Thank you for sharing. It makes me feel like we are not alone here, too. And that means more than I could ever write to you.

What prompted this search was cleaning out the bin where we keep our winter hats, gloves, scarves etc. It was in a plastic bin but it was so full the lid couldn’t latch BIG MISTAKE! It smelled awfully of dead mice so I took it too the garage and dumped it to find a mother and about a half dozen babies all dead in stuff that we wear in the winter! EEEUUGGGHHH! I put my garden gloves on [it helps me be brave] and gingerly picked through it to extricate the rodents from everything needing to be washed [for sure!] So I am thinking now I need to take more drastic steps in rodent proofing everything around here.
I keep most of my flour, grains and stuff in glass jars or plastic canisters but I think there is still too much around here that they can get into .
Vinnie – loved your comments – glad to hear there are others who react similarly – sometimes I ask myself why I get so freaked out – I mean in other circumstances field mice can be downright cute – but not when they are in my house and I just have always had a thing about anything dead – it totally creeps me out.
Here’s a tip I read in a book. When you have a lot of mice – rig up a toilet paper tube smeared with peanut butter on a dowel and stuck crosswise over a 5 gallon bucket. They will go for the peanut butter slip into the water and drown and you can catch multiple mice that way. I’ve tried it – it does work but I’ve only caught 1 mouse at a time with it. I guess its time to rig one up again.

About a year ago our daughter was visiting – sat down on the couch and squished a mouse, and another time found a dead one in her bed [and I had just changed those sheets b4 she came!] I have not had the hair raising experience Juliette mentioned but did have one jump from my pier headboard land on me b4 leaping off the bed. Things like this make me feel kind of paranoid in my own home.
Nice to find others who can relate.

When my late, great cat was alive, I never saw a mouse here. I never saw her acting as if there was one. Perhaps it was the smell of her cat litter. For that purpose, I’m having a friend save some used cat litter for me. I can put it down next to the garage door. Hopefully, the smell won’t travel upstairs. I have the misfortune of having a tiny garage built under the house, attached directly to the basement. I feel that’s the entryway of the rodents.

Before the service, I was once awakened from a couch snooze by something poking me in the back. I sprang off the couch to note a mouse streaking around the backside of the cushions. Once, I was in bed watching TV when I suddenly saw a large dark spot on my arm. I didn’t feel it, but I jerked my arm, and the mouse went flying.

I eventually understood how mice got on the counter with the sink. I prevented them from doing that. Once, I caught a mouse standing on the microwave, chewing away at the underside of the cabinet door.

I had an old Sears air conditioner, a big one, permanently mounted in the window. A couple of strings hung over the air conditioner. There was a cool spell, so it wasn’t needed. Then, I came in one night, and it was very warm. I snapped on the air conditioner. It started one, making a racket. I thought the bearing was gone. I turned it off, but turned it on again a few minutes later. It was fine. It sent out chilled air. Another cool spell happened. The next time I needed it, I turned it on. Momentarily, a stench came out of it, along with little pieces of mouse fur. As it cooled, the smell went away. Eventually, everything that was going to blow out was expelled. I used it for another season after that.

Tonight, I thought I had prevented mice from crawling up to an area to eat the crumbs from a toaster oven. In theory, I was right. Unfortunately, mice don’t know anything about theory, so they figured out some method of breaking my mind.

Each year, this mouse madness takes over my mind. I actually went to sit in the car to have a late snack. Hopefully, my 2008 car doesn’t have a problem. I left a few peanuts in there, so we’ll see.

I don’t mind mice in a cage. I had a white mouse as a kid. I even had a field mouse who’d been injured in an accident with a mouse trap.

I’m much bigger than a mouse. I’m 6′ 3″. I weigh about 330 pounds. I’m a man, by the way. If I’m startled by a mouse, it isn’t uncommon to hear me shriek in a womanly tone. I echo the sentiments of the cartoon cat who stated, “I hates meeses to pieces.”

I also transported my spices in shoe boxes, but decided I couldn’t keep them there because I’d never be able to find anything! I bought a cheap over-the-door rack from Walmart that provides a lot of storage for spices and sauces.

Thanks for the tip, Gretchen. Toasty pb, huh? We could do that!

Katie