Emptying the nest

A mouse’s winter vacationing spot cuts into my staycation fun

Shelley

Mr. and I find ourselves at the end of my staycation a bit disillusioned by how I didn’t accomplish much spring cleaning, if at all. And how much I missed not dipping my toes in the sand at a beach front property.

I successfully wasted time, though, so that’s good, right? Plus I met the remnants of a vacationing mouse who knows how to find the coziest vacation spot. I’ll give you a hint, it wasn’t at a Disney resort.

The weather blessed me with more chilly and rainy days than nice days to enjoy. And plenty of WIND. Ugh. It’s WINDY again today. 20 mph. Sigh.

On the nicest day of the week, the farmer used it to the fullest and kept me inside so I wouldn’t be breathing the dust from the lime he spread on the field. That was nice of him, eh? The wind was blowing right at our house. I’m thankful for new windows that don’t leak!

While he drove in circles around the field, I spun in circles too, as I sorted through my mom’s and my own jewelry. I spent 45 minutes untangling one gold chain necklace. I reminisced about my mom and wondered why she kept the jewelry she did and where she had gotten it from? I ended up just sorting and organizing and putting it all back into place. Yay, me!

I sorted through photos and newspaper clippings too. The photos were from a previous resort of them back in 2016 according to the date on the box. Photos are not something to start with when it comes to spring cleaning unless you’re committed to it. I put all of them back in the box, then took them out the next day too so that I could resort and mail a box of them to my step-sister. It felt good to actually send them off to someone who may enjoy them too.

I found another box that had scrapbooks and newspaper clippings from my grandmother who collected/made them in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. That was interesting, but I didn’t do anything with them except look at all of them, take a few photos, and then put them back in the box. I sneezed a lot too while handling the dusty old papers.

I wondered how I didn’t know that Stalin’s daughter married the chief architect of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation? Did you know that too? How about that shirt he’s wearing – that’s a statement shirt if I ever saw one!?

Back in the 30s opinion articles were interesting, to say the least. Not to ruffle any PC feathers…or to get a black-eyed Junco to pay attention to what I found, but seriously, my grandma’s scrapbook could’ve been the talk at parties, I’d say.

Mr. has been most patient with my whip-cracking attempts to get stuff done this past week. But, I’m thinking he’s ready for me to go back to a normal work schedule tomorrow too. And, frankly, I know it’s time to end a staycation when we’ve ended up spending two or more days in a row looking for the possibility of a critter infestation too.

We noticed something interesting in our garage on March 20th. It was a nice day, so we swept out the garage floor and cleaned off the steps. In the process of moving things around, we found an intriguing pile of dirt and stones, and corn. Something dug its way into our garage from the front door stoop, we think. I sprayed the area with bleach/water, let it dry then we vacuumed it up. Mr. placed a mousetrap to catch the rascal. We hoped to anyhow.

A week or so ago, when Mr. wanted to use his smoker to cook dinner, he discovered that all of the wall outlets in the garage were dead. The ceiling lights and garage door openers still worked, but the wall outlets didn’t. Ruh, ROH… We checked the mousetrap, and it remained untouched.

Ruh, ROH…now what?

Since we knew the previous mystery pile was by the steps, and we weren’t sure how to discover where the wiring may be damaged, we began our investigations on where we thought the wiring should go if we were electricians wiring a garage in 1990. The first step was to go up into the attic and see if there were signs of a squirrel or damage to the wiring? None, thank goodness, but I noticed there were other projects that need attending to too – for another staycation perhaps?

The next day, we moved a bunch of things off the steps to get access to the little door Mr. had installed 30 years ago when he built the stairs. We immediately smelled the stench and discovered the huge mouse nest built out of the insulation.

Based on the nest, I’m leaning toward a house mouse, but we live near fields, so it may be deer mice. That’s the kind you don’t want to mess with due to health risks according to this blog post. I have a friend 10 years ago who after sweeping up mouse droppings in her cabin ended up with Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome and still has difficulty breathing.

Mr.: “We need to move the steps to see where the damage is!”

Me.: “Can’t we just take the boards off the top of the steps first to see where the issue is?”

Mr.: “Yes, but it all has to be taken apart since I can’t remember if I glued it to the floor or nailed it to the walls?”

Enter in the historian (aka, me) to watch and capture a photo or two, for proof if needed about who worked the hardest to solve the mystery too. We both noticed the water stains on the sheetrock walls that we’d finish someday – and then life happened and the stains remain as artwork. Crafted carefully by kiddos who spilled stuff, our flag that would hang there to dry when it was raining outside, and the tiny handprints made from chalk dust on the kid’s hands when they were little. The steps have seen a LOT of traffic over the years. They’ve held up very well.

