This means *WAR*!
Here you see the heating vent in the hallway bathroom.
The pink fluffy stuff in it is insulation. The only place in my house where there is pink insulation is around the duct work. This means the *mice* are still not quite dead in the attic *AND* they have chewed their way into my ducts. I don't like this for two three reasons. First, it means I am now heating the attic (and thus not heating my actual living space). Second, it means there are fiberglas fibers blowing into my house, which I don't like given that they're a lung irritant. Third, it means I am breathing in dust contaminated with mouse droppings and urine, which is a risk factor for a lovely respiratory disease caused by hantaviruses. The last bit is the one that's really bugging me since I noticed over the weekend that my chest hurt when I took a really deep breath and on Monday (before the insulation observation) it felt like my chest was a bit tight.
So this evening, I got out my ladder, my trusty roll of foil tape and my assortment of mouse baits, then went into the attic. It wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. It turns out that I already covered the holes in the ducts when I was up there during the Thanksgiving break working on the ceiling fan installation. I suppose I ought to replace at least one of the ducts, but that won't happen this week.
I'm not sure why the insulation appeared yesterday. Unless I had taped a mouse INSIDE the duct and it's trying to chew its way out now. If that's the case, I can only hope it won't die inside the duct and start to stink.
Speaking of deceased rodents, I really need to go through the attic and pick up the ex-rodents. I saw three or four, but didn't really want to mess with them at the time. Also along the lines of cleaning up after the rodents, I am considering having the blown insulation removed and replaced. It's full of tunnels and is matted down in places, so it's not insulating very well. It's also full of mouse droppings so it's a potential health hazard. I could just install fiberglas batts over the top of the blown insulation and not mess with all the droppings, but I don't know how well that would work. If nothing else, I need to put insulation over the garage since there is none. If I get it put in by the end of the year, I can take it off my taxes too.
So, I'll be extra vigilant in baiting the attic. I'll put bait up over the garage tomorrow after work. So far nothing is eating on the bait stations *in* the garage since I blocked the gap at the bottom of the wall by the water heater.
The pink fluffy stuff in it is insulation. The only place in my house where there is pink insulation is around the duct work. This means the *mice* are still not quite dead in the attic *AND* they have chewed their way into my ducts. I don't like this for So this evening, I got out my ladder, my trusty roll of foil tape and my assortment of mouse baits, then went into the attic. It wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. It turns out that I already covered the holes in the ducts when I was up there during the Thanksgiving break working on the ceiling fan installation. I suppose I ought to replace at least one of the ducts, but that won't happen this week.
I'm not sure why the insulation appeared yesterday. Unless I had taped a mouse INSIDE the duct and it's trying to chew its way out now. If that's the case, I can only hope it won't die inside the duct and start to stink.
Speaking of deceased rodents, I really need to go through the attic and pick up the ex-rodents. I saw three or four, but didn't really want to mess with them at the time. Also along the lines of cleaning up after the rodents, I am considering having the blown insulation removed and replaced. It's full of tunnels and is matted down in places, so it's not insulating very well. It's also full of mouse droppings so it's a potential health hazard. I could just install fiberglas batts over the top of the blown insulation and not mess with all the droppings, but I don't know how well that would work. If nothing else, I need to put insulation over the garage since there is none. If I get it put in by the end of the year, I can take it off my taxes too.
So, I'll be extra vigilant in baiting the attic. I'll put bait up over the garage tomorrow after work. So far nothing is eating on the bait stations *in* the garage since I blocked the gap at the bottom of the wall by the water heater.
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