Originally Posted by Sally

I thought it was just a stereotype that women screamed and got on a chair when they saw one.

Originally Posted by Englishmum

OMG - I went into the kitchen at 6.45am this morning and went to put the kettle on. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something move.....and nearly had a heart attack when I saw that it was a dark grey mouse... :scared:

Unfortunately I don't have a cat as I'm allergic to them, but I did think of Tom & Jerry cartoons where the mama of the house spots Jerry, jumps onto a chair and screams THOMAAAASSS!

Being the wimpy coward that I am, I screamed and the mouse seemed to jump and ran behind the oven. I ran straight up the stairs and my heart was pounding very fast indeed. My husband had left the house at 5.30am to go to an early meeting in NYC, so I called him and he burst out laughing - saying they're "only little and it's cold outside for them" and said to call pest control. At that time of the morning all the pest control services listed in the Yellow Pages just had answerphones on. My son just laughed at me and he went off to school (without any breakfast...).

I then legged it up to the gym where I go to aqua-aerobics, had tea and a cake from the vending machine and made some calls at 9am. The earliest anyone could come was between 2pm and 5pm so after my class I went out shopping and got home at about 1.59pm and stayed upstairs, wrapping Xmas gifts...didn't want to be downstairs LOL! The pest control guy turned up at about 5.50pm (grrrr) and found mice droppings behind the oven and near the wet bar in the basement.

He says that as soon as the weather gets cold, the mice first look for somewhere warm to go, then they look for food, but warmth is their no.1 priority. Favourite spots are the warm places behind the oven, behind the fridge and next to the dishwasher.....mice love the lining at the side of them. They can get through a hole the size of the diameter of a pinky finger (ugh) and possibly it/they came in the house where the tumble dryer outlet flue pipe goes.

The pest guy was going home for the day, so has put some mousetraps with peanut butter down. He checked the pantry which was fine - but we did eat out tonight. I'm still freaking out....I've just sent my husband to the Home Depot to get sealant and extra mousetraps (ugh, ugh, ugh) and nagged him into working from home tomorrow and the pest guy will come back with bait in boxes. In the meantime I'm staying upstairs as much as possible and avoiding the kitchen and basement for the next day or two.

I don't know why I'm scared of them...but it creeped me out. Oddly enough I used to love having geckos running up and down the walls when we lived in Singapore, but mice and spiders give me the willies.

Originally Posted by Sarah

They also tend to breed when they come indoors.....
I lived in my friends council house when I was 17, the mice used to run along the kitchen countertops as we made a cup of tea. They would scratch at the door during the night as well, that used to keep me awake it was so loud...I remember the last straw being when my friends boyfriend got out of bed and put his feet on the floor, one ran between his feet. After that it was poison everywhere. Suprising what you'll put up with when you're young.

Originally Posted by cindyabs

4 legged things don't bother me, but the 8 legged things :scared:

Originally Posted by BritGuyTN

I think a lot of females on here are drama queens.

Originally Posted by g1ant

I'll trade you, your mouse for my three scorpions.

Down here in Texas, the pests we have are not just pests. They are pests that bite. Be happy with mice.

Originally Posted by syllk

At the risk of sounding like Topper from Dilbert, a mouse is nowt. Try a big fat stinking rat (sorry Bob). In my kitchen. At 2am in the morning. UB40 would've been very proud.

Originally Posted by blaze

I thought mice do bite!