In article >,
Kathleen > wrote:

> We are currently dealing with our annual autumn mouse invasion. In
> addition to traps all over the place, you'd think the JRT might be of
> some use. But no. He set off a trap in the pantry a couple of years
> back and now associates the smell of rodents with nasty things that go SNAP.
>
> Weekend before last I was wakened by a clanking sound. I remember being
> annoyed that somebody had left the dishwasher open and one of the dogs
> was licking the dirty dishes. Until I took inventory and realized that
> all three of the dogs were already in bed with me.
>
> I ventured down the hall and found one of the biggest mice I've ever
> seen with its front leg caught in one of the Black Cat mouse traps in
> the pantry. The clanking I'd heard was the mouse dragging the damned
> trap around.
>
> While I was pondering what to do about the not-mortally-wounded rodent
> another mouse ran over my foot and climbed the shelves on the inside of
> the pantry door.
>
> I admit it. I screamed. Not long, and not loud, and most of the noise
> came out through my nose when I clamped my hand over my mouth. Even so,
> it woke my 13 year-old son, who came on the run to see what the
> excitement was about. I pointed out the mouse on the spice rack and he
> ran to get his airsoft BB gun.
>
> Meanwhile, the JRT has fled the scene and is peeking around the corner,
> waiting for something to go SNAP, the male BC is looking for a reason to
> bite the JRT, and the female border collie is conducting a short-range
> olfactory inspection of the trapped rodent. She's got her nose pressed
> right up against the thing and is making noises like she's trying to
> snort him like a line of colombian flake.
>
> Dear son arrives with the BB gun and squeezes off a shot that knocks the
> mouse off the shelf and sends it running for shelter on the floor. A
> second shot ricochets off a bottle of vietnamese cinnamon and stings me
> on the leg. The JRT's prey drive is finally triggered and he launches
> himself at the mouse, and the male BC, in full-on fun police mode,
> lunges at the terrier.
>
> In the confusion, that mouse escapes unscathed while I'm breaking up the
> dog fight. Meanwhile, the female BC has picked up the trap and the
> trapped mouse and is heading down the hall to my bedroom to conduct her
> experiments in private.
>
> I catch up with her before she makes it onto the bed and I confiscate
> trap and the still live rodent.
>
> So now what? How am I supposed to kill this thing? I try dropping him,
> trap and all, in the toilet to try to drown him but he's a big mouse and
> only pinned by one leg so he's able to tread water and keep his nose
> above the surface. So I find a tall pitcher, fill it with water and
> drop him in there. Better. He's submerged. I set the pitcher on the
> floor, and, unwilling to watch him drown, I retreat to the kitchen.
>
> Minutes later, to my absolute horror, I hear sloshing and splashing. I
> slink down the hall, afraid I've wandered into some sort of Twilight
> Zone experience only to find the female BC, carrying the trap and by now
> thoroughly drowned rodent, on her way down the hall to the bedroom.
> When I insist, she relinquishes her prize and I carry it back to the
> bathroom where she watches as I open the trap and dump the dead mouse
> into the toilet. Surf's up, little dude.

Okay, this had me really laughing uncontrollably, thanks! I have a BC
that loves to kill rats...

Sorry, but I've had to resort to using poison for rodent control. I use
outdoor bait stations that are carefully dog proofed! I'm thanking the
gods above that I've never had an INDOOR rodent problem...

Just the occasional Palmetto bug, and the cats take care of those.
--
Peace! Om

"He who has the gold makes the rules"
--Om

"He who has the guns can get the gold."
-- Steve Rothstein