Deer Mice

[Chickie]

When I was growing up, I don't recall ever seeing a deer mouse. They seem to have appeared in this area only over the past 20 years or so. There were always plenty of the gray field mice, which our cats brought home on a regular basis, but I don't remember them ever bringing home a deer mouse. This past week I have caught three in my cellar. Have they migrated north from another part of the country or what?

As for those Riddex rodent deterrent plug-ins, save your money. They are a rip off. I think they may have been beckoning them in, rather than keeping them away. The old fashioned traps baited with peanut butter is the way to go. I thought those plug-ins were too good to be true!

[Bear Island South]

never heard of one until now...the are creepy looking

Deer mice are small, native rodents 5 to 8 inches (12.7-20.3 cm) long. They are called deer mice because the coloring of their fur resembles deer: dark on the back and white on the legs and underside. The tail is also dark on top and white underneath. The scientific genus name for these creatures is bewildering. Pero is Greek for defective and myscus is derived from the Greek word, myskos, meaning mouse. The species name, maniculatus, is Latin for little hand.

[gravy boat]

I am more than happy to lease my cats for a weekend... Pete is a champion mouser. He also excels at taking down bats from mid-air. :-)
GB

[Argie's Wife]

...I thought this was gonna be a letter to your winter house pests...

[Bear Island South]

Deer Mice,

Please be advised that I am not happy you are here, we have hired the services of Pete the Mouser, beware!

good one AW!

[Chickie]

A.W. and B.I.S., you are just too much. Your responses sure gave me a much needed lighthearted moment this morning. What a hoot! I asked my cat Callie if she would like a temporary boarder to rid me of any remaining mice, but she declined. She wants it known that she is the Queen Bee (or Queen Cat) around here and doesn't want an intruder who might show her up.

The score now stands at 3 deer mice and one field mouse extricated from my cellar. I haven't heard any rumblings for the past two nights, so I may be free of the creatures. Deer mice are actually rather cute. Live and let live is my motto, unless they are roaming through the partitions of my house all night long. That is where I draw the line on cuteness. A friend told me yesterday that someone she knows has caught about two dozen mice at her house recently. She didn't know whether they were deer or field mice. I guess it is the year of the mouse.

[Lakesrider]

In the beginning of the winter months I always get mice in my basement. I have what I think is a clean house. Once you see a mouse you think..I must be a pig or something to get those little rodents in my house. But living in the semi-woods, I guess I am bound to get them. I have looked everywhere along my foundation to see how they get in. No idea.
So I set up three or four of those plastic snapping traps every Autumn. I get one mouse every few days. I haven't been getting any in the traps in a few days now. I did catch a female mouse the other day. Maybe it was the queen mouse?
Heck I just throw them out on the lawn and the foxes and crows gobble them right up like candy....

[Argie's Wife]

I have two cats I refer to as "the fuzzy freeloaders"...

The other night, one cat brought up a HUGE mouse... the fattest mouse I've ever seen... and promptly let it go in the living room. It ran under furniture and finally into the baseboard heater. Since our home is open concept, it has a virtual racetrack between the living room, kitchen, and my office.

Oh thrill.

At times, I've been working and seen it cross the floor, as the cats slept.

I've threatened to put a pinkslip in the cats' inbox and put both of them on notice, as times are tough and they need to earn their keep.

This was about a week ago.

I've now named the damn mouse.... GusGus.

Our corgi has cornered the mouse between a couch and toy bin the other day - Maybe the dog needs a raise?

[hilltopper]

One little tip from an owner of a 200 year old farmhouse...

Almond Butter will out-catch Peanut Butter any day of the week! I really wish I did not have this knowledge, but...

[Lakesrider]

Almond butter? Good to know...Thanks!

[jkjoshuatree]

Originally Posted by Lakesrider

Almond butter? Good to know...Thanks!

...it's also at least three times more expensive!!

[tis]

Only the best for our house mice, right?

[Rattlesnake Guy]

Do you put the almond butter on them before or after baking?

[Chickie]

Your post is just too funny, A. W. May I ask whether your little house guest is a deer or field mouse? (Not a dear, for sure) I can relate to your description of the cat and mouse game, as I had a similar experience a few years ago with a cat named Mamakins. She was a stray who came to my door one winter and proceeded to have 4 kittens in the spring. One summer night I called her in for the night and unbeknownst to me she had a mouse in tow. Upon entering the house, she dropped it on the kitchen floor and began chasing it around the perimeter of the room. I opened the outside door, grabbed a broom and the three of us went 'round 'n 'round playing musical chairs. This circus continued until the mouse finally found the open door and scampered outside, with old Mamakins in hot pursuit. Needless to say she slept outside that night and whether she ever reconnected with that mouse is unknown.

