Wednesday, March 12, 2008

This is What It Comes To

EXHIBIT C
EXHIBIT A
EXHIBIT B

Yes, mice now rule my life and dictate the way things are done in my home (see Exhibits A and B). For example, our walls now have hardened foam sticking out all over them in an effort to seal all the many holes in this swiss cheese house in which I live. And in the kitchen, the counters have been totally bare for more than a year (except for the toaster oven) so the mice have nothing to hide behind. Ah, the toaster oven. How remiss I was...The toaster oven used to live between the fridge and the stove.

I must admit, I hated to clean behind it as I was always sure to find the dreaded mouse poop...So the other day I decided enough was enough. I moved the toaster from it's place, emptied out the crumbs and put it on our small island so the mice couldn't hide behind it.

I can't even count all the days I've used this handy toaster--possib;y every day in the last three years I've lived in Baltimore. But then...What did I realize when cleaning around the back of the toaster? I realized (see exhibit C) that there were openings on the back in which a mouse could squeeze through. "No," I told myself, "Don't be crazy." But still, I decided I better take a closer look inside.

And what did I find? Mouse poop at the bottom of the toaster.

You heard me. I've been toasting bread with mouse poop for god knows how long.

Can you even believe it?









2 comments:

Rose said...

Hey Jen! Just reading this post and thought about some of my friends in Philly who have the same problem... If you ever want to catch a mouse (not kill it, but catch it) position a paper bag hanging off the side of your counter and put some peanut butter inside. Then put a garbage can in front of the bag so that when the mouse goes for the peanut butter or cheese, it will run into the bag and the bag will fall right into the trash. You just have to be careful that the mouse doesn't crawl back up the trashcan. My friends in Philly actually made a contraption so that the lid on the can would shut. They caught 10 mice that way and then they set them free in the woods.

Anonymous said...

Jen, this mouse problem has to stop ! I can't visit with your mice, too! Let's get some Buddist chants going to aleviate this problem. You and Keith aren't working hard enough on the chemistry of this situation! Go for it!
Love, M