This has been a busy week for the cats. Specifically the grays – Morgan and Gracie. Mollie is retired from anything remotely looking like work and Hazel is an observer when she isn’t napping from exhaustion from observing.
If you remember from Sunday’s post, Morgan caught two mice. There were no survivors. She said they accidentally died during questioning.
During this week there were more. At least four more who ignored our Bates Motel no vacancy sign and lived to regret it. Well, not all of them lived. I caught two with my trusty deli cup and piece of cardboard (patent pending). Those lived just not in the house. Morgan killed one outright (she says it had a heart attack).
Gracie was too excited to be of any use. At one point we collided and I missed catching the mouse because she was “indaway.”
There is another dead mouse and I can’t find it. How do I know? Decomp. I can smell decomposition at 50 paces thanks to my overachieving nose. (I watch too many crime shows so I know all about decomp.)
During the summer there was decomp smell on the porch for a few days. We have shrubs and ground cover planted around the porch. I looked but couldn’t find it. About a month later I was cleaning up branches and found a desiccated bird. It probably wopped the side of the house and broke its neck, falling into the ground cover to breathe its last breath.
We have moved furniture that hasn’t moved in years, but haven’t found anything. (This isn’t easy as the beloved husband’s nose can only smell brownies baking and is no help locating the dead mouse.)
We did find 87 catnip mice with dust fuzz all over them and an inch of dust.
The last two nights Morgan has slept upstairs (a good indication there is nothing alive in the basement except spiders). I would suggest if anyone wants to visit, wait a few days. It’s a small thing so it doesn’t smell as badly as a decaying human body (or so I’ve learned from TV). So far we have not found any dead humans either.
We have air fresheners going but I can still detect it. Then again, few people have a nose like mine.
It’s been a while since we experienced that odor, but just thinking about it I can conjure it up! It’s like no other! With Morgan and Gracie being so good at guarding their territory and taking care of the little “problems,” they must be really annoyed that they let one get by! 😦
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They would prefer if I did not catch and rehome. They like to invite playmates in.
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Could be in a heating duct. That’s where the mice wind up in New Hampshire houses. Mummified.
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It could be. It’s becoming a nightly ritual to catch mice. My husband is talking about an exterminator but I’m not sure what the point is. Because I have cats I won’t allow bait or those sticky traps where they starve to death. Our house is relatively new and we haven’t found many places where they can get in. Butting up to our back yard is a water retention pond that rarely has water. Our township takes care of it. Instead of regular mowings, they scalp it 2 or 3 times a summer right down to the dirt and the last one was about 2 weeks ago. I think the mice moved up to the houses once their habitat was leveled. We never had mice until last year.
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Oh boy – that is never good! Hope the smell source comes to light soon! Or at least the smell goes away…
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Based on our day of cleaning the basement, it will have to go away because we can’t find it.
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This is the time of year that they are moving in, finding a cozy spot and telling their friends and forming condo associations! At my sister’s farm last week she caught one under the sink … there was evidence of them in the garage, near the haul from her garden. Little buggers.
Catching/killing Mice in the fall can be a full time occupation!!
Cheers!
MJ
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Another 2 last night. Sigh!
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blah! One time Hubbs didn’t believe me (farm girl, HELLO?) when I told him I’d seen ‘evidence’ of mice. So I set traps anyways. They skirted the traps and had a town (mouse) crier alert the others. I thought well maybe I got lucky and they left … nope. On a lower/walkout level is where I had hidden Hubbs’ Christmas presents, including a bag of chocolate covered peanuts, his all time favorite. Imagine my surprise (and his horror) when I went to wrap the gifts and found a teeny tiny hole in the corner of the chocolate peanut bag. I showed Hubbs, he declared war, and – on Christmas day – 2 little fuzzy friends were snapped in half under the kitchen sink. Happy Holidays! Nothing says Christmas joy like rodents chewing on your snax — ugh!! 😀 MJ
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Yes, another one tonight so far. My husband is talking about an exterminator. I’m holding out. We went through 8 last year and they stopped. Fingers crossed. I have cats so I’m not excited about traps or bait.
