How to Get Rid of Pest Mice FOR BEGINNERS

Mouse Trapped in Window A/C Unit

2011-09-07T12:03:00.000-07:00

I received this email from a worried reader:

"I've got a mouse in my window a/c unit. I live in an apartment (on the first floor) but because the window unit belongs to us and not the complex, the complex refuses to do anything. The mouse just turned up this morning but has not made it into the house yet. I've got about four snap traps set up baited with peanut butter in the likeliest of place that he entered window a/c. And I've got one trap at the only know entry point INTO the house from the a/c.

Here's what I want to know...should I get rid of the whole window unit at this point? I mean, the mouse has been in there for 12 hours and has likely urinated and defecated EVERYWHERE, is cleaning the unit even possible at this point?

What can I do to prevent the mouse from getting inside and stopping further mice from climbing into my window unit.

Any help would be appreciated."

If you are experiencing the same problem, I suggest that you remove and dismantle the a/c unit after a full 24 hours. It is still in your best interest to take out the mouse before it dies - decaying rodents in a/c units and other air vents are definitely hazardous to your health (apart from the fact that dead mice would definitely release strong foul odour).

However, since dismantling requires a lot of time and effort, it is most advised that you set up the necessary traps outside the a/c unit. The letter-sender above got it right when he placed peanut butter-baited snap traps at all the possible entry and exit points in the a/c unit. Nonetheless, if this is not effective, depending on your preference, you can either wait for the mouse to get out on its own after a few days (it will surely do so in order to look for food, unless it doesn't know how) or take out the a/c unit then free the mouse on your own.

If indeed you have figured out that the mouse can't get out on its own, you can choose between two options:

1. Deliberately kill the mouse - Well, the most obvious thing to do is to drop poisoned baits into the a/c unit.
2. Wait for the mouse to die on its own – Surprisingly, most people would only notice that a mouse is indeed trapped in their a/c unit after its decaying body would start to smell. Again, fumes from decaying animals are health hazards.

Still, the best approach is to immediately take out the window a/c unit after the mouse is discovered. Window a/c units are quite easy to take out and dismantle, but if you can't do it yourself, you can either ask a friend to do it for you or look through the yellow pages of your telephone directly and find a local window a/c serviceman or repair shop.

It is already expected that the mouse has already urinated and left droppings inside the a/c unit. Thus, upon dismantling, it is important that you sanitize the unit. You can use commercial sanitizing agents (i.e. bleach) for this purpose. Let the sanitizing agent stand for a couple of minutes or hours before rinsing the a/c parts.

To avoid such problems from happening again, I suggest that you regularly inspect your window a/c unit to see if the rodents and gradually making entry points into it; "seal" all obvious openings and place mice baits outside the a/c unit.

To the letter-sender, you should be aware too that it is still your landlord's responsibility to help you take care of the problem. Although the a/c unit is yours, it is still your landlord's obligation to keep your place free from rodents and other pests. If are willing to go through all the hassles, you can compel an uncooperative landlord to help you pay with the professional services needed to remove the mouse by sending him a copy of your total expenses -- request that these expenses be deducted from your future monthly rents. Seriously, you can take the case to a judge and be confident that you will win.

Top 3 Best Mice Traps

2011-09-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

Mice control is so much easier if it is done prior to an infestation. You see, mice are very adaptable animals and once they have nested in a place, it would be very difficult to get rid of them (well, it would be easy if you can kill them). In this particular case, the saying "prevention is better than cure" holds true. It would have been really easier to keep your surroundings clean, to have all trash been covered or to keep wood pile on an elevated platform. Clutter and mess makes a particular area very prone to mice infestation. Nonetheless, if it took an actual infestation problem before you realize this fact, you can still make things right by addressing the infestation first and then mice-proofing your property immediately right after.

You can resort to different methods of mice control in order to eradicate the current mice population in your house. You can poison them or you can catch them one by one using mice traps. In my opinion, the latter method is better when you live with pets and kids. Sometimes, out of curiosity, pets and children would end up "feeding" on the poisoned food baits which are intended for the mice. As a result, they would also be poisoned and would possibly suffer from serious health problems. On the other hand, the most unwanted damage that the traps can do is to snap into your child's finger or your pet's nose, which may be painful but is not fatal in any way.

