It's deep into the night and you've just completed a most excellent sleep cycle. You're in that comfortable but foggy semi-conscious moment where you maybe roll over onto your other side or snug the covers a little closer. You're all set to slide back down into the next round of oh so satisfying sleep...and then you hear it.
Snik...scritch-scritch.
What? Then you hear it again, and it's inside the wall, and any hopes of undisturbed slumber for the rest of the night go poof!
Yep, it's a mouse in the house.
That was very early Saturday morning and I put four traps out that day. By Sunday morning I had one. So far that's it, so I'm optimistic that it was a solo mouse that managed to sneak in the patio door when I wasn't looking. They do that, especially this time of year. Time will tell, but there was no scritch-scritch last night.
That takes us to the issue of how to get rid of the little buggers and it became a minor item of disagreement with a neighbor yesterday. He kind of laughed at me for using old-fashioned mousetraps instead of poison or glue pads.
Okay, I concede that the spring-loaded wood and wire mousetraps are old-fashioned, but they are also highly effective for that sporadic problem with an unwanted guest or two. And they're quick, meaning it's almost always over for the poor little critter in the blink of an eye. Now let's look at those other two options.
I don't use poisons because I don't want them around my house where a pet or a child could possibly get into them. Or have the poisoned mouse somehow make it outside and get ingested by a hawk or owl. It's too easy for that stuff to find its way where it was not supposed to be. Besides, most poisons are not exactly blink of an eye quick. It takes a little time after it is ingested for the hemorrhaging or other manner of death to begin. Ick. No, seriously. Ick.
Then there are the glue pads. I've never used one because I've never had to, and frankly the idea kind of horrifies me. I mean, you put the thing out, a mouse gets stuck on it, and then what? Do you whack the little bugger or just throw it in the trash so it can die a slow and painful death from dehydration? The former I would rather let my old-fashioned mousetrap do for me, and the latter strikes me as cruelly indifferent. And before anybody stumbles on this and rags on me, I'm a hunter and no PETA idiot. I understand the food chain and nature's harsh realities. When I kill something though, it's for a reason and done with minimal, if any, suffering.
Which brings me back to the old-fashioned mousetrap. They are a little bit of a pain to deploy and for places facing persistent infestation attempts it is possible that the local mouse population can learn to avoid them. For most most homes in America though, that's not a problem(Er, if it is, don't tell me). They are so quick that they are easily the most humane, if brutal, way to take out a mouse.
That's my two cents. Yours?(And yes, the mouser option is acceptable to put on the table, so to speak)
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