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blah ~ gross! Hope this is it 🙂
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I need a Morgan just for peace of mind..:)
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She doesn’t eat much and she’s a fun companion in addition to contributing to the maintenance of the house!
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This is a very funny post! Morgan is on her game. Dead stink in the house drives me crazy because I smell all – intensified. Dead stink in a wall is the worst. Right before we were going to put the house up for sale (which we did not have to do because peeps stepped up and said they wanted the house) dead stink started in the finished basement. My nose took me right to the location… behind a section of the wainscoting. We called Peter my critter guy and he took the wainscoting off and there were five adult dead stinking mice stacked neatly on top of each other in various stages of decomp. He removed them and sprayed de-stinker. Yes, there is more to this story but I won’t bore you with it. Dead stink was a yearly thing in that house in the country. Hope the mice stink is gone soon in your basement!
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Last night was another night of mouse catching. Cats were dancing in the basement. (I swear they dance to Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark!) Couldn’t find anything on the floor but I looked up and two sweet little things were peering down at me. I caught them both and re-homed them (hopefully far enough away so they don’t come back) but we saw where they were coming in and found poop. It was a good night. (You need a life when you call mouse catching good.) Stink still in basement though. Maybe we’ll pull the tall heavy cabinets away from the wall today. You were so lucky that someone bought it without all the obligatory open houses and visits from people. I hate selling a house especially with the cats. Last time I sold, I came home at lunch to scoop litter. I scooped three times a day. You never know what turns people off.
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Thankfully the couple that bought the house both grew up in the country just 15 minutes down the road. They are all too familiar with mice in the house. We told them all about the critters. They have two sweet dogs that are keeping the bigger critters away from the house now. They were our company that just visited. We sold our house but gained some good friends. I swear every time that we have had to put a house up for sale dead stink showed up. I can only think of two houses where it wasn’t a problem. And honest, I keep a clean house! The dang mice have never been inside the house, they have always fallen down in the walls…ewwwwwww. I think we will be okay here the whole place is concrete block… knock on wood. I can’t believe you just looked up and found those little could be stinkers! Thank heavens for your Sassy dancing cats!
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When I put a house up for sale an appliance breaks. One time a water heater, another the whole house humidifier. Always something!
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I’m with Hazel! LOVE her attitude!
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We all want to be Morgan but sadly most of us are like Hazel.
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You and Morgan the Mouser are brave. I know I couldn’t even use the deli cup and cardboard on a spider or centipede, both which give me the heebie jeebies. When I see creepy crawlies in the basement, I have a heavy paint can and drop it down on the offensive critter and don’t move it for weeks to ensure it is dead. Upstairs I panic and hope it runs on the carpet not the wall because I’m a better stomper than swatter, though it’s not always a sure thing with moccasins on, as they wiggle away under my stomping foot sometimes. I just despise anything that goes faster than me, so I commend your bravery Kate.
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I dislike bugs more than mice. I would never touch a bug to kill or rehome but I’ve caught mice bare handed although I prefer a deli cup.
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Wow – I am not even comfortable with mice outside, and I think it is just like the bugs … they move too fast for me and I worry they’ll get in the house and be at large. I can’t touch a bug either. I was doing laundry this morning and saw a big centipede in the laundry room in the basement. I already had started the water and ran upstairs to get the bedding and so it was not like I could abandon the job. I had angst about 10 minutes before I could move in and smack it. It is in pieces now and I will wait for it to dry up before dealing with its guts. 🙂
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🙂
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Hazel is my spirit animal. I love to watch other people do the hard work. Plus – you know I get the enjoyment of food as a pastime. 🙂
I hope you mouse is either found soon or that it stops smelling rotten.
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It will probably be the latter as we just can’t find it.
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Had no idea mice could die from a heart attack. Morgan taught me something new today.
That nose of yours could sniff for drugs at the airport. 😉
Have a nice weekend. 🙂
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I should look into that for a second career!
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I don’t know what I would prefer – mice in the house or finding a dead mouse!
