Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not
so great) words of knowledge:
Quoted message said:While we were in Arizona last week, a little critter decided he liked
what I had stored. He got into the Dutch-processed cocoa (why, I
wonder?), the Cup'O'Noodles DH had purchased years ago to bring to work
but had left in the bottom of the pantry and wouldn't let me throw
away, and the pancake mix. I can thank Mr. Mouse because I can now
throw away those nasty Cup'O'Noodles, but I'm bummed the cocoa has gone
bye-bye. I caught the little guy today in a Victor trap. Made me sad
to kill him, but I didn't think relocation was an option. He was a
pretty little thing. There wasn't much [censored] around - is it possible
that only one mouse is the culprit? How long do I need to keep traps
down?
-L.
You have more than one mouse. They run AT LEAST in pairs, sometimes
more, and the odds are it was a pregnant female (or recently had a
litter) as was looking for food for "the little ones".
In addition to the mouse traps or baits, punch a bunch of holes in a
couple sandwich size baggies and put a handful of mothballs in each
baggie. Place the baggies in the cupboard and in other areas around the
house (preferably confined areas such as closets, basment, around stored
dog food, etc ). Mice (all rodents including chipmunks and squirrels)
do not like the smell and leave the area. As an additional benefit,
"creepy crawlies" don't like the odor either and leave. You can tell
when the mice have left because the baits will not have been touched for
awhile.
I treat my attic, basement, shed twice a year with mothballs and the
boat in the fall. No mice, spiders, etc since doing this.
