Hello Lovelies!
This is a blog post that I would never want to write but here we are. What you read in the title is all true. I have a mouse in my flat. It's kind of sad really that this tiny, terrifying intruder in my house inspired me to write a new blog post. Not to mention that this is my first ever blog post. However, this is part of my 'living alone', 'surviving on your own' tips and tricks saga, so bare with me.
It was the Tuesday night of last week when I heard my flatmate scream on top of her lungs shouting my name. Terrified, I went over to the kitchen where she told me that she saw a tiny little mouse going behind the outlet hole where we plug in our toaster. Neither of us slept that night to say the least, and at around midnight we decided to call pest control in Edinburgh. After a few trials, someone finally picked up the phone and had to listen to us both trying to explain the situation in a terrifying manner. Apparently, there is a mice infestation going on in Edinburgh and the bored, exhausting voice on the other line tried to explain to us not to leave crumbs on the floor and to not get scared. "The mouse is more afraid of you than you are of it" he said before hanging up the phone.
I cannot begin to explain how many times I have heard this sentence this past week from people trying to explain to me that there are actually worst things in life and I have to get over it. Our landlord came over the following morning and put mouse traps and electroshock wires all over the kitchen. She also said that this was a common thing in Edinburgh right now and we have to be careful not to leave food on the floor and be more careful with our trash.
The thing is that nothing calmed me down. I went online looking for advice and nothing could console me or assure me that the mouse will not come back or that I will be safe. I kept reading that mice are breeding machines and at no time I will have a house full of mice crawling on my bed. The unfortunate thing is, that this is not the first time I see a mouse in my flat.
However, my experience with mice in the house has taught me one or two things on what to do when one of these little creatures shows up uninvited. So if this post came up after you've searched online freaking out that there's a mouse in your house then you've come to the right place. I have done all the research for you. We're in this together!
1. First thing you need to do and I cannot stress this enough: Try not to panic! Everything will be alright. If you saw the mouse at night and you need to wait until the following morning to get someone to help you, just think that the mouse will not be back for at least a while since they felt movement and mice are very anxious creatures.
2. Take immediate action in the morning. Do not let people convince you that having a mouse in your flat or in your house is not the end of the world. It might not be the worst thing that could happen to you but you still have to take repercussions. If it makes you feel safer you can call pest control and they can help you out with the traps and also take a look in your flat just to make sure that everything will be alright. With creatures like mice it is easier to take matters into your own hands. You can go to your nearest local store and buy mouse traps and electroshock wires. Put some peanut butter on your traps and that will seal the deal. The mouse trap and the electroshock wires are most likely to kill them and if you do not want to go in that route you could buy the reusable trap that doesn't use any glue or poison, so you can release the critter (amazon.com). Just be careful with this method cause if you release the mouse just outside your building or even a few miles away they are most likely to come back because mice have an extraordinary sense of direction.
3. Anyways, whether you chose to use mouse traps or reusable traps first thing to do is to locate and try to remember what route the mouse followed when you spotted it. Try to find their entrance and exit points and those are the places you want to put the traps in. Just a friendly advice, it is better if you use one of these two methods rather than poison. While it will kill the mice, poison can also kill any animals that might feed on mouse carcasses. It can also inadvertently poison pets.
4. Clean your house thoroughly. Mice and other rodents go out looking for food and shelter especially at night and you would not want to leave anything outside that would attract them. Try to keep most of your food inside the fridge and any cereal or other food that you usually keep in your pantry could be put inside sealed containers such as glass or very sturdy plastic. Try to do the dishes immediately after cooking and check to not leave any crumbs on the floor.
While I was reading some of the articles or discussion threads online a lot of them had pictures of mice and rats so I will spear you this detail and I will instead put some nice pictures of puppies.
We haven't caught nor have we seen the mouse at home and I will update this article on every further development. Just remember that you are a strong, independent person and nothing is going to stop you! Let alone a mouse! We got this!
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