Mouse Trap = Victory!

For those of you who have not had personal experience with the item pictured above, specifically, the mouse trap, more power to you!

We, on the other hand, know the joy of hearing the quiet but telling “click” which signals victory! I love a movie line from Galaxy Quest spoken by Fred after he blows up the rock monster, “It’s the little things in life!”

While living in the country has distinct advantages, one problem is the mice. Being surrounded by cultivated fields, in an older rental house, which does not seal well, we periodically have mice problems. They especially seek shelter after the farmers plow and harvest. (I’m sorry girls – I told the world our secret problem!)

If you have never had the pleasure of setting a mouse trap, the first step is to smear peanut butter on the plastic cheese piece. I don’t know who thought of making a plastic swiss cheese piece – they obviously have never tried to catch a mouse! Mice are not stupid. They know real food and real food smells. So, after experimenting, the mice here in west Texas prefer peanut butter and the plastic swiss cheese piece is where you put it.

After the trap is baited, you very carefully pull the wire thing, that looks like a squared off u, back and latch it with the staight piece of wire. It can be a painful operation if it “clicks” on your finger. Even if it doesn’t “click” on your finger, it scares you half to death! It always amazes me how my fear of the “click” is so disproportional to the pain it actually inflicts!

Once the trap is set, you VERY gently place it in a high traffic area. High traffic, that is, for mice, not people. How do you know where the high traffic area is? You will know by the droppings they leave behind – which is probably how you knew you had mice in the first place. Otherwise, VERY gently place it where you think they are, and … wait. We normally set ours at night because that is when they seem to visit.

To date, our record is 6 mice caught in our kitchen in one evening!

It’s the little things!