Once the carpeting and boards were removed, it was interesting to see what might look like a decomposing wine cork, a McDonald’s burger wrapper, and an SH*T LOAD of mouse turds and urine stains. Thankfully, only in one section below the stairs, not under all of it. I sprayed the hell out of it with bleach/water.

Based on the conversations we’ve had during our discovery process, I think Mr.’s 61-year-old self would’ve guided his 31-year-old self not to use wood glue (which may have been a deal back then) and straight nails to assemble the steps. Deck screws would’ve made the job easier.

The carpet he used back then was a steal though – he recycled it from the church that had pulled it up to replace it with a new carpet. It has served the purpose well over the years but had stuck better to the boards than hoped for. We think it was one of our first big projects, so it’s interesting to see the techniques used and how the stairs won’t be reassembled the same way.

If you noticed too, in this photo below – in the upper left-hand corner, there’s an indication that the mice may have gone further into the walls…

We’re now at the point of trying to decide what to do next? The place where we thought the mouse was under the door is empty. No nest to be found. It appears as it traveled under the sheetrock, along the top of the concrete footings to gather insulation for its nest. But, did it stay here and comes back to the nest when we’re not banging on its rooftop? Or did it leave now that the weather is ‘warmer’ according to the mice? Or did it take the self-execution route when it chewed the wiring?

Guess we’ll have to pull off two or more areas of sheetrock to find out if there are more nests above the basement stairs too?

I’m sure that will be a story too – to be determined within a day or two more of discovery if there is more than one mouse-filled winter vacationing spot.

Post Inspiration, Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “too/to/two.” Use one, use ’em all, bonus points if you use all three. Extra bonus points if you start your post with one. Enjoy!

PS – Have you ever used an exterminator? Do you think it’s a house mouse or deer mouse? When do you know your vacation is over?

Published by Shelley

Letting my quirk out one post at a time.

40 thoughts on “A mouse’s winter vacationing spot cuts into my staycation fun”

  1. Wow, you guys have a nasty varmint problem, I’m glad it’s being addressed. The article from 1938 is interesting to read, there are many similarities to life today aren’t there? I am also 61, we are baby boomers! 😂

    1. Hi John, yes, it turned into a bigger issue than we thought it was. It is good to address it now when the mice tend to enjoy their homes outside instead of in our garage.
      Yes, on the article. It made me chuckle reading it. I remember you’re the same age as Mr. Yay for baby boomers!!!

  2. Oh my. When we moved into our last house, DH was traveling for work and I sat down to read the newspaper (those were the days) in our TV room. I looked up to see a mouse sitting on the top of my lamp staring at me. I basically came undone. LOL. I closed the door to that room and drove to Home Depot to buy traps. Needless to say, the mouse didn’t hang around waiting for me to return. Over the years we lived there, we found fall to be a time when they tried to come indoors. We did find one hole in the jamb around the service door and DH stuffed it with bronze wool. (He’s a sailor and knows it won’t rust out like steel wool, which I would have used.) We still heard the odd noise in the walls and smelled a decomposing mouse occasionally, but once we resided the house, we didn’t have that problem anymore. I HATE mice. Good luck! (And keep using that bleach!) 😊

    1. Hi Laurel – Oh my is right and same back to you. If I saw a mouse sitting on the lamp next to me, I’d freak out too. They are smaller than us and usually stay hidden. My mom had mice in her house every fall.
      When her dementia kicked in she’d leave food out that attracted them. They’d crawl into her laundry room through the dryer vent. I found one floating in the bucket she had with stained clothes soaking in it.
      Her eyesight wasn’t great so that didn’t help either.
      While I prefer our indoor cats, when we had our cat that lived mostly outside and in a heated area in our garage, we rarely had any mice problems.
      Thank you for the hot tip on the bronze wool. Good to know, I would’ve done the steel wool too. We definitely need to check the holes around the house to see if we can plug them to keep the pests out of our garage. I HATE mice too!!!
      Thank you for the well wishes. If I have another nightmare filled night like I’ve had the last few since we found the nest, I think I’ll be calling the exterminator. After I read your comment, I went and sprayed more bleach on the mess and nest!! 🤣😂🤣😆

  4. Back to the start. Did you fix the power points? The stairs look better without carpet. Good luck with de-mousing and hope you don’t find a stinky body just a mummified one or two.

