They're not Indoor Mousers....

I was sitting in the dining room a few days back when, from the corner of my eye, I spied a mouse creep from under the refrigerator and scurry over to the cat food dishes. I jumped and yelled at it. It hightailed back under the fridge. A few minutes later, the mouse repeated his trip. I yelled and threw something at it. Again, it cowered under the fridge. I knew this method would not solve my newfound rodent problem. So I went upstairs and found Tiger sleeping on my bed. "We have a mouse in the kitchen" I told her. She looked at me through sleepy eyes, put her paw over her face to block the light I had just flicked on and went back to sleep. Apparently, she is in a union and this was her break time.

So back to the kitchen for me. I remembered we had a mouse problem two years ago and thought we may still have some traps left over. I found them and set to work baiting them. One is a nice trap that only cages them. So I set that one with a little peanut butter and put it next to the fridge. The next was a little more sophisticated. It's an enclosed spring trap, basically like to old fashioned type you see on "Tom and Jerry". I'm afraid of this kind so I picked it up very gingerly and SNAP! It closed right on my thumb - the one with no nail from when I slammed my thumb in the car door this past summer. A few swear words later I was calm enough to figure how to bait it without further injury to myself. I put in some peanut butter, set it and put it on the other side of the fridge.

As always when at war, it's best to use all the weapons in your arsenal so I also put a few glue traps under the refrigerator.  Now I felt well protected from any advancement the mice may make from their new home in the crawl space under the fridge, so i set about my day. Upon returning home, there were no mice in the traps. I have to admit I was a little disappointed. I must have really scared the poor thing when I yelled at it earlier. Either that or he was building his own army. (And to Sue and other feminists, it's a he because that makes it easier somehow for me to kill them. There's still a part of me that thinks there are adorable little mommy mice in pink calico dresses rocking mice babies in walnut shells living in the walls.)

The evening arrived with no sign of mice. We ate dinner and the kids went to bed. I was sitting quietly in the dining room on the computer when I heard a snap. Jerry heard it too because before I could even get into the kitchen, he was at the mouse trap. He had the top off and was now walking around the house with the mouse in his mouth. The mouse in the trap in his mouth! That was probably one of the funniest things I have ever seen.  I tried to help Jerry out by taking the trap away from him to let the mouse out for him to play with. (Imagine the shame he would feel if the other cats in the neighborhood knew he used traps to catch mice!) He would not let me near him though. Each time I tried, he would growl a low intimidating growl at me. Tiger tried too and was growled at. By this time, Colson was downstairs joining in the fun but he got growled at too. So, we let Jerry prance around the house for a while with his treasure until he tired of it. I carefully took the trap away and released the now dead mouse. Jerry lost interest in it very soon. Then Tiger knocked it around for a minute until I got too grossed out by it. So I picked it up with a paper towel. Of course Colson wanted to see it so I showed it to him. He remarked on how big the eyes were. I guys they pop out a little when their necks are crushed. I tried to shake off the bad feelings I had about causing so much pain to a little critter, then I thought about mouse poop in my house and I didn't feel badly anymore. So I threw it in the trash and reset the trap.

While I was sleeping later that night I heard a commotion downstairs. I went into the kitchen and found Jerry under the table with a mouse in his mouth...in a glue trap. Again, I tried to get it away and was rebuffed. But I persevered. I was afraid Jerry would get stuck in the glue too. I picked up the trap with the wriggling mouse and wasn't sure what to do with it. I was a little groggy still from having just awakened so I just pitched it in the trash thinking it would die soon enough.

I went back to bed and after another hour or two of sleep heard that distinctive snap again. This noise no longer aroused any interest from the cats so I went down to a mouse filled trap. When I went to the cabinet where my trash can is kept to dispose of the creature, I was surprised to see a live mouse scurrying around the floor of the cabinet. I slammed the door shut and panicked. How could I trap him. I couldn't just let him escape. Although I was proud of him in a way for being able to wiggle out of the glue and get out of the trash can. So I just opened the cabinet and let him run back under the fridge. 

So, I've got two confirmed kills and haven't seen any mice for a day and a half. Maybe they've found a new home. Maybe they are scheming a way around the traps. Maybe they are in peanut butter rehab learning how to avoid the lure of fresh roasted peanuts for the safer cat food. Either way, I'll be ready with my traps cause I know my two felines will be of no use. And that's the craziest part of the whole story. My yard is littered with skeletal remains of mice, moles, voles, chipmunks, snakes, rabbits (although no heads have yet been found) and squirrels. There are fresh dead things almost every day on the deck, porch or driveway. I've even had nightmares of a Poltergeist type situation where small skeletons pop out of the lawn and steal my children. 

That makes me wonder though if perhaps there is a deal my cats have made of which I am unaware. Why else would I have to trap the mice?  Why else would they wait until the mice are in the traps to play with them? Maybe there is something to that union idea. Maybe I should have adopted cats belonging to the indoor mousers union. I guess I'll never know.