Flaming mouse burns down house ...

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OldLumberKid

Feeling the Heat
Given the location — New Mexico — and the serious problem in the southwest with the deadly and incurable rodent-born hantavirus, I'll make no judgment, but this is a warning, I guess, to keep the door closed if you have a bonfire outside.

Otherwise, the mouse was probably simply going back to the nest in the house. Terrible situation for sure.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4593682.stm
 
There's a moral here...

Iffin you find in yo lovely house,
A nest made by a sneaky mouse,
Don't try flames for rodent termination,
Or you'll need trucks from the fire station.
 
Michelle the Wood Pile Panther would have nailed that sucker in a heartbeat.

woodpile panther.jpg
 
Guess BBC ran out of current stories.
They r on a gummint budget u know.
 
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Michelle the Wood Pile Panther would have nailed that sucker in a heartbeat.

View attachment 84359

See you learn something about woodpile equipment here, everyday.
This could be the factor that puts me over the edge to adding a cat to the quiver.

I like black ones with white feet and noses, known as "moggies," (also matches the dog.)
This one looks ready to smack down the lumber:
MoggieInHammock.png


There's a moral here...

Iffin you find in yo lovely house,
A nest made by a sneaky mouse,
Don't try flames for rodent termination,
Or you'll need trucks from the fire station.
LOL, thread quickly taking a literary turn.
 
This is the "Verminator". She patrols the yard .....and everything in it....
 

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Anyhow flaming mouse = flaming cat = flaming dog???
 
Michelle the Wood Pile Panther would have nailed that sucker in a heartbeat.

View attachment 84359

I would like to borrow Michelle for a few months in my house...all the mousies she can eat, I hear the little buggers in the attic crawl space and they EAT THE CAT'S FOOD - and the cat seems not to care.
 
I would like to borrow Michelle for a few months in my house...all the mousies she can eat, I hear the little buggers in the attic crawl space and they EAT THE CAT'S FOOD - and the cat seems not to care.

She is irritated that she has wiped them out of the house and the yard too. For a while she would troop through the woods every morning to wipe'em out under the guy behind us' deck. Got that cleaned out too and now she is miserable. Mousing is something their momma has to teach them or they will just lay down beside a mouse and sleep. That is why they bring mice to ya as a "present". Momma brought mice to them.
 
I would like to borrow Michelle for a few months in my house...all the mousies she can eat, I hear the little buggers in the attic crawl space and they EAT THE CAT'S FOOD - and the cat seems not to care.
Try withholding the food. Twoferone :)
 
It has since been determined that the mouse involved in this incident was a Tibetan activist, and fed up with the man's sympathies toward the Chinese. It's always the socio-political rodents of which one must be particularly wary. Don't ever give them an opportunity by lighting them on fire...something that's ordinarily quite difficult for them to do to themselves.
 
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I would like to borrow Michelle for a few months in my house...all the mousies she can eat, I hear the little buggers in the attic crawl space and they EAT THE CAT'S FOOD - and the cat seems not to care.

Warfarin blocks. Lay em out when the temp gets below 50 and you won't have to worry about it for 6 months. Then do some googling on exclusion methods and work on a permanent solution from there. They breed up to 10x a year so you'll have to kill the ones you've got now and then exclude. I've used everything at previous homes for mice and munks...snaps, glue, rat zapper, and warfarin. Warfarin is the only thing that was very effective with existing infestation. Find somewhere for your cat to stay for a week or so first. Don't want it eating a poisoned mouse....and they'll definitely come out of hiding to find water before they dehydrate and die.

Moved into a house that was a year empty and bordering on woods and field. Mice, red squirrels, and chipmunks had infiltrated the place...heck, an elderly gent owned the place before and from what the real estate lady said, might have been a hoarder. Definitely neglectful of the property. I gutted the basement after month of being here and was absolutely disgusted with what I found. The tree rats and munks were taken care of via pellet gun and the mice were done in with poison. I'm hopeful that my exclusion methods will remedy the situation when I put new siding and stone veneer on the place next year. Not an advocate of poisoning for the long term, but mice share significant gene homology with humans and are absolutely vectors for disease and ridding your home of infestation is critical before preventative/safer practices.

Had a free energy assessment from the power company. The thermal camera revealed entire panels of insulation that were destroyed by mice nesting. Kill them ASAP.
 
I was on a fire once in the Nevada desert where torched rabbits running out of the flames became the primary cause of fire crossing the line. It looked pretty weird when night fell.

Seen plenty of smoking raccoons waddling out of burning buildings.
 
Had a free energy assessment from the power company. The thermal camera revealed entire panels of insulation that were destroyed by mice nesting. Kill them ASAP.