    1. It’s a new beginning for our stairs I think. The power points are the tricky part – there is only one point on the control panel for the garage, so shutting that off shuts the lights off that we’re using to see where the mouse trail is. Somehow, the builders wired the upper lights, and outlets for garage door openers separate from the lower outlets. All wiring is covered by sheetrock. It’s a mystery to be solved……
      Thanks for the well wishes – I too hope what we find is a mummified one, not more! 😉

        1. Yeah, that’s what we’re finding. We’re surprised at how many shortcuts were taken. We watched the house being built like hawks – we were there everyday. We should’ve taken more photos of the wiring though.
          We’re assembling our tools of investigation (N95 masks and completing the kit with a wire crimping/patching tool that is approved by special powers). We shall conquer this madness one of these days. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 And have a bonfire with the stairs that housed the menacing mice. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

  5. Yikes! Here in California, we have to have our houses tented every ten years or so for termites… do they have a similar service for varmints inside your walls? I would think that they would be hard to find once they get behind the sheetrock. Of course, then you’d have to deal with the decaying body, so maybe that’s not such a great idea. Next time, go to the beach 🙂

    1. I’m pretty sure there’s an exterminator service that has all the tools of the trade. They likely have little cameras like surgeons have that can go in small spaces. Kind of like a colonoscopy. LOL! Wow – tented houses, I’ve never heard of that – it sounds kind of cool. Termites can be nasty. We’ve had issues with them in one of our rental units 10 years ago. Mr. tried to cut a hole in the sheetrock of the closet ceiling to check things out and it crashed down on him with the termit colony on it in full on action. I think that may have something to do with his current hesitancy to cut into the sheetrock for discovery purposes 🤔🤨😆 You’re right, dealing with decaying bodies on top of the poop party remains isn’t our idea of vacationing fun. The beach is WAY better indeed!

  6. Good luck with the rest of the project and the end of the mice. Those little rascals don’t need much space to move around. Dismantling things that are well-built is always a pain. I hope you have a good week.

    1. Thanks for the well wishes, Dan. You’re right, those darn mice can get into very tiny spaces. And make a mess of spaces much larger than their nests.
      I guess we had no intentions of dismantling the stairs when Mr. built them. He’s already redesigning it in his head, so we’ll see what he comes up with after he has power back to the outlets he’ll need for his power tools!
      I hope you have a good week too. Enjoy the lovely signs of spring you’re getting to see in your state.

    1. Yes, I agree. I hate them too. If they eat the mouse poison we all get along better. 🤣🤣🤣 Thanks for the well-wishes!

  8. My husband has spent YEARS closing up all the holes into the house that he can find to avoid the fall infiltration of mice. So far this year (and last I think) I haven’t seen any evidence of them in the house. But something IS running around in the attic mostly noticed at night. By me. He’s not sure there’s anything up there, as he hasn’t found evidence, but I hear it at night and there’s something BIG up there. (Noises always make it seem like something is big, I’m pretty sure it’s not a squirrel, and is probably a mouse or ten.)

    1. Hi Dawn – thanks for sharing your thoughts. We’ve had mice every year, mostly they stay in small nests next to the poison. This year, they were extra invasive, IMHO.
      Yikes…I’m like you, the sounds at night make me panic big time. I hope you find out what’s making the noises and get rid of it. We have a rental unit that attracts squirrels like that – the renter traps them and releases them. Guess so they can come back again? 🤔🤣

  9. Well I wish you would have visited a famous resort to chitchat with “those mice” but here you were, on a much-deserved week off and dealing with organization and mice instead. My mom used to clip items out of the newspaper and had a clipping file, mostly home remedies or household hints, but many a time I’d come home from work and see a clipping from a magazine or newspaper on the table to read. Some were quite thought provoking. As to the mice – how horrible.

    My grandmother got squirrels in her attic and had an exterminator in to remove them shortly after she heard them racing back and forth above her head – they did extensive damage. We had an exterminator over the years for carpenter ants, then rats after a new neighbor left his pit bull out 24/7/365 – we had rats within weeks and I had to stop feeding and watering the birds. I never resumed doing so, even after the rat problem and that particular neighbor was gone. Now I have bunnies and the yearly ants. This year I contacted TruGreen for a five-time-per-year perimeter spray. Nothing inside – didn’t like the smell inside the basement or garage so I liked that the spray was outside only. But I signed up March 7th and by April 15th they had not sprayed once and I was starting to see my first ants (one side of the house only, but the side which affects me (kitchen where I am here at the table with th computer, bathroom and bedroom). So I tried to get on their site to see when the initial spray would be – could not get in – EVER. I decided I did not want the pesticide around the house so cancelled with them and happily got my entire year-in-advance-fee returned to me. I researched with the BBB beforehand and knew they are a large company that’s been in business for years, however, I found a “consumer gripe site” that raked them over the coals. Yikes! People who said they watched on their video surveillance cameras where TruGreen personnel hopped out of the truck, placed the hang-tag on the screen door to say they had done the work, then left. Several instances of that and killing other things in the yard with the pesticide, so I just cancelled. I’ve got my Terro traps and I’ll just deal with it. Sigh.

