Of Mice and Man

I live in an older house on the upper floor and when the weather turns the mice come in to play. I never see flies or any other pests except for those few orange beetles that like my bathroom window.

Anyway, I never hear the mouse, I never see any ‘tracks’ he/she visited. I have two ways to track the mice – one I keep a trap set and replace the dried out peanut butter every two weeks.

OR since I love popcorn and use crackers and eat graham crackers and bread on a regular basis I have gotten in the habit of leaving a few pieces in between the stove and kitchen sink (a good four inch gap). Popcorn is easy for me to see.

If I put it out and it disappears in the next 24 hours I know I have a problem so I set the trap.

If it stays I know I do not have visitors. The fastest I have seen it disappear is about five minutes. I took my bowl of popcorn to my computer desk and forgot a napkin (paper towel). The popcorn on the floor was gone.

The trap snapped less then twenty minutes later.

So if you see popcorn or other small pieces of dry food on my kitchen floor – that is my early detection system – not lazy housekeeping (check behind the couch for that).

Oh Of Mice and Men