9/20/07

Of Kindred Spirits and Hunting Mice

I have a new ally in Beck.
Her story of finding a mouse carcass sent me into sympathy gagging.

I absolutely, hands-down, with out a doubt would love to rid the world of all mice.
That may sound horrible of me.
But they really are about the nasty of all nasty beasts.
They just plain old skeeve (spelling? anyone?) me out.


I have called Rav home in the middle of his work day because I saw a mouse who thought himself so bold as to go prancing through my diningroom in the middle of the day.
The set on this guy (the mouse), I'll tell ya.
To think it is OK to just go sauntering through my diningroom like that.

One evening, I fell asleep on the sofa (Rav was upstairs). When I woke up to go to bed, a mouse decides to play chicken and run right out in front of me.
I hauled ass back to the sofa and had Rav come downstairs and give me a piggy-back ride across the livingroom floor and over to the steps.


Why am I telling you about all of this?
Well, the other night in soc. class, we got to talking about germs. And how some people are extreme (though they might not think so) about hand-washing and touching things.

The instructor said she just does not think about germs the way that a germaphobe does.

And I agree. I mean, I am mindful to wash my hands. I try to hover over public toilets, I use my foot to flush public toilets. But I'm not completely paranoid in public places.

And we began a discussion about how everyone has their thing.


I couldn't think of what my thing was.
Because I'm not a freaky-deaky person.
I'm above obsession.
I have it all together.
Ha!


Slowly it came to me that my thing is mice.
When the weather starts getting colder, I have a keen sense of the almost inaudible
scratch, scratch, scratch in the walls. If I hear the slightest sound of a teeny, tiny squeak I become alert.
Hyper-alert.

My pupils dilate. My breathing becomes very slow and quiet. I sit very still. I turn in the direction of the sound.
When I hear it again, I know the game is on.


I run around the house stuffing steel wool into every little nook and cranny.
I make sure every available electrical outlet has those sonic mice keeper-awayer things.
I put the poison pellets under appliance.
I hunt them. I can tell the paths that they are travelling. I am keen to their habits.
And it really does become this thing that just takes up my spare thoughts.


It occurred to me the other day just how insane I am about keeping these things out of homes.
We were at my mom's house getting ready to leave.
As I was standing by the door, I happened to look down at the baseboard trim.
I said to my mom, Looks like you've got some mice.
She said Oh, no! Why? How do you know?
I said, See down here at the trim? This little pile of wood and paint dust? They are running behind the baseboard trim and are digging out a nest or whatever.
She was like Oh, I thought it might have been from ants.
Could be. I said. But it looks more like mice to me.


What do you think?
A job in pest control awaits?


Or just plain old insanity?

18 ripples in the pond:

Anonymous said...

I have a neighbor like you, two actually. Petrified of mice, while I find them a nuisance. I think they're pretty cute little buggers but they can't live in my house, they belong outdoors.

Anyway, the other day I was at my neighbors house and she was talking about her son's pet tarantula. I am petrified of spiders, especially big, hairy ones with boots on. So she's telling me how soft this tarantula is, and my skin is crawling as she talks. So I said, you mean soft like a mouse and you would have thought I'd slapped her in the face. She said fine, we'll stop baiting each other and leave it alone.

My advice to you, get a cat. They love mice.

thailandchani said...

Mice and other critters don't bother me. Your instructor was correct though. We all have our "thing". For me, it is nasty food that is undiscovered in the fridge until it's too late. I feel like I need a hazmat suit! Won't remove it without gloves on.

:)


Peace,

~Chani
http://thailandgal.blogspot.com

Super B's Mom said...

I am suddenly seeing Christopher Walken the psycho exterminator in Mousehunt.

I hear ya on the heebie jeebie part. Mines not mice so much, but snakes... *shiver*

Her Grace said...

I thought I was the only person who flushed the toilet with her foot.

We have three cats, so even though our old house is prime mouse territory, we've never had one. (Frantically knocking on wood.) If we got one, I'm sure you'd hear me shrieking from there.

joker the lurcher said...

i'm with deb - a cat is the answer!

and the flushing the loo with the foot thing - does that mean when i flush a loo with my hand i'm getting someone's foot germs all over me? eek!...

11111111 said...

You're not insane, mice suck they suck hard.
I destroyed every single one I saw in my old house after I found one on my daughter's bed. Here, in our new place, we've only had one, and it's dead now. Dead.

flutter said...

way back when, before I met the boy, I had a mouse who made his house in my desktop and ATE IT FROM THE INSIDE OUT!!

so yeah, they suck

Beck said...

Mice are awful. A childhood house of mine had RATS. They are MORE AWFUL.
Shuddering....

Pgoodness said...

Mice, so not cool. I once ALMOST picked up a tiny little one thinking it was a cat toy - indeed it was real and I guess was a toy - my cat played with it to death. BLECH.

My thing? One word: earwigs

Liv said...

Hmm...I can't think of my thing. Oh, yes! Wait! I can't bear to have my face touched. Don't lean in to get an eyelash, I don't want a facial or a waxing. I even flinch if my kids go for a grab at the nose.

carrie said...

Tabba, The Mouse Slayer!

And no, I don't think you're crazy at all.

Anonymous said...

One of our cats once caught a mouse in our kitchen, near the back door, and promptly carried it upstairs to where we were and dropped it at our feet in a sort of "looky what I found!" kinda way.

Stupid cat. grr...

Casdok said...

You can borrow my cat! Shes a great mouse catcher!

Aliki2006 said...

Now I'm feeling creeped out. We discovered a little pile of sawdust in one of our cabinets. Mice? Please, no--say it isn't so!

I have to say, I am MUCH more disgusted by roaches. You'll hate me for this, but my sister and I once had pet mice named Tommie and Tuppence.

Yes, we did.

OhTheJoys said...

Spiders and roaches. Bleargh!

Girlplustwo said...

i was in a little hotel in Cambodia and right when we turned off the lights we heard some strange noises. and then felt strange things running across our bodies. we turned on the lights and there were eight or so mice in all stages of frozen around the room and bed.

now THAT was a really good night.

Wayfarer Scientista said...

Hi! I came here from Liv's blog "Madness, Madness I say". I would agree with Deb on the cat thing...I had the same problem but since I've had a cat, nary a noise. And let me tell you, people who say "quiet as a mouse" never lived in a house with them. Good luck!

http://wayfarerscientista.blogspot.com

Lacey said...

I'm totally that germaphobe you were speaking of...although, I don't do mice either. Eek!