Of mice, men and rats

Ignaton’s girlfriend was still living with us when this happened. I noticed mice droppings in my bedroom, so I set a mouse trap with peanut butter. That night, I was awakened by the sound of the trap snapping. I checked and no mouse, just a sprung trap. So, I got a rat trap and bent long staples around the neck-breaking bar.

The next night, the trap sprung again. I kicked the bed, and a rat carrying a trap imbedded in its neck ran under the storage cabinet. I grabbed my 22 pistol, which was loaded with bird shot, stuck it under the cabinet and fired. The rat actually screamed and ran out. It ran under my bed and then up and over the bed, leaving a bloody trail.

I knocked over my end table and lamp and tossed the one chair out of the way chasing after him. He got caught between the door and the door jam, where I shot him again. He jumped about two feet into the air, and as I was unclothed, I jumped back. I grabbed a baseball bat and hit him and hit and hit him until he finally stopped moving.

Hearing all this commotion, Ignaton and his girlfriend raced downstairs to see what was going on. “I got that Bleep Bleep! I got that Bleep Bleep!” I said huffing and puffing. (Family paper so my actual words got bleeped out.)

It was then that we noticed that we were all unclothed, plus both of them had pistols in their hands coming to my rescue. Noticing our disposition, they returned to the upstairs while I disposed of the rat.  

Update to this week. We might be having a bad winter as I have mice in my house -- first time in 10 years? I put mouse traps out with peanut butter. Twice, the mouse cleaned out the traps without springing them. I went to CK and bought some sticky traps and poison. The mouse has avoided the sticky traps but has been eating the green poison blocks so hopefully it and its babies are on their way to mouse heaven. 

Just when I thought they were goners, I had another mouse run into and out of the bathroom this morning. I now have sticky traps, snap their neck traps with peanut butter and poison set out. These mice seem to be getting smarter, so I have my baseball bat ready just in case.  

You would think with all the feral cats and people turning their cats out to be eaten by coyotes in this area, there would be no mice. Are we in for a bad winter? Time will tell. Stay safe and warm!