Comments on: Of Mice and Vegans

By: moonwatcher

moonwatcher — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 02:46:21 +0000

Wow, thank you, Carol, for this lovely comment, and welcome! I can enjoyed picturing your golden mice. And I very much appreciate your other observations. I’m just trying to make a little dent in the other direction in my own far from perfect way.

By: Carol

Carol — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 02:34:36 +0000

I am so proud of you! I used to have pet mice,(they were golden color) and I loved them. They are sweet little animals and have no self defense except hiding. I wish people were not so ready to kill everything they don’t like. Especially in hellish ways like sticky traps.

By: moonwatcher

moonwatcher — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 19:46:28 +0000

Welcome, “neighbor”!! So fun to hear from you Pam, and learn that we live so close by each other. Yes, peppermint oil is an excellent deterrent. After the mice were out, I set up cottonballs in the manner you describe. If you ever come into town, maybe we can meet up at the co-op sometime. Thanks for your comment!

By: moonwatcher

moonwatcher — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 19:42:40 +0000

Welcome, Helen, thanks for your kind words and tips!!

By: Pam

Pam — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 17:59:46 +0000

Hey! I linked to your blog from Susan’s site. I live in your neck of the woods (Troy, lol) and have found peppermint oil is a good mousey deterrent. I pour it on 3 or 4 cotton squares and put them in a small container set in the areas where I hear them. I get the oil at the health place in the mall in Moscow. I have been told that the local farmers use the oil on their harvesting equipment to deter varmints, but I don’t know if that is really true or not.

By: Helen

Helen — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 17:23:27 +0000

A really lovely story. Thanks so much for giving consideration to mice – people see them as pests, but they are animals just like us. So glad to hear about people like you who go through the trouble to save a life, no matter how big or small.

By: Helen

Helen — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 17:17:38 +0000

Veronica,
You can get the humane bug trapper from PETA’s site. I’m terrified of bugs, too, but if I see one, I relocate it using the humane bug trapper.
PETA also has instructions on making humane traps for roaches:
“If you would like to trap and release the roaches humanely, make your own live traps by taping newspaper to the outside of a glass jar, smearing Vaseline along the inside of the lip of the jar, and placing food (fruits, bread, vegetables) inside. You will find that the roaches who climb into the jar are unable to climb back out through the Vaseline, and you can release them outside.”

By: moonwatcher

moonwatcher — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 16:15:09 +0000

Hi Molly, I sympathize and understand that dilemma. I bet you were relieved they never made it into one of those traps. I’m thinking you probably don’t have any in your new place because mice are kinda noisy. So in this case, silence definitely is golden! 🙂 And so glad you liked my treatment of the PureWow cauliflower recipe, too!!

By: Lottie patton parker

Lottie patton parker — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 15:19:00 +0000

I catch the mice too but they don’t always survive and I do let them out close to the house. Have to try your method. Great story

By: Molly (Based on a Sprue Story)

Molly (Based on a Sprue Story) — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 12:47:49 +0000

Congratulations for handling the situation in a way that felt right to you! When I found a mouse in my first New York apartment, I flipped out and went to buy traps immediately. Every store I went into in my neighborhood had only the “sticky” kind of traps, not the “humane” traps (by which I mean the ones that kill immediately; NONE of the stores had the cage kind). I was feeling so queasy about the idea of mice getting into my pantry supplies that I did buy the glue traps. But I always felt horribly guilty about it, and I was very relieved when we never actually caught one. Since then, I just take steps to keep food in glass or plastic, and in my new apartment I’ve never seen a mouse. Maybe they’re there, but they aren’t bothering me. That’s definitely the way I prefer it!

P.S. I also saw that PureWow cauliflower recipe from your previous email and your version looks wonderful! I love what you did with the leftover marinade, too.