Mouse in the House

Sounds familiar. We had a mouse in the house a year or so ago. This mouse is a little more at home than the last mouse. For the last mouse, I hired an exterminator. We got sticky strips (that Caitlyn stepped in) and mouse traps. We never caught the mouse, but it became clear that the mouse was gone, so all in all a good result.

We still have the mouse trap and I don't want those sticky strips again (although Caitlyn is older, that just makes her all the more curious--besides I almost stepped in one too and getting that glue off Caitlyn was enough to convince me I really don't want to get it on me.)

So do you realize that you have to actually set the mouse trap for it to be a deterrent. It is not enough just to have it in the house. The mouse threw down his gauntlet by pooping right next to the back door. We haven't seen him (except for the one time in the middle of the night), but there are some healthy poops right by the back door. The mouse trap is right out in the open (not set--that would be dangerous, besides I have no idea how to set that thing), but the mouse doesn't care. I haven't found any evidence that he has take up residence in the pantry, but why not--my house is very appealing.

So I have called the cleaning lady to beg her to come back. I've hired her and let her go so many times, that I may have worn out my chances, but the exterminator can only do so much with such an accommodating environment.

I want to hermetically seal the house so that the mouse will have no place to get in, but it is a very old house with lots more problems than a few tiny crawls spaces. I want to hire a contractor--show him the house and have him tell me what I can get done for the small equity loan I can qualify for. But I'm afraid he'll tell me to fix the roof and the roof is not going to solve my annual mouse problem.

Adam says that every time they clean out the brush at the cemetery across the street, we get a mouse. If that is the case, we are lucky that its just one mouse. When we first moved in there was ivy out in front of the house that I had cleared out because someone said that mice live in the ivy. Sure enough when they were clearing it, out ran two mice. So yes, there are mice in our neighborhood. No cats that I have seen--the coyotes get the stray cats, so that means a pretty open field for mice. When I yelled at the dog (not really--just you know--hey dog, why aren't you doing your job protecting our house from the mouse), Adrienne said--it's a dog, not a cat. Do you want to get a cat. NO NO NO. I almost prefer the mouse. Almost.

I'm going to go right home after work and figure out how to set that mouse trap. I'll wear big gloves. I think mice like peanut butter. Everyone does. Adam told me that his friend from Australia had never had a Reese's peanut butter cup and that peanut butter was very rare there. Who knew. No wonder the mice are here. We have a very accomodating environment.