mouse in the oven.

[babka]

A mouse has taken up residence beneath my stove-top.

We've reached a friendly accomodation, the two of us: I clap twice before entering the kitchen to let him know that the giants have arrived. He, in return, clanks the rangetop before emerging, alerting the giants that the mouse would like to move. He inspires me to keep the kitchen spotless for us both, and I've avoided squabbles over food by removing all potential sources of quarrel to the freezer. Really, it would be the ideal host-houseguest relationship if I weren't trying so desperately to murder him.

Any suggestions? He refuses to walk upon the nice gluey carpet that we've laid for him beside the stove, and the lack of food hasn't yet inspired him to move out. I haven't yet laid a trap on top of the stove, where we know he walks, because I couldn't face a dead mouse on top of my stove without coffee or whisky, both of which are on the far side of the oven.

[jwagnerdsm]

Could you wedge a cat in there?

[hillbill]

I have had a serious mouse problem and I've been using a combination of poison and glue traps. The glue traps alone don't seem to work and poison alone leads to finding (or at least smelling) dead mice; whereas traps surrounding poison has enabled me to catch and dispose of them in the least unpleasant way.

[fifi]

Sorry, but that is just really funny. I love the way you combine the accommodation with the desire for murder!

Your reference to the need for coffee and/or whiskey has given me an inspiration. How about leaving out a delectable bit of cake, soaked in whiskey. Get the little sucker drunk then haul his sorry ass out to the garden and let him go to nurse a well deserved hangover another day.

[elyse]

Both glue traps and poison are inhumane.

[Cusina]

Ahh, fall. Tis the season for mice. Whatever you do to get the little darling dead, do it fast. There is NEVER one mouse in a house for long. Before you know it there will be a zillion of the little things throughout the place.

If you are a renter, call your landlord. If you are lucky enough to have full responisibility for the place call an exterminator. The benefit of an experienced exterminator is that he will be very likely to find the mouses' entry point and close it up for you as well as get rid of the little bugger, thus preventing these kinds of games in the future.

Have fun!

[pooter]

I suggest throwing a cheese tasting and sending the mouse an RSVP. Get him drunk with some good port, and let him drive home.

[hillbill]

Both glue traps and poison are inhumane.

It would nice to be humane, but since I am overrun with mice and mouse shit and mouse urine and mouse gnawings and have an allergic reaction to something they carry or deposit and since I'm concerned about the diseases they may carry and since I'm sick to death of the mice scurrying underfoot I've decided to become more agressive of late.

[KatieLoeb]

Both glue traps and poison are inhumane.

Elyse:

With all due respect the mouse is VERMIN. It does indeed carry disease and filth and deserves no more humane treatment than an infestation of cockroaches would.

Does anyone remember the Great Plague that swept Europe and killed off like 20% of the world's population? Yup - started by rats and mice. Or rather by the fleas they carried, but close enough. Vermin is vermin. And having it run around over the surfaces where you prepare your food is about as disgusting a visual as I can handle.

The early bird gets the worm and the second mouse gets the cheese...

[msfurious1]

You are taking the situation quite well. I'd set the traps, or you're going to have to live with them.

This spring I took my car to be worked on. I found out I had a Mama mouse and 4 babies living under ther hood of my car. She had made a whole nest in there out of soft things she found in my garage, where the car is always parked.

The mechanic wanted to stab them with a really big screwdriver

I asked him not to.

He "poked" at them instead and took the 'stuffing" out. Then he took the car for a ride. When he got back they were gone.

He told me it's not unusual for mice to do that when a car is parked in the garage.

And they often do damage by gnawing at the hoses and wires. I'm going to keep a better watch this winter on who's living in the garage and under my car hood!

I hope your "boarder" isn't doing any damage to your stove/oven.

[bloviatrix]

We also had a mouse who lived under our stove. He liked to show his face at the most inoportune moments - such as when we were entertaining. Usually, mice are shy, but ours was so brazen, he would run over my slipper-clad feet. I swear he once stuck his tongue out at me. Fortunately, the glue traps worked, and we got the sucker. He was actually kind of cute, but annoying as all hell.

Anyway, our mouse came in through the a gap in the wall where the gas pipe was. Call your super -- have him pull your stove away from the wall and fill the gap. Steel wool works, as mice can't gnaw through it. But they should be able to seal the gap with plaster.

Good luck.

[jackal10]

You can use humane traps that catch the mouse alive. Peanuts are great bait. A quick Google, or a visit to a hardware store will reveal many.

When you catch the mouse be sure to take it at least 3 miles away before release, otherwise it will return before you do.

Also make sure you close the car door before releasing it, so it does not jump back in.

Of course, it is cruel to take it away from its family and freind and known territory and food supply...

[bourdain]

Mouse traps and poison may be inhumane but serving your guests mouse crap and mouse dander is--on the ethical scale--somewhat worse. I mean--the mouse is IN YOUR STOVE! Those are NOT currants getting piled up inside there. Bring in a cat (an outside contractor) if you have any moral problems. Then let "nature" take its course. But kill the fucker. NOW.

