Mouse in the House

We have had a couple of instances of mice in the house during the last month or two.  I hadn't seen any for quite a long time, so I hadn't even thought about checking any of the traps that were set until the smell alerted me.  That trap and its unfortunate occupant were disposed of together.

I found some plastic traps that you set by pinching the back...similar to the action of opening a clothespin.  You just hold it together (easily) while you bait it with peanut butter or whatever.  When the mouse is caught (this isn't a trap that intends to trap them humanely...sorry) you just pinch it together again and the mouse falls out into whatever final resting place you have chosen.

The night before last I was awakened out of a deep sleep by the sound of rustling about by a tiny visitor.  I went back to sleep and then woke up again to hear the sound again.  I turned on the lamp that time and thought that whatever it was (could have been a bug for all I knew) might be in the bag of books that was on the floor next to the bed.  So, I got up and moved the bag out to the balcony over the living room.  When I picked up the bag I noticed a candy wrapper on the floor, but I didn't pick it up at that time.  I went back to sleep and was again waked up by the paper rustling noise.  When I turned on the lamp and looked, the candy wrapper was gone.  Obviously, a bug wasn't the responsible party.  I went downstairs, got one of the plastic traps, baited it with peanut butter and took it back upstairs.  I placed it at the wall near where I heard the noise...and actually went back to sleep.  Unfortunately, for me, the mouse has not touched the trap and has apparently been laying low.  I did find the candy wrapper and it had chewed a bit of it up.  It looked like it was making confetti.   Maybe it has plans for a New Years party.  I did hear a noise last night, but it only lasted for a second and then I heard nothing else.

This morning while I was eating breakfast (rum cake...a gift from Pat when we met for our weekly dinner last night) I heard a noise in the pantry.  I opened it and saw the hind end and tail of a mouse as it scurried to get out of sight.  I stood there and called it bad names for a while...but that didn't solve anything, so I got another trap and baited it...this time with a gel mouse attractant that I bought yesterday.  It looks kind of like the blue toothpaste gel.  I've been in the kitchen most of the morning and have checked several times, but so far the mouse has remained quiet and is not interested in the gel.  Most everything else in the pantry is protected by plastic containers, so there's slim pickings for rodents.

I choose to believe (because I want to) that there is only one mouse in the house...but it's smarter and sneakier than the average mouse.   We shall see.  I'm off to check traps.