Linen closet mystery invader About This Page:

[Her Dotness]

Mouse invasions, I've seen (and smelled!) before...eeeewwww, nasty. But, I was momentarily baffled by what I found this morning in our guest bath linen closet.

There were four rolls of toilet tissue stored atop a stack of bath towels, the rolls tossed askew amidst a sizable, fluffy pile of shredded tissue. I grabbed rubber gloves and proceeded cautiously being not at all interested in encountering teeth or ickier biological evidence of who knew what animal.

There was no animal and no bio evidence other than what looked like claw marks deeply gouging a couple of rolls, similar to when we had a cat who loved to shred the tissue as it hung by the toilet. Could also have been tooth marks, who knows.

Didn't see any obvious entry hole after a quick look round the interior walls and ceiling. So, I checked the nearby storage closet in case something had come in there since it's stacked with Christmas decoration boxes. Nothing out of place. No sign of anything having scrambled over or clawed its way past boxes. No indication of entry through the cupboards below either of the two sinks. All of these suspect as entries since they're on an outside wall.

Thought the most likely entry was into the linen closet but looked more carefully at the ceiling and back corners, no holes. We're in a ground floor apartment, so not a squirrel coming in through the attic floor. Next, I pulled out stuff stashed on the closet floor--nothing but a few stray tissue shreds seemed out of order.

Then, it occurred to me that as squarish and narrow as this closet is, only about two feet wide and deep, I should get down, crane my neck and look closely at the very narrow strip of wall between the door's latch edge and the side wall of the closet. Grabbed my trusty mini-Maglite and AHA! found about a 2" diameter hole in that wall right at the floor.

I'm guessing a mole since there's no light in that bathroom unless Drew or I go in there and turn one on, no windows in it. And we rarely go into that bath except during the day. Any ideas, anyone with more critter invasion experience than I?

Think I'll leave a light on in there until maintenance can get here to examine the scene of the critter crime. Oh, joy! But, at least, we don't have to pay to have it repaired and secured from further invaders, and our apartment maintenance crew responds speedily. Now, all that I am joyful about.

Must've been the housekeeping fairies nudging me to sort out that closet. Geez, just because I discovered there's a misting fan bottle stored in there that we bought on our WDW trip ten years ago which was so cute I couldn't bear to give it away and forgot we still had it. As I recall, the neckstrap fastener broke, so it's not even really usable unless you carried it around. But, it's Disney and soooo cute! Naw, no need to sort and clean that closet.

[JoanneS]

Yucko! I hate those nasty invaders. Fill the room with the smell of peppermint and if they're rodents, they will stay away. If it's something bigger, a tray of ammonia will chase them away. Hopefully, those nasty, nasty, invaders won't get into the apartment.

[Her Dotness]

Hmm, don't have any peppermint oil or extract, but that's a good idea to put a shallow dish of ammonia near the hole I found and sprinkle some of that into and around the hole.

Edit to add: Yay! I did have some peppermint extract so sprinkled it all around the bathroom. Sure smells better than ammonia, too.

[Huntermom]

My guess was a squirrel. Mostly because of the scratching and size of the hole. Were their droppings? The size might be a give away.

We have had an occasional squirrel and they can be pretty destructive, Also did you hear anything? I find we can hear critters before seeing any evidence of their visits.

[Her Dotness]

No droppings at all, and heard nothing. But then, this bath is on the far side of the apartment opposite our bedroom, so with the bathroom door shut as usual, it's unlikely either of us would have heard any scratching or scrabbling unless we were in the bathroom at the time. It's a big apartment, three bedrooms and about 1500 sq. Ft.

[Cam22]

Hope the hole is plugged up quickly to end your critter invasion.

[Her Dotness]

Smells delicious in that bathroom after I sprinkled peppermint extract all around despite having carefully tipped a teaspoonful of ammonia into the hole. Anything coming out of that hole before maintenance gets here to plug it will have to like ammonia lots.

Figgers that that's the closet where I store a bunch of vintage tablecloths that were my mother's and grandmother's. Most of those will have to be ironed, too. But, this "fun" reminded me I ought to use those occasionally rather than storing such lovely things with all their associated family memories.

Honestly, I'm not sure why I wanted china, silver and crystal. I used it more while teaching when a student who'd graduated dropped by to see me than I do now. We'd have tea or coffee using my china teapot or my aunt's coffee service and some homemade baked goodies or crumpets I ordered from somewhere. They thought all that fuss great fun, as their mothers were often far too busy to serve food on dinnerware that had to be handwashed.

Grief! That was nearly 20 years ago! It bothers me how much busier people seem to have become anymore and that we now tend to keep in touch by email or Facebook rather than a personal visit with some extra effort by the host to make the occasion fun and memorable.

[jenifermg0]

Squirrels are horribly destructive! My DS and his scout troop call them "micro bears." They can do more damage than a bear will typically to a campsite.

Hope you get that hole fixed soon!

And I had never heard about peppermint repelling rodents....I have a minor mouse issue (the cats keep it mostly in check and what they don't the traps take care of), but I'm going to have to try peppermint in a few places!!

[Ashli]

I would also guess a squirrel. If it's a mole, then moles in St. Louis are WAY smarter than moles in Savannah. We used to get moles in the back yard sometimes and they are blind and dumb as rocks. We have four dogs that are out in the yard several times a day. The moles never survived, and they never learned that dog beats mole every time.

Whatever it is, I hope you are able to get rid of it soon!

[MickeyWatch]

I can sympathize with you. I am dealing with a chipmunk who is nesting in my garage in preparation for winter. I feel like the Bill Murray character in Caddyshack! I am going to try some peppermint extract and see if that works better than my traps.

[Her Dotness]

You're probably right, Ashli and others, that it was a squirrel. The gouges in one tissue roll could be from squirrel teeth. Those little rodents can CHEW.

And I wouldn't expect a mole to have scaled three wire shelves to produce that big mound of tissue shreds. A squirrel definitely might.

I'm just glad there were no "ick stains" on any of the linens. But they're all getting a thorough washing, for sure. One load of towels done, a second ready for the dryer. The tablecloths and Christmas placemats can wait till tomorrow. Too much ironing to start on those today. Hmmmm, I'd better use Stitch Witchery on DH Drew's Roger Rabbit shirt. The placket's come loose, and it's needed repair for ohhhhhh, you don't need to know how long. Found it stuck in that closet and conveniently forgotten.