Operation: Get the Mouse Out of My House

Operation: Get the Mouse Out!

Destination: My house, my yard, my car, my porch, anything that's considered "my area"

Key Players: Hazel and Sucker

Minor Player: mouse

Time Frame: Immediate

Back Story: So we moved to the country. And one thing I think my sweet husband forgot to mention before this decision was made was that there are mice out here. Hungry mice. Was this something I should have been aware of before? He is so protective of me. Thanks honey. My first sign that mice might be around was when we moved in and all the previous people left were: a set of keys, a bottle of shampoo (unused, is this a new type of welcoming gift?) and mice poison. There were these little corn cobs in closets, under sinks, in the lazy-susan cupboard. I thought, "Weird, what are these?", as I am cleaning up the house. Ben laughs. He says, "Oh those are mice poison. The people said they had no trouble with mice once they got a few cats. It should be fine." Inside I about died, but responded with, "Sure, ok, yeah, well once we see signs we'll just get a cat. That's cool. Ok. Yeah, I'm good." Then, PUT THIS OUT OF MY MIND. Oh and threw away all of the mice poison- you can't really leave cute little corn cobs laying around when you have a toddler who is quick, curious and loves food.
So, a few months later, we get out of the car at the library and what does Caleb see JUMP out of OUR VAN? A mouse. Weird. And not so weird that we find napkins ripped up, little poop droppings all over the car and especially around the kids' seats...um.. where are the crumbs are. Annoying. And freaky, it was IN our car. We set traps and get TWO mice in one night, IN OUR VAN. We need a cat. But instead we turn our vents to "cycle air inside only" and forget about it. Oh and my darling man reminds me, "We live in the country babe, we have to expect mice." Yes, yes, I hear you. Forget about this. Two weeks later, mice in the van AGAIN. This time I find the droppings and we forget to set traps, the next day the droppings are BIG and so I text Ben that the mouse is getting FAT by eating our KIDS' crumbs. We set a trap and catch a fat one. Ugh, we should really get a cat. We go looking for cats. Do we really want a cat? We're dog people. We have a dog that is giving me a run for my money, I can't handle a cat too. Plus my hubby reminds me, "It's getting cold out, the mice are trying to find a warm place." Yes, I think, he's right, those cold little mice need a place to be warm and so let's be calm about this.

Current Issue: Now, MONDAY MORNING comes around. I get up to make coffee. I find a half eaten cherry tomato ON MY STOVE TOP. I throw it away and then reality hits me square in the gut as I turn back around and find mouse droppings around MY COFFEE POT. Now this little animal has taken my SACRED morning routine of practically dripping the black stuff straight to my veins and contaminated it. The WAR is on. Droppings are found across the stove, on top of my microwave, on the windowsill. This calls for serious action. So what do I do? I call a friend and cry and she helps me come up with a plan. She reminds me that my vacuum is broken and so for the last few weeks the kids have been creating a mouses heaven. She tells me to take action. So I call in the big guns - Ben's grandma, aka: GG. She will know what to do. She takes me to Petco, we search. She takes me to the vacuum store, we do research. Then she takes me to lunch, we come up with a terrific plan. (Thanks GG! I realized later, lunch was the best part.... what was I going to do?? come home and eat off the contaminated counter??!? No way!!)

Action Steps: Off I went to Sears. I got a NEW vacuum. And I didn't settle on a cheap one.
Meet Sucker -

Then off we went to Petco. We got a mouser. And we didn't settle for an ugly one.
Meet Hazel -

I hired trainers. And I didn't settle for anything less than the best.
Meet the trainers -

Hazel and Sucker still in their boxes, with the trainers.

This is the intense trainer girl.

She's all business, none of this cuddling stuff allowed.

Oh and Ben did some work around the house to ensure that little contaminator would not come back in this house. He set traps and he assured me, he said, "We got this honey." I cleaned my kitchen like a mad woman. And Ben joked that finding a mouse is a really good way to get a really clean kitchen. He's right.

Mission Complete:  We haven't had any mice in the traps. But the mission is not complete until it's been weeks and months without the little poopers. We're on it.

Oh and don't mess with my coffee.