Visited some friends in Baltimore. Late evening entertainment was air rifles vs rats in the Alley.

Reuben got another mouse in the back yard just tonight. He came in the house with the tail hanging out of his mouth. My wife picked him up and put him in the bed of the El Camino. I brought out a few dog treats, and he decided to just swallow the mouse, and the treats. In the past sometimes spit out the mouse to get the treats. This time he got a mouse and the treats. I told him he was good boy!

No issues with disposing of the dead mouse this time. I will put out some traps in the storage building tomorrow.

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Pest Company is coming out today. I'm counting on them finding how the mice are getting in. I'll post an update later.

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This is what you need Dixie.Don't let her cuteness fool you. She's a real hunter. Her two brothers watch her, when she's in action.:D

You are assuming that they don't just live in the house.

One thing about having a hound dog like a dachshund, they smell everything. Reuben scent trails things inside and outside. Any mouse would be trailed right to a source. I am hoping he got the scout yesterday and not a member of the pack. All I saw was a tail, and I have no idea if it was an adult or juvenile. The traps get set today. Several in the garage, and storage building. I hope I am wasting my time and there are no more.

I'd heed that advice, but I'm allergic to cats. :(

We had an inch of rain yesterday. The earthworms crawl up out of the yard and onto the sidewalks. One particularly large one was on the sidewalk just outside the doggie door. Reuben came into the laundry room thorough the doggie door eating it like a pretzel. Yummy :(

Honestly, we feed him twice a day!

Ours always liked them best after they'd been roasted and dried in the sun for a couple of days. Mmmm, worm-jerky!

We had a mini dachshund (11#) and a mutt (35#). I don't think the mini dachshund did the killing, because I don't know that he was that fast, but I did find him in the back yard chewing the head of a large squirrel once. It was kind of like when we gave him stuffed squeaky toys. The head was mostly just a fur sack where the "stuffing" had been squished out of the mouth. He was very upset that I didn't let him finish it.

I also saved a bunny from him once. He had it cornered in the porch. It was hopping up and down in the corner while he barked and snapped at it. When I opened the door and shouted his name he looked at me with a little tuft of fur between his front teeth.

THey are hunters, and, I've heard, that's the reason why they'll eat until they are fat if you let them. I guess the drive to hunt is possibly tied to a sense of hunger (my assumption).

I'm going with poison bait boxes. Here's why. The pest control guy can't find where the mice are getting in. He also stated they can't seal the bottom perimeter because of the way my house is built/remodeled. I'll skip trying to explain that, and just agree it's not viable.

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Being boys we bought a couple of those BB machine guns you see in the back of magazines.

Not very accurate or powerful but lots of fun.

Big problem is they are powered by automotive Freon , probably no buro nowadays... And if you held the trigger too long the gun would freeze... Literally.

I set out 4 traps this afternoon after the Reuben's alert. One at the door to the garage from the back yard, one at the front of the 911 on the other side of the garage, one under the back porch grill, and one in the storage building.

Now I need to act like Jeremiah Johnson, and go check the traps every day. I hope to get em all ASAP, or find no more at all. Reuben is on full alert 100% of the time.

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Change that from doorbell alert to critter alert. And no, that is not Reuben, but he looked like that as a puppy.

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Off duty mode.

Just be glad Hickery Dickery mouse didnt run up your clock.

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Reuben went out on patrol tonight and he was barking at something. A big critter, that was fortunately for all of us out of reach for a short legged dog.

Mr. Possum was not doing much but sitting there. I locked up the gate to the back yard and I am sure Mr. Possum moved along on his quest for whatever. No harm, no foul.

What should I use to seal this void? I suspect it's where the mice are getting in. It's the plumbing for my bathroom.
It's hidden in my spare bedroom closet.

This is why I hate paying for people to do things. That includes companies, like this one, that have been around decades. They typically have no clue WTF they're doing.

Last, does anyone know what the black rubbery sheet material is for? It's around the pipe, and peeking out from under the flooring. That's the underside of a sheet next to the screwdriver.

Yeah, I'm a bit mad at the moment.

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Relax and go see Nutcracker next month!

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A friend of mine is an exterminator (I call him the critter killer lol). He places a powder or something inside the house. Then after a while, he uses a light outside to find the tracks and where they come in.
He doesn't get a lot of repeat business.

Fill the gaps with steel wool. Rubber looks like underlayment?