30 Nov 2007

"There's no mice in Norway"

Moi to Mike - last year, after discovering suspicious signs in our cold room.

Translation: There are mice in Canada. And why do we live in Canada? Because one of us is Canadian. So, who's to blame for this mouse situation ? That would be...YOU.

I'll admit I was slightly wound up and possibly freaking out a tiny bit - I don't do well with rodents, so I'd had better days. You know, mouse-free days.

It didn't help matters that the mouse (mice?) appeared to have been making itself at home for a while. Who knew that a little thing like that - and possibly its extended family - can produce that many turds? It is D.I.S.G.U.S.T.I.N.G.

Mike got rid of the mouse. I do not know the details. All I can tell ya is that he came up from the basement with a plastic bag the next day. From a quick glance, I could tell the bag wasn't empty. [Shudder].

For the next many weeks, I avoided going down to the basement to exercise before he'd checked the many, many traps set up in the cold room. Just in case a tiny rodent - attached to a trap - was able to jump through the door from the cold room, across the play room and into the rec room, to scare me.

And there you have it, my friends. The true story of how we ended up in Norway for the year. We were chased out of Canada by a - deceased - mouse!

All righty, then, that may be a slight exaggeration. Perhaps we had planned this trip to Norway for years. But you have to admit - the timing was good! A year in mouse-free Norway.

Cue the happy music.

So, imagine my gobsmacked self when I heard a radio announcer declare this to be a particularly bad year for mice...in Norway.

What?!??!

(For a fleeting moment I thought I saw that look in Mike's eyes - the I TOLD YOU SO look. But I can't be sure, and he wisely didn't comment.)

I immediately consoled myself that this infestation was primarily a problem in southern Norway. Not where we are. We are in the south-east region of Norway. Really, mostly east. Just a little bit south.



Except that last night, while reaching under the sink to retrieve the compost container, to my horror, there they were.

Stop the happy music, start the Twilight Zone theme song.

The T.U.R.D.S. There was a mouse in the house. In Norway.

I say was because as of this morning, it is no longer. Also gone is my confidence that nothing lives in Norway but Norwegians and mosquitoes. Apparently, mice can live here, too.

PS: While Michael Moore clearly hasn't heard about the infiltration of rodents, the UN must have, as they just demoted Norway to the world's second best place to live. I'm considering moving to Iceland.

PPS: Special note to our friends now living in our house: Don't worry. We did get rid of that mouse, and forever sealed off the cold room from any outside access (why take chances?). It is now a warm room. Really. You're fine.

54 comments:

Badness Jones said...

Oh baby! I feel your pain....as previously discussed I am a big wuss about mice. Once when Princess was a baby I was at my mom's house, alone, without a car, and I heard a sound in the kitchen...a mouse! trapped in the sink! I took the baby upstairs and sat, whimpering, on my mom's bed until she got home from work and got rid of it. I still get the shakes just thinking about it....yuck. Poor you.

Badness Jones said...

It was winter, and my parents live in the country. If there had been anywhere to walk too, I'dve been outta there!

The Lady Who Doesn't Lunch: said...

I feel your pain and disgust. We never had mice until we moved to Michigan. I'm getting jaded now because I don't shudder every time I open the cabinet under my kitchen sink.

I long for the innocent days when I was less informed about mouse traps.

Good luck!

thirtysomething said...

HAHAHA!
Yuck. Mice should be erradicated off the earth. I mean, what purpose do they actually serve?
Once, I had one crawl out of a drawer of the desk i was sitting at. IMAGINE my horror, AND I was pregnant. Just yuck.
Mice be gone!

LoriD said...

Ew. We have a mouse/mice in our house. I've never seen the mouse, just the evidence and it never fails to spark a bleach-infused cleaning frenzy. Blech.

Kat said...

What is with all the mouse problems this year. We had a family of mice living in our basement eating our birdseed. My husband promptly bought trap (live traps upon my insistance) and got rid of them, also plugging up the hole in our garage where they were getting in. I acutally think mice are cute (used to have them as pets, even) but just don't want them running around in my house. Thankfully we have not had a problem since.
Hope your mouse situation ends well. Good luck. :)

Christie said...

I cannot stand animals, bugs, insects, or spiders. They're just wrong. Someone remind what good they provide to our planet? NONE.

Keeping It Real said...

Ewwww, the very idea of mice makes me shudder. We had one in our garage a few months back, but it's long gone (dead) now.

kim-d said...

Okay, Heidi, 'fess up...is your family responsible for the mouse problem in Norway? Did you bring little Canadian mice WITH YOU to Norway? HAHAHA! One day in early fall, I saw the neighbor cat outside in his front yard, playing joyfully and having a jolly old time. I looked closer and he was playing with a MOUSE. He literally PLAYED the thing to death. Mouse torture. Which they deserve. I'm glad my two cats are wussy indoor cats that wouldn't know what to do with a mouse if they saw one. Which they won't--cause I'm never gonna have one in my house. RIGHT? Please say RIGHT!

