Mice Update

Our furry friends still live here--although their population is decreasing at a rather fast rate! However, we still have sightings and we can hear them occasionally. A couple weeks ago, I was teaching a couple piano students and during the lesson I could hear squeaks coming from the piano which I was sitting at. I don't think my student noticed and I tried to act as calm as possible!


A friend from church, Mr. Rodgers, used to work with a pest company and knows all the tricks to catching rodents. He came over a couple weeks ago to look around our house and see what he could find. He found some larger size droppings and told us we also had a rat but had no idea how they are coming in because he couldn't find any holes. He gave us six large rat traps and told us to rearrange our furniture and place the traps out for a couple of nights without setting them, so the mice/rats get familiar and are comfortable with eating out of them. Each night we put different bait in each: jam, chocolate, chicken, cheese and peanut butter. They seemed to like the cheese and chicken the best. Once we set the traps, they were still able to take the bait without snapping the trap, so we realized that we had mice and they were too small to snap it! The traps that have been the most effective for us have been the glue boards. Although, I think we have caught James more then we have caught mice! As of today, we have caught six baby mice and one adult. We know there is at least one other adult, but they might have already moved on. Supposedly, you have to wait a year before you can be certain that mice have moved on for good. So, our traps are not going anywhere fast!

Mice & Lawyers

We have mice and are having a difficult time catching them. In the past couple months, we have caught two and have had spaces of no activity between, but they are definitely back! We have seen signs of them in our kitchen and dining room but cannot figure out where they are coming from. I am sure they are encouraged by little boys who are enthusiastic about their food!

Last week, I had the stomach flu and had fallen asleep in the chair in our living room. I didn't realize that everyone had gone to bed and ended up sleeping in the chair. I awoke at 4am and as I was trying to get back to sleep....I heard a rustling and dinging sound somewhere close by. It was awful scary hearing this noise, knowing something was out there and yet not being able to see anything because of the dark room. I knew my mom was up because I heard her coughing so I called her and told her it sounded like something was in one of the vents. She sent my dad out who realized that the sound was coming from our piano. By this time Josiah woke up--I hadn't realized that he was sleeping on the couch. Dad turned the light on and Josiah saw something run from the vent and down our hallway, but we continued hearing the rustling and dings. So, Dad put out some traps and went to bed. I went up-stairs where I knew it would be safe! Josiah decided to stay on the couch and I kept hearing him yell out "we got it." Each time Dad would come out and check the glue trap and each time...no mouse. This happened about three times and then Josiah went to sleep!

Well, I was rather grossed out by all this and suggested that we purchase and use mouse poison. The boys (Jonathan and David) said before they did anything like that, I had to sign an affidavit. Here is a picture of what it looked like:

Let me translate: "I, Sarah, hereby recognize the fact that poisoning mice leads to unpleasant smells. As a lead proponent in the poisoning faction, I will not complain if it smells horribly.

Sign here__________________

The Hon. Wes Pinkerton AAL, THD, PHD, DDS, MD

Peter Wise AAL

Also if you notice on the bottom....the document had been "notarized!" As you can see...I did not sign it! I told them that it did not look professional in the least! I asked what AAL stood for and they told me "attorneys at law." I informed them that attorneys do not use those initials after their name and that is why Wes Pinkerton added the Hon. and the other multiple degrees! Here are a couple of pictures of our "respected" attorneys! I am sure they would be willing to help in any of your legal matters.

The Honorable Wes Pinkerton AAL, THD, PHD, DDS, MD

Peter Wise AAL