It's really too chilly to be doing computer work on the back porch today, but here I am, looking out across a yard that's more like a meadow than a "lawn." In my field of vision (but maybe not in the pic) is a mole trap. Not a trap, actually. More like an executioner. I'd love to see it snap while I'm sitting here. Moles have turned my yard into a sponge.
I caught one a couple of weeks ago. For a solid week before that, I'd spent every afternoon stomping down mole trails, trying to locate an active run (they'll dig it back up if they're in there), and moving the trap to a more promising spot. But it was cold at the time, and the mole wasn't moving if he was in there. Then, one afternoon when I came home from work, there was a brand new trail blazed across the yard. I ran out there, yanked up the trap, and re-set it in the active run. Less than an hour had passed before I got his ass.
He was a big old fat joker, with beaver-like teeth, a pink nose and feet and tail. His fur was absolutely beautiful.
I work with an older lady with whom I talk about gardening, and she'd been hearing about my MoleQuest, so when I went to work the next day, I told her about catching the mole. When I told her how beautiful his fur was, it sparked a memory in her. She said, "My mother told me that they used to make powder puffs out of mole skins."
My mouth dropped open for a second or two. I'd wasted a perfectly good powder puff.
I have no such plans for the mice we're catching. In the 30+ years we've lived in this house, we've seen TWO mice, both sighted within the past couple of years. One was just a few weeks ago. Little devil ran out from under one bathroom closet door and under another. We put out two traps, both baited with peanut butter, but the mouse evidently wasn't interested. When I saw the mouse again a few nights ago, The Husband re-baited the trap with feta cheese. Within the hour, we got him.
Later that evening, while I was sitting here on the porch, I heard something move in the cabinet behind me. Two summers ago, I sat out here every evening hearing something move in that cabinet. I figured it was a mouse and put out some bait. Kept hearing the noise, though. It didn't really sound like scampering. It was more like a thump. I came out here one night to get something off a table, and there was a SNAKE on this cabinet. I nearly had a come-apart. Since then, I do not mess around if I hear something in this cabinet; I get right on it. So I came inside the other night and announced to The Husband, "THERE'S SOMETHING MOVING IN THE CABINET." This did sound like scampering, though. We set another feta cheese trap. From inside the house, I heard it snap moments later. Every day since then, we've caught a mouse on the back porch. I am beginning to wonder if we're now LURING mice to the back porch.
In any case, take note: Mice cannot resist feta cheese.