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

I, too, feel your pain and utter disgust. Mice make me ... nervous and frantic. Hope the traps work my friend!!

TheOneTrueSue said...

Oh, I HATE mice. I never saw one in real life until we moved to Utah. We were renting a house and I was up nursing my newborn and something RAN ACROSS MY FOOT. That's the loudest I've ever screamed in my life. We moved out two days later. It was horrifying.

hokgardner said...

We had rats infiltrate our garage. The theory is that they came from the woodpile. If you think a mouse is bad, try opening the garage door to take laundry out to the washer, only to see a rat staring back at you. For weeks, even after husband promised he'd eliminated the rats AND the holes they were coming in through, I'd make a lot of noise before opening the door to the garage, just to give the rats time to scatter.

Mighty Morphin' Mama said...

Oh! Heidi! I am so feeling your pain as well! We had a mouse this spring as well, I was sitting down at the computer and I saw something out of the corner of my eye, looked over and there was a tail going under the basement door. I screamed blue murder, "EEEEEE, it's a, um, lizard! Gecko! uck! aaaaaaa!"
My dh came down to see if I was okay and I told him and then admitted that yes, maybe it was just a mouse.
Your mapping of SE vs. S Norway had me loudly guffawing!

Unknown said...

Oh, you girls!! I think mice are adorable. I used to feed the cute little white ones to my snake.
gotcha.
Actually, no animals freak me out. Last year I cut a hole in the wall of the bedroom, reached in and pulled out a field mouse, then let him go in the garden, after playing with him for a little while.
The year before I killed 3 mice by supergluing roasted peanuts to a snapping mouse trap in the pantry.
I think I am a bad bad girl- who might need to go into pest removal.

She She said...

Ick. Mice.

My MIL has mice. While at her house for Thanksgiving, Nora (my 4 y.o.) reached her hand under the couch and pulled it out with a mousetrap attached to her thumb. Luckily, the skin wasn't broken so we didn't need to rush to get a tetanus shot, but still. Even after lots of hand washing... ick.

I suppose it could have been worse. She could have pulled her hand out with a mouse attached.

I hope your rodent visitor was a solo traveler.

Kyla said...

Oh no! Very funny story though. The mice must have been confused and wandered up and over a little too much. That is the only explanation for them breaking the barrier between SOUTHERN and South-eastern Norway. Purely a directional issue.

Valarie said...

You are so funny. I seriouly dislike mice as well. I shudder reading about them. We haven't had to deal with any of them in our house here in Florida, (uh-oh, did I just jinx myself??) but I think that is probably because they all get eaten by the snakes that keep managing to get in!

Julie Pippert said...

I am LOL. Just throw in the towel and call the pros right away. They'll fix it right up.

And I admit I was all Wha...?!?! no mice in Norway? No way. Do not believe it.

Those people were sailors. They brought back all sort of infestations, I'm sure.

;)

LOL

And GL!!

Julie
Using My Words

sandy shoes said...

Sadly, there is never just one mouse. Like a dog never has just one flea.

Hmm. Borrow a cat?

Mice will sometimes nest in the air vent of my car. Then when I turn on the fan, it essentially purees them. Which smells nice, as you can imagine.

Sorry.

the dragonfly said...

Mice...yuck!

I think we'll be okay most of the time, though, because we have three kitties. They've never caught anything before (they are indoor kitties) but I think if there was a mouse they'd get it.

Oh, I take that back. Éowyn is a fabulous fly hunter. ;)

Lisa said...

Ewww. Ick. Double Ick. I loved your funny map, but all the mice talk has me cringing. I hate them. We had them so bad one winter in the attic at our old house it took me forever to be able to walk into a room and not think I saw something scurrying out of the corner of my eye. Luckily, our new house has been (I think) mice free since we've lived here, but whenever I pull our the fridge to clean of move a pile in the garage, I still always expect something to scurry away.

There is something wrong with a rodent that can leave a person scarred for life.

TSintheC said...

Cats. Does Norway have cats?

And that is *so* obviously south-EAST Norway. Big EAST, little south. geez.

Kellan said...

Heidi - this was the cutest post and you already know how I feel about mice!! I loved the "Twilight Zone" song - nice affect, I literally heard it in my head. Have a good weekend. See you soon. Kellan

Melanie said...

See, I had Norway all idealized: strapping blond people walking around clean, well-designed streets with their all their HEALTH CARE and DISPOSABLE INCOME and now I read THIS with the Norwegian rodents and their scat and....I don't know. The dream is dead, I guess.

(Thanks for stopping by the BeanPaste. And I like your blog, too. You're funny!)

Karen Jensen said...

Hi. Thanks for stopping by my blog. So sorry about the little rodents. It is a cliche, but cats do work. Can you tolerate cats?

Melissa said...

Never had to deal with mice, but we have so many deer in my neighborhood that I consider them rats on stilts. And coyotes. Can't forget the coyotes. Although mice/rats are icky, I think I would prefer my pets to eat the wildlife, not the other way around.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back here!