Amen. I hate to harm a critter, but I am not a big fan of tearing my house apart, or watching it get wrecked by these destructive little buggers. The damage can be amazing.

My 2c on exclusion - don't assume any opening is "too small" for re-infiltration. I had to tear apart the vaulted ceiling in my original cabin (luckily it was still only vapor barrier at the time) and throw away over 50% of the insulation. The mice were coming in thru an opening in a metal ridge vent seam (where 2 pieces butt together) up at the peak of the roof. I thought I had it all sealed up / bolted down pretty good but any opportunity they find it and they're in. In case anyone is interested, I added "hardware cloth" (galvanized fine screen) between rafters (up under the ridge) before replacing the insulation (and also ran the same mesh along the ridge in the newer addition before nailing down the ridge vent). Air flow without critters. So far so good. I keep this stuff around and use it anywhere I need vents / airflow. I went so far as to go into the crawl space on a bright sunny day, no lights on, and look for any sign of light coming in. Sealed it up tight. Same in the attic.

Also keep in mind that some critters love to chew on things like electrical. The result being catastrophic. Whatever you have to do, get rid of them and keep them out. Be a fanatic about this.

BTW - the black and white pup in my pic (now much larger) is a great fan of patrolling the wood piles. I have no idea why - it's kinda funny, but small critters beware...
 
Sounds like karma to me.
Burning alive would be incredibly painful no matter what species is on fire.
If you are going to kill something do it quickly and do it mercifully.
 
Sounds like karma to me.
Burning alive would be incredibly painful no matter what species is on fire.
If you are going to kill something do it quickly and do it mercifully.

As the OP stated, its a "terrible situation for sure" - from different perspectives. This creature probably trying to get back to / protect the nest (the family?) and suffering greatly. What was "necessary" in this case? Was this just home defense, or cruelty? Why this man decided he needed to burn the thing alive is unknown.

I think I sometimes sound like a monster on this topic. I "hate" mice. But on the flip side, I've used plastic pails / cardboard boxes to trap bats when they get in (more than once) and release them out in the yard. I'll capture that annoying moth flitting around the kitchen light in my hat and toss it out the door. I even toss spiders outside in a paper towel (my wife thinks I'm nuts). In all cases it would be a lot less pain in the butt to just whack / squish them. As much as I "hate" mice (the damage they do), I hate killing anything. I hit a field mouse nest deep in a sand pile with a shovel once - didn't even know it was there - mother and babies. No joy in that event. I would be happy to rid my place of any rodents without harming a hair, but I'm not the Pied Piper. Not trying to be a smart a$$ - I believe you make a very valid and compassionate point. Exclusion is the long term solution, an existing infiltration has to be remedied, sometimes drastic measures are required. But cruelty is not acceptable.

Mice nesting in my house? They gotta go. I've busted my butt sealing things up but I will still have traps in the attic, crawlspace etc in case they get in. I can't afford the damage anymore. They don't go in the fire, but they gotta go.
 
good catch Danno77. an old story, questionable origin / facts, but still stirs up some interesting discussions...
 
Guys? I love the exclusion idea but my house is nearly 300 years old. As in, dry laid foundations, dirt floor crawlspaces, and very much post and beam (no balloon) construction. We are also in a rural locale backing up to hundreds of acres of conservation land.

My goal is to kill the ones that get into the crawls and attics with baits (and maybe cats if I can get good ones) and keep them out of the living/finished areas as much as possible. I am very aware that they can eat wiring and pretty much everything else.

So kill them it is. :(
 
Guys? I love the exclusion idea but my house is nearly 300 years old. As in, dry laid foundations, dirt floor crawlspaces, and very much post and beam (no balloon) construction. We are also in a rural locale backing up to hundreds of acres of conservation land.

My goal is to kill the ones that get into the crawls and attics with baits (and maybe cats if I can get good ones) and keep them out of the living/finished areas as much as possible. I am very aware that they can eat wiring and pretty much everything else.

So kill them it is. :(

Sorry 'bout that - pretty easy to figure how to do things in / to someone else's house - much like spending someone else's $$$. :) Mice aside, I think you just described a place I would love to get my hands on. Wow - 300 years old - that sounds very cool. Is there a way to focus on / seal up the living spaces - that would be a great part of the battle won. Dirt floor in the crawl would be a real challenge. Sounds like you have a big scope and limited options. Maybe you can adopt a couple of barn cats? Good luck with the critters...
 
Sorry if I am coming across as one of those Peta folks. I know some critters need killing. I am of the mindset that it should be done quickly is all.
 
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