We own two cats. We feed them, give them shelter, buy them toys and catnip, provide them with free health care, and pet them when they demand it. In return all we ask is that they keep our cabin free of mice when we're there.
I'm at the cabin for a few weeks and it's getting cold out at night so the mice are trying to move in. But we've got two super-alert cats ready to pounce on any mouse that dares to show itself, right? Right?
The other morning I got up and happened to glance in the kitchen and there was our cat, Skipper, laying on the kitchen counter right next to a little field mouse who was nibbling on some crumbs. When the mouse was done it sauntered off and Skipper did nothing. She just let it walk away (I grabbed a box, caught the mouse - see how easy it is Skipper? - and took it into the woods where I let it go).
But it gets worse. The next day the cats cornered a different mouse (I hope), and they just chased it around the room. They could have caught if they really wanted to. They finally cornered it on our TV tray rack and the mouse actually ran down to Skipper and they touched noses! That's when I grabbed my camera, to get proof of the unprofessional behavior of our cats. You can watch the shocking video here (when the link opens, click on the image on the left).
Has the whole world gone insane?! Herman Cain proposes to raise taxes on families making $50,000 by $4,500 a year and he is now the leading Republican candidate for President? Dirty hippies are scaring wealthy Wall Street moguls? Our cats are befriending mice? What next, an African American gets elected President of the United States?? Oh, wait...,
--Trakker
Snap-E ® Mousetrap
No cat will not hunt unless he's hungry. Yours aren't. The best mousers are cow-barn cats. From the time they're kittens they're fed only milk.
The lesson from a family history of mice in the walls and attic and cats set to hunt them: traps are the solution.
When I mentioned our mouse problem to a friend who runs a lawn-care business, he gave one of his Snap-E traps. He buys a half-dozen at at time.
In one trap we caught three mice in two weeks without having to add more peanut butter. Mice haven't bothered us since.
The Snap-E is a miracle of engineering design. It's easy to bait, set, and dispose of the dead mice. Once you see a Snap-E you'll say, "A better mouse trap!" Recommended.
Posted by: horsec | October 19, 2011 at 02:32 PM
Yes, our cats are very well fed.
I checked online and on Amazon. Great traps. I'll buy some the next time I place an order. The problem with these is that I can't use them when the cats are here. The other problem is that I use these snap traps when I'm away, and I'm often away for 3 or more weeks and when I return the mice have usually been dead for weeks and I have to scrape them from the floor...and their little jellied bodies stink to high heaven.
Damn cats...
Posted by: Trakker | October 19, 2011 at 03:01 PM
Peppermint oil: can't prove it by me
Local citizen reports protecting winter storage of car (wiring) from mice by placing peppermint oil under hood.
Saturate cotton balls, rags?
I have no first hand experience with peppermint oil's efficacy in repelling mice.
Google for "peppermint oil's effectiveness with mice" - be another happy or unhappy user.
Posted by: horsec | October 27, 2011 at 02:36 PM
Interesting. Mint is closely related to catnip. Maybe mice avoid mint because it attracts cats? I can think of worse things to have around the house than cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil.
Posted by: Trakker | October 27, 2011 at 05:00 PM