9 days.

I am certifiably losing my mind over one feisty little rodent… the mouse.  This is the first since we moved to our country home in March.

That first night after discovering mouse “presents” on my kitchen counter, I set out a trusty trap, carefully baited with peanut butter (all natural, of course).  I like to use the Ortho Defense Kill & Contain that hides all the nastiness once the trap actually works, and as a bonus, they keep my precocious 3-year-old Lovey’s fingers at bay.

No worries.  I have never had trouble catching a mouse before.  But the next morning, the peanut butter was gone and the trap left intact.  Hmmmmmm… okay.  Fluke of nature.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  The next day, the same scenario.  Bait gone.  Trap not tripped.  And by this time, my sweet hubby has gone out of town for five days for work and I’m left to deal with this filthy creature on my own.  Awesome. 

So, I’m beginning to think I’ve got a faulty trap.  I stop at Walmart in town to pick up more and, of course, they don’t carry them anymore.  I pick up another brand of Kill & Seal traps (gotta keep all those fingers on those little hands) and the next night I set out the new one.  Mouse didn’t even attempt it and guess what.  I’ve got “presents” on the counter for the 4th day in a row.  Ugh.

Night #5.  I have an epiphany when I find glue traps under the kitchen sink.  YES!  I get out the old and possibly defective trap that the darn mouse seems to love so much and carefully place the glue trap directly in front out.  No.  Way.  Out.  Right?  I settle the kids in to bed, sit down to finally unwind with the evening news after a long day and that’s when I saw him.  The little furball darts out from under the couch, across the room and under the tv stand.  Perfect.  Playtime was over.  I went straight to bed, incessantly tried to put it out of my mind, and sincerely prayed that my evil scheme would work.

No.  Dice.  Bait gone.  Trap not tripped.  And glue trap gone???  I employed my three little detectives, but there was no trace of the glue trap.  Did I have a mouse skittering around the house, dragging a glue trap from his nether regions?  How was this possible?

It was Friday.  Hubby was home.  And by now… this was an all-out war.

I informed him of the week’s events.  He heartily chuckled as if I was being slightly over dramatic.  Hmph.  He wasn’t the one cleaning up mouse poop every morning.  

Number 6.  Same set-up.  I had one glue trap left.  There’s no way that the mouse could outsmart my clever contraption twice.  Right?  Fast forward to 4:45 am.  Something is clattering in the kitchen and into the dining room.  Dragging, almost.  Mouse vs. Glue Trap?  Bingo.  I shake hubby awake.  Kind of.  He’s exhausted after a week away and wants nothing to do with the rodent drama.  Then silence.  I lay still, paralyzed by fear, and reluctantly reach for my glasses.  And that’s when we locked eyes.  That mangy little rodent scampered to my bedroom doorway and paused as if to taunt me.  I scream and violently shake hubby from his sleep as mouse darts into the spare bedroom across the hall.  Apparently that room is not nearly as exciting and he quickly comes back for more.  Hubby, still in a slumbered stupor begins hurling balled up socks at my nemesis and declares that there is “nothing to worry about.  He’s gone back to the dining room,” as he nonchalantly rolls over and begins to snore.  Very funny.

4:50 am.  It’s definitely not over.  I stare blankly at the red numbers on alarm clock until nearly 7:00 am (a full hour past my routine wake-up time).  I don’t dare make a move out of bed until I am sure he is through for the evening.

Day 7.  Hubby is still not worried.  He gets Old Faithful, a regular run-of-the-mill wooden snap trap.  We wait until Lovey is fast asleep that evening and he baits the trap.  My sweetheart is confident there is no escape.  Wrong.  Bait gone.  Trap not tripped.

#8.  My dear husband is just as frustrated as I am.  Old Faithful, once again.  New location.  Same result.

So here we are on Day 9.  I’m fresh out of ideas.  I’m tired as heck.  And I’m mad at the cats (clearly not doing their job, although, to be fair it really does seem as if we are dealing with a superior sort of mouse). 

Any ideas, Coffee Lovers???