Of Mice and Moses

Photos and story may be disturbing. 

 This is not the mouse we were looking for. 

I was in the kitchen and had heard noises. I dismissed them, until I opened up the drawer I keep kitchen towels in. I screeched in anger. On top of the CLEAN linen was a mostly chewed Hershey's dark chocolate kiss. (I thought about the shape and color and wrapper and determined this is what is probably had been originally) I had no idea how it got in my linen drawer, except by mouse express. I pulled open cupboards and drawers and dropped a newly awakened cat in the middle of my kitchen floor. He was mildly intrigued. 

 Moses was pretty sure the mouse was behind the cabinet wall. Which made perfect sense when I took drawers out and discovered the wall behind the cabinet was original.

 The 'old' gucky looking wood is actually wallpaper. The cabinets were put in over the old paper. No wonder it gets so cold in the cupboards! We are fairly sure the mouses traveled along the edges of the cupboards to reach other territories. Climbing on items within to get to the top. Shudder! 

Moses became uninterested in the search and opted for dry kibble, for the moment. The enticing scents and noises kept him coming back to the wide open cabinetry. 

 This cupboard Moses would not leave alone. He knocked things over and was making a bit of a mess. It was a couple of hours later and I asked Steve to help clean it out. When to his surprise, he found a mice-ling cowering under some plastic. They were both startled, but Steve prevailed.

 He took the tender quivering morsel to Moses, who did whatever it is cats do. I was congratulating Steve on his cat worthy abilities, when we heard a trap go off.

 Once again, Steve saved my kitchen from the tiny paws and unmentionable other things one feels safe in describing as mouse residue. Jon, the sneaky jokester, opted to put this lifelike-when-seen-at-a-glance-but-not-when-photographed mouse near the trap. I think the caught mouse was more interested in the PB Jon put on the trap than the wannabe mouse friend.

It wasn't pretty, but it appears to be over. Probably. (and as I copied in the last line...another trap went off. That's three!)

“You hadda, George. I swear you hadda. Come on with me.”   J. Steinbeck