Anthropomorphic

With the seasonally appropriate colder temperatures finally moving in, we have had to confront our mouse issues. I wasn't all that bothered by the mice at first - they keep to themselves and stay out of the house. After all, even mice need a warm place to sleep during a cold night. But their boldness and growing numbers are getting bothersome, so I'm trying to find a natural way to deter them instead of killing them. (And by growing numbers, I mean maybe ten little field mice. We're not talking nasty city rats or total mouse infestation here, just to be clear. Still not that white trash, thank god.)

The other day I opened the empty garbage can out back to toss in a bag of garbage. When I lifted the lid I saw three little mice sitting in there, staring up at me with big, scared eyes and furry, shivering bodies. I couldn't imagine how they got in there. Surely mice cannot jump the four vertical feet required to catapult themselves into an empty 50-gallon can? But I couldn't see any other way. Apparently mice can jump four feet in the air, and that kind of freaks me out.

As I looked at the mice, I had anthropomorphic visions of Disney-fied mice dancing in my head, of three little mice stuck in a garbage can discussing how to get themselves out of their predicament, of Mama mouse wearing a kerchief and waiting nervously at home for her three lost children. I almost tipped the can over to let them free before I came to my senses. They are, after all, rodents and I suppose I shouldn't encourage them any more than I already have. Instead I shut the lid and went inside to call Chad.

Chad decided to leave the mice in the empty garbage can overnight (or maybe it wasn't such a conscious decision, maybe he just forgot about them). They froze to death, which is a rather humane way to kill a mouse, if you're going to kill one. At least we did not poison them or snap their necks in a trap. When I worked in a sign shop with a motley lot of working guys, they once trapped a mouse in a garbage can and shot at it with a nail gun. I was mortified. It was terrible and still makes me cringe when I remember it.