Mouse Hunt

Trapped MouseThe big question on vacation: what’s a family to do without 21st century entertainment? During our week on Wolfe Island, Ontario we did what people have done for ages: play with the mice.

The first mouse was running back and forth on top of the backsplash of the kitchen counter. Outrageous! Having violated the sanctity of our vacation, this filthy rodent would have to pay. I went to the grocery/hardware/fireworks store to buy traps. I asked about glue traps, because Ann wanted to get the mouse humanely. The woman behind the counter said all she had was the snap traps. Besides, what do you do when you catch one on the glue trap? I explained that vegetable oil dissolves the glue and frees the mouse. This is perfect because once the mouse is coated with oil you can drop it right in the frying pan. She just stared at me, either because she had no sense of humor or eating mice in Canada is not that unusual.

That night the irresistible combination of peanut butter and potato chips did its trick. The trap slammed shut at about 2am.

We enjoyed several days of mouse-free vacation bliss before the baby mice appeared. They were tiny sawed off versions of the first mouse —mouse-lets, if you will. I explained to Zack what was happening. We killed their mom, and now they’re seeking revenge. Having already left them orphans we didn’t have the heart to kill the baby mice, so we trapped them one by one and released them across the road. They’ve probably found their way back by now, just in time for the next folks using the cottage.

4 thoughts on “Mouse Hunt

  1. “I asked about glue traps, because Ann wanted to get the mouse humanely. ”

    Just some friendly advice for you: glue traps are far from humane. They struggle so hard on these things, that they tear skin off and break their limbs. They can even chew off their own limbs to escape.

    These things are notoriously cruel, I don’t know why you are looking for them.

  2. Wasn’t my idea.

    Actually, I once caught a mouse in a glue trap. Its front paws were trapped and its back paws free. When I found it, it was driving the glue trap around in circles on the floor.

  3. My view on mice is not unlike my philosophy when it comes to eating hambugers…

    When the cows tell me to stop…

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