A tail of two cities - Snohomish to Redmond
Steve is hi-jacking this blog session to bring you a tail that will make you smile then squirm. Well, maybe no smiling.
So, today I went on my way to work as I normally would. We had a chance of snow in the forecast again today, so the Boxster was up for duty again. I had taken it to work last Friday when we got snow and the temperature dropped a bunch.
As I drove past the street with the house in peices (now replaced by a couple of dump trucks), I noticed a lot of grit on the road kicking up into the wheel wells of the car. Nothing odd I thought - since someone likely spread some sand on the road during the past couple of days.
What I did find to be odd was a strange rustling noise coming from the right side of the car. It didn't sound like it was coming from outside. I looked over at the passenger seat thinking that my laptop bag had moved and brushed up against the door, but it was pretty much in the same place I'd put it in.
Then, to my surprise, a brown furry little mouse jumped across the center console by the gear shift onto the seat beside me. I think my words were something to the tune of WTF! #@$! as I stood on the brakes. The little mouse jumped off the seat and into the footwell of the passenger side, spun in a circle and looked up at me in shock. I think I heard a high pitched squeek to the tune of wtf! where am I going!
As I sat there staring at this intruder to my space, he (or she) scurried up the footwell and jumped in behind the ducting. Crap! Now what do I do? At this point I recalled that I'd used all our catch and release mouse traps at our neighbours house last Thursday, when I rescued Priscilla and Lisa from the mouse in their stove top. No point going back home now to set traps and switch cars - sigh. So, I decided to make my way to Home Depot 5 miles away - with the thought in the back of my head that it would find some way of climbing up my pant leg. It still gives me shivers just thinking about it.
So - drive like a bat out of Hades and get to Home Depot without spotting him again. Get out of my car and decide that I need to put my laptop bag in the trunk so that none of the people wandering around the parking lot would attempt to steal it from the passenger seat. Popped the trunk, the one at the back, and go to place my bag in there and gasp! WTF~!!@@~
There's Mr Mouse sitting near a pile of insulation (about 3" high and 5" wide) in the middle of the trunk. 'wtf - I thought I got away from you!' he says, as he skiddles into the bodywork behind the engine. Damnit! F*ck f*ck f*ck I say.
That's it, I'm not going to be made a fool of by a tiny mouse... Into HomeDepot I go, looking for some no-kill traps (I am a civilized humane person after all). Unfortunately, they didn't have any :( Well, that's sad I thought, but I'm not going to wait to find some better traps and have him hang around all day. So, I chose a couple of electric traps that would give him a quick shock that would hopefully be really quick. Now, what about some bait? 'Do you have any peanut butter' I asked of the HomeDepot dude? 'Ummm, no - we don't have groceries here' duh! So, as I check out, I decided to pick up the next best thing - Resse's peanut butter cups. Hope the mouse has a sweet tooth.
Back to the car, set the traps in the trunk and inside, and wait... Well, I decided that I'd go wait at Starbucks across the street - hoping that would give my carpool buddy some time alone with the candy. While there, I thought I might need to leave my car at the park and ride - so I booked myself a ride on the Connector bus that leaves from near there. After about 15 minutes, I went back over to the Boxster, hoping to see the little black box flashing, saying that it had a catch. But sadly, no. So, got back in and drove across the street to the bus parking area. The bus wouldn't show up for another 20 or so minutes, so I figured I would at least clean out the mouse nest in the trunk.
As I walked around back and popped the trunk, I notice my little buddy jump from the wheel well and scamper under the car I was parked next to. Well, perhaps I will drive to work after all - and I left the lot and my mouse friend as quick as I could.
I got to work and left the traps active all day. No unfortunate catches, so this was good. Maybe it was just the one? April cleaned out much of the garage and noticed that there were a number of places where our mouse visitor(s) had been. 'On the bins, on the floor, eatin seed by the door. In the nuts, munching corn, got the bag now it's torn'...
On the way home tonight, I stopped off at another hardware store and picked up some no kill traps to put in the garage. April had mentioned that I should check my hockey bag - which I'd left on the floor. So I did - sigh. After removing some of the gear from the bag, I noticed a peanut shell. Crap! Then, taking out some more, I found out where Mr Mouse decided to keep his stash of peanuts and bird seed. It was a pile about 2" high and 4" wide. Geez - the lil buggers!
So, not only had he violated my car, made himself a new home in the Porsche, but had a huge stash of food in my hockey gear. If he was trying to impress and pick up a female mousey, he certainly decided on some fancy places to show her.
