IRL Tom & Jerry

On the way to bed last night I saw a little mouse sprint under my sofa. The correct thing to do at that point would have been to set my (humane) mouse trap so the mouse could be trapped overnight right?

Nah. I went to bed. I had been up for so long and working all day - as well as fighting a tyrant on twitter, so I was physically and mentally exhausted. I was determined to get some shut-eye.

So I closed the the door and sealed the little bastard in the living room.

Bad idea. LOL.

When I opened the living room door in the morning, the vermin had ripped out a chunk of my carpet in an attempt to get out under the door. It always astonishes me how clever mice are, and how high they can jump!

It somehow got up to my window and tried to get out that way, and even got unto a table. What crazy little athletes. I could tell where it had been because it left tracks in the form of chewed stuff and poop.

After getting rid of the mouse, more on that later, I went on a full room disinfection frenzy.

Normally I'd just vacuum the droppings, and wipe the surfaces with anti-bacteria wipes and be done. This time something just went off in my head. "God knows what germs this thing is carrying", I thought. Since we were already on epic germ alert, thanks to Covid-19, I knew what had to be done to keep my mind at ease.

So, with one of my stashed away anti-everything sprays, I disinfected every inch of the room - including the walls and ceiling haha. That was, of course, after power-vacuuming the carpet and all upholstery.

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TOM AND JERRY

I grew up watching cartoons. One of my favourite was Tom and Jerry - a cat and mouse duo in constant back and forth shenanigans. In that series, Jerry the mouse often had the upper hand.

Oh are things different in real life

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I didn't even need to trap the mouse. It had self-trapped in my laundry basket which I had left in the living room for whatever reason - laziness I guess. The basket is so deep that the little thing had been unable to leap out. The sides are made of slippery plastic, so it couldn't climb out.

The original plan was to take it out to the garden and release it, but after seeing what damage it'd done to my place, I wasn't feeling so benevolent. I knew the little thing had to pay somehow, and I certainly didn't want it back in the house. I'd heard tales of mice returning to the same house after being let off.

As nature would have it, my neighbour's cat had been playing peeing Tom through the garden door.

OMG, I seriously just thought of that pun in-situ, LOL

I decided to let the mouse out in the garden and let nature take its course. I tell you, nature is a ruthless machine. Cats, it turns out, are even more ruthless.

Yes, they look cute in photos, and they're fluffy to stroke, but when in hunt mode, they are efficient and deadly. With only two leaps, the poor little mouse was history. It was brutally clean and executed with alacrity. Then the cat went back to being cute again.

I'm now considering getting a cat of my own. The only thing is though, I've noticed that since my neighbours moved in with their cat, the squirrels have all vanished. I like squirrels.

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Thanks for stoping by,

Adé