SUMMARY: Uh-oh...
There has been no mouse activity in any of the traps for at least 30 hours. Therefore, they're out of the house now, right?
I grabbed some steel wool from the garage to seal up the space around the pipe under the sink--recommended in various places. Sure, there's already some there on the *top* side of the pipe, so I'm guessing that there used to be some on the *bottom* side, too, but is no longer for whatever reason.
I empty that half of the sink cabinet--really not much there--liquid and dishwasher detergent, a small bucket, a couple of water filter refills, a container of extra sponges--don't bother pulling the neatly organized wire storage drawer out of the other half because it's not in my way-- and I crawl under with my flashlight so I can see what I'm doing. Cram that steel wool into that hole. Hercules Mouse himself could not get that steel wool out of there, I am so brutal at cramming it in there.
I decide to leave one of the traps that's still there at the back of the cabinet; what the heck, who knows, maybe in the future it'll be an early warning system if somehow I get another mouse invasion. I put back the water filter refills, the small bucket, the detergents, the basket of sponges. I close the cabinet door. I put the flashlight away on its shelf and turn to the refrigerator and reach for the door handle--and the mousetrap goes off.
What, did I leave something unbalanced under there? Did I nudge it while I was there and somehow destabilize it? A quick glance--nope, there's a mouse in it. So the big question is--where was the mouse while I was cramming steel wool into its escape route? And does he have more friends in the same place(s)?
I am laughing so hard I can barely type.
ReplyDelete/amy
I mostly just rolled my eyes. Sheesh. Was he sitting there watching me the whole time?
ReplyDelete-ellen
At least you don't have squirrels. If you do, don't call the cops: http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=115
ReplyDelete(you have to forward to about 20 minutes in to get to the Squirrel Cop story)
Wow.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, my cousin just sent me an email on an entirely unrelated topic (related to her job), but I had an ah ha! moment: I haven't got rid of ALL the mice; I've filtered out all the regular mice and now have only neutrino mice remaining!
-ellen
I was going to ask you why - with 3 dogs in the house - YOU have to trap the mice. Then, I remembered the time a mouse was loose in our 2200 square foot home, spending most of his time in the family room. While we humans furiously scurried around behind it (he successfully ran from behind one piece of furniture to the other), our dog was safely tucked away under the bed - located 2,000 square feet away - apparently, oblivious to his humans' screams each time the mouse scurried.
ReplyDeleteWe really hoped all our noise and commotion did not disrupt the dog's sleep.
(Why - exactly - is it that we "own" dogs???)