Okay, enough with the rodents already!
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive August 2006:
Okay, enough with the rodents already!
Yesterday, DH finally whacked the bat, that was bothering us in our basment. It had been bothering us for a few weeks, but would only show up occasionally. Just lately, it had been more frequent. It went to the big batcave in the sky.
About a month ago, or so, I saw a mouse in the basement. DH set two traps and killed 2 mice. Tonight, I saw a third mouse! Good grief, already. This one fell from the ceiling in the basement, to the floor. Jasmine found it and was stalking it. Once she got ahold of the mouse, it was over in seconds. I don't think the mouse knew what hit it. I swear one moment it was alive and the next it wasn't. What a good doggie, huh? We didn't let her try to eat it, though. I scooped it up on a piece of cardboard, using an index card and took it outside.
Man, why does this stuff always happen, when DH is at work? No way, was I leaving a dead mouse, down by my computer desk! Ewwwww!
So, anyway, I think Jasmine just earned her new toys! LOL! Perhaps, DH should load up the mousetraps, anyway, though. Maybe there are more than 3. Ugh.
Who knew a dog, could be a good mouser!?
Dawn - Try to find where they are getting in. Obviously, you have an opening somewhere, and wild animals sense that winter is coming, and are trying to find winter quarters.
Also, my DD is an ER nurse. She had a family in the ER who had a bat in their upstairs sleeping area. They all had to get the RABIES shots because there was a chance that the family members could have been nipped by the bat in their sleep, or otherwise came into contact with the bat saliva. You might want to check with your doctor.
Yes, some dogs are very aggressive when it comes to rodents. DH was moving something in the yard one day, and "Molly", our old, fat beagle was by his side. A mouse ran out of nowhere, and she was on the poor little thing as fast as lightening. DH was shocked.
The bat was probably, either in the basement, or the attic. DH has figured out, where he probably came in. I don't think it was ever, in the main part of the house. It was flying over my head, while I was on the computer! LOL! It never touched me.
The mouse wasn't in the basement long enough to hurt anybody! LOL!
I know what you mean about this stuff happening when the dhs aren't around. When Lara was pretty little, we were playing out in the front yard. Our cat had a tendency of bringing her "gifts". Usually lizards. Well, one day she brought her a baby rattlesnake! My maternal protective thing kicked in, and I was able to well, send him to heaven after I made sure Lara was a safe distance away and unable to watch. I usually can't kill living things. My dh was impressed I handled it without his help. I hope I never, ever have to do it again. I felt so bad, but couldn't handle the thought of it sharing the yard with my little girl.
Good for Jasmine. She is some dog, isn't she? And I can't imagine having a mouse fall from above. Now that would give me the chills! Glad you are all safe and sound and bat-free!
Wow, Nicki! I would have gone into "Mommy Mode", too, even though I try never to kill any living thing, either. Kitties don't know. They think that they are bringing you tokens of their LOVE!  I'm glad that the kitty didn't get bitten, either.
We lived in a house when my DD was two y/o. I used to bring her into the basement with me when I did laundry, so she wouldn't try to come down the stairs by herself. One night, something whizzed by my head. I caught sight of something black. At first, I thought that it was a bat. Then I heard it bang the heat register. I looked again, and it was a bird. The poor thing was frightened and trying to find it's way out.
I grabbed Debby and ran up the stairs. Of course, DH was away. I called my Dad, and he came over and tried to shoo it up the stairs and out the door. No luck. Finally, I called the Fish and Game Dept. I told the guy that I did not want it harmed. He was very nice. He brought a big net, was able to snare it, and let it go outside. You never saw a happier bird fly away.
Turned out, my darling little daughter had opened the trap door at the bottom of the chimney where you clean out the ashes. The wildlife "guy" said that he must have become disoriented and flew down the chimney and into the basement.
I love all creatures, but all I could think of was a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds", where this starling would be lying in wait for me at the bottom of the stairs. LOL! I'm just glad we had a happy ending.
Gee Dawn, if *my* dog had killed something, we would probably lose a hand trying to get the *kill* away from her. (She got ahold of some starfish I picked up on Sanibel last year and was crunching down on one, and I couldn't get near her to get it away from her.) Taking *food* from Kali can be a dangerous thing.
We have mice too and it was a nest. The first and second nights we caught an adult mouse. We're on our ninth night and have got at least one mouse (smaller, the kiddies we think) every night.
Mioce must have awfully big litters.
If you've already found 3 mice in your basement you should probably get a couple of traps and set them where the dog can't get at them.
I don't know how you could be calm with a bat flying around your basement. We had one once in the living room, my youngest was 3 and told me there was a seagull flying around the living room. I saw the bat, the kids heard some words they had never heard, screamed for dh to get out of the shower and locked myself in the bedroom with the kids until he killed it. I don't mind bats outside but I do not want them in my house!
ROFL Colette,I can soooo relate with locking up yourself until the DH takes care of things.
But, the bat was hard, because it didn't stay "out" all that long and we didn't know where it was hiding. You had to just get lucky. We have had bats before,so I guess they don't freak me out as much as they did the very first time.
Thank goodness, no unauthorized mammals in my house tonight!
Jasmine got the mouse in her mouth. We told her to drop it, and she did, but it was already dead. Then I decided she'd done us a favor.
It seems DH is never home, when the hornets get in the house, either! So, the kids go hide, but I still have to deal with it! LOL!
Which reminds me. I saw one by the kitchen sink window and I just closed the window. I don't know if it is still alive in there, or has died. We'll have to check it out tomorrow.
Like my mom said when we found a mouse in the house we rented 5 years ago, "If you see one, there ARE more you don't see." And from the little gifts they left us to find while moving furniture out, she was right. Set some traps where Jas can't get them or get yourself a big, fat cat that's a good mouser (and can take care of his/herself with Jasmine around!). Have fun!
The traps will have to suffice. DH is allergic to cats.
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