Please tell me it was just an insect that sampled our nectarines.

July 11, 2009 9:07 AM

Please tell me it was just an insect that sampled our nectarines.

We left two nectarines on the kitchen counter last night and woke up to find this. Please tell me a bug could have done this, that it wasn't something larger.

We live in St. Louis, MO, in a house that's about 60 years old, so we do find bugs occasionally. We're due for an exterminator visit anyway.

I did find a caterpillar in another room last night, but I think it's unrelated. He didn't look hungry.

P.S. I placed them on the paper towel for the photo. They were right on the counter, and some small bits of nectarine skin were laying beside them.

posted by kdern to home & garden (16 comments total)

Sorry, that looks like classic rodent gnawing.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 9:11 AM on July 11

Seconding Inspector.Gadget
posted by multivalent at 9:12 AM on July 11

A bug isn't going to climb up on top of each one before "tucking in".
posted by bonobothegreat at 9:25 AM on July 11

On a more positive note, it's clearly not a rat. I had them once (EEW!) and they ate way more than that at each sitting.
posted by scrute at 9:27 AM on July 11

now you know what to use as bait in the mouse trap...

and...peanut butter works well also...
posted by HuronBob at 9:33 AM on July 11

Wouldn't there be some other signs if we had a mouse? Droppings? Sounds?
posted by kdern at 9:34 AM on July 11

If that was an insect I'd love to see the beast.
posted by thebabelfish at 9:57 AM on July 11

This is the work of a small mouse. Clearly there are no "other signs" given that (A) you have them and (B) you haven't noticed any other signs. If there were other signs, you probably would have noticed them by now given that you have mice, which you do, and you are presumably an observant person.
posted by Phyltre at 10:12 AM on July 11

OK... I guess you're all right. I must have a mouse. Now what?
posted by kdern at 10:21 AM on July 11

The live mouse traps work better than the snappy ones. You'll get him overnight.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:28 AM on July 11

a cat
posted by rxrfrx at 12:15 PM on July 11

Yep, that's mouse-gnawing.
posted by sarcasticah at 12:56 PM on July 11

Mice are real easy to catch. They're dumb and curious.

I'd lay some traps (of whichever type you prefer) right around wherever those necatrines were and along the nearby wall.
posted by meta_eli at 12:59 PM on July 11

If you're the DIY type and don't want to harm the mice then you might try a bucket mouse trap.

Harmless if you don't put water, glue, or other caustic substances in the bucket, that is.
posted by GPF at 1:10 PM on July 11

There are lots of AskMetafilter threads about mice (scroll down past the ones about computer mice). My recommendation is to get the Quick Set style traps. They're easier and safer to set up, and they at least mostly hide the corpse. Smear the bait up inside the trap so that the mouse has to get inside to eat it.

Get way more traps than you think you'll need. You might hope that you only have one or two, but chances are you have lots already. Put the traps everywhere, especially along the walls and in corners. Peanut butter is an effective bait (I recommend getting a jar just for this), but try alternatives after you stop catching them. You want to make sure they're all caught and not just avoiding the bait. I recommend stocking up on disposable gloves and garbage bags, too.

For what it's worth, we lived in a ~60 year old apartment building in St Louis. Saw one mouse, ended up catching well over a dozen over a week or so.
posted by jedicus at 1:12 PM on July 11

Oh, if you know someone who adopted a stray cat or has a known mouser, see if they won't bring it over. The idea is not necessarily to catch the mice but rather to have the cat pinpoint where the mice are hiding. A friend of ours brought her cat over and it found their hidey-hole quite quickly.
posted by jedicus at 1:15 PM on July 11