There are many kinds of mice traps available in the market nowadays. Apart from the traditional snap traps that have existed since time immemorial, we now have glue boards and electronic traps. Some traps can catch a single mouse per snap while others can snap five all at the same time; some are re-usable, some are not. Now, of all these traps available at our disposal, how do we choose which one is the best for specific applications? Listed below are my top 3 picks:

1. Paper/Tray Glue Traps - As per my personal opinion, these are the easiest to use and by far the most mess-free trap available in the $1 to $3 price range. Mice would end up being stuck into the glue trap and all you need to do is to dispose them outside. You can drown the mice to kill them if you can't afford to do it using your own hands (or if you want to avoid as much blood as possible). It is wise to use these traps in areas where kids and pets live too because they are not poisonous and they will not hurt them in anyway. If your children or pets happen to touch the trap, it will just stick into your pet's hair or your child's hand; you can easily remove it using oil.

2. Mice Snap Traps - If it's a contest on "most number of traps sold", then these traps will win, hands down. These traps are so popular mainly because they are cheap and they have been there ever since the concept of mice trapping has been developed.

3. Automatic Set Trap - These traps are really just like the traditional snap traps; the only difference is that the user no longer has to set the trap by himself/herself. Some people are just so afraid that these traps will snap their hands while they set it; now, with the auto-set, these worries are soon to be forgotten.

Actually, there are so many other types of traps out there. The three traps I have mentioned above just happened to be my favorites.

Common Questions about Mouse Plagues

2011-08-25T04:47:00.000-07:00

It is said that Australia suffered the worse mouse infestation problems in 2007. This massive mouse outbreak was considered as a muse plague, a term which was never used in this place for some time already (in the 1970s, Australia also suffered from the same problems). But what is a mouse plague really? What happens when it occurs? These and so many other questions would-pop out of our minds every time this issue is raised. This article is written to give readers at least the modicum level of understanding of what a mouse plague is really all about.

What is a mouse plague?

The most prevalent determining agent of what constitute a mouse plague is massive mice infestation. When the number of mice in a hectare of land exceeds 1000, mouse plague is definitely occurring. The population can swell up to 3000 (it can't go higher than that because the mice will also compete for food). They usually infest regions that grow a lot of grains, in Australia these are the southern and the eastern regions. When mouse plagues happen, the pests can infest an entire grain barn and leave it empty overnight. The worst part is, in case when the mice are not able to consume all the grains, what's left has to be thrown away because of contamination (i.e. mouse urine, droppings, saliva, etc.). Thus is can be deduced that mouse plagues can cause very serious damages to agricultural lands. In some cases, they can even bring down an entire economy for a while and make that community suffer for the loss of income. Mice have been causing too much stress to farmers and other land owners already, even before a mouse plagues happens, so you can only imagine how stressed they become when it does.

Which places in the world do mouse plagues happen?

Excessive mice infestation does not happen in too many places in the world. One particular reason to this is that only a few regions in the world have the combined factors that make mice breeding fast and easy. In the southern and eastern portions of Australia, mice are able to reproduce incessantly because of the temperature and the overall climate of the place. Moreover, they also get enough food supply from their vast wheat lands (a mouse favourite). Other areas that have cases of mouse plagues are California and some areas in the north-western regions of China. Nonetheless, these areas do not suffer mouse plagues as much as Australia. Thus, in a relative sense, it can be said that only Australia really suffer from repeated mouse plagues.

What causes a mouse plague?

It is sure about what causes the outbreak: the supply of food. But, experts agree that this is not the only reason. While the reasons why the outbreaks happen in the southern and northern portions of Australia, it is still very apparent that they two regions have identical climates. Rainy season is a very favourable weather condition for mice and this normally happens from April to October, and the harvest period is these regions also happen during this period. This means that at the very moment when they can reproduce massively, they will also have enough access to all the food that they need. This mixed condition is probably the surest reason why Australia has had a lot of outbreaks in the past, and possibly in the future. Well, the thing about mouse plagues is that they do not last forever. The peak of the population explosion might last for 18 months and almost immediately, the population of the mice will take a very significant drop; from a thousand mice per hectare, it can drop to 1-3 mice and in a matter of weeks the plague will subside and will not come back for a couple of years.

