The Mouse Hunt

We are being invaded again. Part of the joy of living on a country road, across the street from the river, surrounded by trees, is that we see deer regularly, have lots of migratory songbirds, ducks and geese. Another part is that our garbage cans are regularly raided by raccoons (we keep them locked in the shed, but they have to go out on garbage day, and the truck seems to come about 4:30 a.m.) Possums get run over on our street pretty regularly, and that's not a pretty sight.

We also have regular invasions by
the ants
and
(gasp!)
mice.

I always thought people with mice in their houses were dirty people who left food out all over the place. Since living in this house, I've learned that any old house (ours is over 100) has lots of little holes for mice to get in, and in cold weather, they make it their business to get in and be warm. We have diligently plugged up any small crevice we've found with steel wool, and finally, I announced last week, that we've finally gotten through a whole winter without a mouse sighting.

And then, I came home Saturday, to the happy announcement from my DH that he saw a large one escaping behind the stove. No telltale droppings, which is how we usually knew they were here. But he said it was so big, it had trouble getting through the small opening between the stove and the brick chimney.

sigh

"Big" probably means pregnant. Oh goody.

So, the war ensued. DH has taken to all sorts of ingenious trapping ( I won't use poison.) This mouse is very very smart. It has managed to eat the peanut butter bait from the traps, leaving them un-triggered. DH, on the other hand, has caught his fingers in the traps a few times, just baiting and setting them. He's tried different types.

Well, finally, I was greeted this morning by his success. Yuck. I won't touch it. It's his job. He can remove that carcass. Yuck.

Now, why is it, that I love nature, and get a kick out of watching squirrels gathering and eating acorns and things, stuffing their little pouches, and get all excited when I see a chipmunk...but I freak out when there's a mouse in my house? If I saw the same mouse Outside, say eating birdseed on the stoop or something, I'd think it was cute, and would watch it for awhile. But in my kitchen is a different matter altogether. And, I'm scared it will come under the bedroom door when we're sleeping. When my hand hangs over the side of the mattress, I get creeped-out, thinking it's sniffing my hand. Ew!!!

I am an enigma to myself.