PhyllisAnne Pesce

About a month ago, I was laying bundled up on the couch sick. All of a sudden I see this little critter go in Leo’s bowl. Well, it was a good thing my two little pekes were in bed- I don’t believe they would have been happy. I tried to go quietly over and catch it to put outside. It took off under the entertainment center. Now I am sitting up watching and listening. Not wanting to have it come crawling across me. That surge of bravery I felt left very quickly along with the brief bit of strength I was given at that moment.

My husband was in bed asleep, therefore he wasn’t any help. I decided to just let it be and went to bed, hoping it wouldn’t come in the bedroom. After a while I remembered that there was fruit in a bowl on the table and various other sundries that this little mouse might get into. I got up and quickly put everything in containers and jars. With everything safely encased – or so I thought- I went back to bed.

The next morning, I tell my husband and he told me he would get some traps. Here I was home all day with my two Pekes and a Mouse somewhere in our house. It turns out that the mouse had gotten out of the house but not until after he messed some things up. Apparently, he got into my flatware drawer. That meant sterilizing everything in there as there were mouse droppings all over. Thank goodness for dishwashers! It really came in handy. I am so happy that I requested a dishwasher for this move.
Well, it is weeks later and there is still a mouse in our house. I am hopeful that I got rid of it today. The mouse never bothered the traps(they look like hockey pucks). On friday night it was in the cabinet under the kitchen sink. What a racket it was making. On Saturday, I poured out mothballs in the sink cabinet.
Oh! My! How they smelled! I bought the wrong ones. Alas, they were better than nothing.
Now it is saturday night. Everyone is in bed accept me-I am on mouse patrol. All of a sudden there comes a racket from the cabinet under the kitchen sink! The MOUSE! is trying to get the door open! He keeps crashing into it. It was going nuts! Cleaning bottles, soap, etc all getting knocked down. This went on for about an hour. Then all was quiet. I was not brave enough to open the door as I didn’t want the mouse coming out into the rest of the house.
Today, I went to the store and bought some poison. I know-but I don’t have a cat and this mouse has been with us at night for about a month. It is time for it to leave permanently. I filled the gap around the pipes with steel wool. That should keep him from getting back in. I then set the wedge box with the poison next to the pipe. This evening we heard it trying to get back in but all has been quiet.
Hopefully, the Mouse will find another place to hang it’s hat in the frigid cold of the night.
I don’t blame the mouse for wanting to come in out of the cold. However, it needs to understand that I don’t try to go live in it’s house and it needs to have the same regard for me and not invite itself in uninvited. Now don’t misunderstand, I would not invite a mouse into my house not on purpose.
We have been pondering how it got in, in the first place. It was on a snowy day about a month ago and the temps were down around 10 at night. My husband went out the front door and the mouse must have come walking in. It was probably half frozen. You see why I don’t blame it? The only thing is we have a few outbuildings. One of these buildings is our office. I have no problem with it going and moving itself into the office. I don’t work out of that office. My office is in my house. So, It wouldn’t bother me. After all, he seems to be an after hours mouse.
Well this little mouse managed to get under the kitchen sink and must have found its way out of the house and then after that has been able to come and go every night. He no longer needs the front door.
I hope tonight he moves a little down the road. I really don’t want him to freeze but I don’t want him in my house.
Tonight …...”Not a creature is stirring not even a mouse.”

Update:
The mouse has left our house! Since, I put steel wool in the little gaps around the pipes he hasn’t been able to get back in. We also watch the floor on the way in and out the door. Just in case he tries to come back in that way.