What ends the plague?

Experts have note really understood yet why the plague ends. Some speculate that it probably happens after the mice have already consumed too much food that the supply starts to become insufficient to support their population. Other factors which might can the end of the plague are: predation, diseases and overcrowding.

Can the plague happen in one place and then occur in another?

Some people actually think that the plague can "travel". However, the truth is that it can't. Maybe to some extent, the plague may move in a small-scale level but this does not happen in a short span of time and in most cases the movement is too insignificant that it would seem as if the movement never happened at all. These slight movements take about 9 months become obvious and is often unsuccessful because right when it is complete, the harvest in the area where they opt to migrate is also finished. Nevertheless, is the climate is still favourable to the mice, there is still very high chance that a good portion of their population will make it into the next location and start to reproduce in this area again.

How do we minimize plague damage?

When mouse plagues happen, it is imperative that a massive population control program be implemented. Although the plague would naturally subside on its own, this natural death happens in 18 months -- a period too long for farmers to wait. This duration is also enough to kill an entire economy. Thus, the government would actually really invest a good amount of money just to cut down the mice's population as fast as possible. One particular example is the action done by the Australian government in 2007. The government has commissioned planes to spread poisoned baits throughout the southern and northern regions in order to kill thousands if not millions of mice at once. Immediately a day after the poison was spread, farmers practically started to walk on dead mice on the ground.

Other methods used to minimize the damage caused by the plague includes: cleaning after a harvest (removing grains from the ground), weeding, fencing and regular cultivation. It is important that the farmlands are constantly visited by people so that the mice will not feel as if they can live in the area without a threat.

Mice in Space

2011-08-25T04:38:00.000-07:00

November last year, space shuttle "Discovery" left Earth along with six astronauts and guess what -- 16 astro-mice! The mice are brought for a specific reason and it is said that they are destined to make history. The astronauts and the mice went to space in order to know more about the effects of the new environment to the overall health of humans and animals. This is in line with the current efforts of the NASA to get substantial data in order to verify if humans can indeed survive in space, come the time when the Earth will no longer be liveable.

NASA has been researching about the behaviour and condition of the human's immune system when it is in space. The people behind the study want to assess if the change in gravity as well as the overall environmental factors which are exclusive to Earth will also alter a human's capability to combat harmful bacteria and diseases. Of course, since this task is too risky for a human to test on himself/herself, the astronauts brought with them the mice so that they can be put into the test first. We have all known of the great help that mice have given humanity when we began testing genetic mutation on them. Decades ago, we even started to grow human tissues in their bodies -- things which helped save thousands of lives already. This time, the experts are again soliciting the help of these rodents to again achieve another great feat, something which would have been really impossible if the mice where not around.

This particular research by NASA has been there for more than 25 years already. NASA has even partnered with the University of Texas for this endeavour. The goal of the medical branch of the University is to find a way to help those who currently have immune system problems on Earth (HIV positive) while the intentions of NASA is highly futuristic. Well, their goals might be different but the two agencies are working hand in hand to achieve the same thing, which I think, is what's more important.

NASA started to pay attention to immune system problems after the astronauts from the Apollo missions showed decreased susceptibility to diseases when they came back. Even while they are still in space, many of the scientists became ill, although they never have records of being sick before they left Earth. The only sensible explanation that NASA can think of is that maybe there is something is space that makes a human's immune system suffer. This theory is yet to be tested, and that is the reason why they brought mice into space.

The thing is, the mice should experience the same immune system problems that the astronauts have suffered and if they don't, then that's the angle that the NASA is particularly itching for. The idea is that when the mice do not become affected by the change in environment, the experts would have to make deductions that the effects are exclusive to humans, something which brings to the surface so many interesting questions. These questions are vital in determining whether humans can indeed live outside Earth.

A professor in the University of Texas, Dr. Garofalo said that the susceptibility of the astronauts to bacterial infection might be caused by the dormancy of their bodies while they are in space. Once they start the spaceflight again, their bodies no longer have enough time to adjust back to the movement and so it becomes weak. This theory is of course not founded yet, but D. Garofalo is convinced that this might be the real case. He compared the susceptibility to the astronauts to that an elderly or a child and the best way to verify this is to subject the mice into the test (mice have similar systems as humans).

