A Mouse in the House

We have been seeing over the past couple weeks definite signs of the approaching fall season.  Temperatures have been cooler, especially at night.  It hasn’t been uncommon for us to turn on the fireplace for a few minutes in the early morning to take the chill off.  Daytime temperatures have been a little cooler, as well, particularly this week.

I suppose the sign of fall we notice most is the turning of the leaves.  We’re starting to see some reds and several yellows.  And the late summer wildflowers are beginning to fade.

The wildlife is also more noticeable.  The squirrels and chipmunks are scampering around the campground.  We have even seen two bears within the past week.  One of them was in our campground.  Haven’t seen a bear since Shenandoah.  I guess everybody is out trying to round up grub for the winter to either be stashed in a hidey hole or stashed in their bellies.

Typical at this time of the year, the field mice are looking to get in out of the cold. Who can blame them, really.  However, I wish they’d find some other warm place other than my kitchen.

I opened the bottom kitchen drawer yesterday and found a peanut shell as well as other evidence that a mouse was looking for a winter nesting place.  This was not the first mouse we’ve had.  We had a couple of mice three years ago.  Two can really make a big mess.

Luckily, because of Peanut, we keep all the cabinet doors and drawers tightly closed.  He just loves it when we forget and leave something open.  He can find his way into all kinds of secret places.  The mice we’ve had have all been in the kitchen, apparently coming up through those holes in the floor for incoming and outgoing water.  Because the drawers and doors are always closed, the mice have been contained within that one cabinet.  Of course, it’s not a small space, but at least they haven’t been roaming all over the house.

Yesterday, Gene set two traps, baited with peanut butter.  This morning, we had ourselves a mouse.  Clever little devil got the peanut butter off one trap before meeting his demise at the other.

Gene got rid of the mouse and the traps and I spent the rest of the morning scrubbing and rubbing and washing all the silverware and pots and pans and everything else the mouse had access to.  Gave everything a good coating of Lysol and then put down new shelf liner.  Whew, a very busy morning.   We also tried to plug the hole for incoming water the best we could with steel wool.  The hole for the drain pipe is under a shelf which we can’t get to.

Peanut is not much of a mouser.  I don’t think he even knows when we have one.

So. that’s how I spent my day.  Hope you had more fun than I did.