WAAYYY OT: Mouse in the Car Problem

We had a few mice in residence last winter while we were away. Found a plastic trap that is easy to use. You don't have to touch the critter to empty the trap. Works like a giant clip, and between bait and traps, no sign of mice after a couple of weeks!

I had the same problem after moving to a new subdivision which is built on old fields. THey were getting into my jeep and chewing on the kids hats and stuff, eeeeew I was horrified. Apparently they are not there anymore because it is just too darn cold here now for them to even live in the jeep! BUT, when I asked the local jeep club if anyone else had ever had this problem they all replied with MOTH BALLS!

If you can stand the stink of them put a few in your car, the glove box, and even on the ground around your car. They hate the smell of them and will go elsewhere. No poison, no traps, no dead bodies.

Well...the moth balls caused me a problem today !! Last Oct dh and I moved out of here while we had work done on our house. We had packed a lot of kitchen things in totes ( the kind that supplies come to stores )...anyway...I had a lot of these totes in our garage and to keep mice away dh tosed moth balls....I think a million of them !!!....around everthing. Well, today I was making cookies and going to freeze them and yesterday I got into one of the totes and got my large Tupperware containers for storing them. Even though I had washed them, when I picked up one of the containers I could smell the faint odor of moth balls !!!!... I didn't dare store my nice cookies in them but fortunately I did have another container that hadn't fallen into dh's hands last fall . So, right now I have 3 large containers soaking in hot water and lots of detergent -- hoping to get rid of that smell !!! Just be careful what you use those moth balls around...I'm afraid these containers are ruined for food... Mary

Try lemons, Mary. Yogi's dog nibbles comes in very good plastic containers. He's quite fond of the smell but when I want to re-use them, I fill them with hot water, squeeze in a lemon or two, toss in the lemons and simply let them soak a nice long time. You may have to resort to a hot vinegar soak but try the lemons first. Polly

I'll throw the trap away rather than deal with it.

The absolute worst though, are those glue traps. I will never, never, never use them again.

It was awful and I don't want to talk about it.

Cindy

Try sealing a couple of charcoal briquets in the Tupperware container. Charcoal absorbs odor. As does baking soda. Or slightly damp black and white newspaper pages. Bleach can sometimes help too. (I sold TW for 10 years and learned a lot about how to deal with all sorts of things with it. )

Pati, > Well...the moth balls caused me a problem today !!

Pati..thanks ! ...I had lunch w/ friends today and one suggested bleach, also, or vinegar. I decided on the vinegar ...a soaking....and what a strange smell I had between the moth balls and vinegar on the plastic ware !!! After I rinsed them off after a good soaking , I ran everything thru a quick wash in the dishwasher and they came out quite good smelling !!!...Thanks for the info...I hadn't thought of the baking soda and if I hadn't needed them the same day as I was baking I think that a soaking in that would have worked as well. And it sounds pretty safe to boot. Mary

Didn't want to start a new thread--you all are so lovely to put up with my whining but I am just about at wits' end. My heat unit conked out yesterday. I was lucky that I got a repairman to come out in just a few hours. Guess what *that* problem was? A big snake was in there and had shorted it out. What is the DEAL?? We are over run with snakes *and* mice? Why don't the snakes eat the mice? Why don't one of the FIVE cats at least *chase* the mice away? THAT cost $75. I won't gripe about that, becuase I sure wouldn't want to deal with it for any amount of money. I have been so depressed worrying about Dad and worrying about my own health problems and how I am going to manage taking care of him I had been just ignorning the holiday, didn't even put up a tree and wasn't going to. Did not send out cards, or even get my Christmas music out. No young children, or grandchildren, so I figured I'd just ignore it and it would go away. I got a phone call yesterday that I had won a big, beautiful Christmas tree in a raffle. I think God had His hand in that raffle bucket. Now I can't wait to get the tree. Isn't it so funny how the little things in life make you so stupidly happy? Thanks, as always, for listening. (just to be a wee bit on topic, I started a "peony" block quilt in the same beautiful colors as monique's quilt. And I have a 30's reproduction fabric quilt nearly ready for a happy dance. It has saved my sanity.

Cats kill 3 or 4 times more mice than they really eat. Oddly enough studies show that cats who are fed regularly kill more mice than cats who aren't fed, so you evidently just have more of them than your cats can handle.. Since you have pets around please don't put out poison to kill the mice because you will accidentally poison cats and dogs in your area. Standard spring traps are a danger to pets too. Look for "Mouse Cubes" or similar poison-free traps that mice walk into but can't leave and dispose of the mice in whatever way you see fit.

Something has changed in your environment to lead to the increase of mice. Long drought drives the mice from rural to suburban areas in search of food and water, and exceptionally good plant growing years means a great food increase so more mice are born. Either way, you get too many mice in one area.

Lots of mice means there is enough food (aka mice) around for a larger snake population so the baby snakes all live to be adults. Until the snakes eat enough of the mice to really reduce their numbers the snake population will grow. Lots of mice and snakes means a larger population of birds of prey will be drawn to your area too. Owls, hawks, and falcons all eat mice and snakes. I love to see them come to my area because they clear out all the unwanted rodent population really well.

Debra in VA See my quilts at

Briquets have more than just charcoal in them. Most brands of briquets are impregnated with starting fluid or other oil/petroleum based product and will leave the plastic container smelling like fuel. Plain charcoal is a whole other animal and is safe. Debra in VA See my quilts at

There used to be something called Activated charcoal ( I think ! ) ...I can remember my mother putting it ina closet that had a dampish smell. Haven't seen it in years.

I bet they still sell it at the pet stores for fish filters...

{Personally, I'm a big fan of baking soda for cleaning stuff that will touch food. It absorbs odors, you can make it into a paste and scrub with it, plus it rinses cleanly.)

I was thinking the same thing, better to get the charcoal that is used in fish tanks.

I buy those tablets that clean dentures, in order to get the stains out of my teapot and teacups. They are safe for dentures, so they may well take the stains/smells out of plastic boxes? Worth a try, and dead cheap - something like 50 pence for a whole tube of 12.

-- Jo in Scotland

I used to have charcoal to put in indoor bulbs grown just in water to keep them sweet - so Garden Centre?

Sally at the Seaside ~~~~~~~~~~ (uk)

B> I was thinking the same thing, better to get the charcoal that is used > in fish tanks.

Ick ick ick! I have goosebumps! I shouldn't have read this before going to bed. I hope the little critter was scared enough to find another house to inhabit.

Well, me personally, I'm not afraid or freaked out by mice (I actually think they're cute and I usually feel really sorry for the poor little things - they have such a "bad rep"). But spiders? Euuug!!!!!!!

Part of my irrational fear (and I know that's exactly what it is) is 1) I read a horror novel years ago when I was about 9 (too young for the violence involved, but we had an "open door policy" on books when I was a kid) - scared the *&%$ out of me for *years* and I don't think I've ever gotten over it. It was really scary and involved spiders that used people (and large mammals) for "gestating." Euug squared!!

2) Spiders freak me out with the slow, purposeful way that they move. It just strikes me as so .... well, evil. And again, I *know* I'm irrational in that respect and I simply can't help it. I've been able, over the years, to get over every other fear I've got (heights was a BIG one) but the fear of spiders I've never been able to shake.

I think some critters just spark some primitive, primeval fear or survival instinct. My "primitive" trigger is spiders ... hubby's is snakes and slugs (don't ask).

Hugs!! Connie :)