I was SO GLAD to put the Mousy-T-Hoe-ville Horror behind me! So relieved that nothing had disturbed the set mouse trap the second day. Farmer H had caught the little bugger, and that chapter of our life (mine and T-Hoe's) was ended.
"What did you do with the mouse?"
"I threw it out behind the garage."
"Oh. So you mean Jack ate it. And then licked my hands as I was going to town."
"Jack didn't eat it!"
"You know Jack. I'm sure he did. Whether you saw him or not."
Oh, well. I don't touch my face in town, and wash my hands as soon as I get back. At the very worst, there might be a bit of mouse flavor on T-Hoe's steering wheel.
While in town, I went to Save A Lot for Farmer H's generic Hot Pockets (pepperoni pizza flavor) to take in his SUS2.5 lunches. Along with some dill pickles and a bag of red onions. They had six-packs of Diet Mountain Dew on sale 3/$10. So I got three. I was going to set the food box on the back seat, but the soda needed to go in T-Hoe's rear.
I opened the hatch, and moved a four-pack of Puffs With Lotion, and a four-pack of Bounty Select-a-Size Paper Towels out of the way. They'd been in there since Christmas, as I didn't need them carried in to clutter up the Mansion.
WHAT IN THE NOT-HEAVEN???
The top edge of the paper towel pack had been chewed, and a bit of paper towel from one roll, about the size of a nickel, had been shredded onto my coat that lives in T-Hoe's rear!
A FILTHY MOUSE MOUTH HAD BEEN ON MY PAPER TOWELS!
Welp! That did it! I'm not getting the hantavirus! I told Farmer H, after he carried them into the Mansion, that I was cutting off that part, and I didn't want that roll of paper towels. He can have them, for cleaning up at the flip house, or at his SUS2.5.
The Puffs were fine. The plastic that holds those packs together is the toughest substance on earth. I often have trouble cutting through it with a knife. Jet planes should be made of that stuff, it's so indestructible.
Meanwhile, I must live with the knowledge that the filthy fat mouse must have crawled into every nook and cranny of T-Hoe. I shudder think that maybe its fatness was due to being WITH (filthy mouse) CHILDREN!
8 comments:
Let's just hope that building a nest was its priority. It could have been nibbling on important wires that make T-Hoe come alive or affected the heating or who knows what it could have been chewing on. There is a spray that you can get to keep them out. I think it has peppermint in it, if I remember right. A lot of critters seem to have an aversion to peppermint. Regardless, I think I would rather do that than wait until the next cute little mouse moves into the lovely T-Hoe and make it the mansion home it always craved. Ranee
Rae,
That's the first time it has happened in all these years. I guess maybe the mouse got in T-Hoe in the garage, though I suppose it could have been while I was in town. Long ago, at a Casey's that's now closed down, I saw a mouse hiding under the cage of propane tanks I parked beside. Funny how I park beside another such cage of propane tanks every day at the Gas Station Chicken Store.
Anyhoo... Farmer H keeps the dog food in a plastic trash can with a lid inside the garage. I suppose he might drop a few crumbs while dipping it out in the mornings for Jack. And Jack's self-feeder is on the side porch just outside the garage. So a mouse could be lurking.
I don't know where to start with such a spray. According to Farmer H, a mouse could get in through many parts of T-Hoe.
Mice are tricky like that, they squeeze into all kinds of tiny places. Perhaps you could keep a roll of towels inside an esky type small cooler in the back of T-Hoe? And hope there aren't any more mice.
I am sure the dog food is a gourmet meal for a mouse. I would spray under the hood of T-Hoe and under the seat and in the trunk. I think that would be more than enough to discourage any mice moving in.
We have been feeding about 7 different feral cats this winter and providing them with a heated water bowl. The birds are also appreciative of cat food and water. My dad and mom would be thrilled as we have seen different types of birds that we've not seen before. (My parents were both bird watchers and had feeders out for them. We do not because while living at our townhouse, the crazy neighbor next door put food in a bird feeder and realized the striped gophers were eating what fell on the ground, so she started putting piles on the edge of her patio. It brought in tons of gophers, mice and even skunks. When it got really cold, they chewed their way into both our basement and hers. We caught it in time and filled in the hole with steel wool and put a board over the hole, but the damage was so bad, everything needed to be replaced. That was when we knew we would not be feeding birds with feeders, intentionally.) Any birds eating in our yard are fed by our few plants and flowers. The hummingbirds loved the Hosta's. We are finding that the birds actually need water more than the food. Anyhow, we don't have any critters though, as they are food to the cats and once they smell cats around, they do not stay, thankfully. Ranee
River,
I don't need to keep any paper towels at all in T-Hoe. I just didn't want to carry them in yet to be in the way during my Christmas cooking and festivities. I only have a few Puffs in there because the winter weather makes my nose run when I'm in and out of T-Hoe. I can carry some in my purse, rather than leaving them in the car.
Rae,
When we used to have five cats, we would still get an occasional mouse sneaking in under the weather stripping of the front door and basement door. The cats DID kill mice, which we knew because they'd leave a couple of entrails in front of the door. You'd think that would have discouraged any mouse buddies from entering!
I am laughing so hard at the image you have put in my head!! You need to have your car interior detailed! I am surprised the truck has never had a population of mice in it. There was that bear that tried and failed to get in it ..... I think I would choose a mouse over the bear!
Kathy,
Detailing might make T-Hoe more attractive to mice! There's really nothing that needs cleaning up, besides dust. I will stop leaving things inside for Farmer H to carry when he feels like it. Mostly it has been cans and jars, and not the paper products.
I will take mice any day over a BEAR! I would be afraid a bear might eat my little Jack!
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