The Mouse Wars Part 4 - The Saga Continues

The Mouse Wars Part 3 - One Gone

There has been scant sign of any mice in the apartment since I wrote Part 3 a few days ago. We've heard some scratching under the stairs and in the walls between the closet and the kitchen, but that's been the only activity. Perhaps sealing the gap in the stairs denied the rodents entry into the house proper.

Although we're standing down from high alert, we will stay vigilant for the next week or so just to make sure they don't find another way in.

The Mouse Wars Part 3 - One Gone

The Mouse Wars Part 2 - The Mice Find Another Way

We now know for sure there are (or were) at least 2 mice - we saw them both today. They were in the middle of the living room, and appeared to be scrapping. I scared them away when I entered the room and they went behind the couch. #3 son got the small blue garbage can ready and we watched. One tried to make a dash in the direction of the door when #3 son dropped the can on top of it.

I grabbed a piece of poster board and slipped it carefully under the upside down can. We slowly flipped the can over and took it outside. There is a large field on the other side of a wooden fence about 150 feet away from the house. We tossed the mouse over the fence. Hopefully, it's not like a dog and able to find its way back.

We chased the other mouse around for a few minutes. It ran into the kitchen under the refrigerator. When I pulled the refrigerator out it ran over my foot back into the living room. We eventually lost it under the couch again.

The gap in the stairs is about to be sealed. This will eliminate another hiding place for them. Perhaps with the loss of hiding places we can successfully catch the ones which remain and get them outside. Our only other hope is that they will eat the poison. So far I think we've had a couple nibbles at it, but no sign of any actual deaths.

The Mouse Wars Part 2 - The Mice Find Another Way

Read part 1: The Mouse Wars Begin

I appears, perhaps, the mice were not entering our apartment through the cracks in the back of the closet we found yesterday. The sneaky buggers were using the closet as a "way point" hiding place to get into the kitchen and/or the bird cage. It was a clever diversion, but one we won't fall for again.

Common wisdom tells us if we see one rodent, there are more. We think we have visual confirmation: a dark brown and a light brown mouse.

There is an alcove between the stairs and the closet in which we patched up the cracks yesterday. We saw a mouse sneak past the small Christmas tree we have set up in front of the alcove and then run around the corner into the kitchen. I followed, but I didn't see where in the kitchen it went. I suspect it followed the wall behind the trash can and the water dispenser, then under the refrigerator. 

Later, we saw what we suspect was another mouse sneak out from under the closet door and around the corner into the kitchen. I followed again, but it was too fast for me.

Upon closer inspection of the alcove and and stairs area we found a small gap between the bottom stair and the wall of the staircase. It's partially covered in carpet, so it was not easily seen while standing above it. This crack won't be as easy to patch as the cracks in the back of the closet. Here, we will probably need to wedge something in the crack to seal it. I'm thinking we could use a soft wood wedge, like those which come in a HAZMAT barrel patching kit.

In the meantime I did lay out some poison. I would still rather not kill it (them), but I don't see a way to catch them unharmed so I can release them outside. Perhaps if we can seal off all the entrances to our apartment, they'll go somewhere else. That would be fine with me. But, with the poor attention to detail which went into this place, there could be dozens of gaps and cracks around the walls. Today we'll concentrate around the alcove and the gap we found in the stairs. Afterwards, we'll have to deal with the situation as it presents itself.

The Mouse Wars Begin

What we've suspected for the past few days was confirmed last night: we have a mouse in our apartment.

Our suspicions started with the faint sound of scratching under the stairs. It was later reinforced when we heard it again just a little louder somewhere behind the kitchen cabinets. Last night, we saw the varmint. It was sneaking out from under a closet door and ran around the corner into the kitchen.

We suspect it's getting food from the bottom of the bird cage. Sidney knocks food down off his feeder shelf onto the floor of the cage so he can scratch around (it's a big cage - about 4 feet wide, 3 feet deep and 5 feet tall). There is a gap where the bottom door meets the frame of the cage which is too small for Sidney to squeeze through, but wide enough for a mouse.

Now the question is: how do we get rid of it? I called our apartment management the other day and the most they would do for us is give us some poison bait, so we're pretty much on our own. Mice have a very important part to play in our ecosystem - outside - so I really would rather not kill it. Unfortunately, I don't know of a way to catch it live for release. Mice are very good at avoiding traps but terrible at avoiding poisons. I can't recall ever seeing a live catch trap for a mouse.

We pulled everything out of the closet we saw it come out of and found some cracks where the skirting board along the back wall meets the skirting boards which go along the side walls. (The builders didn't really pay attention to detail when they built this place). We filled the cracks with silicone caulk and inspected all the boxes in the closet for signs of nesting. After we put everything back in the closet, we heard some scratching under the stairs - where the cracks in the closet led. Perhaps we've sealed it in and it'll have to find another way out - preferably outside.

For now we wait and watch.