Mouse Mess

We have had mice in the basement throughout the winter. I have seen them scurrying around, and I have seen the terrific fecal mess they have left all over our food storage shelves. It was gross and the storage room smelled like mouse urine. 

A couple weekends back, Kent and I, together, tackled the mess, cleaning and reorganizing as we went. The mice had been into foodstuffs that were in flimsy packaging including pasta, ramen, oatmeal, flour-based mixes, and other stuff. They had left pee trails and lots of poop all over shelving and food. We have three large shelving units with food storage and all of them needed cleaning. We took down a table to work off of, masks, gloves, cleaning rags, and a bucket of warm soapy water which we had to refill numerous times. We took everything off each shelf, cleaned the shelf thoroughly, then washed all the jars and cans, wiped off every package, and rearranged so that any food not in a jar, bottle, or plastic container was on a rolling metal shelf a mouse couldn't get at easily. 

The whole project took four separate days working three or more hours a day. It was overwhelming and disgusting. I am on a rampage when it comes to mice. I want them ALL dead! By the time we finished, I was so pleased with how good everything looked and how mouse-proof I think the shelves are. At least, I hope they are mouse-proof. While a mouse could still run across them, I'm confident there is nothing on any of the shelves they can reach that they can eat. 

Here's hoping we can get through the rest of winter without having any more rodent issues.

Part of the cleaning we did was to vacuum under the bottom shelf of each shelving unit. I lifted up one shelf and discovered a dead, desiccated mouse stuck between the wall and the shelf. I don't know how he got stuck there, but I was glad he was a dead mouse, not a live one.