all God's critters

...got a place in the choir. Some sing low. Some sing higher. Some sing out loud on the telephone wire and some just clap their hands or paws or anything they got.

Remember that song? We sang that in elementary school. I didn't go to a Christian school. Hm.

So let me tell you a story about one of God's critters. Last Thursday, around 4:45 p.m., I was sitting on my couch watching Mad Men on Netflix.  So, that means it was light out still.  That also means that there was noise in the house.

Despite the fact that it was light out and I was clearly home, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a gray mouse meander across the kitchen floor from the corner where the laundry closet is. Usually people describe mice as scurrying.  He was not scurrying. He didn't seem to be concerned at all about the fact that there might be someone watching him.  He wandered over to the rug under the sink, picked up a crumb (like the only crumb in my whole house people!!), nibbled and then went under the stove.

I was absolutely frozen in fear.

I picked up my phone and as it was ringing, he came out again started heading towards me (probably back to the laundry closet), but it was just too scary so I yelled, "Hey!" and he scurried, this time he did scurry, back under the stove. 

My first phone call was to my mom.  My mom is great in all situations...except situations involving small rodents.  She was just as freaked out as I was and she wasn't even here.  Then I called my landlord. He didn't answer. His assistant didn't answer.  So I called the front office again and tried to explain my situation. She got a hold of my landlord, but then informed me that he said there was nothing he could do today.  What??!!!

Then I called John, Mia and Sophia's dad.  I was hoping he'd take pity on me and .... I don't know exactly what I wanted him to do.  Move the stove and catch the mouse?  He was much more calm about the situation which was frustrating, but reassuring.  He stayed on the phone with me while I left the house to go get mouse traps.  In order to leave the house I had to walk by the stove which was SOOOO terrifying I was stifling small screams the whole time.

I just kept (keep) imagining the mouse running out from under the stove and latching onto my ankle with his teeth.. Where do I get that image from? Have I been watching vampire mouse movies?

Now, although they are called mouse TRAPS, what they really have served as are little trays for mouse treats.  The lever where you put the bait, holds the food (mine is peanut butter and bird seed) at just the right height so the little guy doesn't have to eat off the ground (how degrading).  If he happened to put any pressure on the lever, it might snap and catch him under it's bar, but he'd never be stupid enough to do that.

Night one with the traps out:  little mouse ate the bait off one trap.

Night two with the traps out: little mouse ate the bait off trap # 2

Afternoon two with the traps out: little mouse ate the bait off trap #3

Night three with the traps out: little mouse at the bait off trap #4

So, as you can see, he now thinks I'm leaving treats out for him. Instead of refilling the traps, I decided to just leave them empty. Maybe he'll move out once he discovers there is nothing else to eat.  Or maybe he'll eat the poison in the laundry closet when it's not being compared to tasty peanut butter.

I knew I should have gotten a cat!

This looks like him:

On Friday, Bud the maintenance man came and casually talked about how old houses have mice and since I was near all these fields (what fields??!!) it was inevitable that I'd have a mouse from time to time. He said he'd put out some poison that would kill the mouse once it drank water so I'd find it near a source of water like pipes or sinks.  Um. Excuse me??!! I do not want to find a dead mouse in my sink...or under it. 

But got out his flashlight and dug into all these dark corners in the kitchen without even flinching.  Everything I have to move, I move very slowly so that nothing will jump out at me.  Probably just to be more impressive, Bud went down in the nasty basement and checked around in the crawl space behind my washer and dryer. He also checked my boxes to see if anything was living in them.  When he told me he did all this, I was really tempted to say, "You are SO brave." 

Difference between my mom and I:  my mom would have said it. I thought it, but did not say it. 

Bud assured me that the mouse would not run out of a hiding place when I walked by, but my mom ruined that comfort after I relayed the information to her when she said, "I guess it won't; unless it has rabies.  Then you'd have to call the sheriff to come kill it."

Gee. Thanks Mom. ;)

Please pray for me.