We have a mouse in the house, by Jane Smith

We have a mouse in the house. At least I think this dark thing that moves like lightning to some unknown retreat is a mouse… about that size, at least in the flash I see it.

The first clue I had was visual, and I thought I was seeing things that weren’t there. I saw something scurrying out of the corner of my eye one night, and I tried to see where it went… to no avail.

Then I saw the tiny little droppings, near the sink and the dishwasher… I mean tiny, tiny pellets that could have been just seeds from something, or maybe even chocolate sprinkles left over from a cookie session with Eve. I got them up, and then they reappeared the next day… no seeds in our house or cooking sessions to blame it all on. Okay, likely a mouse, or a rodent of some sort.

And there have been two sightings since then, all by me… Phil hasn’t seen anything but the droppings, though he does believe me. 

I’ve been reading up on how to catch a mouse. We could rent a cat, perhaps… not my idea of fun. We could get a mousetrap, put cheese on it, or chocolate or peanut butter, and trap it… not the most humane way, and there are cautionary tales about damage to the humans involved, though it is a tried and mostly effective way, one I remember using back in the day.

We could also get a piece of cardboard and fill it with “sticky glue”, glue that somehow stays sticky, put one of those mouse enticing foods in the middle, and the mouse will stick itself to the card board. If we use the trap, the mouse likely dies and one kind of disposal is necessary. If we use the glue, we have a stuck-to-the-cardboard mouse, apparently alive and struggling.

The cleverest one – get a 5 gallon plastic bucket and lean a piece of plywood on the side of it like a ramp, and put a big glob of peanut butter in the bucket. The mouse supposedly climbs up the plywood, gets in the bucket, and can’t climb back up the slippery sides. The mouse lives…not so sure I want to see those eyes looking at me, but it is humane. I guess we would take the mouse out of the house “into the wild” of our subdivision and let it go.

I also read up on how they get into houses… cracks in foundations, doors opening and closing, access holes like under sinks and plumbing. They seek refuge from the weather, just like humans, and they learn to love our carefully designed habitats and make nests there. They eat wires, if they want to, and they eat food that we have unintentionally made available for them. I have seen no frayed wires or nibbled food, but this critter has been around for at least 7 days, so it must be eating something.

Phil and I are making mouse capture plans for the weekend… he is fascinated by the bucket idea, because it seems clever and homemade, so we will probably do that, even if we have to look a trapped, frightened mouse in the eye.

I’ll let you know if a mouse is really attracted to the smell of peanut butter.

_____________________

Yes! 

The mouse is now in the grey 5 gallon bucket, having climbed in via the carefully crafted plywood ramp with two nails bent over the rim to hold even the most athletic climber... "apparently" dead from the attempts to climb the slippery slopes. I said apparently, as I have not checked. Right now, there is a dishtowel covering the bucket. This may be a very small critter, as critters go, but he packs a strong emotional wallop - those cartoons with women - don't remember seeing men - standing on chairs screaming represent the same aversion I feel.

Right now, he/she is on the back porch, waiting for the next plan.

The only mice I like helped Cinderella in her time of need!