A Mouse in the House

Yes, there is a mouse in my house. Well, probably many, but there is this one -

We set some traps after noticing one mouse scurry across the kitchen floor and immediately caught two of the little buggers. (John, of course, was somewhat saddened by the loss of the first, eulogizing "he was a good lookin' mouse.")

Unfortunately, that's when the real trouble started. Apparently, mice too, follow the pattern that squirrels did at my Great Uncle's home - "I shoot one and 10 more show up for the funeral." After the initial fatalities, we had traps tripped a few times and even blood trails with tiny, perfect paw prints leading away from the scene. Yet each morning the traps were empty.

Perhaps by nearly escaping death they were emboldened. Because now, only after the traps arrived, I am waking up to mouse droppings on my counter tops instead of mouse carcasses! I have had to splurge on tupperware containers to seal everything in my pantry. They have gotten to my un-opened sugar, brown sugar, coconut, crackers and cookies in Ziploc bags!

Now, if you know me and how I react to vermin/pests/parasites (think ticks), you know I consider this attack as a personal affront. Not only have they wasted my time in cleaning and disinfecting, but they have wasted my money too (and we all know how much I hate that.) Therefore, I have upped my game. In addition to the sealed pantry, I have placed additional and novel traps. I have sanitized my counters and vacuumed my kitchen each night before bed. I have even tailored the bait to their apparent penchant for sweets. Last night, I even left a trail of brown sugar leading right to the trap. (Upon seeing this, my husband laughed aloud. Notably, record of HIS effort in this mission of eradication has been absent.)

Anyway, what do I get for all of these additional measures of prevention? I'll tell you, the most fat and happy mouse you've ever seen scurrying across my counter tops at prime time! Yes, I've seen him the last two nights at progressively earlier times (8:15, then 7:45) while the whole family was still up and moving about.

I've had it. I have been in bed thinking about putting up John's infrared trail camera to scout the culprit's movements, about practicing my marksmanship with the bb gun. But wait, perhaps that's his strategy - push the envelope until I finally I drive myself into the looney bin and then he'll have free reign! Oh, the "Rats of NIMH" have nothing on this fella.