The Exterminator

Good news!  Ben finally caught the mouse that had invaded my kitchen!  Here’s how it went down…

Ben used to be a pest technician for Terminix in Virginia Beach.  He used peanut butter in his mouse/rat traps.  He said that mice don’t like cheese, but peanut butter works.  He set two traps in my kitchen, both baited with peanut butter.  The first night there was no activity.  Then the mouse ate the peanut butter but never triggered the trap.

“Great.  We are dealing with a smart mouse.”

The next try was popcorn.  Again the mouse had a nice snack, but he was still living in my kitchen!  Then Ben put a jelly bean with frosting from the birthday cake onto the trap.  You’re not going to believe this – that little mousy licked the jelly bean clean.  He ate all of the frosting, and left the jelly bean just as the trap was ready to spring.  We know this because the trap was all katter-wompus (sp?) the next morning.

Frustrated.  “My husband is the Exterminator, but he can’t get rid of my mouse.  Instead he is feeding the mouse!”

Ben also tried a Ritz cracker.  Again, the snack was gone, but the mouse was still ruling my kitchen.  When I lifted the counter-top off of my washing machine to run a load of laundry, the mouse jumped out.  Yes – I screamed.  And I made Ben promise to kill that mouse.  I threatened him if he didn’t get it!

As a last resort Ben baited the trap with some Cheerios that were lying on the counter.  When we finished our movie and returned to the kitchen to check on things, the trap was gone. 

“Hmmm.  Good, or bad?”

It was good!  I was happy, and the mousy had died happy – with a Cheerio in his mouth!  He sprung the trap and flipped it backwards behind the stove. 

Happiness.  “No more mouse.”

Who would have guessed?  I should have asked Elaine what to use on the mouse trap!  After all, it is probably her Cheerios, left lying all over the house, that attracted the pest in the first place.

Moral of the story:  Don’t use peanut butter.  Try Cheerios!