My present feline was also a stray who came to my door seeking asylum and in need of maternity care. Three kittens this time, which I was fortunate to find good homes for. She has little interest in mouse hunting. Her attitude about the sport is much like the famed cartoon character Garfield. Why bother?

Hope your fuzzy freeloaders get the message soon and begin earning their keep.

[Lakesrider]

I caught another mouse in one of my traps last night. Standard field mouse not the Deer mouse variety. Threw it outside on the lawn for the Fox.
Makes me wish I kept that lost cat....I mean how many of these things can there be?

[Argie's Wife]

I know two unemployed cats looking for work...

Oh, wait...

Did I just say "cat" and "work" in the same sentence?

[SAMIAM]

Oh, really, AW..........you think your cats are lazy? The mice in my house are eating out of the cat's dish. Maine Coons are supposed to be fearsome hunters. Yuh, right.

[Chickie]

Another mouse bit the dust overnight (field mouse this time). Guess my mice don't have expensive tastes, as they went for the Hannaford brand peanut butter. Hey, if I can't afford almond butter, neither can they!

I don't have fox but I took your suggestion, Lakesrider, and threw it out on the lawn in the back yard. I think the crows are pretty good at cleaning up road kill and other such things. Will see if it disappears.

Bring 'em on! Think I'm up to the challenge.

[Rattlesnake Gal]

I was sure that I was going to find a literal picture of a deer/mouse cross!

[Chickie]

A deer/mouse cross would be an awesome critter, R.G. - would require a rather large mouse trap and about a bucket of peanut butter.

[Chickie]

Is it already time for the annual migration of mice into out homes? It seems a bit early for the mouse brigade to be making their way to my house in the hopes of spending the winter, but I heard the first rodent rumblings over the weekend and wonder if anyone else has had a problem as yet? Perhaps they have sent out a scout in advance to determine if my dwelling will be available for occupancy again this winter. Never have been able to figure out just how they get in, but they seem to outsmart me every year. Over the summer I purchased a new and improved mousetrap from one of those mail order catalogs, advertised to be far superior to the old ones and not so likely to amputated your finger while setting it. I filled the "well" with peanut butter as suggested and this morning the well was nearly empty but no mouse. It had been set off and a distance from where I had left it. Back to the old tried and true tonight, I guess.

[Argie's Wife]

You need to invest in one of these traps....

[beagle]

We have a not so tight fitting garage door. Every fall we set out the dcon and sticky traps and have caught a good number of mice every winter. Last year, while in Bradley's Hardware to restock our supply, we saw the electronic type repellent device that you plug into an electrical outlet. We thought "what the heck, let's try it" so we did. Honestly, we have not caught one mouse in our sticky traps since then!

[donnamatrix]

AW: I have similar story to yours. Years ago, while still living in MA, our rescue cat Hawkeye had escaped to the yard while hubby was cooking dinner for our guests on the Weber. I am in kitchen making gravy and hear my guests saying "I don't know what it is. Is it a bird? A Mouse" ... I went into the living room and there is Hawkeye with a fat mouse in his mouth that he promptly releases, and looks to me for praise. The mouse ran into the baseboard heating area. Hawkeye watched the baseboard for several days, but we never saw the mouse again. UNTIL a year later when, installing surround sound system, hubby had to drill holes for the cabling. So, he had to remove the baseboard and some of the insulation ... there, perfectly mummified was the mouse. He evidently got caught in the insulation and couldn't extricate himself.

[Lakesrider]

Funny this thread came up again. I heard a Jethro Tull sond of the Sirius radion today. It is titled the "Mouse police"...
the lyrics:

"...And The Mouse Police Never Sleeps"

Muscled, black with steel-green eye
swishing through the rye grass
with thoughts of mouse-and-apple pie.
Tail balancing at half-mast.
...And the mouse police never sleeps ---
lying in the cherry tree.
Savage bed foot-warmer of purest feline ancestry.
Look out, little furry folk!
He's the all-night working cat.
Eats but one in every ten ---
leaves the others on the mat.
...And the mouse police never sleeps ---
waiting by the cellar door.
Window-box town crier;
birth and death registrar.
With claws that rake a furrow red ---
licensed to multilate.
From warm milk on a lazy day
to dawn patrol on hungry hate.
...No, the mouse police never sleeps ---
climbing on the ivy.
Windy roof-top weathercock.
Warm-blooded night on a cold tile.