Note: Please do not kill your house with fire.

I was pretty close.

I chose kill it with bleach. And I still feel pretty nasty, and I probably have more work to do when I move the bins that are out there now. Hi, denial!

Ugh, Pix, I had to deal with similar in the house I rented before I bought my place. And I literally have screamed and jumped on a chair when I've seen a mouse in the house. I remember spending an evening crouched on the arm of my sofa at the old place, rocking back and forth and crying while listening to mice scrambling around in my cupboard where I stored plastic bags. I just couldn't deal! I wish I had had a xanax at the time!

I finally, for the first time in my life, bought rat poison (which being the total animal-lover I am, was upsetting) when I heard them in my attic. They eat through wire and cause havoc and though I actually like rats a lot (I blame Templeton), I can't risk the damage to my house. They're all gone now.

TOTALLY normal reaction, Kristin.

I lose track of who posts where, but my heart is with Sean, Scrappy, Askye, and a whole slew of other lovely folks who are struggling right now. Hugs to all of you. Sorry I am so intermittent in here now - the full time job is sapping me. But it's a good job and I am enjoying it a lot. It's just overwhelming right now. I am working more flex hours now, so the commute is down to less than an hour each way.

I had a long battle with rats, and I wouldn't say your reaction is a phobia. A phobia is an irrational fear. There's nothing irrational about being freaked out by rodents invading your home. Before I finally spent a lot of money on trapping and sealing access, I beat on the walls and cried when they were scrabbling in the walls.

They most commonly get in around pipes like the one under the sink, and Great Stuff foam will keep them out. It's best to trap first, so you don't seal them in. I became a believer in snap traps baited with peanut butter. The great thing about snap traps is that the evil rodents die instantly and don't suffer, and the traps are so cheap that you can be a wimp like me and throw away the whole thing.

I shudder for you.

eta: The problem with poison is that you don't know where the hell they're going to die.

The one time there was a mouse in this house, I left and spent the day at the library and made the husband deal with it when he came home.

Pix, that very gross and upsetting. No doubt about it. I've had to deal with various infestations before, and I sympathize.

When I was married, all rodent issues and anything involving larva were delegated to my husband. I would drag him out to the garden to dispose of tomato hornworms.

eta: The problem with poison is that you don't know where the hell they're going to die.

This is true. We had rats in our roof space earlier this year. (I thought they were possums, they sound pretty noisy scrabbling around up there). We got someone in to lay poisons. This poison is supposed to make them thirsty first, so they'll vacate the premises to look for water. Nonetheless, we had a funky smell in one room at the end of the house for a few weeks after that. (The guy came back to look for the culprit, no luck.)

I'm sorry for the rodent trouble, Pix. Take whatever you need to help yourself out.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure we have either possums or rats in the attic space as well. No easy access to look, but they're pretty loud. I'm wary of rat poison given the dead-in-walls smell that often results, not to mention the potential to affect my own animals, but I'm getting close to being willing to take the risk.