OK so...
*deep breath*
(I quote, and eat, my previous words "...it's not that bad...")
Evidently, the clan leader of the mice read my blog and took my laissez-faire attitude as a signal to COLONIZE!
We have been waging an all-out WAR ever since!!!
Anna vs. Mice
OPERATION MOUSE RESISTANCE PHASE ONE: set no-kill trap and try to empty compost bucket nightly.
This is when I discovered there is more than one mouse.
MICE-1, ANNA-0
Then, the mice took the war to a whole new level: THE KITCHEN COUNTER!!!
Yes, I woke up one morning to find mouse evidence (aka POOP!) on my COUNTER!
NOT EVEN COOL, MICE!
I have seriously laid awake at night trying to figure out how the HELL they/it got up there!!!
HELLO UNSANITARY!
I completely sanitized my counter TWO MORNINGS IN A ROW, feeling extremely violated of my privacy, before moving on to...
OMR PHASE TWO: purchase cute, covered, countertop compost container, and use various layers of material (cardboard, saran wrap, Al foil) to attempt to seal off areas of access under sink.
Too bad the duct tape/packing tape didn't really stick to the wood.
THREE HOURS LATER, I peeked into the cupboard
AND SAW FRESH MOUSE POO!!!
MICE-2, ANNA-0
(While all this is going on, I am literally catching a mouse every single morning and taking it a quarter mile down the road to release, since I figure there is no way it would make it back to my house with all the traffic, hawks, random cats and dogs wandering around, and other tempting houses on the way back.
Morning routine: wake up, hesitantly tiptoe into kitchen and inspect counters, breathe sigh of relief for no poop outside the cupboard, make coffee, release mouse, etc etc.)
I am feeling good about catching so many mice, EVENTUALLY I will get them all, right? As long as they don't get into my food cupboards....
BUT THEN
one morning, I find THIS:
what the heck!!!!
THE MICE HAVE DISCOVERED HOW TO CHEW THEIR WAY TO ESCAPE!
This startling discovery means one of two things:
1.) The mice are evolving to be able to STRATEGIZE
2.) They are starting to starve with no food source except the bait in the trap, and are gnawing at anything in desperation.
In any case,
MICE-3, ANNA-0
I seriously need to up my game, so I move on to
OMR PHASE THREE: get new mouse trap.
Luckily, I found this gem:
The fine print says that it catches up to four mice! (with the exclamation mark...to make poor people like myself excited)
Just what I need.
(I am still not willing to resort to kill tactics)
what's even better, I found THIS:
(so excited)
Yes folks, ORGANIC PEST CONTROL SPRAY!!!!!
I LITERALLY THOUGHT I HAD DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN
It is supposed to repel rodents AND kill bugs! and it is made of plant-based oils.
I ran home last night and sprayed it ALLLL OVER that cupboard, killing a tiny spider in the process.
THIS STUFF REEKS! *coughcough*
So if the mice still venture into the fumigation chamber, they will be met with the supertrap!
This is my last stand.
It better work.