    1. Hi Linda, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
      Clipping newspapers seemed to be a big thing for some families. It’s a treasure chest of info.
      Oh, my, that’s horrible about TruGreen. We have them at one of our facilities, and the only thing I’m positive about is that they have aggressive accounts receivable dept staff. They are a network of people that work across the US from home as far as I can tell (don’t hold me to that though). We have found some pest control businesses that are reliable. Mr. is one of them 😂🤣 just kidding.
      My mom had a service that was supposed to do what you signed up for. It seemed to take care of the ants. I’m like you ready with the Terro traps and I’m keeping an eye out for the birds that love to eat ants. They might be more plentiful this year since Copper’s sent isn’t there.

      1. I was grateful I got my full amount refunded, especially after reading that gripe forum site. I gathered they might work from home too and the oriignal person I spoke to was a man from the Deep South. We did have a pest service for years – I’d have gone with them, if they’d have responded to me and I’m not sure they would have a guarantee re: no more ants, if they did not treat the inside. I just didn’t want the smell downstairs and in the garage. Every time it rained, you smelled the spray which was strong. The basement is finished, not concrete floor/walls, so why it smelled so strongly I don’t know. Yes, the comments seemed to suggest their AR staff were aggressive. I cancelled then got a follow-up inquiry on “why did you cancel before you started?” I need ant-loving birds … just Googled, good, hummingbirds eat them. I’ll make Hope work for her nectar. 🙂 And I have too many sparrows – they build nests in the housing for the metal rolling blinds.

        1. It’s funny to hear that hummingbirds eat ants. The hummingbird feeder that we have next to our window is the one that attracts the ants into the house. Sweet ants look for drier ground when it’s really wet or they look for sweet stuff to eat…they tend to show up for us where there is pet food to eat. Hmm… Keep the Terro traps close at hand.

          1. I looked on Amazon for an anteater and couldn’t find one … there is an an anteater bird I found when Googling for birds that eat ants. I will – I’ll break them open if I see any. So far just a few here and there.

  10. Would this mean that you do not agree with this childhood poem Shelley?

    MICE
    I think mice are rather nice;
    Their tails are long, their faces small;
    They haven’t any chins at all.
    Their ears are pink, their teeth are white,
    They run about the house at night;
    They nibble things they shouldn’t touch,
    and no one seems to like them much,
    but I think mice are nice!
    -Rose Fyleman

  11. Hello there!
    That Ruth Millett 1938 Wonder thoughts was super fun! Parts of it were timeless
    Also – the jewelry box – in powder blue – was quite beautiful
    I have my FIL’s small jewelry box (black with red interior so very different from the large powder blue one) to sort – it has special tie pins, cuff links, buttons and misc – none of the grandkids want any of it!
    —
    Hope your mouse situation is rectified fully!
    Have you considered the plug ins that emit a booze to keep critters away?
    Also, I always enjoy hearing about your house projects and enjoyed seeing the dismantling of the stairs. Well not enjoying the work you all have to tackle but it reminded me of our first kitchen remodel we did in 1996!
    Fun to look back

    1. Hi Yvette! I’m glad to read you appreciate what I shared. The jewelry is all tucked away – for safe keeping. My daughters went through it when my mom passed away – they took what they wanted then, but maybe they’ll want more now that more years have passed?
      Our mouse situation is on stand-still – we were waiting for a part to repair the wiring. And then the weather turned crappy again.
      I agree with you, it is fun to look back at projects – it’s probably one of the reasons I document so much.

      1. Hi – I think your daughters might want more of the jewelry many years from now – maybe not – but I know I valued things after 30 and I hope my boys will too. Right now – they are quite the minimalists and they might not ever be too sentimental when it comes to things – and I guess that has pros
        —

        1. That’s what I keep thinking. I was that way, and now I’m still having difficulty parting with the jewelry. You and I are dubious minimalists 😉 🤣

          1. Hahaha -and yes –
            We are!
            Even though I am not totally sure what the definition of a dubious minimalist is (I sort of know from some of your posts – and I have a feeling you will do something with that cool term – with it trademarked – wink)

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