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I prefer them live so I can rehome them or dead in the middle of the floor. Hidden dead is the worst!
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Loved this blog! Your reference to the death during questioning gave me a real chuckle. But if the mouse and the man would have stayed out of places they did not really belong, they would both still be around.
We got a package in a nice sized cardboard box the other day and that is what has been the focus around here.
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I have to be careful about boxes. Once sat in, they cannot be removed unless they are replaced. I open all Chewy boxes in the garage. They force me to buy shoes from DSW for the boxes and the bags.
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I tell you Kate, next summer you’ve got to get a resident black snake for outside. In 14 years, we’ve never had or seen a mouse. What is it about men and their noses? Are they merely decorative? Good luck with the hunt!
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A decorative nose? Good one! No snakes! I’d rather have the mice!
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You know what happens on decomp? CSI showed creepy crawlers.
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I have looking for a trail of insects but haven’t seen any. I’m pretty sure it’s behind a cabinet in the basement. Too heavy to pull front to check but no insect trail yet.
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I give this post *4 Paws Up* . . . 😀
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Thanks! Morgan appreciates that! She often sleeps with 4 paws up!
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Hazel’s gaze should stop a mouse at 50 paces. But it’s Morgan who is the champion. Goes to show – looks aren’t everything. 🙂
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That is Hazel’s “I’m sleeping, go away” look. Otherwise known as grumpy!
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If the decomp gets too bad, will you decamp? Hope it won’t come to that.
I laughed at BH’s nose that can only detect Brownies baking.
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No. According to Google, the worst should be over (3 days). Fortunately mice are tiny. Sometimes I envy his nose but there are a lot of good smells that he can’t detect either.
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I’m glad you wrote that the smell should be over in three days. I had no idea it would be that short.
Some carcasses must smell more than others. I found a mouse skeleton in the folds of a flannel sheet that was in a linen closet we used all the time. Obviously, we didn’t use that sheet very often.
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I’m sorry. I worded that wrong. The worst is at 3 days and then it starts to level off. We are at day 3 or 4 that we can smell it (it may have died before that) but it is easing down. It’s in the basement so it’s not coming up the staircase as bad as it was a few nights ago. I’m not sure when it will be completely gone though. I had a bigger critter (maybe a squirrel) die in my walls at another house and it stank for 2 weeks. I wouldn’t invite anyone in. I could barely stand it but I had no place to go.
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You were really stuck with a dead critter in the walls! This mouse will seem like a piece of cake in contrast.
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Still smelling it though. Caught two more last night and we think we found the point of entry. Woohoo!
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That’s great if you can keep them from getting in. Will Morgan be disappointed?
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I hope not. She’s an easy cat. She’ll amuse herself another way. If there is an emergency (too much energy), I’ll bring out the red dot (laser) for her to chase. Works every time.
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I loved the, death while being questioned. That was too funny. You jogged a memory with this post, and I will share it on my blog. For everyone else here, this is the short version.
I rode a Harley in my last years of police work. It was kept spotless. I returned from a three day weekend off. Each time I wrote a citation, there was a pungent odor. I kept thiinking something smelled dead, The ticket book was kept in a leather pouch on the Harley. Long story short, there was a very small dead bird in the bottom of the pouch. You couldn’t smell it standing there, but the decomp smell had permeated the paper of the citations in the aluminum citation case.
Somewhere, there were about 75 people sitting around making faces as they sniffed their citation, trying to place the smell.
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That is funny! Not only a fine but a stink too. Morgan was either a Ranger or a Seal (or maybe Delta Force) in a previous life.
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can you send the girls please? we have one mouse, but this beast is super clever and can snitch the bacon out of the trap… I feel mice-rable with having such a darned beast in the house…
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They’d love to come and meet the Overland Twins!
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Murray the Mouse (the name I’ve donned on the little fellow, though it probably is a Marsha) was spotted in the compost bin this week. I figured there was something since Elsa has been going insane around it whenever outside. It’s funny what appeals to the heart of a cold blooded killer, er…I mean a mouse hunter. Perhaps Morgan could be convinced to learn to ‘retrieve’ following one of her ‘interrogations?’ It could help with the decomp issue. Good luck-hope you are able to find it soon.
