Mouse witness relocation program

Set a live trap... and catch a live mouse. And then release it back into nature, where it belongs.

I did that this morning.

A few weeks ago my husband noticed some strange gnawing noises in a cupboard above our stove, where we keep our spices and other stuff. I thought he was a bit paranoid and said "I think its just the sound of the fridge, dear". I love my husband, but sometimes he can be a bit over-reactive about things. I am also very much that way, which is why we set each other off. We're the panic twins, trying to run a household and raise a family, with very little experience, under some very trying circumstances.

One day a few weeks ago, after the mysterious munching sounds, a mysterious splatter of brown liquid fell onto the top of the stove. We didnt think much of it as there had been a storm that night and we thought that perhaps some water came in from the ductwork that connected our range-hood fan to the outdoors. The brown liquid didnt smell bad or anything so we figured it was just greasy, dirty water being blown in the ductwork.

Then on Monday, I was looking for some spices in the cupboard and noticed a lot of tiny little plastic bits. Then some tiny bits of tinfoil from an old package of Hershey's kisses. I pulled out a well-chewed plastic bottle of liquid vanilla extract. Aha! The mysterious brown liquid. It had on it the tell-tale gnaws of a hungry mouse. I moved a few things around and saw a mouse-hole, exactly the shape of of mouse-holes in cartoons, drilled into the back wall of the cupboard. I also found an empty bag of pine nuts, with a gnaw-hole in the side, as well as a lot of little black "presents" littered around the cupboard. MMM.. mouse poop. I guess those little brown specks weren't remnants of the Hersheys kisses after all.

As I'm cleaning up the mess (very carefully I might add) my husband was FREAKING, running in and out of the kitchen, lobbing verbal fear-bombs at me. "Don't put that there. Throw that out. Oh my God. Mice are so dirty. Oh my God. Our house is falling apart. First the mouldy bathroom. Now, mice. We can't even keep up with this house. Oh my God".

It wasn't a pleasant experience.

So yours truly not only had to clean up the mess, but I had to do it while listening to the freaked out backseat cleaner.

Overall the mess wasn't too bad and I got a chance to dump all my old spices and buy new ones, so that's good. I've lived in houses with mice in them before, so I'm well aware of how to safely clean up mouse poop. We also brought in an eco-friendly pest control person yesterday to help us seal off the mousy entry points and set live traps to catch-and-release the mice. I feel really good about going that route. With my work and education in ecology and agriculture, I have doubts about using chemicals and more "modern" pest control techniques. We've come a long way since the "old time home remedies" and I've been learning when it comes to sustainable environmental solutions, those old time remedies are the best.

So anyhow, last night around 11:30 pm we heard a "clink" in our mouse-containment cupboard, and then some tiny tapping noises. Success.

Despite me trying to be all tough about it, I'll admit I had a hard time sleeping last night, knowing there was a real live, wild rodent in my kitchen. There was a time when seeing any wildlife, whether it be rural or urban would not have bothered me. As a kid I used to dig up worms and play with them. I used to let bunches of tent caterpillars crawl all over my arms and hands. I'd pick up giant moths, huge beetles, pretty much anything that crawled.

But something has happened in my old age, and now I find myself really scared of bugs, mice, etc.

So we waited until this morning to open the trap. Upon peering in the cupboard, we saw a big fat deer mouse, hiding in its trap. Normally deer mice are tiny, but this bad mamma was either really fat, from all the chocolate it ate from my cupboard, or pregnant.

It now has a new home. It looked pretty happy as it dashed off into the long grass beside a corn field. I hope it has made new friends already.

I'll be sure to release any other mice from my house into the same location so as to maximize the chance of reuniting a family.