The Mouse In The Kitchen

It's that time of year here on the central coast....the time when it begins to freeze at night (finally that zucchini plant is starting to die off).  The walnuts begin falling, along with leaves (it's so uncanny, but the leaves seem to fall right into the rain gutters!).  And of course, that means that the critters are looking for warm places to hang out.  Mainly, inside our house.  The kitchen in particular, which makes sense, because there are delicious things there (bread, nuts, the compost bucket, yum yum).  I know there's been a mouse in the kitchen - I have seen the evidence.  He or she has left me a present in one of my cabinets, if you know what I mean.  

When I was little, I used to collect mice (cute little stuffed mice, ceramic ones, etc).  Clearly there was something very wrong with me.  Now that I'm older I am also wiser.  I know that mice are plague- and hanta-virus-carrying rodents, with ugly pointy teeth and creepy eyes.  They give me the willies.  And they need to stay OUT of my house.

My tactic - I put sticky traps everywhere.  And, because one of my uncles made fun of me for not using 'real' mousetraps, I got a couple of those, too.  But the mouse must be either smart or lucky, because I haven't caught it yet.  This is where having pets comes in handy though.  Last week I did find a small carcass out in the yard.  I don't know if it was a cat or a dog that got it, but that animal is my hero!

 I'm keeping the traps out in case any mouse relatives decide to explore the inside world, and I will be keeping score in this latest 'game' that is on at our house (FYI we will be getting buckets of walnuts this year, so my team definitely won the squirrel war!).