A Little Dab’l Do

As we were gallivanting in Denver, our home was invaded by mice. Within a day of our return, the clues came quickly: a nibbled packet of airline peanuts left out on the kitchen counter,
a chomped on English muffin,
a skittering sound in the kitchen trash can (no photo – when Prince Charming investigated, the mouse tried to jump out, scaring the ever lovin’ out of both of us – that can is no longer, tossed out the back door and never to return). So on the day Michigan dissolves the death penalty, we instituted it.

Before this rodent invasion, I thought of the word nibble rather sweetly: a loving nuzzle or the only way to eat an Oreo. But with this infestation, I’m thinking more like the wiley witch in Hansel and Gretel. Nibble, Nibble, little mouse, who is gnawing at my house? she’d coyly asked the hungry children as they munched on her yummy home. Her plan – to lure the nibblers into a trap – is now my mission. Only one problem. Mouse traps are yuk.

But traps work, according to Andy Murdock at SoCo Pest Away, if you follow protocol: put a dab of peanut butter on the trap’s trigger to get the mouse to investigate and set two, three traps 6-8″ apart. Why’s that? Because, says Andy, a mouse wary of trap #1 gets careless around #2. But, how does it know to be wary? Because (and I hope you’re not eating as you’re reading this), rodents witnessing another rodent get “trapped” will avoid traps for the rest of their lives! It gets worse. Female rodents teach their babies to scurry past traps, and a generational avoidance mechanism called Trap Shyness results and is tradition for decades in rodent families. Ohmygod.

The idea of mice running along my kitchen counters is nauseating enough, but settling in for years and years got me up and going…to the Dollar store, where mice traps are 4 for a buck. I bought two packages, figuring we’d set a mine field. Well and good, only we could not figure out how the doggone things work! We had to google for instructions we could finally comprehend, and the result is a countertop set with these:
I have no idea what I’ll do tomorrow morning if the traps are sprung. but I’m sure Andy does.

xxxea
Tie One On…an apron, of course!

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