"Daddy 'napped him!"

Well, apparently I am no trapper. My husband, on the other hand...

After my last post, noting his lack of assistance in mouse eradication, John thought he'd better help out. He employed the most "basic" trapping techniques (oh, excuse me), and the results were stunning.

The Theory:
You see, trapping is not about placing a trap and hoping they come to the bait, it's about placing bait and making sure the only way to get to it is over your trap. (I'm sure you were dying to know that info.)
The Set-Up:
In this case, a trap was placed on the front edge of the sink with a hefty helping of brown sugar leading right to it. Another trap was placed on the back edge of the sink and John's lunch box blocked any other passsage way. (In police terms, a "fatal funnel")
The Outcome:
During my first bout of insomnia that night, I found no trap on the front edge of the sink! To my excitement, it had flipped onto the floor when that stinkin' mouse found himself squarely in its clutches. I left the evidence for John to see (well, really to clean up), ate some Cheerios, read the Area Shopper and went back to bed.
During my second bout of insomnia, I was back downstairs messing around on the computer when I heard a loud "WHAAAH-CHOW!!" I waited about 20 minutes before checking (a little afraid), but sure enough, the trap at the back of the sink contained another mouse! Two for two! I couldn't believe I actually heard it happen!
The Celebration:
I ended up discarding both mice myself and relayed the story to Toby in the morning. He was excited to see the evidence in the outside trash can. While Nat wanted nothing to do with it, Jules was more than excited to take a peek. She came in jumping and yelling "Mouses in a twash can! My daddy 'napped him. He 'napped him and 'napped him!"

We haven't seen sign of a mouse since, although we still have traps set. Toby, of course, had to gloat over his superior skills. I said, "well if you thought you could do it better, why didn't you help me before?" He said, "because the mice really didn't bother me and I was having fun watching you try." - ugh. Stinker.