How to Get Rid of Mice

The mice were unexpected, but came in droves. We heard them first in the winter of 2008. We had just bought our first house in August of that year. It was a fixer-upper, but we were young and saw potential.

We did not see the work that would be needed to maintain 1.5 acres of landscaping. We did not see that our 1000 square feet of pet-smelling carpet would take more than just a little muscle to replace. And we did not see the little tunnels underneath us where mice would enter our home and disturb our first winter as naïve homeowners.

We heard the mice before we saw them. They made nibbling noises that echoed through our crawlspace, rose through our vents, and wafted into our home. They tap danced through tiny tunnels that had gone unseen, or ignored, by the inspector. They disturbed my sleep. They angered and disgusted me.

I was in denial for several months, until one morning during breakfast when my husband pointed out that one was running across our old, vinyl kitchen floors. Until then, I thought I liked mice. Well, maybe “like” is too strong of a word. I did not think I was scared of them.

Mice had made very cute pets in junior high. Back then, we would hold them in the palms of our hands. We would watch them crawl through plastic tunnels in their see-through cages, fascinated by their jitterbug movements.

But when I saw one run across my kitchen floor, I became aware of the difference between those pet mice and these crude impostors.

We could lock our doors and install alarm systems to deter burglars, but this mouse infestation seemed hopeless.

We set snap traps around our kitchen for an entire winter. It seemed cruel to lure tiny mice to their death with the smell of sticky peanut butter, but we caught several mice that way. When the winter was over, it seemed our problems were gone. In the summer, we had frogs, spiders, mosquitoes, moths, and beetles. But nothing compared to mice; they would chew through the buffet that our pantry provided them, and expel their waste on the way out.

The mice came early this year. Yesterday, I noticed holes in a package of sunflower seeds. I looked closer and saw that and an innocent bag of almonds had also been demolished.

I have researched mouse repellants, but perhaps never with such gusto as this morning. My hatred has grown each year for these quick little creatures. Each summer I relish in naiveté; I think that they surely will not return. Low and behold, they do every year. Now I’m ready for war.

We have toyed with the idea of getting a cat or a dog, for the purpose of rodent control, but neither my husband nor I are animal lovers. And we are already over our heads just taking care of a house and a baby.

After today’s research, it seems that barn owls are extremely efficient predators of rodents and would serve well in our fight against them.

Turns out, owls are prevalent in North Carolina and are relatively easy to attract. Just build some kind of cubby-like box, and hang it on a tree. One website reads, “I’m not picky. Just give me some shelter.”

When it comes to the subject of owls, I don't know a lot.

I am vaguely familiar with Whinnie the Pooh's Owl:

And I have noticed owls in the jewelry stores lately. They hang on the ends of necklaces. I’ve also noticed them on fabric and on pillows, in Pottery Barn catalogs. And just now, while looking for photos to show you, I’ve noticed them showcased in this pretty blog.

I don’t have owls in my jewelry box or on my pillows or sheets, but hopefully they will soon show up in the little forest behind my house.

And so continues the adventure that homeownership brings…