One of the major reasons I had hesitations about moving to Texas (besides the fact that I thought it was a barren wasteland) was the whole bug/insect/ROUS(rodents of unusual size) situation. As we were moving in we found a very large cockroachy looking thing on the top of our cupboards. I was sufficiently freaked. I called a pest control company and spent $60 every other month having them come and spray our house. I never saw a bug (except fire ants outside). After my year contract with the pest control people was over I cancelled.
I never did see any bugs inside. Maybe a few spiders, of the very small variety. I was quite pleased. Nor did I ever see any snakes/rodents on my property. Sure I saw a giant opossum crawling into a sewer near Ralphie's house (gag!), and we saw an escaped boa constrictor smooshed to pieces on the road; but those were both far enough away from my place that I always felt pretty safe.
Now, Shauna might tell you otherwise. She found a rattlesnake in her garage. She also had the kind of spiders that, if you smashed them, their million little baby spiders would disperse and take over your house. Jamee just found a snake in her house, Ish saw a copperhead(?) while she was weed whacking, Jamie shot a giant snake in her backyard with a BB gun (girl power!). Oh and of course we can't forget that Chelon has posted no less than four pictures of scorpions she has found in her house during the last few months *shudder*.
But somehow we found a little bug free, critter free, happy little mecca there in Round Rock.
So you can imagine my surprise when, on about our second day here, I opened the closet to see a mouse running around in there. A mouse. In my house. AGH. If you're on facebook you got to hear play by play the whole situation unfold. I had just gotten out of the shower, couldn't get in the closet because of the mouse. Was forced to fashion a toga out of a towel and wear that for the better part of the day.
A few days and several mouse traps later, we had still not seen the mouse again. I was beginning to believe it was nothing but a figment of my imagination. Then one day I heard a shrill womanesque scream come from the bathroom. Blaine saw the mouse. He ran in to make sure that we still had traps set in the closet. Turns out there was a mouse in there too! So now we officially had two mice. What's a woman to do?
It's funny how you can grow accustomed to having rodents fly out at you from closets and corners. The screaming, jumping, and broom thrashing become almost second nature.
It also helps that there are spiders the size of baseballs for you to kill once in a while.
A few weeks pass without a mouse sighting and our upstairs neighbors one day tell us they have seen the mice. I was kind of relieved, thinking maybe they were relocating to just upstairs.
The neighbors bought traps and, brace yourself, within twenty-four hours killed SEVEN mice. SEVEN. If that's not an infestation I don't know what is.
And then we killed another one.
And then nothing for another week.
And then I saw a mouse again yesterday.
And that is what has been going on at this house. Besides the poop. And the PBJs. A whole lot of girly screaming and broom smashing.
11 comments:
just a little note... i would keep some sticky traps around just in case, or that bait stuff. i saw a mouse in my old house and since it was downstairs in the "dungeon" i put it out of my mind, and shortly after that i got my brother in law to clean out my basement and rid me of the mice, he found 8. just a fair warning, they multiply fast, so set some traps.
AUGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
That is awful!!! I am soo soo sorry!
And, you should know that I truly shuddered from head to toe when I read the part of the boa constrictor.
You should also know that it brightens my day immensely whenever I see that you have a new post on your blog!
You should also know that I laughed out loud about the toga that you wore most of the day!
I'm glad to see you're still blogging.
We had mice in our condo (I think three) and it freaked me out every time I had to get off the bed (I'd leap as far as I could), open the pantry (there poop is almost as scary to find as they are) or let my baby play on the floor. I feel for ya!
I would die. I would really die.
I'll admit, it freaked me out more than I would have thought the first time I saw one come tearing out from under the bathroom cupboards, through my legs as I brushed my teeth, and out into the darkness--probably into one of the kids' rooms. But I did NOT scream like a girl. Let the record show...
Oh, and by the way, so happy to see you posting again--this was a great one and a perfect example that bloggable things still happen (even though I never notice them like you do).
How about getting a cat? I haven't seen a mouse in our house since Yorgs got their cats. Hey, you already have a cat - at your mom and dads. (Honestly, your mom did not pay me to write this.)
YIKES!!! I must say, we have had those killer spiders at our house and beetles just as big. But, mice, come on now. I would die!!!
PS, my friend just moved to Austin and blogged about Texas, and I thought you would like to read it. Go to my blog and click on LaP's. It is so fun!
I like Wendy's suggestion of the cat, particularly when it's the next door neighbors getting a cat, and that gets rid of your mouse problem!
We saw a mouse when we first moved in. After all, it was a new area and the mice were here first. We set a trap and caught one, then were told where there's one there are usually others. We set it again. . . nine times! Finally it stayed empty all winter!
We have filled the gaps around the pipes in the kitchen cupboards with steel wool and done all right since then.
If all else fails, just remember it's Halloween. How appropriate to have things that make you all scream!
Smom
Another thought/continuation of my mom's comment--Somebody ought to start a business to rent cats for this purpose. A cat would be the perfect thing but you don't really want to get stuck with it forever and you definitely don't want to just go drop it off in the woods or have it put down or something. The solution--a business that cares for the cats, but rents them out to work as mouse hunters on a weekly or monthly basis. If people fall in love with the cat and want to adopt it, great. If they want to give it back and be done with it, great, it gets to move on to the next house and continue the hunt. Everybody's happy!
Okay, it's kind of an "out there" idea but it gave us all a good laugh last night. At least until Dad reminded us that we already own a cat, at which point I abruptly ended the conversation and sent them on their way before Kristi's parents could overhear and be reminded of that fact. :)
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