Three Blind Mice

Unfortunately the title is not accurate. We have (or had) more than 3 and they were not blind. This adventure started more than a month ago. Kari and Garrett were here and sleeping in the former media room in the basement. They heard the scurrying of little feet. Looking in daylight confirmed their suspicion. Mouse droppings were in many places in the basement. Not good news because the space between the ceiling of the media room and floor above was insulated but had access all along one side. This gave them access to walls above. During their clean up several areas indicated activity. They found 2 traps and set them them in the heavy traveled areas. Monday morning caregiver Cindy called the pest control company. They set out 6 more traps and they plugged up two probable entry spots. Early in the week we had some success. We did not know where all should the traps were but felt good about the 5 we caught. Todd especially liked catching two in one trap. Friday the exterminator found two more in more his trap. By then we should have realized that the 7 trapped meant there were many more including babies. To make a long story short we continued to find more evidence including in pantry and kitchen. By now they were we ignoring the traps too. Something had to be done. Now it Thanksgiving week. Marlene, a friend from Bakersfield, was here. She has a marketing company and and one of her longtime clients is a pest control company. She and Kari spent most of Friday finding and cleaning up droppings all over the basement, pantry, kitchen and even bedroom. Marlene knew about bait houses and other options so offered to call the exterminator Monday morning before she left. The call only resulted in a statement that the manager would call back. As the day progressed with no call I emailed a friend who had a positive experience with a different company. She quickly responded with the information and contacted them to expect my call. They were able to come out Tuesday morning and do what Marlene told us to expect. What about our regular company you ask. The manager did call back on Wednesday. When I told him I had another company working on the problem he asked if he could come out and see what needed to be done to prevent future problems. I I said yes. When he was here he asked caregiver Cindy if I had signed a contract with the other company. She said no. When he came back with several suggestion he made it very clear that there would be no charge since they had dropped the ball. That helped me be willing to stay with them. Now it looks like we are mouse free. There are also more plastic containers in the cleaned out pantry. Caregiver Elisa still checks for droppings. The bowls with nuts for snacking have not been put back out. All the bags with nuts now live in the freezer. I want to remain mouse free.