We Have a Situation - UPDATE!
April 17, 2010 UPDATE - As of 3:00 p.m. central standard time today, I am happy to report that... Ding dong, the mouse is dead!
Evidently, I really was sleeping much better, because Mr. Blue Eyes told me that at about 5 a.m. this morning, he heard the trap snap, then heard the poor thing drag it around a little bit up there in the ceiling tiles, and then all movement shortly thereafter stopped. I never heard a thing.
I know you were all waiting with baited breath to hear the news, so I thought it best to inform you straight away.
We can all resume with our lives now.
Thank you.
Oh, and Michelle... Yes, we did use peanut butter. And you're right... Our cats are worthless.
If you haven't already, and want to know the rest of the story, read on...
Mostly this morning I am enjoying my cup of coffee and angel food cake for breakfast, and delighting in the knowledge that it is the weekend and I have an entire day to do with as I please. Mostly I am in a very happy place.
But there is one thing that takes one tiny fraction of my pea-sized brain to a very dark place...
We have a mouse in our house.
I know.
Yuck.
I hate mice.
(By the way, the photos above are of our dearly departed cat, Redford, who single-handedly -- or four-paw-edly, I guess I should say -- took care of all of our mouse removal needs when we lived in Colorado. He was the coolest cat. He was cool like... Well, like Robert Redford, you might say. Anyhow, he suddenly disappeared from our lives, then this happened, and my hatred for mice has since grown exponentially.)
I hate mice. Have I mentioned how much I hate mice?
So, here's the back story. It's probably more background information than is really necessary. I mean, I could just say, "We have a mouse. It's gross. I'm going to have a nervous breakdown because of it. The end." But what would be the fun in that? So here's the back story...
A couple months ago, Mr. Blue Eyes and I moved our bedroom into the lower level of our house. It's kind of the basement (we call it 'the basement') but it's a walk-out basement, so we don't really feel like we're in a basement. The entire space is either unfinished or finished back in the dark ages when paneling and ceiling tiles were cool. But even though we could definitely do with some remodeling and updated decor, we pretty much love it down there. It's the first time in over three years that we haven't slept without a child within spitting distance. When we go to bed, we can talk without whispering, which is good because it is pretty much the only time, ever, that we do get to talk without children around.
So... Basement bedroom... Good.
Good, that is, until the other night. We headed down to get nestled in. Mr. Blue Eyes was taking care of a few last minute chores; I was just getting good and comfortable in bed.
Until I heard...
Teeny, tiny, skittery, scratchy footsteps in the ceiling tiles above my head.
I lifted my head up to listen. What was that? At first I thought it was water running, but it didn't take long to figure out what it really was... A stinkin' mouse.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
I told Mr. Blue Eyes about it. He seemed doubtful. I thought, "Hey, maybe I really am crazy. Maybe it was nothing. All a figment of my imagination." Because, seriously, I would rather think that I'm crazy and figmenting things than actually have a mouse in my house. That's how much I hate them.
But then, in the deep dark of the night, Mr. Blue Eyes heard it too.
We resolved to get some mouse traps, but we wouldn't be able to get to a store for a few days.
For the first couple nights, even though I hated the thought of it, I slept pretty well, despite hearing it's teeny tiny scritchy scratchy footsteps (above my HEAD) from time to time.
But the the third night, for whatever reason, my pea-sized brain just couldn't handle it anymore. It was about midnight when I awoke to the sound of it (or them... I guess there could be more than one... shudder) scittering around.
What was it doing up there?
Was it really a mouse, or was it a rat?
What if it was something even worse than a mouse or a rat?
(Something worse than a mouse or rat -- in our geographical reagion, at least -- I don't know of. But the mind wonders.)
What if it had babies up there?
What if it had babies and they grow up to be adult mice and they just decide to live in our house too?
What if I have a little pork roast left on my face from supper and the mouse (or mice or whatever that/those thing(s) are) smell it and come down to nibble it off my face while I'm sleeping?
Shhhrrrrrieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!
Needless to say, I couldn't sleep that night. The trigger on my smoking gun of an imagination had been pulled. I knew I had to just relocate to a safer, and presumably mouse-free, location. I went upstairs and slept in the chair, which kept on sliding back up to sitting position as I slept. Needless to say (again), I didn't get much sleep that night.
The next night, I searched the four corners of The Wal-mart to find mouse traps, and find them I did. (They're in the laundry detergent aisle, in case you ever need to know.) They've been set for two nights now, and no snapping! Where did the little bugger go?
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
But for some reason, even though we haven't caught anything yet, just knowing the traps are set helps me to sleep much better.
That, and thoroughly washing all food debris from my face before bed.
Shudder.
Reader Comments (5)
I hear ya with the whole mice thing. We had several of them when we first moved in to our house. We got those sticky traps. They worked VERY well!! But how gross to come downstairs every morning and find a mouse stuck and still wiggling on one of those traps. Ewww! Good luck on killing those little buggers!
You need a new cat! : )
Or, have you tried setting your traps with peanut butter?
Well, you're totally creeping me out. Don't ya think you would notice that a mouse was gnawing on your face and wake up? Really?
I hope you get the rodent problem solved fast cause I think you'll look pretty haggard in a few weeks laying awake worrying about rabid mice or something.
Hope you have a great weekend.
Tauna - Yes, I DO think I would wake up when/if it was nibbling on my face, and that is what creeps me out!!! ;)
I feel your pain. Our two cats are loving country life so much that they are bringing in field mice nearly every night to chase around the house - then leave as gifts at the foot of our bed.
Yuck, yuck, yuck.
Cate