God's creatures

Let me tell you about the mouse...we were warned...Kathy told us before she left for the states that she had seen a mouse in the house. It wasn't until last week that I saw something run past me while I was sitting at the table. I quickly jumped to my feet (which found themselves high in a chair). I was in that look-out position when Dara came in to tell me something. She quickly asked what I was doing standing in the chair, and kindly moved the basket in the corner to see if something ran away from behind it. When nothing happened, she ran off to report to Joel my condition. All I heard in response was laughter.

It was a couple of days later before I saw the wee creature again. This time Joel was with me as it ran across the floor. The search was on for a mouse trap. We do have poison available, but what do you do when the mouse runs behind the huge hutch that is here or into the playroom to die? Who wants to track down a foul smell? I saw what the ants did to a dead moth that landed on the kitchen floor, and I don't want all those ants on a dead mouse. So...we tried several markets and stores without finding a mouse trap (which pleased Dara who thinks killing a mouse is cruel and shows a hatred towards all animals).

Then yesterday...Ruth and I were talking when we heard a rustle behind the hutch in the dining area. We chose to think there was probably a hole somewhere behind the hutch for the noisy little mouse to escape. When, next thing we know, that brave little thing ran along the front of the hutch. Concluding that there was no hole, we decided to use the rat glue we had here at the house. This is a very thick, sticky glue that you put down and when the mouse runs across it - ta da - you've caught yourself a mouse (alive). While we were tearing some flaps off a cardboard box, the brave mouse ran into the pantry. By this point I am freaking out a bit - mostly by the boldness of this rodent to saunter around the house in broad daylight. Ruth thinks it's funny how I'm frightened by it and I was just grateful to not be alone.

Ruth decides she is going to get it. She takes a towel and fills the gap between the pantry door and the floor. She puts a little stool inside the pantry. She kneels on the stool and begins to clear the floor of the pantry. She passes the containers and brooms and bags through a crack in the door. I try to bravely make room outside of the door so she can continue to clear out stuff. But, honestly, the more she took out of there, the further away from the door I was. I couldn't help but laugh at all of this and wished I had my camera.

When she closed the door with a sense of finality, I chose to make sure the kids were okay outside. I felt like a bit of a chicken, but I've never claimed to be brave - not even close. I wasn't really any help from the wrong (but safer) side of the door. I returned after a minute, because I didn't want to seem unappreciative (since I was so very thankful she was there). Ruth was coming out of the pantry saying, "I am not pleased with that mouse!" She repeated this several times. :) Apparently the mouse had squeezed underneath the door despite the towel. We never saw it again, but we became very serious about getting the glue traps set up.

Dara was quite curious about what we were doing until she realized we were planning to kill the mouse after it was stuck in the glue. Here is a sample of the conversation that took place repeatedly between Dara and me...

Dara: "Why are you going to kill it? What did it ever do to you?"

Me: "Mice can carry diseases. I don't want them in the house. I appreciate your love of animals, but..."
Dara: "You don't care about God's creatures! Why don't you love all animals? You could take the mouse and release it outside the compound."

Me: "We'll see what happens after it is caught."

Ruth could not believe how Dara's love of God's animals could extend to mice. Frankly, I'm with Ruth. So last night, before going to bed, after releasing the chameleon back into the wild (who, by the way, was still in the little tree today and Dade has enjoyed him very much), there was our mouse laying in the glue. We sent the kids off to bed after I poked it with a broom stick to see if it was still alive - it was. For some reason, Dara was not at all upset at this point - guess she got it all out earlier - haven't got a clue. Anyway...I went to get one of the boys here to take it outside. He took another flap of box with glue on it and took the mouse back to his house. He wanted to see what would happen. It met it's fate sometime during the night. This morning he told me that he used the extra flap and caught 2 mice at his house!

I don't know that I would recommend the glue method but it did work for us. I know there are some who battle rats on a regular basis. This will probably be my fate in a year or so. I should be grateful that God is easing me into this aspect of life as well, but I just don't like it. Thankfully God has blessed me with Ruth!

p.s. Just an interesting tid bit I learned today about the tooth fairy and Ugandans. They don't have a tooth fairy. When they lose a tooth, they place it on a wall where the rats will run by. During the night the rat will take the tooth and leave money. Maybe that's why she doesn't seem to be afraid of the mouse - it's a mini tooth fairy.