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She usually leaves them stone cold dead but this one must have been well enough to hobble way to hide and die. I’ve given her further training!
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When the wiley ones get away they become the gift that keeps on giving. At least it doesn’t sound like it’s in between the walls. That’s something you’d never want to experience. 😸
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I’ve had that happen at another house…twice. Never found the point of entry.
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I had one get into my attic eaves during a very hot summer. Had to sleep downstairs till nature did its thing. It was beyond horrible. 🤢
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It is. Especially when it’s a bigger critter like a squirrel. I remember staying out of my bedroom for a week. The worst is that you are helpless. If you can’t find the point of entry, it can happen again. I sold the house (for other reasons) and wondered if the new folks had the same issue. It happened in the fall.
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There’s nothing like that decamp smell of something you just can’t find ( and are worried it’s fallen between walls or something. GAG.
At least you’re located all the catnip mouses and can rehab them…so someone can gather them up and hoard them again.
(I love the way you/Morgan add those little comments like “died during questioning. – so funny)
Paw waves and well done to the cats…
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I am convinced (after a day of ripping furniture, boxes, etc. apart) that the dead critter is in the basement. It wafts up the staircase so at least it’s not in the whole house. Many houses ago I had something larger died between the walls and it stank up my bedroom for at least two weeks. There was nothing I could do. Morgan’s interrogation tactics are questionable. We have made her stop the water boarding however many of her suspects end up dead.
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I laughed at your husband’s brownie-detecting nose. My husband is the same way. He could never smell a dirty diaper, either . . . no wait, I know what you’re thinking, but it was actually a good thing because it meant he didn’t mind changing the diaper when I called attention to the stink.
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When he was young, he was a smoker. He hasn’t smoked in decades but his sense of smell was diminished. The good news is that he can’t smell so good. The bad news is that he can’t smell so good. In this case it’s good. He can smell when I am cooking something he likes. I, on the other hand, can smell a fish fart in the pond! 🙂
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We were having lots of mice problems…and they were all over our kitchen counters at night. Yuck. Finally brought an exterminator in, and they put down the bait hotels, but also plugged many of the holes around pipes coming into the house in the basement. When they put in pipes they make the holes larger than the pipes and mice come in this way. They put a product called Stuffin in the holes to fill it in and we haven’t seen mice since. We won’t talk about how lazy our four cats are!!
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This problem started last year. My husband caulked all the entry holes and last week stuffed the bottom of the siding with steel wool. We have a humane trap but that’s not seeing any action (perhaps it wasn’t rated 5 star on Yelp!) We have a plug in that worked well last year. Thank God for Morgan although she makes me nervous when she sits at the bottom of the basement stairs. It’s like she knows something I don’t. Now if only the smell will go away! Four cats and not one is interested?
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Hubby and I made 2 mice traps from a Youtube clip. Mine caught twice as many as his, and our bait was nothing more than birdseed and lard. Luckily none indoors. The family cat from my childhood was a hunter, and would line his catch up in order of size by the back door, not a bloody mark on them.
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They usually snap their neck with a quick bite. Only Jake bit their teeny tiny heads off.
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nice…………… not
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But quick and effective.
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I googled Stuffin and couldn’t find anything. Do you have anymore information?
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My typo — Stuffit not Stuffin.
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Thanks! Two more mice caught last night.
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Ugh. I couldn’t find Stuffit online, but if you go to a hardware store and ask them for a product to stuff around pipes to fill in the holes so mice can’t get in I suspect they can help. It was a kind of wirey product that wouldn’t be fun to try to get through and couldn’t be chewed.
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I found it on Amazon. Thanks for disrupting your vacation for our mice problem.
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Well done, Morgan!
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Morgan is a perfect cat. We adopted her because I was afraid no one else would (because of one eye) and we really lucked out. Calm, peaceful, friendly and a mighty hunter.
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