I AM SMARTER THAN A MOUSE

[Wilma]

I don't think I have heard of those before.  Do they catch cockroaches, too?  I have no problem with mice unless I have to see them suffer.  You wouldn't believe the things my girls would bring into the house including snakes.  I soon made that a no-no.

[Tobina+1]

I would imagine they could catch anything that would crawl on them (as my snake experience proved).  Probably you'd have to figure out which bait to put on them.  They come pre-loaded with grain (milo or something).  They're about 3 inches by 5 inches or so, and I've bought them at Cookson's.  If you leave them alone for a couple of days, then you'll find a dead mouse on them.  If you happen to check the day that the mouse gets stuck... then you'll see there is no suffering... just no ability to move at all.  Although I did have a larger mouse get half-stuck on one... and he proceeded to drag the tray around for a bit.  But the noise was obvious and I was able to catch up with him.  Just tie the string to something (table leg or something) and that will prevent it from going too far.

NOTE:  I do not have mice in my house now!  These experiences were from when we first moved into our house 2 years ago and it was October and the builders had left the house open to all sorts of critters all summer long.  I think we caught about 6-9 mice in the first week, plus the snake, and that's been it.

[Teresa]

I have to share a story about those sticky traps.

I used to have long haired Powder Puff hamsters and the regular brown hamsters. I raised them, and although I hate mice, I loved my hamsters. I had 3 sets of married ones    and then 2 that were single that I didn't breed.
.. Sam and Sadie.  I think that Sam was gay and Sadie was a horrible mother. They were the best-ever for pets though.
I would have her cuddle by my neck while I watched TV and she would set there and then crawl down into my shirt pocket and there she would ride and stay until you put her in her 'house'.
And  Sam was wonderful and loved the boys to play with him. They would put him in his clear ball and he would roll all over the house and even got to where he would run inside the thing and steer it to the room he wanted. But Sam was also a magician.
That little devil could get out of any cage and finally we had to wire his door shut so he wouldn't open the latch and get out!
Hamsters can live without water for only about 24 hours. They can go without food a bit longer.. but water is a must for them.

Well, I got up one morning and Sam was gone. He had worked all night I think until he finally got the corner of the lid chewed so he could push up on it and crawl out the top.  Hamsters are nocturnal and so they will find a place ..curl up and sleep generally in the day and then tear around in the night.
We looked everywhere! And in all the places he had gotten before. In the rolled up carpet under the bed , in shoes, under divans and chairs and up inside the furniture. in the box of Kleenex( yep the Kleenex box  )  in the duct work that goes from the vents in the floors, everywhere.
No Sam.
I was panicking.

Then we noticed that the basement door off the kitchen was cracked open ever so slightly.
I thought that if he had fallen down those long steep steps and toppled over the side of them, he was probably laying dead somewhere or injured and couldn't move.
So to the basement we went.
Our basement was huge. Full size, unfinished with the main part being the total of 5 big rooms. It was all open with the freezers, washer and dryer, full work out equipment with treadmill and 3 weight benches and 4 station gym, then all my Holiday decorations are stacked and stored.. plus winter coats and totes of seasonal clothes. Marks tool and work bench.. and then off of that was a wood room that had an outside chute that we slid the wood in through the window and  filled up with cut wood for the wood stove.
( Get my idea of what I was facing to be able to find him??..NOT an easy task)

Well, I looked and I looked and I looked.
Nothing.
I was heartbroken. So I went to bed, knowing that he was going to be running on borrowed time if he was still alive by morning. 
Late that night, I woke up and had an idea. I jumped out of bed, and of course Mark thought I had lost my mind ( after all, he said... it was JUST a hamster)   Not so with me.
I took his cage down stairs and filled it with his favorite foods..( slivers of carrots, cheerios and his treat food) had fresh water in his bottle and wired the cage door open. Then I sprinkled flour all over the floor in front of the cage and all over the floor in a big circle..( to track him)
Next morning, he had eaten and drank and was gone again.. but I could see by his little tracks what direction he had gone. But I still couldn't find him.
So that night I went to bed, and once again jumped up with an idea. ( My spirit guides help me the most after I settle down  )
So I grabbed the store keys and in my pj's I went uptown and got a sticky trap. Once again I baited the food cage and this time I set the trap in front of his door.
Then I set my alarm for 4:00 cause I didn't want him stuck in that thing all night.. and BINGO!
I went down there and there he was. Stuck  to the trap looking at me like.. "what in the hell happened!"
He was struggling when he saw me, and I had to get him and the trap and pour baby oil all over it and on his legs to get him to gently come off of that thing. Then I had to give him a partial bath. Lord Have Mercy! What an ordeal.
( Ever try to give a hamster a bath?) 
But Sam was safe and I was glad and Mark was resigned to finally knowing that I had totally lost my senses. lol

The End.. 

[Janet Harrington]

It sure took Mark a long, long time to learn that you had lost your senses.  Those of us who have known you for a long, long time knew that part about you a long, long time ago.

[Teresa]

You know? For someone who only gets on here once and awhile anymore..( I guess to grace us with your presence)
you have to be the most nasty snotty old bag of wind I have ever listened to.

That was a wonderful entertaining story ( far better to read than anything YOU have ever written) and what do you do?
You pick out one teeny weeny little part and you just HAVE to be mean to me about it!
I hope you are satisfied.
You have made me cry and I will be crying for most of the day now.
In fact.. because I love you so much and everything that you always say to me I take into my heart with unconditional love....
I will ...................now.....for the rest of my life... be insecure and sad... all because of you!
Are you happy? You mean hateful ole' thing!

[Diane Amberg]

Teresa, sit down and have a nice cup of herbal tea.

[Teresa]

Yes I will.
Thank you Diane..
At least SOMEONE cares about me...(sniff  sniff)

[Janet Harrington]

You know I love you.  That's why you put up with me because I love you.

[Jo McDonald]

Great Gobs of Goose Grease......I do believe we all need a nice hot cup of herbal tea.   Wonderful idea, Diane.

   Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[Tobina+1]

Soooo... back on track here...   
Wilma, did you try the sticky trap and did it work?