So now what?

Well, first and foremost, it’s time to get My Trike back on track. A lot has been happening over recent weeks to do with things, people, my house and my new life here and I haven’t posted about any of it.

First, one small but rather sad event. Readers may recall that I mentioned the little brown mouse that chose to come and live with me and Toddie and made his home under my freezer. Unfortunately the little critter overstayed his welcome when he decided to come out to play every night in search of food, even though after I found he’d had the cheek to nibble at a nectarine I’d left out and the seal of a tin of chocolate biscuits (it’s a long story, my son bought them for my mother for Christmas and they ended up down here with me…), everything he might be interested in was safely packed away in plastic containers. Trouble was while he was out searching, he was leaving little calling cards everywhere – yes everywhere – that his search was taking him too, meaning that I was spending the first part of every morning cleaning up after him. And the agile little devil was so clever too – I still can’t work out how he managed to climb onto a table with shiny legs and an overhanging top, but Tarzan-like, he did.

So regrettably the time came to deal with him. From the number and volume of calling cards he was leaving, he must have been getting food from somewhere, so the only conclusion I could come to was that he was going out during the day and sneaking back in when my back was turned. This was more or less confirmed one day when I was sitting at the computer in the kitchen and saw him bold as you like strolling across the kitchen floor! So I jumped up and grabbed the broom in a Mrs Mop kind of way and the mouse, seeing this tore and hid round behind the mop bucket. I bashed the bucket with the broom in a gladiatorial kind of way and the mouse then shot out sideways under the sink where the two gas cylinders stand. I was ready for him. As he tried to race out from behind the left hand one in a desperate attempt to make for the freezer, I expertly parried with the broom and blocked his passage. He then spun round and dashed back behind the mop bucket, so I gave it another thwack with the broom and out he shot again for a repeat performance.

This happened a couple more times but when it comes to mouse speed and agility, man with broom is ultimately no match and on his final attempt he managed to do a crafty flip and twist that left me standing and allowed him to reach the freezer. But in doing so, he only increased my resolve as in the final event, man will not be beaten in the mouse stakes. And so it was that I ordered a couple of humane traps off Ebay but with three more killer-snappers as back up just in case my adversary didn’t get the message.

Things didn’t start off well when on their arrival, I found that one of the humane jobbies was missing its end cap, rendering it useless in the mouse capture and containment stakes. Nevertheless, I tried making and sticking a cardboard replacement for the missing part, stuck a lump of choice Camembert in it (of which more some other time…. YUMMM!) and plonked it down next to the freezer. Well dang me, I was in another room when I heard a sound and returned to see that the trap door (no, not the trapdoor…) had fallen, presumably trapping the little wretch inside. Success!

Er, no. When I checked, the little rodent had expertly removed the Camembert and escaped with it and was now enjoying a fine meal at my expense. Not deterred by this, which I concluded had to have been a total fluke, I did the same with the other humane trap and put it the other side of the freezer. In the morning I checked it and once again, the trap door had fallen and once again the little thief had nicked the cheese and taken it off. So I’m afraid that there was nothing else for it but to bring the big guns into action. It was a sad decision to have to make because I confess that I don’t like killing anything for no real reason. After all, what difference does one less mouse make in the whole scheme of things, so why not try to catch him and free him down the road, next to someone else’s house so he doesn’t come back to mine 🙂

But now I had no choice. Later that evening I set one of the snapper-traps with a large lump of smelly cheese from the Auvergne (at least I thought he’d go out in a bit of style) and within less than half an hour, there was a loud snap that made me jump. And when I got up to check, there was little mousey. I think he had a quick death but I can’t say that I feel any sense of triumph about it. I would have been happier to have caught and released him, but it wasn’t to be and sadly, things couldn’t go on as they were.

It’s lovely getting up to a clean kitchen and food area, but on balance I don’t think the world is a better place for having one less little brown mouse in it 😐