How To Catch a Mouse in the House
Friday, December 1st, 2006|
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For the past few weeks, I have been engaged in a fierce battle with a mouse in our house. An evil vermin, if you will. Recently, our cats have been sitting quietly on the kitchen floor, staring at the lower cabinets. Laura claimed there was a mouse in there, but I hesitated to believe her.
I was wrong to hesitate and I can admit that. The reason I can admit that is because I really do have a wonderful personality. People tell me that all the time. Ok, really now…
Anyway, I decided to purchase those little gray humane mouse traps. I got the ones made by Victor. Well, the first night, there was evidence of a real mouse. He (or she) decided to enter the trap, eat the peanut butter and leave. Ok, fine. I reset the trap.
The second night, the mouse entered the trap, ate the peanut butter and the trap door shut behind him. Well, the mouse decided to kick the door off the hinge and escape.
I knew I was in over my head. This mouse, or whatever it was, was stronger than me. Stronger and smarter. I needed some heavier ammo. I went to the store and purchased the next trap up the chain of traps. I set that sucker and hoped for the best. Morning came and I checked the trap to see if my prize was there…ummm…all I found was a trap with no peanut butter and a bunch of chew marks on it. At this point, I concluded that this was no mouse at all. It was either a raccoon or a bear.
I repaired the trap by using a hose clamp to tighten down the lid. No luck. The mouse entered the trap the next night, laughed and proceeded to eat the peanut butter and leave. How he does this is a mystery to me. After his good meal, I think he may have climbed up to our sink for a quick back stroke and sponge bath.
I contemplated getting a bigger and better trap. The one I wanted costs about $18. But first, I wanted to try the last cheap method. I happened to be in Wal-Mart the other day and saw this very simple box with a hinge-door. It was so simple and cost only $1. I bought it to give it a try.
I set the trap and waited. Two nights ago, I heard some commotion in the kitchen and woke up to see what was going on. I saw the trap just sitting there in a new position. Nothing.
I set the trap again last night. Well, around 5:30 this morning, I heard a very distant scratching noise. My ears were very sensitive by this point. I went out to see if there was an empty trap and LOW AND BEHOLD, A MOUSE!!!!! I caught the beast. I cute little (but very strong and smart) field mouse. We stared in each other’s eyes for a good long time. I saw the defeat in him and he saw the pride in me. Nothing but respect. We both knew the game was over. Check mate.
I drove down the road and let him go in the woods. He quickly bounced away and stopped to give me one last glance. I swear I heard, “Good bye my worthy adversary.” Maybe it was the wind…
