More on the mice

I have a very important update for you all.  For those of you who are squeamish about mice, skip this post.  You know we saw a mouse running around back in the fall (was it November?) and the thing that I didn't tell all of you is that we kept seeing it (honestly, must have been them, but that's difficult for me to handle).

Then, after about four viewings, six snap traps (we go old school), a roll of steel wool crammed into all the holes we could find, some peppermint oil, a battery operated trap that electrocutes unsuspecting rodents, and a very pricey contraption that supposedly emits a noise that is so irritating to rodents that you have to give away your gerbils and guinea pigs if you have it in your house, we (1) had never caught a mouse, (2) hadn't seen any mice (or at least I hadn't) since Christmas or so, and I was beginning to wander in and out of the kitchen without stomping to announce my presence.

And then it was last week.  And I saw that stupid mouse twice:  on Tuesday night and on Thursday night.

So I told Eli that I was calling the exterminator and on Friday morning, I did call the exterminator.  And eight hours after I called him, and five hours after he promised to be at our house, he and a couple of guys rolled on in.  They pried the floor boards off, discovered the "infestation" under the stove (nice and warm) and assured me that no mice would be running out and that I could climb down from the dining chair.  Then, the lead guy and I had a very interesting conversation during which he told me (1) about how mice think (this largely involved a comparison between mice and people who want to come into my house and steal the television), and (2) that he doesn't know where I'm from but here, the landlord pays for exterminators and I should send his invoice to the landlord immediately.  (I did.)

I have not seen a mouse since the exterminators were here.  While I know that does not mean that the mice are gone, for the moment I am content and find the poison under the stove very comforting (this is how you know I've gone crazy as I'm one of those people who refuses to microwave plastic).  Next time (please no) I will be calling the exterminator right away.  (I spent more than the cost of the exterminator -- easily -- on all the mouse-killing paraphernalia that didn't work.)

I will keep you updated.