I hope he's doing okay - poor little guy.
So, today I went on my way to work as I normally would. We had a chance of snow in the forecast again today, so the Boxster was up for duty again. I had taken it to work last Friday when we got snow and the temperature dropped a bunch.
As I drove past the street with the house in peices (now replaced by a couple of dump trucks), I noticed a lot of grit on the road kicking up into the wheel wells of the car. Nothing odd I thought - since someone likely spread some sand on the road during the past couple of days.
What I did find to be odd was a strange rustling noise coming from the right side of the car. It didn't sound like it was coming from outside. I looked over at the passenger seat thinking that my laptop bag had moved and brushed up against the door, but it was pretty much in the same place I'd put it in.
Then, to my surprise, a brown furry little mouse jumped across the center console by the gear shift onto the seat beside me. I think my words were something to the tune of WTF! #@$! as I stood on the brakes. The little mouse jumped off the seat and into the footwell of the passenger side, spun in a circle and looked up at me in shock. I think I heard a high pitched squeek to the tune of wtf! where am I going!
As I sat there staring at this intruder to my space, he (or she) scurried up the footwell and jumped in behind the ducting. Crap! Now what do I do? At this point I recalled that I'd used all our catch and release mouse traps at our neighbours house last Thursday, when I rescued Priscilla and Lisa from the mouse in their stove top. No point going back home now to set traps and switch cars - sigh. So, I decided to make my way to Home Depot 5 miles away - with the thought in the back of my head that it would find some way of climbing up my pant leg. It still gives me shivers just thinking about it.
So - drive like a bat out of Hades and get to Home Depot without spotting him again. Get out of my car and decide that I need to put my laptop bag in the trunk so that none of the people wandering around the parking lot would attempt to steal it from the passenger seat. Popped the trunk, the one at the back, and go to place my bag in there and gasp! WTF~!!@@~
There's Mr Mouse sitting near a pile of insulation (about 3" high and 5" wide) in the middle of the trunk. 'wtf - I thought I got away from you!' he says, as he skiddles into the bodywork behind the engine. Damnit! F*ck f*ck f*ck I say.
That's it, I'm not going to be made a fool of by a tiny mouse... Into HomeDepot I go, looking for some no-kill traps (I am a civilized humane person after all). Unfortunately, they didn't have any :( Well, that's sad I thought, but I'm not going to wait to find some better traps and have him hang around all day. So, I chose a couple of electric traps that would give him a quick shock that would hopefully be really quick. Now, what about some bait? 'Do you have any peanut butter' I asked of the HomeDepot dude? 'Ummm, no - we don't have groceries here' duh! So, as I check out, I decided to pick up the next best thing - Resse's peanut butter cups. Hope the mouse has a sweet tooth.
Back to the car, set the traps in the trunk and inside, and wait... Well, I decided that I'd go wait at Starbucks across the street - hoping that would give my carpool buddy some time alone with the candy. While there, I thought I might need to leave my car at the park and ride - so I booked myself a ride on the Connector bus that leaves from near there. After about 15 minutes, I went back over to the Boxster, hoping to see the little black box flashing, saying that it had a catch. But sadly, no. So, got back in and drove across the street to the bus parking area. The bus wouldn't show up for another 20 or so minutes, so I figured I would at least clean out the mouse nest in the trunk.
As I walked around back and popped the trunk, I notice my little buddy jump from the wheel well and scamper under the car I was parked next to. Well, perhaps I will drive to work after all - and I left the lot and my mouse friend as quick as I could.
I got to work and left the traps active all day. No unfortunate catches, so this was good. Maybe it was just the one? April cleaned out much of the garage and noticed that there were a number of places where our mouse visitor(s) had been. 'On the bins, on the floor, eatin seed by the door. In the nuts, munching corn, got the bag now it's torn'...
On the way home tonight, I stopped off at another hardware store and picked up some no kill traps to put in the garage. April had mentioned that I should check my hockey bag - which I'd left on the floor. So I did - sigh. After removing some of the gear from the bag, I noticed a peanut shell. Crap! Then, taking out some more, I found out where Mr Mouse decided to keep his stash of peanuts and bird seed. It was a pile about 2" high and 4" wide. Geez - the lil buggers!
So, not only had he violated my car, made himself a new home in the Porsche, but had a huge stash of food in my hockey gear. If he was trying to impress and pick up a female mousey, he certainly decided on some fancy places to show her.
I hope he's doing okay - poor little guy.