In order to keep the research fail-safe, the researchers have also kept the same number of mice on the ground, inside their laboratories on Earth. These mice came from the same bloodline as the mice which are brought in space. Both the mice on Earth and in space are given the same nourishment. The end goal of the research is to compare the health conditions of the two groups of mice and see if the group in space will become more vulnerable to the same infections by introducing them to the bacteria that cause it. Once the mice have been exposed to the bacteria, they will be examined and the researchers are hoping that they would finally be able to identify the reasons why the immune system is weakened in space.

The lungs and the other organs of the mice will be inspected and using various statistical data and sampling, the researchers will compare the changes in these organs and identify which factors caused these changes. Scientists are very confident that the mice will be able to give them substantive results since these little rodents have been doing this for the past few decades.

Other Functions of Mice in Space

Apart from helping scientists in their researches on the human's immune system, mice are also used by astronauts in space to verify if the absence of gravity can indeed affect the sense of direction of an animal. The research involves having mice breed in space and then allowing the pregnant mice to give birth to their child in space. For comparison, a pair of mice from the same bloodline is also mated on Earth at the same time. The two pregnant mice will give birth at the same time and their offspring will be tested by dropping the two critters into an aquarium full of water. The critter from space was brought back to the ground for a side by side comparison. The results were impressive. The mouse from space was not able to redirect its body so that its feet are aligned to hit the ground. The mouse from Earth only took a second to position itself to hit the ground with its feet.

The Greener Approach to Rodent Control

2011-08-11T05:13:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt that some people can find great pleasure in keeping rats and mice as pets. However, outside this context, these rodents are actually very terrible pests. They can provide incalculable damages to our properties and to our health. In fact, millions of dollars are being wasted away each year because of these animals. Over the past years, we have developed tons of methods used to control them in order to minimize the damages that they can do. However, most of these methods are chemical-based and unfortunately, such chemicals can greatly harm the environment. Thus, in the end, although mice are indeed controlled by the methods used, the amount of damage is still not minimized.

But it's not just the environment that these chemical-based control products harm. One characteristic common to most rat and mouse poisons is their slow-killing ability. This means that only a few types of poisons can kill mice and rats on the spot. Most of them kill the rodents slowly by weakening their internal organs or by forcing their bodies to bleed internally. Apart from the cruelty of this method, it can also pose serious threats to the other animals in the house. For example, a mouse or a rat dying from the poison might run lose and get the chance to encounter your pet dog or cat. You might might eat or play with dying or dead rodents and poison them in the process.

These are the reasons why greener approaches to rodent control always make it big whenever they are introduced into the market, at least when it comes to popularity. For obvious reasons, products which are "Earth-friendly" are more expensive to produce and this reflects in the cost of these products. Thus, no matter how popular these products are, too few people still use them because of the cost. Nevertheless, manufacturers are putting forth some extra efforts to be able to make these products more affordable. So, expect to get one of those "green mouse/rat control" products at a friendly price in a couple of years from now.

Of course, we can't just wait until all these products are made available for us. Actually, we can improvise and control mice in our own way by using items which we can find at home and in our pantry. We can also "mouse-proof" our homes in order to discourage mouse entry. Here are some of my ideas:

1. I used to live in a brick house. I have noticed that mice often use the gaps between the bricks to enter our kitchen, but I can't really seal the gaps because bricks need them in order to expand safely. The physical characteristics of bricks are greatly affected by the weather. It can contract or expand depending on the surrounding temperature, thus the gaps are intentionally placed in order to avoid breaking whenever the bricks expand. Knowing that I can't do much about the gaps, I "sealed" the gabs by using a crumpled chicken wire. The wire was sufficient to discourage mice entry while not completely sealing up the gap, thus still giving the bricks space to expand.

2. For houses which are not made from bricks, sealing should be easier. Owners should inspect every corner of their house in order to identify possible entry points. The easiest way to seal the openings is through the use of steel wool or scourers (usually used for cleaning cooking pots). Steel wools are very affordable and they can be bought per piece. Scourers can be cut to the right sizes using industrial scissors.

