This is NOT Disneyland!

Okay "Mickey" this is not Disneyland! So take your friends and family and move out!

I hate winter time for more than one reason but particularly because our little house becomes the "happiest place on earth" for little rodents.Its the draw back of having a dirt basement.We have done our best to find their entry points and seal them off, at least to confine them to the basement, but they are tricky!
Their favorite haven is in my stove drawer.They store food, make their own personal deposits and climb all over my baking sheets.I haven't got anywhere else to store them so I am forced to wash them every time I need to use them. It is amazing how something so small can create such work!

Not only are they dirty and disgusting,I am limited as to the means of getting rid of them.I don't want traps.First of all because of several little fingers,not to mention my dog is not exactly high on the intelligence list,second because I don't even remotely want to hear the dreadful snapping noise they make! Poison has to be strategically placed so as not to harm said little fingers and not so bright dogs.My only other option is sticky traps.Which has its pros and cons. The pros being I don't have to worry about the safety of the kids/dog,second I don't have to listen to the snapping noise and they are pretty easy to set up.The cons are that when you catch one they are still alive and they stare at you!Trying to make you feel guilty, or they manage to get themselves off the trap by chewing off limbs and leaving them behind.On occasion they have been known to fight so wildly that they bounce the trap right out into the middle of the floor so you darn near step on them in the middle of the night on your trip to the bathroom! Are you grossed out yet??? Another con is that "not so bright" dog has been known to sit on them occasionally which is super fun!

Why the rant about mice you ask? Well lets just say DH is the king of mice killing he is good at it and is not at all bothered by ridding our house of these little critters.Me, not so much. If I can, I time it by placing the traps out at night before bed so that if an unsuspecting mouse finds his way onto a trap DH will be the first to find it and he can get rid of it so I don't have to see it. A couple of weeks ago I even hid myself in the bathroom until DH removed a dead one from under the stove! Its a great source of amusement for him.
Yesterday was the ultimate in freak-out-ness. I was in the kitchen when I was startled by a mouse that was trying to get through a hole in the wall behind our base cabinets.He got his head stuck because it wasn't quite big enough and he had shimmied himself halfway up the wall to the counter top with his head still stuck.By now I am totally going to lose it but I don't do the typical girly scream so as not to alert the girls to the problem.I thought maybe I could stick him to the trap and get rid of him with out too much problem.Ummm no. The only thing I managed to do was pull the paint off the wall and break his little neck so that he dangled from the wall. (How about now, are you super grossed out??) Then I was forced to try and pull him out (using rubber gloves) with out ripping his tail (or head) off. I did manage to get him out but let me tell you, you have never seen anyone run so fast with a plastic bag being held at arms length in -30 weather as me!!!!
Having a cat is not an option (DH is allergic). Not only that, they like to leave "presents" for their owners which is far more disgusting than the traps! We do not have the option of moving, so I guess I will have to continue to put up with our little guests.But I sure wish they would clean up after themselves!!