Look Big by Rachel Levin

Author:Rachel Levin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Potter/TenSpeed/Harmony
Published: 2018-04-10T04:00:00+00:00

HEAD CHECK

About one out of every hundred kids gets lice, Pollack estimates, typically between kindergarten and fourth grade. After that, it drops off. Thank god.

MICE

/ Also known as: Mighty, Mickey, Stuart.

FOUND In basements and cupboards, and under beds everywhere.

SIZE Like a butterball potato, plus that tail.

SOUNDS Squeak-squeak…

Mice and men have long been at odds. But Houston, you have a real problem. According to the American Housing Survey, 12 percent more households there reported having more rodents than two years ago (rats, too; see this page). Being one of the fastest-growing cities in the country has its hazards. Among them: mice.

“Our phone’s been ringing like crazy,” says Chris Cooper of Texas-based Omega Animal Removal. “People with new multimillion-dollar homes call up perplexed: ‘How can I have mice??’ I’m like, Whaddaya think was there before your fancy development?”

A whopping 18 percent of households in Philadelphia report rodents; Boston is not far behind. Washington DC, Milwaukee, Cincinnati…mice-ridden cities all. Manhattan, of all places, saw a decline, but 1.1 million households with pests gnawing power cords and pooping in the pantry is plenty.

Mice. They’re just like us! All they want is food, shelter, and warmth (i.e., check your toaster).

WHAT TO DO

“Has nothing to do with cleanliness,” says Cooper, “just poor maintenance.” Wonky gutters, worn garage doors, cracks in foundation: mouse house. Give them a gap as small as a dime, and they’ll squeeze their way in.

To find the holes, sprinkle flour along a suspicious wall and then look for little footprints. You could spend a weekend plugging holes with copper mesh and quick-drying cement—or call the pros; preferably those who don’t rely on poison. “If you seal everything up and then use poison, the mice will just die in the walls and stink up the place,” warns Cooper.

Glue boards and electrocution gadgets are cruel. Grating a bar of Irish Spring soap supposedly deters them; they hate the minty smell. Otherwise, the classic snap trap remains the easiest—and most humane—way to ensnare. Hold the cheese, please, says Cooper. What mice really like is peanut butter.

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