Of Mice and Women

I love to hear the sound of cute little feet scampering gleefully across the floor.

Especially in the middle of the night, in the attic.

Amy likes to hear the sound in the pantry, which is right beside her bedroom, along with chewing and gnawing.

No, it's not Ryan or Aaron looking for a snack in the middle of the night. The culprits are little furry gray-brown mice that have invaded the house.

Now, I know this happens annually and I should just learn to anticipate it, setting out traps and poison well in advance, but somehow, I never do.  I think it is because I watched too many Tom & Jerry cartoons, as well as read all of The Littles books growing up. Another favorite book was Mrs Frisby and The Rats of Nimh. And don't forget Ratatouille. What if the mice really aren't the bad guys? What if I cause the father or the mother mouse to leave their children all alone and defenseless?

Did you ever notice that when you watch a movie with a mouse (like Mouse Hunt), that you find yourself actually rooting for the mouse? You don't want him to get caught. But yet, when they are chewing up your food, leaving their little packages behind on the counter...

Living on a farm, with the barn relatively close to the house, means that mice, and even rats, are inevitable. Even with Tigger, Martha, Kurt and Frederich (The Barn Cat Brigade) on patrol, those little rodents find their way into the house. A few years ago ( I shudder to even think about it), we had a rat that made it to the inside. At the time, Aaron had a hamster named Gimli and he had a nice yummy stash of gourmet hamster food in his bedroom. The rat found this quite convenient and eagerly settled in for a long winter. Aaron was suspicious that something was amiss...

Then one night, I awoke to the sound of something quite different than the sound of scampering feet. It was...

...the sound of loud, uncontrollable man laughter coming from Aaron's room.

Leo and Aaron had cornered the uninvited visitor and were attempting to escort it from the premises. Let's just say that they were successful and leave it at that. That was the last rat we ever saw in the house. I'm guessing that the word spread quickly in the rodent community to definitely not try that again.

Friends of mine had squirrels in their house. I suppose I should be thankful I don't have groundhogs moving in.

Love,
Dianne