The Mennobrarian

The mice are afoot...er, a-claw!

Our home is fast becoming a hostel for mice. They are coming in from the fields looking for food and warmth, crawling under the stove, scurrying across the kitchen floor, and hiding in our "housewares" room where we keep our beloved belongings. It is not too much of a surprise that this is the case, but it feels like a new infestation after the cold weather moves in and cures us of the previous one, which was house flies.

It's easy to partially blame the obvious holes in floors and walls for the problem, as our renovations have made the house less than weather-tight, and more than vulnerable. And I even feel particularly fortunate that there has been only one incident with a mouse getting into some food (our kettle corn- a sacred snack!), and little damage aside from that. (Amended: A break-in has been reported in the vicinity of the dog kibble.)

I am easily amused by their shy, secretive nature. Once, in our bathroom, a mouse crawled out from a demolished area of the wall and upon hearing me gasp, ran back into the wall as easily startled by me as I was of him! Another time, a mouse watched me reading in bed, and when I turned my head to discover him, he quickly jumped and disappeared.

Still, they appall me.

It is never me who actively checks the mouse traps, as I am too afraid of what I'll find! No, my husband is the one who is sent to check on their status, and he is also in charge of disposal. I only handled a sprung trap once, and that was after one of our dogs sniffed it out and brought it out in the open. Even then, I only flung it on the front step for my husband to see and discard. He actually takes delight in examining the mouse, showing it to the dogs, and smiling at my squeamishness. Like an eleven-year-old boy would.

We have been catching about one a day, but we have only had one trap. We are going to put out more and it worries me to think how the count may go up once we have several traps set.

:-0

08:50, Monday, December 10, 2007 .. Posted by rellamom

Yes! I do understand!

Mice are dreadful!

We've had our share, even here in the city! And I also am afraid of looking in the traps come fall/winter... I don't want to see what might be there!

Thanks for the smile!

Carrie