Everyone has a good mouse story. Or a bat story. Or one with a rat. I, in fact, have several. What with that time the bats were dive-bombing our heads as Jen and I tried to sleep at Lake Powell or the time my brother threw a pesky mouse off the houseboat and into the water, again at Lake Powell, only to have it swim back to shore and hop right back on, I've got rodent stories coming out my ears. (Sick.)
My friend Kimber recently posted a great mouse story on her blog and held a contest for people to submit their own rodent encounters as a comment and then she picked a winner. While I'm not exciting enough to make it a contest or nice enough to send a prize, I thought I'd put my favorite mouse story up just because I like it. (I don't actually like hurting animals, but I do feel like it's pretty top-notch when it comes to these kinds of stories. Just for clarification.)
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So here goes. When Trevor and I were first married, we lived in a small old house that's in somewhat of a remote location. One afternoon, I was doing some baking and noticed a small flurry of fur run out of the pantry and then back behind the fridge. I kept my eyes peeled, waiting for the mouse to come out from behind the fridge so that I could do something (I don't know what) to take care of it.
Finally it did and, after meeting face-to-face with the broom, it scurried behind the oven and stayed there. I had to get back to whatever I was doing and then I eventually left the house to run an errand. When I came back, I saw the mouse on the stairs just sitting there. I thought it had died right there and was thoroughly grossed out.
But then I saw it move . . . really slowly. It was so bizarre. When are mice ever slow?
I then realized that since it got caught behind the hot oven, I probably cooked it a little bit! Ew!
I believe I put a bucket over it and then I made Trevor take it outside so it could die out there in its natural element.
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Be they about mice, rats, spiders, bats or other creepy creatures, I know you've got stories. So let's hear 'em.
Oh, i love the bats. Somehow the feel of bats fluttering mere feet overhead doesn't quite lull me to sleep.
ReplyDeleteI have many mouse tales. I can kill a mouse when I have to, but it isn't pretty, and I turn weird. I get into battle-mode where anything can happen. Anything.
My story is called, "The Saga of the Hideously Intrusive Spider and the Brave, Brave Girl who Finally Vanquished it"
ReplyDeleteOne day I was showering and noticed a nastiful spider in the corner of my shower on the ceiling. It was spindly, it was big, it was perverse. So I would splash a little water on it to make it curl up in a ball and not disturb me or watch me while I shower. This little ritual went on every morning for several weeks because, as scary as it was, I never really thought about it much, outside of the shower. But one day, I decided that I had had enough. So after i got out of the shower and got dressed, I ran back into the bathroom. Armed with every aerosol can I could find, I charged in with my impressive arsenal. The first round included lysol surface cleaner as well as lysol air freshener (I wanted to be thorough), and after THAT debilitating blow (at this point the spider was writhing around in pain and I was laughing maniacally) I hit it with a round of hair products. First: hairspray. Second: Aussie Sprunching Spray, and then I finished it off with round three: Tresseme foaming mousse. I was VICTORIOUS i tell you! After that I threw in some shaving cream, just for good measure.
Once the mousse and shaving cream had all simmered down (several days later), the spider was still not dead, but getting there. So I went ahead and got out the raid wasp killer. I know they're not technically in the same genome or phylum, but I thought to myself, if it can kill a harmless little wasp, it can CERTAINLY kill a merciless fiend like unto this seemingly invincible spider. Little did I know, it was the kind of raid you're supposed to use to shoot down wasp nests from the roof of your 5 story house. So using it from less than 3 feet away was probably overkill. As I worked up the courage to pull the trigger it shot quite violently, and knocked the spider off of its web and onto a little ledge out of sight. Also, Raid smells awful. Needless to say, the basement was unusable for a few hours afterwards.
Sometimes I jump in the shower, just to see if it is still there, up on that little ledge.
It is.
Also, I'd like to clarify something. By "jump in the shower" I don't mean that I only occasionally take the time to cleanse myself. I just meant that I will JUMP while IN the shower so as to place my eyes at an angle at which the crusty corpse can be seen. The end.
ReplyDeleteAlso I just realized that my logic in choosing the whole raid thing was kinda sketchy. I mean, if it can kill something harmless, it can kill something NOT harmless? That was stupid. but hey, bug killer is bug killer, right? I don't know why I'm so concerned about sounding rational in this obvious time of mortal peril, but hey, I can still have my pride.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, what a saga. And I love your clarifications. They made me laugh. "I occasionally jump in the shower, say twice a month, to bathe myself and look with pride on the vanquished spider carcass." Very funny.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jen, I remember with fondness hearing you recount your many battles against bugs and the like. Thank you for that.
And to everyone else, thanks a MILLION for your input. You're the BEST.
(I guess I have only myself to blame. Perhaps publicizing the fact that I thought about making it a contest with rewards and then decided against it wasn't the best invitation...)
When we were moving from the little house, we moved the TV stand and a mouse had climbed underneath it and died. Mary and I just stood there wondering how long that thing had been dead under our TV.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that is sick. Pardon my french but dead animals smell like BUTT.
ReplyDeleteMy mouse story is this: we have some friends who invited us over to their house for a kind of house warming dinner. Everyone was supposed to bring something to eat, and Ashley brought probably my favorite desert (which she slaved over I might add). As it came time for the desert and everyone was eating this delicious raspberry creme cake, the friend who invited us over said "oh, don't you guys still have that mice problem in your kitchen?"
ReplyDeleteNow, after a comment like that, no one can really enjoy what they're eating, and you could tell that everyone was a bit worried. I love that friend, and to her credit, she did try to cover up what she said when she realized it, but I'm still shocked that she said it so blatantly in front of everyone.