A Lot of Work for a Little Mouse
I haven't been doing much work around the motor home lately. My left knee replacement is healing well and I'm up to getting out and around more these days. The water filters in the basement needed replacement so I waded into the midsection of our home. As I began removing stored equipment I noticed little chewed bits of the blue shop towels I use. So now my task becomes a project. Sure enough, there are more and more signs of a mouse. We haven't had one for eight years but it has finally happened again.
As I dig through the stored materials, more signs emerge. Under the sliding drawer in the forward storage area I find bits of acorns. Somebody had a picnic here. There is only one answer here. Everything has to come out and a good cleaning is in order. One compartment after another is emptied and cleaned. Our son-in-law brings the shop vac which speeds the cleaning tremendously. The trash bag of mouse debris keeps growing. I've grown careless over the years, there are rags that should have been secured that now are waste. A used sponge has been gnawed to a nub. The motor home hasn't been cleaned this well in years.
Did I mention that the temperature is 97 degrees on a clear sunny day. I have the large awning out and some shade on the other side of the motor home. I'm pushing hard to get done before the sun gets to the door of each compartment. Our grandchildren are enjoying the swimming pool and our daughter is supervising. We visit during breaks. I have to stand up and sit down occasionally. My new knee doesn't take well to all the bending and kneeling. I'm drinking water like a fish at every break.
The mouse or mice have been throughout the basement. We have seen no evidence in the living area but the storage area has evidence in every compartment. It takes me four hours to finish working through the storage areas. I check every access point. The sewer hose has gaps around it so I rearrange my improvised collar to better block the space around the hose. Everything else looks secure, so this must be the access point. I have two old traps from our only other encounter with these critters. These are baited and and placed in the utility compartment. A quick trip to town secures four more new traps. Every compartment has two traps ... now I'm waiting. It's possible that our daughters family cat, Miss Race Car (named by our grandson when he was six years old), a Norwegian Forest Cat, has already caught up with the offending mouse. I had a conversation with Miss Race Car, who sleeps under the motor home regularly. I impressed upon her that I had been counting on her to keep the motor home free of mice. If she hasn't already done so, I'll get the little rascals.
The water filters are changed and we have a good flow of water for my well deserved shower. Louise fixes me my favorite libation and sends me out the door to fire up the grill. We'll have steak tonight! We enjoy sitting outside even with the heat. One of the really unusual things about this heat wave is that there has been a light breeze constantly. I lived in Missouri for most of my life and my recollection is that when the weather got really hot the air would be deadly calm. This year we have a breeze and it makes the heat almost bearable. I'm glad to be out and about and back to work. There will be only a few more work days before my right knee replacement on Thursday next week.
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