3. It is common knowledge that mice and rats are attracted to garbage. These rodents like to nibble on everything found in the trash can including leftover foods and vegetable peelings. Thus, it is wise if the homeowner covers all the trash bins in the house with lids which are not easy to remove. As much as possible the lids should perfectly fit the trash bin's opening so that the rodents will not be able to sneak in the gaps. For compost bins outside the house, homeowners are advised to elevate them. The elevation will make the bin less easy to penetrate. However, if the bin is indeed elevated, homeowners should make sure that the bottom portion of the bin is drilled with holes in order to let the moisture of the compost leave the bin.

4. Rodents prefer to nest indoors but they can also nest outdoors. If you have already sealed your house, chances are, the mice and rats might have just settled to nest outside. To stop them from doing so, make sure that you clear your yard from any forms of debris piles. Mice also nest under firewood and rock piles. If the piles are inevitable, practice disturbing these piles on a regular basis just to give the mice a hint that they will not be at peace under these piles. Mice do not like disturbances thus if you do it often, they will definitely leave your property on their own.

5. It is also helpful if you conduct regular clean-ups in your kitchen area and in the other places in your house where mice are most likely to nest. Mice require very little sustenance so even a very small portion of leftover food can encourage them to stay in your area and forage where you have these leftover food lying around.

6. You will know if your area is really prone to rat or mice infestation. If you are certain that despite all the safety measures that you have done, mice and rats might still come in your place, change all your trash bins to metal ones. Do no use plastic trash bins anymore because mice have this twisted thought about anything that they can chew. They will only attempt to chew on your plastic bins and in the long run, they might actually succeed in doing so.

7. Just like squirrels, mice and rats also feed on bird seeds. If you have a bird feeder at home, just make sure that you place it far from your house so that the rodents that happen to find out about it will not be tempted to visit your house. As much as possible, cleanout fallen fruits the soonest that they fall from the tree as these too can encourage mice and rats to come into your residence.

Storage Tips to Keep Mice Off Your Stuff

2011-07-17T03:28:00.000-07:00

Once pest mice get into your stuff, terrible and horrible things can happen. Inside your closet, they can rip open your underwear, your socks and even your favorite shirt! Inside the pantry, they can nibble through the boxes containing your precious food items. In your garage, they can mess up with the tools that you have just neatly arranged. And in your car, they can ruin your expensive seat covers and floor mat. But these things could have been avoided if you have properly kept you items. Protecting your stuff from mice is actually very simple to do and believe me, you will regret it when you do not spend enough time to read this article and learn how you can control mice by yourself. Here are my top 10 tips:

1. If you are moving a piece of furniture into storage (maybe in the attic, basement, garage or a separate storage room), clean it attentively. That means that you need to thoroughly vacuum the surface of the furniture to remove every dust that clings into it. Clean out all the stains and the little pieces of debris that are stuck in the crevices and in the cracks of the furniture. You'll never know, but those little pieces of debris might only attack mice to jump into your furniture and start to nibble the cracks to get those tiny pieces one by one. If you want to keep you furniture safe, then spend enough time to clean it. Once it is clean, you can choose to cover it with fabric or with plastic covers to keep the dust off it and to discourage mice to come near it.

2. For the same reason as above, clean all your appliances no matter how big or how small. The little bread crumbs that are left in your toaster's tray might invite mice to come into your kitchen more often and eventually discover that they are more stuff to eat there than just plain bread crumbs. You don't want that to happen, do you? So, the best thing that you can do is to wipe your appliances clean until all the traces of food are gone. Apart from mice, ants, bugs and other pests are attracted to left-over food, so you better be serious about this one.

3. For your clothes, especially those that you no longer use and store in boxes, it is highly advisable for you to put moth balls (naphthalene balls) inside the box too. The moth balls produce a very strong smell that mice find detestable. Moreover, when mice nibble the moth balls, they will surely die too, that's enough discouragement for them not to. The good thing about moth balls is that these balls do not stain the contents of the box. They will just "melt" away slowly, thus, if you are observant enough, you will notice that the moth balls are getting smaller and smaller over time. The reason behind this is that the smell that it produces is actually from its portion that "melts" and transform into gas. If you do not like the smell of moth balls, you can also try cedar-scented mouse-repelling sachets and block. These products are more expensive that they smell fragrant, thus your garments will not get that naphtalene-ish smell, and instead, they will smell like cedar which is very appealing to the human senses. An entire sachet of cedar-scented repellents can last for up to four months, that's enough if you are only storing your items for a while, say, you are in a vacation or a business trip. If you plan to store them a little bit longer, just change the sachet after four months.

