Mouse Hunt. Day One.

I went to Home Depot last night to check out the many pest control options for The Furry One (TFO).

They had some of the traditional Tom & Jerry style mousetraps. That was the cheapest option, but also the most brutal. I moved on.

On the complete opposite end of the scale was a trap-and-release trap. I considered this one. No death. No dismemberment. No gore. No pain. I could catch the little guy(s) and then release him behind the fence onto the ranch behind my house. One problem with that scenario, though. TFO has tasted the good life. He's lived in the garage, in his cozy little nest under the lawnmower, safe from the elements and predators, with access to the carpeted car. He'd be back. He found me once. He'll find me again. And there's not much point in a continual cycle of him moving in and me moving him out. Keep going.

There was poison. There were sticky traps. Both of these would require me to dispose of bodies and see the mayhem I'd wrought. Like sausage, I don't want to see the reality. So, I finally settled on a trap that catches the little guy, closes behind him, and then I throw the whole trap away. It didn't say that the trap had anything in it to kill TFO, so I've decided to believe that it releases a gas. The gas smells like eucalyptus, and TFO relaxes, falls happily asleep to dreams of cheese, and then quietly passes away. I then throw his little plastic coffin away without disturbing him. It's humane...in my mind. So, do me a favor and don't tell me otherwise.

I bought a two-pack of these traps. I baited them with peanut butter and put one in my car and one by the lawnmower. So far, no mice have been caught. I do, however, have a trail of ants leading into the one by the lawnmower. Awesome. Yet another pest to deal with.