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Saturday, July 28, 2007
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Long awaited update...
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Well, it all started with a few bags of chips. They had been ripped open and eaten in the basement, where we store lots of miscellaneous foodstuffs. We might have suspected one of the kids, but they generally hide the bags. Then some boxes of tea. "The mice are back" we figured. Being that our house is over 100 years old, with a fieldstone foundation, it is not uncommon for a few little field mice to come in from time to time. This typically happens in spring and fall when the weather changes. Sometimes they just leave, other times, we are forced to encourage their exit. So I placed a few standard mousetraps, and waited. But no luck. I not only found the traps snapped and the bait stolen, the attacks got more and more severe. They ate more tea and gnawed into the high-test coffee. They tried to attack my canola oil. They pushed me to the edge when they attacked our pasta. Anyone who visits here very often knows that an attack on our pasta is a strike at our very way of life! Then we found a spot that looked as though some one was trying to dig a hole under the bathroom. This was new. The final straw was when the intruders sank to outright vandalism. Mrs. A came down early one morning to find little chewed bits-o-stuff on the kitchen floor, and the (ugly) light fixture hanging at a funny angle. This prompted a call to my cell-O-phone, and a message authorizing the use of ANY measures to destroy these miscreants. Removing the fixture hinted at what we were dealing with here. As many of them inhabit our yard, we suspected that we were dealing with a radical sect of chipmunks. I armed myself with the most advanced weaponry. I suited up for a counter-attack. I set my traps in likely spots in the basement. Days passed. I found my small traps robbed of food, and caught one standard mouse, but the big guns remained untouched, while the attacks continued, including an unsuccessful assault on a rubbermaid bin. Several different baits went ignored. Suspecting that I was dealing with a more clever foe, I changed tactics. I baited the unset traps with pasta (ziti, no lines), strew some zitis about, and sprinkled everything with garlic powder to mask any human scent. Two days later, the ziti was all gone, including those on the trigger of the un-set trap. HA, I had him! Now that he had been lulled into a false sense of security by the un-set trap, I reloaded the set traps with fresh ziti, applied more garlic, and waited. The next day my combination of superior intelligence and opposable thumbs proved unbeatable. Take that, vermin! A day later, I got his buddy, too. In the end, the chipmunks were vindicated, and Mrs. A got a new light fixture. The remaining ziti are still untouched. I love a happy ending. |
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| thus voiced The A, Mistah @ 9:14 PM | |
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