4. Except if you are really an anti-pesticide advocate, feel free to use pesticides. You can use contained insecticides if you are concerned about your pets and of other factors. You can use these to add an extra security system to your storage, so that before they even reach your storage boxes, they are already dead. For mice, you can use popular pesticide products like Racumin which kills mice on the spot. On-the-spot killing is important because if the mice get to move even for a while after they have eaten the poison, they might end up inside your storage and die there. Dead mice like other dead animals can produce some really nasty smell.

5. If you are using mouse traps to improve the security of your storage system, do not use cheese as bait, instead, use peanut butter. It is a common misconception that mice like to eat cheese (blame that to Tom and Jerry). Mice prefer sweeter stuff and you use peanut butter because apart from being sweet, it is also very sticky. By being sticky, the mouse has to lick it off the trap, increasing the possibility of the trap to snap and catch the mouse.

6. Herbs are also effective deterrents. You can put herbs in the corners of your house to discourage mice from coming-in in the first place. You can use catnip (the "cat" part of the name of this herb and the natural ability of cats to scare mice is a coincidence), lavender, sage and mint to repel mice. Although these herbs may not be as effective as the chemical-based repellents, still they are good options for you to try. Mice are said to be extremely allergic to mint so you might want to give mint a try.

7. If you must keep food in containers, prefer to use containers that mice cannot penetrate with their extremely sharp teeth. You can use glass containers with screw lids or plastic containers with snap lips. The rationale here is simple, if mice will not get into your food, they will starve to death inside your house if they will stay. As a normal response, the mice will leave your house and find another place where they can actually find food to eat.

8. Some scented candles actually produce smell that mice are attracted to. Avoid storing candles during warm weathers as they can melt and invite mice to come close.

Exquisite Mice Recipes for Beginners :)

2011-06-28T02:53:00.000-07:00

To a lot of people, cooking and eating mice is unthinkable. But in some portions of the world, mice make up an important role in their native delicacies. In fact, in North America, people eat rat because of their nutritional value (being rich in protein), while in some parts of Paris, mice are eaten because they taste like a crossbreed between chicken and pork. And yet, to the rest of the world, mice have become a stable source of meat that can be cooked in many different ways. Some restaurants even have mice in their menus. Thus, no matter how unthinkable it may seem to you, mice cooking and eating is actually an old practice and many people are so into it ever since.

The common house mouse has been very popular in West Africa that about 50% of all the locally produced meat there mouse or rat meat. To be exact with numbers, according to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, more than 250 thousand pounds of mouse and rat meat are sold in the market of Accra alone. So, here are some of the recipes that are quite popular among the mice-eating people:

Grilled Mouse Bordeaux

The other name of this recipe, "Entrecote a la bordelaise", sounds like any other classy food you can get from a high-class restaurant. Well, in fact, this mouse meat recipe is served in popular restaurants in Paris! The skin of the mouse is removed before it is eviscerated and glazed with an exquisite sauce made from a mixture of olive oil, some shallots and other spices. The meat is then grilled over a fire made from old and broken wooden wine barrels.

Mouse Stew

Just like the meat in the Mouse Bordeaux, the mouse is also skinned and eviscerated when cooking Mouse Stew. The mouse's body is then split into two from the neck down to the tail bone and then battered with a mixture of butter, peanut oil and some spices. The battered meat is then deep-fried until it turns golden brown. The fried mouse meat will then be covered with an elegant sauce mixed from water, fresh tomatoes, red peppers and some other spices. For the meat to absorb the taste of the sauce, the entire dish is simmered for a couple of minutes and then served hot with rice.

Stuffed Mouse Dormice

The mouse is skinned and eviscerated; head, tail and feet removed. The stuffing is made from ground meat (can be mouse meat, pork, beef or chicken) mixed with pine nuts, garum or anchovy paste, asafoetida, homemade broth and other spices. The mouse is stuffed with the stuffing and then sewn properly before it is cooked in the oven for a prescribed length of time.

