I have a little mouse problem. Last night two small grey mice ran out in the middle of my rug and wrestled with each other. Before I could decide if I should hurl "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" (Salman Rushdie) or "The Blind Assassin" (Margaret Atwood) at them, they were gone. These books should not be taken lightly, they should be thrown with great force. A few years back I killed a mouse by accident. I had it cornered and was going to trap it with a bowl. Not a real plan, I just happened to be holding a plastic bowl at the time. But then I kicked over a stack of Childcraft Encyclopedia (stoop sale treasure) resulting in rodent blunt trauma from "Stories and Fables." A little knowledge is dangerous, but a pile of books on the floor can be fatal.
Cat's Entertainment
I thought of borrowing my friend Eleanor's cat, Bhindi. I cat-sat him a few months back, he did a great job chewing the buttons off my shirts and he almost destroyed my printer. So I made him a plush blue bug to get his attention away from my printer. It's probably not the best use for baby alpaca.
At first the fetch 'n' throw routine got his attention away from the printer, but he soon abandoned the blue bug and slinked away. Hours later he came back with something else in his mouth — a plastic frog that I kept on my bathroom sink. He wouldn't give it back so I held him down and pried it from his mouth. He really wanted it, he kept biting my leg. Soon "frog on a string" was born — hours of feline excitement.
I can't believe he prefered a plastic frog over a blue plush toy with orange bug eyes and legs. If he could talk he would've said "Mother of God, Look! Forget that damn bug! It's a frog! And it's tied to string!" I thought again about the cat loan, he might be too picky to be a good mouser only bringing back the more entertaining mice.
Anyhow, I went to a few drug stores bewteen meetings. Duane Reade only carries the old wooden "snappers" and poison. One hardware store had this device that captures live mice so you can release them back into the wild (Prospect Park? Queens?). Are glue traps really that unethical? I had a six-toed cat named Benny years back — lovable but not so bright. He even drooled if he got too excited. One day he dragged something back in, batting it around the kitchen floor. It was mouse in a glue trap. It made the worst long shriek I'd ever heard, but not as loud as the growl that Benny made when I took it away from him. I drowned the mouse in the bathroom as Benny hissed and growling at me from the other side of the door. I then disposed of it properly. What a lazy cat.
6 comments:
we're going away for a week and I'd be happy to let you cat sit my crazy cat. She's very friendly but the one time she caught a mouse she brought it to me (still alive), let it go, watched it run under the stereo and then yowled at me, as if it was my fault for losing it. She then spent 2 hours watching the stereo before she wandered off and forgot about it.
I'm not so into those glue traps, esp when they make mice shriek. Man, they're unethical.
No glue traps! Sometimes they get stuck and then chew off their feet to break free. Really the most humane ones are the old fashioned snap traps. At least death is sure and quick.
Set alot of them out, with some good cheese as bait before you go to bed. By next morning you should have a little collection of sprung traps.
Worked for us years ago when we lived in Chelsea. Got 16 mice in one night! Snap! Snap! Snap! All night long.
Eliza, I assume your cat is yarn friendly. But in desperation I bought a TomCat Mouse Bait Station. Sounds friendly. It even resembles an NJ rest stop. I hope this is a short term situation.
I'm squeamish about the old "snapper", but I suppose it is more humane than the water boarding that goes with the glue trap. Do they really chew their own legs off? Ouch!
Was that mouse water boarding? Are you going to add mouse torture to your list of skills? ^_^
Hmmmm. Guantanamo on Sterling Place?
Careful or you could be part of a Senate Investigation.
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