A few weeks back my wife pointed out some little black specks on the kitchen counter.
“Those are mouse droppings.”She asserted.
So we went to the local hardware store and bought 2 mouse traps.
One of the traps was a “humane” trap. It had a spring loaded door that would shut if the mouse entered far enough to reach the bait. There was a problem. The door was so sensitive that it seemed to snap shut from any nearby vibration. I checked the closed trap every morning and found it empty. Actually, I found it empty the first morning. The second morning, as i pulled it out of the space behind the cabinets and opened the door a tiny dark grey creature came scurrying out and raced to safety under the sink.
Interim score: Mouse 1, Me 0.
For the next week I checked the trap daily. Sometimes more than once a day. It was always empty (except for the bait).
My wife is deathly afraid of the little things. This despite the fact that she could easily hold more than one at a time in her small, delicate, hands.
We (She) decided it was time to call a professional exterminator. I, of course, was the one who did the calling. It was already Thursday. The man promised to come by later that day or on Friday. He never showed up.
We waited a whole week. Meanwhile. I continued checking the trap on a regular basis. It continued to be empty.
The next Monday morning when I pulled the closed trap out from behind the kitchen cabinet I could tell something had changed. It felt heavier. This time I held it up in the air and then opened the trap door. I didn’t even finish opening it. The mouse was inside, and he started desperately trying to climb out. I left the door shut.
I deposited the trap, with the mouse inside, into a strong plastic bag. Then I put the whole thing, bag, trap, and mouse, into a large green metal garbage bin. The contents of the bin were collected about two hours later.
I wished the mouse bon voyage, Then I told my wife we would not need to make another call to that exterminator. Yes, The one who hadn’t come by our house since my first call a week earlier.If the mouse had a family, they have not put in an appearance.
I hope they never do.
Wetherhorn 