Anyone who is seriously concerned about animal cruelty when you're talking about a prodigiously crap-producing rodent commingling with your FOOD ? Stop by the restaurant on my corner and adopt a few pets.

[Mabelline]

Forget humane. Mice are carriers of hantavirus, and medicine has not even caught up to a treatment. If importing a nice mean tomcat is out of the question, either use warfarin-the same shit as coumadin,not painful, just causes lethally thin blood-then stock up on a LOT of incense; or set a trap on the stove top and take the whiskey to bed with you. But evict that little bastard!

[Suzanne F]

Both glue traps and poison are inhumane.

I'm not sure that elyse is entirely serious.

Now, snap traps: THOSE are inhumane -- to the person who has to clean up the bloody mess.

[Squeat Mungry]

I suggest throwing a cheese tasting and sending the mouse an RSVP.  Get him drunk with some good port, and let him drive home.

Friends don't let mice drive drunk.

[Jonathan Day]

We had a plague of intelligent, gourmet mice this summer. They cheerfully ignored the traps, no matter what I put in them: aged Comté cheese, chocolate, peanut butter -- you name it. They refused to eat the poison that the exterminator had put down. They nibbled at and left mouse shite in my imported Carnaroli rice, in my 70% chocolate: their propensity for nibbling something was directly proportional to its rarity and cost. They probably had little computers on which to read mousEGullet.com, to compare notes about what was best to attack next.

We borrowed a cat, but it was too fat and lazy to bother with them. (In the course of the summer we had a feral cat take up residence as well, but all it did was scream and set off the burglar alarm at night, until we finally chased it off).

Finally, a builder found us an electronic "mouse scarer", a gadget that emits sounds so high pitched that only mice can hear them. The mice were gone within a day. I believe they have gone next door, to dine in our neighbour's kitchen. She is a caterer and a skilled cook, so I am sure they are eating well.

[tommy]

Finally, a builder found us an electronic "mouse scarer", a gadget that emits sounds so high pitched that only mice can hear them. The mice were gone within a day. I believe they have gone next door, to dine in our neighbour's kitchen. She is a caterer and a skilled cook, so I am sure they are eating well.

i have one of these in a shed in the backyard. the mice seem to love it.

[Jonathan Day]

Finally, a builder found us an electronic "mouse scarer", a gadget that emits sounds so high pitched that only mice can hear them. The mice were gone within a day. I believe they have gone next door, to dine in our neighbour's kitchen. She is a caterer and a skilled cook, so I am sure they are eating well.

i have one of these in a shed in the backyard. the mice seem to love it.

By "one of these" do you mean a mouse scarer or a caterer?

[beans]

My gourmet mouse, an unwelcome house guest, found and enjoyed my stash of Callebaut. The first time I saw the little guy we startled eachother -- I screamed and it jumped and ran directly under my oven. It was quite cute. After a few chases and swats from my declawed feline, I suspect it moved out on its own accord to less stressful environs. I haven't found anything nibbled or pooped on in any of the lower cupboards, nor have I seen him.

After last summer's blackout and this same cat's misfortune of getting somehow tangled with the ceiling hung gluey fly strip on the porch, I wouldn't dare try that again for mice. Her feather tail snags just about every bit of trouble that can be imagined.

About kitties. Don't bank on a fiesty tom cat male. They are the lazy sunbeam soaking loungers. The huntress females are good mousers!

Good luck! Those humane box types of trap and release may be a small and worthwhile investment.

[tommy]

Good luck!  Those humane box types of trap and release may be a small and worthwhile investment.

just make sure you release it in a neighbor's yard about 6 doors down.

[beans]

[elyse]

Both glue traps and poison are inhumane.

I'm not sure that elyse is entirely serious.

Now, snap traps: THOSE are inhumane -- to the person who has to clean up the bloody mess.

I am entirely serious. Poison and glue are slow cruel deaths. I've seen mice die this way, and it sucks. Get the snap traps so it dies quickly, or humane traps if you will take the time to release the mouse elsewhere (like you'd ever do that).

When I have seen these mice dying, I have killed them off myself so the thing, carrier or not, doesn't suffer longer than is necessary. I just don't believe suffering is right. For any reason.

[fifi]

I am kinda with elyse on this one. Mice are so damn cute! In a house I had years ago, I went through a mouse infestation. I would trap them and then put them into a moving barrel (one of those heavy cardboard things) with a chloroform soaked rag and they would go nite-nite. (I used to keep chloroform for butterflies during my butterfly collecting period.)

[bourdain]

Cat's ain't too quick about finishing the job either. In fact they LIKE prolonging the end.

I'm with you, though, Elyse. Nothing worse than seeing an animal in pain. (Well maybe watching Kylie Monogue)

It's just tough finishing them off. Our gorgeous, statuesque hostess used to unhesitantly drive her heel down onto them (ex Norwegian army)without blinking--eager to put the critters out of their misery--and untroubled by the disturbing crunch. It doesn't come that easily to me. What's your preferred method of termination?