Beautiful day in downstate Illinois, sunshine to dazzle, fallen leaves to shoosh through, and lots of random outdoor things to do with the smug feeling that this is the last time I'll have to do them this year ...
So I started up the tractor. It coughed, backfired, and spat out a mouse nest and a tiny, bald, pink, baby mouse, which lay on the concrete, mewing. I backed out of the shed and turned off the engine, to clean out the remnants of the nest, watching Mama Mouse give me the evil eye as she picked up the baby and hustled it off to some fastness behind the garden tools.
Still, a perfect day for spreading grass seed (showers expected later) and moldy straw to keep the seed in place; for cutting down the peony foliage and stacking the wire supports out of the wind; for putting up the patio cushions and draining hoses; and for cleaning gutters.
And then for buying mousetraps.
Dale always used D-Con (when he wasn't engaging in hand-to-mouse combat), but I have this fear that the cats will get hold of a poisoned mouse and get sick. So today I learned how to bait a mousetrap. I had some creamy swiss cheese spread; it was messy, and I sprang the trap once (without catching any phalanges) accidentally. But by the time I placed it in a temptingly dark corner, Myfanwy the Bitch Cat was there to check out the cheese. She examined the apparatus in minute detail ... and she also sprang the trap. Nothing like a contented belly laugh to make the work easier.
I chased her out of the shed and finished baiting and placing my six traps. I'm not at all squeamish about dead mice - actually looking forward to checking the traps - and I can take a cat with me in case of any live trapping.
But man, I wish I could build an apparatus like the game Mousetrap. I loved that game!
(Well, actually, as this blogger notes, I loved building the trap and then turning the crank - not so much playing the game.)
It's like all those elaborate traps that Foghorn Leghorn and the dog used to trick one another into setting off. Who cares if they worked? They were FUN!
Whereas a mousetrap is just functional, not very esthetic. Oh well. I hope it does the job. I might try one of those glue traps under the hood of the tractor, where they always build their nests.
I would prefer a "live" trap. But, I'll give you bonus points for 1) NOT using D-con and 2) NOT using those DAMNED SADISTIC glue traps.
Posted by: Nicole | October 26, 2009 at 09:49 AM
A live trap for mice? Where would you relocate them? *blink blink* Thanks for the bonus points, but mostly I was afraid the cats would get stuck in the glue traps.
Posted by: KayO | October 26, 2009 at 12:20 PM
Why did I absolutely hate "Tom and Jerry" yet love the battles between Foghorn Leghorn and the dog? I even prefer dogs to cats!
It had to be the Huey Long vibe.
Posted by: Dominik | October 30, 2009 at 10:41 AM
FOGHORN!
Ah, ah, ah I say, boy ... are you a chickenhawk?
Posted by: Nicole | November 03, 2009 at 06:09 AM