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Wales, United Kingdom
Documenting one couple's attempts to live a more self-sufficient life.

Sunday 12 April 2015

Things that go bump in the night

Two nights in a row, we've been woken in the small hours of the morning by the sound of something falling to the floor in the kitchen. The first time, we couldn't find what had fallen. The second time, I went to investigate and found the small hammer, which had been sitting somewhat precariously on the edge of a shelf, on the floor. Precarious though it had been, it wouldn't have fallen off all by itself.

The mice have lived in this house longer than we have, I think. We hear them scrabbling about in the loft and they don't bother us at all. So long as they don't get into the kitchen cupboards, I'm quite happy for them to live there. Well, I say that, but I may have to revise that statement slightly in light of what I found this morning. Under a chair, behind a box of beer bottles...

... one chewed apple. That'll be what fell to the floor the first night, then. Ah, we don't keep all our food in cupboards - there is the fruit bowl, too, and it seems that at least one mouse has found it. I guess it knocked the hammer off whilst searching for more goodies. I think it's time we got another cat.

4 comments:

  1. We've had mice on and off (more off than on) for donkey's years. I think they come in through the airbricks and mainly live under the floorboards. We've not had them in the house for a few years due to Husband spraying solidifying foam in all the holes in the floor through which our pipes run, but they're back just this last week or two. We've not seen them yet, but we've seen where they've been. A partly-consumed kiwifruit, and an apple in the bowl very similar to your picture. I don't begrudge them, but I'd rather not have their poo on the cooker and counter tops. :(
    I have three cats, but please don't let that stop you from getting another - the rescue centres are overflowing and each one adopted means another can be saved. Good luck!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the timely reminder that not all cats are such good mousers as Pebble was. On the other hand, the local Cats Protection currently have a special appeal for homes for farm cats...

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  2. Oh no! Well, whatever you do, don't poison them. We had a mouse problem at the music school where I used to work and one of my co-workers got the bright idea to poison them. Aside from the fact that it's a cruel way to die, the mice went off and died inside walls and other inaccessible places and the stench was HORRIBLE.

    I would heartily support getting another cat, though I'm sure it's hard after losing your sweet Pebble in such a traumatic way. But perhaps another cat would be a good way to honor her legacy.

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  3. Thanks for the advice, and don't worry, I wouldn't dream of poisoning them, especially not after losing Pebble to poison. My first tactic for dealing with unwelcome creatures in the kitchen is to stop feeding them. If we leave food out, how are they to know we don't mean them to eat it? Not that they'd care what we meant. Our fruit is now contained in a bucket with a tightly sealed lid, which is less convenient for both us and the mice. Particularly the mice.

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