Mouse in the House

I forgot to mention in my last post about our little hitchhiker. When we arrived at Hidden Paradise Campground last week end Rudee found a carry out package of crushed red peppers we had picked up at the pizza restaurant open in the silver ware drawer. The package had been chewed opened and we knew then that we had a mouse.

I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. I know others have had the same problem and so I just took it in stride. Rudee on the other hand, wanted it gone!! Like right now, this instant!! So it began, the great mouse hunt of 2010.

Poison was really not an option since it was going to be 80 degrees outside and even though a bloated decaying mouse carcass would be fairly easy to locate (sniff, sniff) I really didn't want to have to handle it.

Nope, the good old mouse trap made up of a spring and bars mounted on a piece of wood was the way to go. Smear on a little peanut butter and Mickey, as we started calling him, was as good as gone. I'm not sure why we named him Mickey and not Minnie but we figured that a mouse that would eat hot peppers right out of the package couldn't be real bright so it must be male :-).

Walmart supplied us with our trap. Of course in true Walmart fashion, we had to buy a package of four just to get the one we needed :-(.

Back at the 5th wheel I baited the trap and set it in the basement. Now these things are very touchy and if you are not careful you can "trip" them trying to position them. Not that I have any experience in this mind you but "if" you happen to trip it just remember that the peanut butter has a tendency to fly at an unbelievable speed right into your face! I'm sure Mickey was in there laughing his little mouse butt off watching me.

After finally getting the trap set we joined the group at the campfire and spent about 45 minutes solving all the worlds problems before time to go to bed. I decided to check the trap and BINGO, no more Mickey. Looked like he still had a smirk on his face from laughing at me. Serves you right for chuckling at the big guy.

I wanted Rudee to rest easy and since I wasn't sure she would take my word that Mickey was not cohabitating with us any more, I decided that showing her the spoils of success would be the proper thing to do. Well in hindsight I guess I kind of over thought this one a little bit, because Rudee freaked out on me the minute I held the trap up in front of her face. I guess seeing a dead mouse dangling from a trap didn't put her mind at ease at all. She didn't even take the time, between screams, to congratulate me on my well honed skills as a rodent hunter. Needless to say any idea of romance for this night went right into the trash can with Mickey :-).

And so it ends, the great mouse hunt of 2010. Stay tuned for even greater adventures and of course, I'll keep you posted.