This is the true story of 2 mice who met their unfortunate end on Halloween night.
After taking my daughter trick or treating this past Halloween, I decided to go and visit my sister to see my niece’s costume. I’d only wanted to stay for a few minutes – just long enough to say hello, play with the baby a bit, then get something to eat and go home. I wound up staying for 3 hours! My sister is petrified of mice, and happened to see two scurrying around in the kitchen of her new home just before I got there. When I was finally able to convince her to go back into the kitchen, I saw both mice run into the vent on the back of the stove.
*Sidebar: Since I was nearly forced into staying at my sister’s house until these 2 mice were caught, I had to make it entertaining. So I set traps, and narrated the whole scenario while my sister sat at the dining room table facing the window so she wouldn’t scream and scare the mice away. I have no idea how mice communicate to each other, but I imagine their conversation went something like the following (p.s. I’ve named them Mickey and Mighty, LOL):
Mickey: Peeps out of the stove vent. Ducks head back in and whispers, “Hey, Mighty! The coast is clear. Come take a look.”
Mighty: Manages to squeeze his little body in the same vent opening next to Mickey. “Your right. Let me sniff around.” Brave little Mighty pushes himself out of the vent opening and takes a few steps over to the left back stove burner. He sniffs the burner, then hesitantly climbs up onto the cool frying pan sitting on the burner. The soapy water in the pan takes Mighty by surprise, and jumps off quickly. He looks back at his brother, who is still hanging halfway outside of the vent opening.
“I don’t know if you should come out here, man. Something doesn’t seem quite right. I thought I smelled…” Mighty stopped mid-sentence when he spotted the dollop of peanut butter sitting to his far left in the middle of a pool of melted butter.
Mickey: “What man?! What did you smell? What is it?”
Mighty: “Peanut butter! I’m going for it! Come with me, it’s safe.”
Mickey: Pushes his way through the vent opening, and crawls midway down the middle of the stove. He stands next to Mighty, but is hesitant to go any further. “I don’t know, man. Seems like a tra-” Before he can finish his thought, Mighty took off running.
Mighty: Stops cold right in front of the sticky trap. He seems to be re-thinking his current path, but just as it appears he may turn back, he goes for it. Mighty’s two little front feet go up in the air as if reaching for a quarterbacks’ pass, and come down hard on the sticky trap just inches away from the peanut butter. “Mickey, it’s not melted butter! Help me! I can’t move.”
Mickey: “Oh no!” He turns around and heads back to the vent opening, and climbs back in. He comes back out with a look of determination; ready to set his plan in motion to free his brother. “I’m coming for you, Mighty. Don’t worry, I’ll get you free.” He jumps out of the opening, and quickly runs to the left. He stops about 5 inches from the front of the trap and begins to walk around it, slowly taking it all in.
Mighty: “What is taking so long! Get me off this thing!”
Mickey: Mighty’s look of desperation and hopelessness is painful for Mickey to see. Mickey’s thinks back on the time they spent together, and how quickly this situation escalated. *If only he had listened to me and just waited we wouldn’t be here now* he thinks to himself. “I’m coming, Mighty! First I gotta figure out the correct angle to push you off.” Mickey walks around the trap and stops when he reaches Mighty’s right side. He feels confident that this is the best side to push Mighty off the trap and free him.
Mickey gets up close to Mighty, and lifts his little body just enough to put the force he can muster onto Mighty. He manages to push Mighty and the trap over just a tad – and – stopping for a moment to catch his breath – he lets his body fall – right on trap.
Mighty: “Can you get up? Can you try again?”
Mickey: “No, man. I can’t move. I’m stuck.”
Mighty: Defeat overcoming him, “This is it for us, Mickey. I’m sorry my greed led us to our end. We’ve overcome a lot, and I’m grateful for that. I love you, man.”
Mickey: Tears break-forth choking each word he speaks, “I’m grateful for you too, brother. I love you.”
It is at that moment that I picked up the trap, and bagged the brothers.
My sister now calls me the mice whisperer, LOL!
Romelle J. 