Rodents Among Us

EEK A MOUSE!

If you look closely at this picture, underneath the travel coffee mug you will see on the left side a long tail and on the right side, a pointed nose. Yes, it is indeed a mouse.

A few months ago we discovered the presence (in the form of droppings!) of mice in the cabinet where we keep the trash can. A few days later, we heard some wrestling noises coming from there and my very senior cat stared at the cabinet doors for hours. Slowly but surely, we accepted that we have unwanted vermin in the house. We set traps for three nights in a row and caught two large-size mice. We also plugged the holes in the walls of the cabinet. The evidence of mice was gone.

Two nights ago my husband admitted that he thought he felt something brush across his feet one early morning while making coffee and wasn’t sure if it was his pant leg or something more sinister. Later, mindlessly staring at the TV, I was distracted by some activity just to the right of where I was looking. I focused on a tiny brown mouse scurrying ACROSS THE STOVE, ONTO THE COUNTER! OH MY GOD! My husband rushed into the room just as the varmint was slinking into the seam at the back of the stove. He didn’t believe me that is where the mouse went until I held up my fingers, “The thing was thisbig! They are small; they can mash their bodies to fit into anything!” My first instinct was to turn the oven on BROIL, but quickly ruled that out for fear of scraping burnt mouse out of my oven. That night we set two more traps and went to bed early. We were afraid of being on the same floor with the rodents, but not before witnessing a miraculous event; my 18-year-old cat mustered up enough strength to chase something (no doubt a mouse) unsuccessfully across the floor. It was the fastest I’ve seen him move in years!

The next morning, both traps were victorious. A large-size and the small-size variety of the average brown house mouse were dead from snapped necks, lying under the flipped-over wooden traps. Fortunately, I have not been the one to see and/or dispose of any of the carcasses.

Later that day, I spotted another unwanted mouse family member on the stove and when I screamed he ran back to whatever hole he came from. So we set more traps. We were under siege! These rodents were brazen and obviously desperate because they were coming out during the day with plenty of activity around – including the cat and dog who were both on high alert. I feared the worse; there is a nest, a colony full vermin living someplace I can never see or get to in my house.

I called an exterminator, who couldn’t come until the next day because I was calling on Sunday. I didn’t care about the cost; I could no longer live like this.

An hour later, I heard winces and muffled screams coming from my husband. He beckoned me to the kitchen where he stood covering his mouth and his other hand was pointed at the sink. A tiny little mouse was trapped. We all stared at each other. Paralyzed. “He’s kind of cute,” I said. “Not when he’s in our sink,” my husband answered. “What do we do?” “I have no idea.” So, naturally, I did what any modern girl would do and grabbed my iPhone and snapped this picture. The mouse made the decision easy for us and crawled into the garbage disposal. I grabbed a bowl and put it over the drain hole and put the travel coffee mug on top for weight. Little baby mouse will stay there until a professional retrieves it. And yes, we did consider flipping the switch on, but the idea of a bloody ground-up vermin was too much to reflect on. Poor husband was getting himself a cookie when he discovered the menacing mouse and later my 2-year-old, who witnessed the incident, surmised that “daddy was scared of the cookie.”

The next day, a portly, jovial man carrying two industrial looking buckets knocked on the door and said he was here to take care of Mr. Jingles and all his friends. “Good, because have I got a surprise for you,” I said and explained about the mouse in the disposal. Smiling, Mr. Exterminator asked why I didn’t turn it on. “Instead, we are going to drown it,” he said and turned on the hot water. Great, boiled baby mouse!? He went down in the basement to distribute the bait – a delicious mixture of bird seed and poison. I watched the sink start to fill with water and wondered if any was getting under the bowl. I lifted it up a bit but apparently it was too much lift because suddenly a tiny wet mouse jumped up at me and I screamed like a little girl! I grabbed a spoon and started batting at it to keep it from getting away or worse, jumping on me! Mr. Exterminator came up from the basement grinning and asked what happened. I could not put two words together but he figured it out and said he’d handle it. I left to collect myself in the next room and I knew he was finished when he asked for a plastic bag. Bye bye Mr. Jingles.

He distributed another dozen or so mouse-death dinners around the basement and kitchen and clarified that these “dinners” are meant to be eaten by the parents and regurgitated to the young. Great, I’m going to find dead mice all over my house?! Mr. Exterminator explained that we live in MouseTown, a name he christened neighborhoods located near nature preserves. He has a client near me he services regularly because she keeps feeding birds and we all know how mice love to eat birdseed! He pointed to our birdhouse and said to get rid of it and told me to fire my cat. Eventually we’ll have to plug up all the holes we see in the basement rafters and behind cabinets and the stove to block their entry. He pointed to an opening in the foundation of our garage that seems to be the likely culprit for allowing the vermin invasion. He poured some poisoned powder in the hole and if all goes according to plan, when the mouse enters, the white talcum covers their fur so when they groom themselves it’ll kill them. I guess I didn’t know mice lick themselves too?

As he was leaving he wrapped his hands together in the air and exclaimed “What a great day already, hand-to-hand combat with a mouse.” The best $175 I have ever spent.

I realize the poison doesn’t work over night, but I’m hopeful that I won’t see anymore vermin running across my counters anytime soon.