BECAUSE THEY HATE ME

Mice truly hate me.

I can't just have a mouse in my house. No, there is always something to make it more than JUST a mouse in the house.

Read here and here for some past issues with Mickey's Clan.

Now, according to the 2nd linked post, it has been since April, 2008 that we had our last rodent visit. Really, it could have been longer and I would be just fine.

A few days ago, I started to see *things* that made me think we might have another batch of vermin running rampant in our house.

I was very afraid of my little boys' bedroom. It is always messy. I clean on it, but it gets away from me. Two days ago, I decided to start working. I started in one corner, moving beds and wiping baseboards as I went. I went through toy boxes, I went through drawers, I moved furniture.... it took a decent 3 days time.

I was intentionally keeping the closet for last because the boys had pulled down a clothes bar. There were piles of clothes... on top of those, they had gone through games and puzzles. A pain in the butt, to be sure, but the thing that worried me was the possibility of a mouse due to a big hole in the closet. That background info can be found here.

I finally decided it HAD to be tackled, and soon. Today, I walked into their room and there it was..... a smell. Nothing over-powering but definitely OFF. Not "OFF" the bug spray, but off as in, not right. But, when I would stop and inhale deeply, I couldn't hone in on it... I just KNEW it had to be in that closet.

SO, here I go, finally sucking it up enough to encounter whatever remains of the latest mouse funeral has occurred. The little boys wanted to watch TV in their roomier room. No problem. I don't mind the company of having someone else in the room.

The TV, of course, wasn't working because my little one had pulled out the cord. SO, I moved the chest freezer (their room is a finished out garage and is big enough for them, toys, furniture and other things.... besides, in TX it is all sorts of crazy to keep a fridge or freezer out in a garage without air.... it gets too hot.)

SO ANYWAY, I move the chest freezer to plug in the TV. There was something that appeared melted onto the socket. GREAT! I am NO electrician, but I'm not stupid. Plastic and rubber, if touching a wire just right, will melt. I investigate before I go pluggin' in something and shorting out something.

This is what I found.

Want to see it closer? Of COURSE you do!

Well, my hubby just HAPPENS to be in Alaska and is, as history has indicated, absolutely NO help when it comes to things murine. So, what did I do? I called my daddy.

He laughed, but he knew that I was a bit distressed, so he came out for "MESS," or "Mouse Extraction ServiceS."

The kids were absolutely excited, because really, who else does this happen to?

While I was waiting for my dad, I called my friend to tell her what was going on. We had just discussed our mouse stories last night. She likes certain details. She asked if he had been chewing on the wires behind the plug. I told her that I didn't know... the only thing I saw was Mickey's furry butt sticking out of my wall.

My dad came out and laughed and joked and commented that the critter was a little "ripe."

THAT is where the smell was coming from.

Because there was a little blood.... I know, ew, right? At least, it LOOKED like blood. Daddy said it could be "innards" that just ooze after death. I know.... EW again! Anyway, because of this dried, liquid-y stuff on the base board, my sweet daddy used whatever toxic chemical I could find and cleaned it up for me.

It was.... in a word.... gross.

I did get the closet cleaned out. There WERE mouse "left-overs." That just ticked me off. Because, you remember all those clothes I told you about? Well, the poop was on them.... My laundry has increased by several loads from today. *sigh*

In the end, I am thankful to God for my home, my healthy boys, my hubby who provides a way for me to stay home and especially, for Daddy, who will drive for 1 - 1/2 hours, in rush hour traffic, just to pull a partially decomposed critter from the outlet in my wall.