Saturday, March 19, 2011

Damn Mice

I have a LOT to do today.

The sun is shining, it's SO gorgeous out. The house needs to be cleaned, of course, laundry done, and sugar snaps need to go into the ground. I want the yard cleaned, I want the everything done, and I start my day each day multitasking- poking the blog with a sharp stick, returning blog comments and catching up on hops and coffee, while nursing the baby for a marathon hour long session.

It's what we do, each day. Not today. Today I settled into the couch with a steaming cuppa only to see the dreaded yellow exclamation point over my internet connections.

At this point I have to marvel at how far I've come in the last two years. While not completely and totally tech savvy, I can work around a router and modem with no assistance. A quick glance at the cords behind the modem revealed the problem: A mouse had EATEN the damn cord down to the copper.

I'm at my wits end with these things already. I've killed over a dozen since we've moved in. I've tried peppermint oil, potato flakes, and snap traps, with various degrees of success. We live in a half double, and so, we need the mice to be gone from both sides of the house. I'm loathe to bring it up to the neighbors, I really like them, and there are five or six things I'd like to mention to them, the biggest being the mice situation.

*big, deep, sigh*

How does the conversation go? Is there a good way to bring this up? "Excuse me, Lovely Mr. Neighbor Whom I Adore for NOT playing Guitar Hero at 3 AM while Smoking Pot Like My Old Neighbors, Do you by any chance happen to have a rodent problem? Because you're sharing it with me, and I don't want to put down poison and accidentally kill your cat that moans outside my front door in the cold."

Ugh.

I guess the point of this is, if I promised you a visit to your blog or a vote in your contest or an entry in your giveaway, I'm about twelve hours behind, and I'll get there before too long, I promise.

And if you have any ideas on how to execute a rodent mass murder without harming plants, animals, children, the ozone, or small orphans in a far off country without child labor laws, I'd be glad to hear them.
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8 comments:

Elle said...

I wish could help but other than having a snake living under your house...I have no idea how to get rid of mice. The snake does work though if you want to go for that. Just be sure no one will have a heart attack if it crawls out for some sun once in a while.

XLMIC said...

LOL! I would totally approach the neighbors. What's the worst that can happen?

And for real... I was wondering what sort of total slacker you were... not voting in my contest or visiting my blog ;-) You have some nerve, missy!

I must admit, though, when I read your first paragraph all I could think was "wow, she is such a do-er! I so suck in comparison :( " all I can manage is the hour-long nursing session and I am literally sucked dry.

Wishing you the best with that rodent issue :)

aimee said...

Oh I hope you could get rid of those rodents in your house and I hope the neighbors will at least cooperate. As for my house, we have a lot of box elder bugs on the outside walls and they are slowly getting their way inside.

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Kittie Howard said...

I'd just talk to the neighbors. It seems like they're relatively new and probably wouldn't think it's their fault. Otherwise, I'd get a king snake. All they do is eat bugs and mice. (I grew up on a lake in Louisiana. My father got a king snake for the very same reason once. End of problem.) Good luck!!

lovinangels said...

LoL, WE'RE the newbies. They've been here for years.