5/21/24
You heard it here first, folks. The mouse residing in my car has officially been captured and… dealt with.
After nearly two months of being encroached upon by this creature, I feel relieved to be free of him.
Although I can’t be certain that he was alone in there.
I’m convinced that he, alone, made his way in through an open window, but my friends and family have offered up some theories of their own:
- Maybe he snuck in through a bag of trash, en route to the dumpster.
- Or perhaps through some crack or crevice in my car.
- He could have been making his way in and out the whole time, while I assumed that he was just living in there.
The shredded roll of paper towels in my trunk points towards evidence of a nest, which leads me to believe that he was, in fact, living in the car somewhere.
Though I searched and searched, a nest has not been found.
I’ve had my humane mouse trap in there for a while, switching out the bait, hoping to lure him in, so I could (in good conscious) release him back to the wild.
But I’ve come to believe that he was the wiser, and saw right through my plan.
So I had to switch directions.
If I’m being honest, I really didn’t want to come face to face with the mouse. Or face to body, I guess, since I’m so incredibly massive in comparison to him.
I didn’t want to have to deal with him at all.
So it was easy to forget about him, or at least convince myself that he’d made his way out, after a few days of not finding any evidence of him.
And although I stopped leaving any trace of food in my car, I would still, on occasion, find his droppings, scattered about, so my delusion was short lived.
Ready to put this whole mouse debacle behind me, and tired of feeling like there was always someone else in my car with me, I obtained some glue traps.
My plan was to set the glue traps at a time that I knew I’d have someone else out here on the property with me. A boy. Who was willing to do the dirty work for me.
But alas, our mousy friend was shy, and didn’t make his reappearance until it was just me out here. Just me. And the mouse. And his fate, which I held in my hands.
So this morning, I timidly peered in my car window, inspecting the traps from afar. And sure enough, there he was.
It pains my heart to think about the route I had to take in order to get rid of this guy, so I’ll spare you the details.
All I can say is, although slightly shaken up from this experience, I’m relieved to have finally caught him. I hope never to have this problem again. And I feel as though I’ve earned a badge, of sorts, for this… experience.
5/27/24 Update:
Upon catching the mouse in my car, I was relieved, but I wasn’t entirely convinced.
I had a spare glue trap, so I figured I’d leave it out, just in case. For peace of mind.
So long as that glue trap remained untouched, I could rest assured that my pest removal was a success.
I didn’t entirely expect to catch anything else.
So you can imagine my surprise when, upon opening my car door, I found yet another, poor, miserable mouse, fighting for his life.
Grim faced and heavy hearted, I gave myself a moment to collect myself, and then proceeded with my less than ideal (but incredibly effective) method of putting the little guy out of his misery.
I am currently contemplating what my next steps should be.
Do I call an exterminator? A mechanic? Both?
Leave your suggestions in the comments below. Summer is just beginning, and I have a feeling this won’t be the end of my mouse troubles.