In the madcap dash/chase that ensued, (the mouse dashing and me chasing - not the other way round, I hasten to add!) I never got a chance to grab the camera. Black Widow spiders are much better at posing for shots! However, I managed to trap the wee mouse (let's call him Mickey for want of a more imaginative name) behind the paper shredder in the study, until my Husband came home. I thought that he might help me get Mickey into a shoe box, and then we could remove him outside - much the same way as we do with spiders.
Mickey proved way too fast for us. His tiny pea sized brain outwitted our combined efforts, and he took off, a brown streak across the floor and under the door to the hallway. How I wished we'd replaced those doors when we took out the carpet and put in the wooden floor. Now all the doors have a carpet-clearance gap perfect for a mouse to free-range though the house!
My worry was that if I'd seen one, how many more where there? I wondered what percentage of mice you saw, as opposed to how many there really were? And how long would it be before we were overrun?
So we decided to get a trap down. I don't have anything against mice - in fact I think they are really cute, and I used to have them as pets at University until the residential Warden evicted them (and nearly evicted me too). But I have far too many relatives who hate mice and who come to stay with me - I knew it was ultimately a case of choosing between the mouse and my Sister (or my Godmother).
I loaded the trap with peanut butter and left it where we last saw Mickey. The following day the trap was still untouched, so I added some ham. It seems we have a very discerning mouse - to date the ham and peanut butter are still there. Yes, the obvious thing to do would be to put down cheese, but we don't eat much cheese and I refuse to buy cheese just for a squatter mouse!
My friend has offered the services of her cat who is reported to be an excellent mouser. I wonder what Mickey would say about that?
Byddi Lee
