. I wonder if it’s just trying to get warm. It’s been quite cold this week but the landlord usually doesn’t turn on the heat until November.
Update 3 [7:52 PM]: Roomie noticed Kerby looking very interested in his toy basket (more so than usual). Yup, Mousie again, nestled in between the remains of a purple stuffie and a half-devoured nylabone. This time we managed to capture our little fiend (not a typo). Neither of us wants to actually murder it though, so I guess we’ll have to try releasing it somewhere, to become someone else’s problem. Hopefully there wasn’t actually more than one hanging around…
I can always let you borrow my cats, but I’m afraid they wouldn’t kill it and would just play with it!!! They seem to be more fascinated by other living creatures while clawing the hell out of us instead of them! Little Demon Kitties!
I think your kitties would be too freaked out by Kerby wanting to put his nose all over them to even bother with the mouse. They are adorable though. The feline method isn’t exactly humane, anyway. And it can be pretty gory. Back when I used to have cats, I used to get “gifts” of mouse parts… a head on the doormat, a tail next to my desk (which, when you are under the impression that it’s just a piece string and pick it up, can be quite disturbing).
My cat could have cared less the time I had a mouse in my apartment. No help at all. Silly cats.
I’m glad you found it, and hope you give it a nice humane future - away from your house!
I have just seen a mouse in our house about a week ago. We have a small daughter and have since been staying at my parents after it followed me around the house (on about the 3rd day.) It is getting more and more bold and though I have lived around mice in barns and horses, never had I had one in my house. The more I read about the disease they carry and how they pro-create the more squimish I get. I have set out literally 28 traps, both humane and instant kill and no luck. I have been looking into maybe a cat but I don’t like the gift giving idea, thanks for your post though it makes me feel not so alone. :)
Thanks for commenting! We did end up with a cat, a half-dead stray kitten who showed up at our door last July. Of course, by the time I nursed him back to health, he had become a permanent resident. We haven’t seen a single mouse (either whole or dismembered) since then and Kerby is happy to have a companion while I’m gone at work, so it worked out well for everyone.