Mice in NYC: a Mouse in My Apartment

Hey everyone! I just had one of the grossest experiences of my life, if not the most. Have you ever heard about mice and NYC? True. They exist. I knew that, I was aware of it and I was expecting one of those visitors from time to time living in Midtown. What I wasn't expecting was to feel it climbing up my leg in my pants!!! 

That explains why I've been walking around my apartment wearing rain-boots and tucked in jeans for the last hours, as you can see in the picture. In fact, it took me more than a couple hours to move from the top of my bed. I've just discovered I'm horrified by mice, and I need to share how the story was and how I managed to calm down.

After a long day at work, I came home and felt like cooking. While I was in the kitchen, I felt something in my leg. I thought it was just itchy until I heard "it" screaming. I freaked out. I didn't know what it was, so I tried to take it out but it wouldn't come out. I squeezed it. It made more noise and boom. It landed on the floor and started running across my living room. Ew. Seriously, grossest thing ever. I had no clue I was so terrified about those creatures, turns out I definitely am. I am very careful about maintaining my apartment clean and tidy. I promise I don't deserve those kind of visitors. Why can't they go to someone else's messy apartment?!  I bet there are tons of them in the city!

What to do next?! Well, I found all kinds of excuses not to move from the top of my bed. Two or three hours later it was 1am and I decided it was time to man up and solve this situation, I had to find the way to calm down and sleep. A nice glass of wine first. Second, I put my jacket on and went to 24hour Duane Reade. Thanks NYC for never sleeping and letting me go mouse trap shopping past midnight.

Oh boy was I surprised to find how many inventions to catch mice they have! Have a look:

After a very long decision making process I picked two products that I thought would work best for me: an electronic rodent repellent (which I didn't know existed until today) and a "no view, no touch" mousetrap.

I did some research (yes, after buying the products...) and apparently both of them should work fine. Probably I will need to wait for them to work and honestly I hope I don't even have to see them work. Here's how these two things function and why I decided to use them.  

• d-Con "no view, no touch"

This mousetrap is supposed to catch the mouse inside the plastic circle, so that when it indicates "mouse caught" you can just dispose it. It works by inserting a bait from the bottom. I read peanut butter works, so that's what I put... I'm not very excited about hearing a mouse complaining about being caught while I'm sleeping, but if it works let it be. A two pack costs about $7.

• Electronic Pest Control System

Apparently, this thing that looks like a small speaker emits ultrasounds that keep the mice away. Humans can't hear it, so I'm not sure if I was just fooled or this thing is working. A pack of two costs about $23, and if it works it's totally worth it. According to the packaging, this thing will repel mice and you will save a big mess. It also has a light sensor that is supposed to increase the intensity at night, when the mice activity is higher. It doesn't go through walls or furniture, that's why I'm not 100% sure two of them will be enough for my shoe-box sized palace. 

Now that I let it go and I feel more protected, time to go to sleep. It's going to be a tough one since every little noise will make me panic, but I better give it a try. If you've ever been in a similar situation, I feel your pain. I can still hear the mouse screaming and tickling my leg... EW. 

Thanks for reading and see you soon!