jonathanhickman.com

Another dead mouse. Yay.

I’ve never really lived in a place with mice. We did have that rat in the dorm one year in college, but that doesn’t really count. Now we live in an old, big house with a big miceable - if it’s not a word, it should be - basement and a horribly cheap, old kitchen. I’m not surprised our house has mice, but I’m still not thrilled. I’ve put out poison where the cats, dogs, and ferret can’t get to it. And I’ve put out traps.

Let’s count the mice since we bought the place in August.

1. One of the first nights we were here, my cat caught a mouse and left it as a present on our nice hall rug, since removed.
2. The next night, the other cat caught a mouse. He was so excited, he literally screamed for five minutes - with the mouse still alive in his mouth.
3. About a month after that, we had electrical problems and had to get some stuff rewired where the mice got an appetite for wiring. While the electrician was in the basement doing his job, a dead mouse fell on him. Personally, I thought it was hilarious. He didn’t find it so amusing.
4. After that I put out the poison. Number four was found just outside the back door, under the deck, when I was trying to clean up some junk the previous owners left.
5. After mouse number four, we had a brief calm period until this week. A few days ago, Fiat the Jack Russel mix found mouse number five dead on the mudporch. Luckily, because he probably had poison in him, the dog couldn’t get to him. Unluckily, I could get to him and had to take him out.
6. Mouse number six was the worst mouse yet. He was buried in the cat food. Katie found him Wednesday night as she was setting the bowl out. I had noticed the cats seemed uninterested in their food even though they whined in hunger. Now I know why. I’m guessing that mouse was dead in the food bag kept on the mudporch and I scooped him up and brought him inside. He was probably there a few days before we found him. Katie screamed so much I was just glad she hadn’t broken a bone.
7. Which leads us to mouse number seven. Number seven was the mouse I just discovered in the basement last night. He, too, was dead. Flattened, in fact. Flattened in the room I often store stuff. I wander in there on occasion, leaving a load or picking one up. I rarely turn on a light. Either I flattened him with my shoes or with stuff that I dropped on him. I don’t want to know if he was already dead.

So when will mouse number eight show up? And exactly how many more dead mice could we possibly find? I don’t know about you, but I know I sure can’t wait to find out.