Mice Capades!

Yes, we have been having some "adventures" with mice. Yes, that is plural. As in 5 dead and counting. Where did we catch them, you ask? Well, let me tell you the story.

A couple weeks ago, when we had a large delivery come very late at night(more on that at another time), Dan saw a mouse in the garage scurry along the wall and disappear into a crack. I don't know why, but I didn't think much about it. Then, about a week ago, one morning I was making Dan's lunch and the kids were around the island standing on chairs, when I thought I saw a small shadow darting next to the dishwasher. I kept watching the rest of the day, but nothing. Maybe it was my imagination.

On Saturday night, Dan set a mousetrap out in the garage and went out to the big shed to work on a project after the kids went to bed. Well, you know how a pregnant woman needs to eat a little more often. I went to the pantry at 9:30(yeah, that time is forever burned into my brain) to find a snack, and when I opened the door I saw a giant gray mouse jump out of sight in the corner. Okay, it was the typical little house mouse, except that I have never had to deal with a mouse in the house before and it was really creepy. And Dan was out in the shed! So I figured out how to set a mousetrap and put it in there and shut the door. Needless to say, that was quite the appetite suppressant! Then I sat in the living room and listened for any sounds. After a long while, I thought, oh, I'll do a little research about mice. So I got on the internet and read: they can jump, they are excellent climbers, they can have babies every 3 weeks, they can squeeze through 6mm openings, etc. Ick! Don't read that stuff right before you go to bed or you won't be able to sleep. Especially when you occasionally heard little mice feet pitter-patting somewhere in your kitchen, while you were reading about them.

Sunday morning we found a dead mouse in the garage and another one in the pantry! Thankfully, Dan took care of those. The kids were fascinated. Dan demonstrated with an empty mousetrap so they would stay away from them. When he set one off with a pen, the trap broke the pen, so they were suitably impressed.

Sunday night two traps set. Monday morning, one dead mouse in the garage, none in the pantry. I thought, great, they are out of the pantry, I can clean it out. Monday afternoon, I was resting on the couch after putting the 3 little ones to bed, and then it started. Pitter-patter! Scurry, scurry. I could hear the sounds through the wall right where the pantry was. Well, that was it for the cleaning. I hate to admit it, but I am a wimp when it comes to little critters, especially when they are in the house. I would not have made a good pioneer woman.

So, I asked Dan to help me with the pantry. He suggested we could just wait until they were all dead, then clean it out. And I said what if there is a nest of babies in there? So we cleaned out the whole bottom section of the pantry (which is really a closet with a bi-fold door). Meaning, Dan took everything out and I wiped anything not chewed on with a clorox wipe. Thank goodness for husbands who will do the worst part of the job. Well, as he got closer and closer to the suspicious corner, he got more cautious and we started to see evidence of the mice. Quite a few things got tossed. A big bag of beans chewed open, half a large sack of rice, two bags of M&Ms, some bags of chocolate chips, and more. Sigh. Who knew mice liked chocolate. Then, Dan jumped and there was a mouse scurrying out of sight down into some crevice. Oh, creepy! Boy, was I glad I was a few feet behind him. All temptation was removed and put away into unchewable containers and all mousetraps remained untouched in the pantry.

Tuesday morning there was another dead mouse in the garage. I hoped that was the last one. But, wait, there is more. Yesterday evening I had just put a tray of leftover homemade pizza into the oven to reheat. I went to the computer to check something and shortly I heard the little pitter-patter. I turned my head in time to see a little gray mouse scurry along my kitchen floor and disappear under the stove. I gasped and jumped back(even though I was about 6 feet away). Great, my dinner is in the oven. And to top it off I needed to get a cookie sheet out of the drawer underneath. No, I didn't ask Dan to do it. I managed to finish getting things ready for dinner, though I did bang the oven door a lot to try to keep it away.

I think there was another dead mouse in the garage this morning, but I'll have to ask Dan for sure. If so that makes 5! Nobody will want to come visit us now. Next on the list of things to get is a cat.