Aliki2006 said...

Ack!

We seem to always end up with a mouse in the house wherever we go--our luck.

Rima said...

Eeek! Eeek! Eeek!

I started twitching just *reading* about Mickey being brought upstairs in a zip-lock bag!

onthegomom said...

EWWW Mice! I am with you, I see nothing wrong with moving out of Canada due to the mouse (which I am sure it was mice...) I am so scared of mice!

Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting!

chichimama said...

I have two cats who are VERY good with mice. We moved into a mouse infested house about a year ago, and we have been mouse free for about 7 months. They're yours for the low low price of a translantic flight and a visit from me...

Jennifer (Jen on the Edge) said...

I hate rodents. I'm now shivering and twitching with disgust.

Barrie said...

I hear you! I can't stand mice!! But before you move to Iceland, really, truly check out their rodent situation. Just in case. Wishing you many mice-free days. Okay, years!

familymclean said...

Ack! We had that problem in one of our houses and in the old cottage. I was tramatized at first. Had many nightmares, but now I can stomach seeing my dad or a bro bring out their trap line from the crawl space under the new cottage. As long as they are not where I live I am ok.

carrie said...

You need a cat! Quick! :)

Candy said...

Now, what if that mouse had stowed away in your luggage when you left Canada, and you are solely responsible for the new growing mouse population in Norway.

It could be you than bumped Norway to number 2 on that list!

You must feel heady with the power!

Shan said...

I am such a wuss when it comes to rodents. that is 100% Mike's area. He actually caught two this week. Thanks Zebby the cat, for nothing. It's just so gross I can't even stand it. Next on the list is to finally plug up that hole that's letting them in.

Anonymous said...

Vivid memories of a girl scout camping trip: the scout leader waking up with a mouse nibbling on her ear. Scared for life.

Heidi said...

We sometimes get fielm mouse or two trying to live in our basement for winter and my hus takes care of them(kills them in traps). I am in Vermont which suspiciously close to Canada...

MadMad said...

hahahahha! I so feel your pain. Man, those guys poop and poop and poop like there's no tomorrow. We get them occasionally. (Sadly, it actually gets easier to say.) In any case, it's the main reason I stay married: mouse wrangling. Can you imagine if you had to do it yourself?! Yikes!

morag said...

Maybe it was a mouse that caused the pipe to burst in your house!

Jennifer said...

I'm really not a squeamish person, but...MICE!! EEK!!! I. just. can't. deal. *shudder*

(I am cracking up at your map though - ha!)

Holly Muppet said...

Squeak! Get yourself a kitty, that'll fix 'em.

Cathy, Amy and Kristina said...

Believe me, I understand the rodent-ick-factor.

Do NOT like liberty-loving mice, no sirree.

Stomper Girl said...

I love your map, so funny. I am a chair-jumper when I'm in a confined space with a mouse, and due to the lack of felines in our lives at present AND the holes in the cupboards AND the compost heap outside (good for recycling, save the planet, unfortunately they are also a perfect nest for the little rodents) my partner has had to become an expert mouser. The great mouse-slaying of 2006 saw the score at Fixit 17 mice nil.

I hope those mice stay out of south eastern Norway. Pests.

Lisa said...

Whoa baby! With 45 comments you definitely don't need the recognition, but I think you are a great blogger, so head over to my blog and pick up your award! And don't bring any mice with you.

Anonymous said...

Poor you! We have mice every year in the loft so I sympathize completely. We have also had them in the storeroom a couple of times where they ate holes in all the packets. Yuck!

Cindy D. said...

Have you seen the movie Ratatouille? In one of the early scenes when the colony (?) of rats comes streaming from the attic, I was so creeped out. Ugh.

Hopefully you're mouse problem was just a fleeting one.

painted maypole said...

when I was a camp counselor Iknew we had a mouse in my cabin, and didn't really worry about it much until i saw it run across teh beam OVER MY BED and then could only think about it dropping little turnds on my face in the middle of the night.

which is never did. I'm pretty sure,anyways.

Christy said...

I am sure it has been said by now, but ew ew ew! My skin is crawling.

Karen MEG said...

We had mice in our basement too... and here I thought we were the only ones in the neighbourhood. The first traps Ian put in were the humane kind, and of course they MOCKED him... chewed around the trap, somehow still got the cheese. Didn't get caught.
Don't mock my husband, mouse.
He came back with big guns, REAL trap, got him. It was a tiny mouse, but a mouse still the same. Shudderrrrrr!

Ice Cream said...

My FIL had mice, my SIL in had cockroaches. Luckily, I've only had to deal with ants. I can handle ants. Mice and cockroaches give me the heeby jeebies.

Victoria said...

I'm strange - mice don't bother me all that much. I hate their turds, but squirrels scare me more. And pigeons. And seagulls.

Suburban Correspondent said...

Boy, could I tell you mouse stories. There are a bunch on my blog, but I have even more.

And please, what is a "cold room"?

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