Roasted Mice

The best mice to use for this recipe are the field mice primarily because of their meat is not as tender as that of a house mouse, thus it is very fitting for a roasting recipe. The mice is skinned and eviscerated before it is skewered and roasted over hot coals. This recipe is best eaten with Margarita.

Creamed Mouse

Just like all other recipes, the mouse should be cleaned out of the head, feet and tail. It should be skinned too and the rest of the internal organs should be removed. The meat is then marinated in a pot of a mixture of ethyl alcohol and some spices. After marinating for at least 2 hours, the meat should be dredge into a batter mixture consisting of flour, salt, pepper and some spices. The battered meat is then fried under a low fire for about 5 minutes before another cup of alcohol is added into the pan. Along with the alcohol, about 8 cloves of garlic are also added. The mixture is to be simmered for another 15 minutes before it is transferred to a pan of cream sauce. The meat is sautéed for another 10 minutes before it becomes ready for serving.

Mouse Enchiladas

The mouse should be skinned and eviscerated before it becomes fit for cooking. In this specific recipe, the mouse is cooked in a regular enchilada sauce made from chillis mixed with liquor. Chile skin is supposed to be separated from chilli meat before it is mixed with the liquor and some fried onions. The tortillas are to be filled with the mouse meat mixed with the enchiladas sauce, rolled and then baked for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

You see, there are so many other great-tasting mouse dishes out there that are not mentioned in this article. Although it is really quite ironic how such wonderful dishes were derived from an animal most people consider as pest, still one truth remains, the people behind these recipes are really able to bring out another dimension of the mice. They may not be as main stream as chicken, beef and pork, but with all honesty, people who were able to eat game and veal can be outnumbered by those who have already tasted mouse meat at least once in their lifetimes.

We can't really say which cuisine is exotic or not simply because we do not eat certain kinds of foods. To some places, the normal food that we are eating may be categorized as exotic and the foods that we consider exotic might be categorized as normal to them. This diversity in taste and preference is what makes the different cuisines around the world unique.

Of course, I am not encouraging you to feed on the mouse that you see in your house simply for the purpose of establishing that a new predator (that's you) has just emerged in their habitat (that's your house). There are some findings too that suggest that improper preparation can also cause food poisoning. The preparation of mouse meat may not be as easy as you think, so if ever you are enticed to taste mouse meat one of these days, better go to a restaurant instead and just enjoy your experience without having to worry about other things.

All the best,

Sergiu Zburatoru

How to Get Rid of Pest Mice FOR BEGINNERS

Mouse Trapped in Window A/C Unit

Top 3 Best Mice Traps

Common Questions about Mouse Plagues

Mice in Space

The Greener Approach to Rodent Control

Storage Tips to Keep Mice Off Your Stuff

Exquisite Mice Recipes for Beginners :)

Factors Affecting Mouse Infestation

Killing Mice for a Living

Mice Extermination Methods to Avoid

Two Separate Views of Mice: Pets and Pests

Pest Mice Considerations

Pest Mice and Plague (Part II)

Rodenticide Poisoning in Pets

Pest Mice and Plague (Part I)

Types of Rodenticides

Pest Mice Control Methods - Pros, Cons

Mouse Glue (Adhesive) Traps - Glueboards

Become a Mice Exterminator

How to Tell a Mouse from a Rat

A Pest Mice Story

Electronic Pest Mouse Control Devices

Mice Control Methods

Professional Mice Extermination Tricks

Mice Control Pets

Traps with Wings and Other Natural Methods to Control House Mice

Personal Testimonies on Pest Mice Control

House Mice Disease Transmission

Types of Mice - Getting to Know the Pest

The Science of House Mouse Traps

Tools and Methods to Control Mice

Where to Effectively Place Mice Traps

Handling House Mice and Understanding Rodenticides

Hantavirus - A Pest Mouse Most Fatal Attack

House Mice Infestation (Part III)

House Mouse Infestation Prevention and Control

The Promised Extensive Guide - Taking Care Of Your Pest Mice Problems

Easy to Follow Advices for Effective Mouse Control

Mouse Deterrent

Mice Elimination

Catch Mice

Mice Bait

Mice Removal

Mice Traps

Mice Poison

Mice Infestation