Dumb Mouse

So, as was inevitable in a house built on a concrete slab with no basement, I ended up with a mouse in the townhouse. I saw him last night, running from behind one of the desk units to behind the media storage unit. Fine, I thought, I can deal with this rodent. Stopped at Safeway after my shift today and picked up 6 spring-loaded traps, baited and set 4 of them and placed them in likely spots where said rodent would be running. Mr. Mus musculus would NOT get the better of me.

The mouseman showed up, twitched his nose & whiskers, and cursorily inspected the 2 baited traps it encountered - without tripping either. Just to hedge my bets, I also placed an empty jar against the crack where entertainment unit met the wall, lid nearby. I don't necessarily want to kill, a humane catch-and-release would work for me too. Although I kept a close eye on the usual place of appearance for the next hour, no sign of the fuzzy intruder.

I started to hear a curious thumping noise from the direction of the downstairs bathroom. Muting the TV, I went to investigate. What did I find but the mouse, trapped in a plastic wastebasket just a little too high for him to jump out of, even though he tried heroically. First I opened the inside door and unlocked the screen door. Then, I picked up the wastebasket, creating a frenzied increase in the escape effort jumping. I opened the screen and tossed the rodent free, into the grass and the night. Go, run, escape, and enter my domicile no more, fuck off and get lost! I told the vermin-infested critter as I closed and locked the doors.

Just in case the little bastard had friends, I'm leaving the traps out. Killing's okay with me, too.