rats! foiled again!!

Teddy and I have a mouse in our house. We don't know where it is, or if it comes and goes, but every morning at around 3:30 it 'goes to work.' It starts with a 'scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch,' then escalates to a 'bite, bite, scratch, scratch, bite.'

Because we don't really know if it's in our attic, our walls, or simply on the outside trying to gnaw its way in, our only remedy thus far for getting rid of the little guy is to pound loudly on the wall. We've also tried turning on the attic fan, hoping to scare him off.

Each method works. At least for that moment in time. But like clockwork, he-slash-she returns every morning to get to the business at hand. There must be something really tasty he's trying to get to in our house. Perhaps a loose Cheetoh or two that found its way under our bed.

Teddy is usually in charge of the wall pounding. However, the other night - not wanting to wake him - I thought I'd try to sound the warning bell myself. Groggy, and a bit out of it, I quietly got out of bed. I scrunched up my best fightin' fist and wailed away at the wall. Teddy suddenly sprung up in bed holding his heart, thinking that we were having an earthquake or something. Oops. So much for trying not to disturb him! Note to self: In future, tap husband gently on shoulder to awaken when rat begins his work at night.

Because our yard is full of fruit trees, the 'tree rats' love to hang out at our place. Each night at dusk, they can be seen running along the wires, going in and out of trees, with grapefruits or oranges or avocados in their mouths. It's sort of like the 405/101 interchange at rush hour. They're all over the neighborhood (and all over L.A. for that matter) so I don't really know how we can prevent them from entering our yard. I would NEVER dream of killing them, so I'm looking for alternative ways of urging them to seek their meals elsewhere. If anyone knows of a humane way to 'relocate' these rodents, I'd love to hear from you.

My friend, Jackie, who is a saint to all living, breathing creatures, uses the live trapping / relocating method. She recently told me a story about trapping a rat late at night, deciding to relocate it in the morning. When she woke up, she discovered that the rat had babies overnight! So what would any animal-loving, caring person do in this case? She made mommy and her babies a nice little nest and kept them until the babies were weaned. Then she released them into the world to live their little mousy-mouse lives. I don't know if I'd go that far, but I like the story, nonetheless.

All of this rambling about mice and rats was triggered by a story I read in the paper this morning about a man who tried to dispose of a mouse that made its way into his house by throwing it into a pile of burning leaves. The blazing mouse - God bless him - ran back into the mean man's house and set his house on fire!

Read Man & Mouse Story Here.

After reading this, I now know that these little guys are smarter than we give them credit for. So perhaps we'll just continue knocking until we can find a way to lure them away from our house for good. Maybe a porterhouse steak in the middle of the cul de sac will do the trick?

Until tomorrow, remember, "The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."