Saturday, March 16, 2013

Weekend excitment

Boring slow Saturday at your house?

Not at mine.

We were cleaning house.  That major deep clean that only happens a few times a year.  The kids didn't even complain about helping.  They had their chores and knew what needed to be done.  Once chore at a time.  Work for 20 minutes take a break for 10.  Not a bad day.

Until....

Mina's chore is cleaning the bathroom.  It is one she likes to skimp on but I am strict.  I do let a few things slide but today she had to get them down.  Every surface, to include the toilet had to be wiped down.  All wood work polished.  I wanted it spotless.

It was going great until she heard a bumping under the tub.

Ut oh...

There was a mouse nest under there but we have almost eradicated them.  The nest they had under there is abandoned   We have just the occasional mouse coming in to see if he can find some food. One of those stray mice got caught in a trap today.  I made a note to ask Dragon to dispose of it when he gets home.

A snake found the mouse before Dragon could get home.  The bumping was the snake trying to eat the mouse, trap and all.

After much panicking, (by me) the snake gave up his prize and is gone.

 For now....

And I have a half digested mouse in a trap under my bathtub.  It is visible from the access door on the side of the apron.

Ick ick ick.  I HATE SNAKES!

Would I call it a phobia?

Why, yes I would!

Snake repellent and large sticky traps are now on the shopping list.  Someone recommended lemon grass.  I think I may have to plant the ENTIRE yard in that stuff if it really works!

5 comments:

  1. Hey Rose...
    My Dad swore that mixing freshly crushed garlic and rock salt and sprinkling it around the house acts as a snake repellent.

    He said it would also make a snake lose consciousness by throwing a handful of the mixture on the snake’s head…would be unconscious in a few minutes and you can then get rid of it.

    Warning…different snakes/sizes react differently so the snake may not stay out for long so kill FAST!

    Dad always insisted the following be planted around the house as they repelled snakes:
    Rosemary, Marigolds and Wild Garlic

    He never mentioned Lemongrass but that doesn’t mean anything.

    Here’s a website I found that has a lot of information for preventing snakes also:

    http://blog.tsemtulku.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/etc/how-to-prevent-snakes-in-your-backyard.html

    Hope this helps!

    Blessings,
    Cat

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    1. I have two very large sticky traps in place. If that snake comes back he will have a surprise waiting. Ick.

      Thanks for the link! It has been a while since we have had to worry about snakes.

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  2. there was one on our roof a couple years ago and as i was pulling into the drive, it fell on my car. freaked me out. my neighbor was out raking, she yelled if i needed her rake, she came over and i beat the thing with the rake. looking back, i should have left it alone, but after the professor measured it he was surprised that it was roughly five feet long. certainly something that could bite and leave a mark. so he was glad i'd killed it after all but was so shocked because i hate small bugs and spiders. lol

    snakes are scary, no doubt.

    maryanne.

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  3. We have mice here but our neighbors are nice and let their kitties roam so it helps keep the populace down. We've had 1 snake in 5 yrs we've been here and luckily it wasn't a rattler.

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  4. Moth balls up under the house... stinks like ever BuT definetly keeps both mice and snakes away.. keeps em away from under the hood of vehicles too :)

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