Incredible Threads

Today the title portion of this blog is not working; for some reason it won't let me type in there. So I'm calling this entry...
EEEK!

Ok, those of you who are revolted by vermin in the house (other than the ones you gave birth to) need not read on, you're not going to like this.

We have a mouse. That's what I tell myself, although deep down I know there's no such thing as one mouse. She is very bold and not afraid of us, or the dog. We've had mice before, along with moles, chipmunks, and flying squirrels (that's a whole other story) but this mouse is different. I have always been able to catch the mice but not this one, she's too smart for me. I refuse to use snap traps or D-con, I have what's called Mice Cubes. It's just a little plastic box with a one-way door, and you put in it whatever you think will attract mice (oddly enough, cheese doesn't work. Crackers, peanut butter, and potato chips seem to be the preferred menu items) and then you take the trap into the neighbor's yard and let the mouse go. I'm kidding about that, I usually take them about a mile away and turn them loose not close to anyone's house. But as I said, this mouse is different. She is very interested in anything that's not in a mouse cube. Nothing has persuaded her to go in there.

Having mice in the house does not bother me. I know it should, but I just can't work up any sense of panic or revulsion over mice. She's not getting into my food or going in the cupboards where my food or my dishes are, she's not chewing my belongings to shreds and making nests in my sock drawer, so it's not a real big issue for me. She comes up from behind my stove, sometimes while I'm standing at the counter, and watches me. I shooed her away, but she came right back and now is not affected by my shoo-ing unless I walk toward her, because she may be just a mouse but she's not stupid. What I saw this morning made me glad I have not been able to catch her, because she has babies...one of them was on the counter next to the stove this morning. It would have been very sad to have caught the mother and left the babies to die. Also when mice die in your house and you can't find them the smell is unbelieveable, which is another reason not to use D-con. I know what you're thinking; mice carry diseases, it's unsanitary to have mice. That's why I have lots of antibacterial 409. Besides, people carry diseases too, and I let them in my house. But they get so upset when I follow them around with the 409 bottle. The mice don't seem to mind so much.