The Mouse is in the House

I really hate being startled and surprised by swift moving wee things.

So imagine my terror when I was busily knitting on the couch Sunday night. I heard little rustling noises coming from the heater area. Hank was in the office checking e-mail, and suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw a black streak of movement. Horrified I stopped my "knit purl knit purl" and there before me was a MOUSE! A tiny, beady-eyed little thing. I screamed.

At the top of my lungs.

"A RAT! A RAT!" (of course the terror level was at its highest at this point...and this mere mouse transformed into a RAT! A toothy, gnarly RAT!).

Hank came running over to my rescue, and by this time, of course, hickory dickory dock. The mouse ran up the clock.

Actually it ran straight up the wall heater. That night Hank set out some traps and taped up the heater so that it would be forced into the tiny traps (the only kind available at 1 a.m.!). Monday morning I was hopeful as Hank checked the traps. No dice. No mice.

After work we checked again. Nada. It was 3:50 p.m., and I was dutifully checking my eBay auctions when I heard that darn rustling again. And then out of no where this damn mouse came scurrying right TOWARDS my feet. Now mind you, this was RIGHT AFTER Hank gave me a pep talk, "Now you're waaaay bigger than this thing....it's not going to run TOWARDS you....afterall you're much bigger than it...blah blah blah!"

I quickly packed up the kids and an overnight bag and headed to my parents' house for the evening as I wasn't going to spend another night of terror of tossing and turning like I did Sunday night. The mind is a horrible instigator of evil, spooky ooky thoughts. This morning I called Hank to check on the mouse status, and unfortunately there's NOTHING. 16 traps (excessive? Yes!) and not a sign of mousage anywhere!

I'm quite exhausted today as I slept with both babes in the bed, and trust me it wasn't a pretty sight. The evening involved kicked ribs, hair pulling, and 1 a.m. crying (Henry, not me). I know that if I don't go home today, that terrorist mouse will win. I must prove to it that I am STRONG and I will not succumb to his idle threats.

Oh somebody help! I don't wanna go home!

Comments

[Giao]

Uck! As a general rule, mice as pets and such don't bother me so much, but as soon as they're renegades and you don't know where they came from...that is what makes them the grodiest things around. We had a spate of them one winter. We did the humane tramps thing and rereleased the sweaty little buggers (total yuck shivers when you dump them out--only a centimeter or 2 of plastic separating you from moist rodent) only to find more and more back in our house. We did mouse poison and found it to be the thing that works the best. Good luck!!

[erika]

uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuughhhhhhhhhhh. rodents. can't do it, I would be exactly like you and get the HELL out of dodge. they're so erratic and flinchy like finches. you gave me chilly bumps. :(

[little things]

Yikes!! The only thing that freaks me out more than the thought of finding mice in my home are cockroaches... especially those big flying ones that we have back in Hawaii! Now that's one thing about Hawaii I truly don't miss!

[Charla]

We had a few mice this past winter, and it was sheer panic every time! We used the sticky pad traps, and they worked well. I *totally* understand your freaked-out-ed-ness (yep, not a word...until now - ha)

[justjenn]

Last night I had the same incident except with a spider. Creepy crawly yuck.

[violetismycolor]

my worst experience was waking up to the sound of a BAT circling my bed (and we had just been out to see Batman that night!)

[yvett]

I would've done the same thing as you. I wouldn't be able to sleep thinking that thing was going to jump on me. UGH! Good luck!

[ani]

Man you're bringing back memories when I was young and had the same problem. Silly question. Did you put any food by the traps so it will come towards that instead of you? Good luck!

[Valerie]

We had one a couple weeks ago. My husband was the scared one though. I was able to chase it out of the house, only to find a garden snake in front of our garage! I think I screamed louder than when I was going through labor with D. We called animal control and they wouldn't come because it was ONLY a garden snake. We didn't leave the house for the whole day.

[nurse cox]

this hideous rodent encounter reminds me of a dark moment from my past when I tried on a bathing suit that had been in storage for a long period of time. Once I had it on, I noticed a bulge at the waist that felt like a pinecone. I removed the strap and rolled it down to see the face of a dead mouse looking at me! I freaked and ran screaming through the house, trying to get the vermin out while hiding my 'nakedness'. It was a true moment of hysteria for me, and my brother, who laughed himself senseless....

[nurse cox]

this hideous rodent encounter reminds me of a dark moment from my past when I tried on a bathing suit that had been in storage for a long period of time. Once I had it on, I noticed a bulge at the waist that felt like a pinecone. I removed the strap and rolled it down to see the face of a dead mouse looking at me! I freaked and ran screaming through the house, trying to get the vermin out while hiding my 'nakedness'. It was a true moment of hysteria for me, and for my brother, who laughed himself senseless....