What Are Men Good For?

Where I live, unfortunately, we have one open lot that they never built a home on to the back south side of us, then to the back east side of us are some storage units. My house sits and a strangle angle with five sides to the lot. If you have ever lived near either one you know what little pesky vermin can come out of them. That's right mice! Well for the most part I never had trouble with them in my home. But my neighbor did. That was until they tore down the old green house at the back half of the lot and started working on my yard. Now I have the little buggers visiting me in my home.

So I went and bought the good old fashion traps. Put cheese, bread, peanut butter or even a piece of a doggy biscuits (they ate up most of the small bag I had, so I knew they liked them). I'll be darned if the darn things didn't clean me off every stinkin' time and leave my traps empty. Well forget that. These guys are too smart, or I'm too stupid to get these traps to work.

So on one of my hubby's trips home he went to the store since he wanted some hearty meals while he was home to satisfy his craving for real home cooking. While he was there he picked up some of those trays with the real sticky stuff on them. I'll be darned if I didn't catch one the first night, then one the next and then ANOTHER a few nights later! No wonder they were driving me crazy. I thought I only had one of two in here.

At this point I know I have at least one more. I've seen it once and certainly heard it. Well this night I sure as heck heard it. I had reset the trap to be between the refrigerator and the cabinet, where I had caught two of the others.

I'm sitting down here talking to my friends and all the sudden i heard this loud, eerie screech and scratching. I thought maybe some wild cat (since we have some of those who use to like the greenhouse too) was being eaten by a coyote at my sliding glass door. At least that's what it sounded like. I had no clue!

I carefully crept up stairs to see what the commotion is all about. As I come up the stairs, turn the corner and turn on the kitchen light I heard it again and looked ahead and saw it. Oh my God the mouse had three of it's four feet caught, but he was still very much alive. He was using the free leg to brace on the floor and pull the other three legs. I didn't want to touch it since he was standing up and alive.

This was the moment that I wondered "Why the heck couldn't James be home tonight" He had taken a live one out for me when he was home. So I left it. What else was I going to do? I sure wasn't going to reach my hand between the cabinet and risk being bitten by a mouse!

I get up the next morning and that darn thing had freed himself and was gone. Now I'm probably going to have to buy a different kind of trap because I doubt he will fall for that one again.

With James gone I have been capable of doing a lot of things on my own. I've dealt with my own plugged up over flowing toilet that one of the kids blessed me with, I've done more little remodel projects around the house, selling the car by myself, take out my own trash and so many other things that are easy to leave up to the man to do. But that was one thing I was not going to do. I'll catch the little bugger later, but I was not going to retrieve that trap with a live mouse on it. Give me another toilet to plunge before I do that.