Unwelcome Visitors

Recently I discovered that some freeloading tenants had moved into my house.  This was an unpleasant discovery that warranted extreme measures to provide relief.  Don't get me wrong, I love animals, but only if they are somewhere in the food chain or show me some sort of loyalty.  Until mice can be engineered to eagerly greet me at the door when I come home or can be the main ingredient at a BBQ, I have no need of them.

A friend of mine told me he had experienced great success with glue traps.  I have always been a fan of the traditional spring loaded mouse trap (isn't that the point of the saying about building a better mousetrap, that this simple device is as good as it gets?) but I foolishly took his advice and purchased a set of glue traps and placed two of them behind the piano and one under the sink.  I knew they had been around the piano because they had held a party on my keyboard which I discovered when I lifted the wooden tray which prevents dust from accumulating on it, but also creates a cool, dark place for mice to do their business, both number 1 and number 2, if you catch my drift.  They also left reminders of their visit under the sink.

Needless to say, cleaning mouse poop and pee off my piano keys did not make me want to accept my new guests into my house.  In fact, relieving yourself on any of my furniture is a sure way to not get invited back, FYI.  Unfortunately, the glue traps did not do the trick.  After briefly considering setting up a trap that involved 2 ball bearings, a boot and a mini-bathtub, among other things, I settled on the traditional design baited with peanut butter.  (Most people don't realize it, but George Washington Carver spent countless hours trying to develop a suitable substitute for cheese before finally creating this irresistable, gooey delight.  Had he not been alergic to cats, millions of school children may have missed this staple of the sack lunch.)  

So I stopped by Walmart and got a 4 pack of the traditional mousetraps.  The next morning I found the first victim testifying to the supremacy of this excellent invention.  3 days later and I had eliminated 3 more invaders.  Apparently mice don't communicate danger very well, nor do they learn from the mistakes of others.  The last one finally met his demise a week later, after I noticed the peanut butter on the trap was gone but it hadn't been set off.  A new, slightly more hair-triggered trap fixed that shortfall, and my home is now rodent free.  If anybody wants to buy some unused glue traps let me know.