Mouse Traps

I like Mouse Traps. Attention all animal lovers, members of PETA, and those who have an unhealthy love of mice--DO NOT READ THIS POST.

So I came home Tuesday night and found not one, but two, little critters dead in two Mouse Traps. After multiple attempts to capture these little guys, I finally got them. And look, I don't necessarily feel good about killing mice by having a metal wire snap on their cranium. But, when I come home and find little surprises on my counter and stove, that's when I turn lethal. Not to mention that I am moving in a week and a half and don't want the new tenant to have to deal with the mice. See! I'm caring!

My history of mouse catching and using Mouse Traps goes back to my days in Narberth. The Spar and I had a little mouse problem at our apartment and these little buggers were brazen. There were times I was in the kitchen and they'd poke their little heads out just to stare at me. So one day I bought a pack of four sticky traps and laid the first one down under the stove. In less than an hour I heard the squeak of a mouse. When I checked the trap I had not one, but TWO mice on one trap. I set another and caught another. A third trap down and the next day I caught a fourth mouse. (NOTE: We weren't really that dirty, it was an old house in a heavily tree-filled area.) Finally, I placed the fourth trap down, but no dice. It wasn't until I was doing the dishes one night that I saw a little mouse peeking at me from behind the microwave. I pulled out the trap from under the stove and cornered the mouse between the microwave, which he ran under, and the stove. Forcing him out from his hiding spot he ran straight onto the trap. It was then that I felt horrible. He was squirming and stuck. So, to put him out of his misery I broke its neck with a spatula. And he was dead. Mouse number five.

And now, as I have decided that I can't stomach the sticky traps, I went for a regular spring-loaded trap and with one snap, these guys were met with a quick, swift (hopefully painless) death.