(no subject)

[randomdreams]

It's been a whole lot of day for a long time now, so I haven't been posting.

Today I came home to find a mouse on the kitchen countertop. I have no idea how it got there. That's a meter above the floor and all the walls are either finished wood or drywall.
I've been meticulous about keeping the floor clean and the space under the counters vacuumed and filled with mouse traps of various sorts.

Comments

[elainegrey]

I'd know what had happened in my house, but that explanation won't work for you.


My sympathies for the long days.

[basefinder]

They've used the tools in your hut to develop levitation devices. (Not likely, but plausible. More plausible than the Acme suction boots that first came to mind.)

At work I watch squirrels walk up and down on rough stone columns, effortlessly, so nothing surprises me about rodent mobility.

[shalpacafarm]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8bt9Ukw1iB0

[ivy]

Was Monty interested in the mouse? Ripley would have been all over that... but then again, today we had the Cat Scrubbing Incident of 2018 when she escaped her confinement and jumped up on the window ledge that I was paint-stripping. AAAAH scrub scrub scrub. She liked that just as much as you can imagine. I am surprised that she wasn't mad at me afterwards, but inexplicably, she seems not to be.

[darkoshi]

Maybe a small hole behind or above a wall cabinets? I wouldn't be very surprised if they could climb straight up finished wood or drywall if it's not completely smooth / not thickly glazed.

[amaebi]

Thank you for posting-- I'm so sorry the day is wringing you out.

Mice are magical. All of them.

[malterre]

Good luck with your mouse!

[rebeccmeister]

Ohhhh, it's mouse season again!

They are clever little things.

[najalaise]

In my household, when we're out of something and it needs to be added to the grocery list, we sometimes put the package on the counter so it can be written down when we have time. If it's something without a convenient package, sometimes we'll put the last one of the thing on the counter in the same spot.

Monty was letting you know that you're almost out of snacks and need to pick up more the next time you're at the store.

[randomdreams]

They can climb rough surfaces. I went to significant effort to not provide any of those. It's possible there's a rock-climbing mouse who has learned to chimney up the space between the stove/oven and the cabinet. It's about mouse-width.

[randomdreams]

If Monty actually saw the mouse she would be mesmerized. She goes berserk over small animals. She doesn't associate noises or smells with them, though, so she has zero deterrent effect.

Poor Ripley!

[randomdreams]

I've pulled out the stuff I can, and when I built the kitchen I put 3/4" plywood up with steel sheet around all the plumbing and electrical holes, and then backfilled around the steel with the type of sprayfoam that is filled with bitter compounds so mice won't eat it.
From past experience, they're taking the time and energy to climb the stairs from downstairs: I've seen them do that.

[randomdreams]

Today she let us know we were low on coats and needed to pick up some more.

Coats.

[zyzyly]

One of them jumping mice, most likely.