Good-bye Mouse

It's true... I did it. I had no other choice. Here's the story:

One pleasant evening, Nils and I were in the living room enjoying some light entertainment when I noticed a small thing dart across the back wall. I looked over at Nils to see if he had seen what I'd seen, and I could tell that he had. We decided not to worry about it. And then I saw it again! "There! Did you see that!" And there he was... a cute little teeney mouse. He darted from behind the vacuum and toward the hall. It was so strange to see a little mouse quickly moving around the house. I was used to spotting and spraying bugs, but this was quite different.

We decided not to bother him and finished our evening as pleasant as it had started. As I prayed that night, it occured to me how much I wished we could live with all of these creatures in peace. I didn't mind sharing food with the mouse, especially if he ate what we left behind. No harm in that.

Well, the next day, I was cooking in the kitchen when I heard this rattling sound along the tube of the washing machine. Our washing machine is in our kitchen in the back corner. I turned quickly at the sound and saw just then the faintest blur... so I wasn't sure if it was our mouse. I tip-toed over to the washing machine and peered over the side. There was the "carpet roller cleaner thing"... the plugs.... but I didn't see anything else. Hmm... maybe I was imagining things. I went back to the stove. But then I wanted to check again... so I returned to the corner and slightly moved the "carpet roller cleaner thing" and... there was the mouse! As I moved it he darted back toward the main part of the kitchen as I screamed! I felt like an elephant :) Being scared of such a small creature. Silly me. But I couldn't help it. I ran to the living room where Nils was working quietly and yelled, "The mouse! It's in the kitchen!!" Nils being curious got up and went to the kitchen. "Where?" "It was over by the washing machine!" He couldn't find it. The little mouse had vanished.

Nils and I discussed what we should do. We didn't was to exactly kill it... There must be some way to capture it and then take it somewhere far away outside. Sounded like a good idea, so Nils started gathering supplies for a pot-trap. Nils baited it with cheese and set up string and a clothespin to spring the trap and bring a small pot down over the mouse. We had the trap set for a few days hoping to catch the little guy and set him free. Nothing. I decided to add a little peanut butter since the cheese was getting a little dry... hoping to entice the mouse that way. Still nothing. Then Friday came... and I had some cleaning to do.

I cleaned the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom and the hall... feeling good about myself for getting things in better order. As I was cleaning in the kitchen, I did accidentally spring the pot-trap, but seeing that it hadn't caught anything yet, I let it be. Nils came home and made ready to go grocery shopping and was quite excited to see the pot-trap sprung! "Sorry, honey... it was me."

So Nils went off to get the groceries and I finished tidying up. And then I started hearing a scraping sound on metal. "Ah-ha!" I thought. "It must be the mouse trying to get the food in the pot!" I quietly went over to the kitchen and slowly looked over to where the pot was laying. There was nothing there. And then I heard the scrapping sound again, but this time it was a lot closer to me... like it was right next to me. I looked around and realized I was standing next to the stove. Was the mouse in the stove? I couldn't be sure. I stood still a few more moments and then banged on the stove. Nothing. I tried a few more times to get some kind of movement, but nothing. Oh, well. I decided to start dinner. The heat would at least hopefully get the mouse out of the stove.... or we'd have a crispy snack to go with dinner... either one. I got to my preparations and a few minutes later I again heard the rapid rattling along the washing machine hose (which runs along the kitchen from the back corner to the sink ... if I didn't mention that before). The mouse was making his way back to that corner again. But when I looked, he wasn't in the same spot. Hmm...

I was getting a little more frightened and I didn't like the unpredictability of our little friend. *sigh.... Guess we'll have to wait til heaven to live in complete harmony with rodents and bugs. So I prepared the snap-trap. A previous volunteer had given it to us before heading back to the states. It hadn't been used yet... (except on Nils' fingers... more times than I'd like to mention. He had a lot of fun playing with it before we got to try it on the mouse.) So I put some peanut butter on it, set the trap, put it somewhere out of sight, and waited. And waited.... and waited. Seeing nothing, I gave up and went back to cooking. I announced to Nils when he got home what had happened and that I'd decided to kill the mouse rather than be worried where he might be all the time. I can't speak for Nils, but I did feel bad giving up so easily and just going for the kill.

Well, the whole weekend Nils kept hearing some snapping sound. He'd go over to check the trap and would find nothing. This morning we were up by 6:00am (or so) and it wasn't until 9:30am that I went to check on the trap. And there he was, the little mouse, caught in the trap. Dead. No blood... no mess... that was kind of him.

But I couldn't bring myself to dispose of him. I asked Nils if he would, but he said since I was the murderer, I should probably be the one to finish the job. I tried to gear myself up, but I just couldn't do it. I realized Nils probably didn't want to do it either.... so I probably should. Then definantly I said I would hire someone to come and dispose of him. Nils quickly volunteered... so now I owe Nils..... Ah well. It's all over now. I'm guilty as charged, and the poor mouse is dead. I do feel some pangs of regret... but in all fairness, we did try to catch him and set him free first. At least I'm not a murderer at heart.