Our home was a mouse-free zone until two new kittens, Mimi and Ruben, began hunting in the nearby woods. The tabby twins developed a taste for wood mice, but instead of consuming their prey, they brought the live rodents back to the house. This behavior turned the interior of the home into an unexpected and unpleasant hunting ground for the owners.
Live Prey in the Living Room
The infestation began as soon as the kittens’ fine motor skills improved. They started venturing into the adjacent woods to hunt, but the lack of mice inside the house meant they had to bring their catch indoors. The cats would release the mice, which remained miraculously alive, in various parts of the home. The owners knew a mouse had been delivered when the cats sat guard near skirting boards or gaps under cupboard doors, making odd “prittering” sounds.
This situation forced the humans to become the hunters. The owners had to move furniture and get on their hands and knees to catch the mice, often using upturned Tupperware boxes. When they managed to capture a rodent, they released it back into the woods. To prevent the cats from tracking the release site, the owners locked the yowling animals inside the house during these excursions. Despite these efforts, some mice inevitably escaped into the fabric of the house.
Unsanitary Conditions and a Tetanus Shot
The situation deteriorated when the cupboard under the kitchen sink began to smell from mouse waste. The owner decided to use humane traps loaded with peanut butter to remove the culprits. The experience was not without its dangers. On one occasion, the owner rescued a particularly plucky mouse that had been dragged back into the house multiple times. Moved by the rodent’s plight, the owner held it on a piece of kitchen towel to bond with it. The mouse bit the owner’s finger, resulting in a need for a tetanus booster.
The worst discovery came when the refrigerator began to emit a faint smell of rotten eggs. The odor grew into a putrid stench, prompting the owner to move the appliance to inspect the area behind it. A trough on the back of the fridge, designed to catch evaporating water, had become a toilet for the confused mice. Because the trough could not be detached, the owner spent hours absorbing the slimy liquid with wads of kitchen roll before scrubbing the area clean.
Source: The Guardian
