We have a mouse in the house. Actually, we have mice…lots and lots of mice. Nine as of the writing of this post. Nine. I refuse to be cruel to animals so, naturally, I got a humane mouse trap. May I recommend this one: you can get it for less than $15.00 on Amazon.
The mousetrap does an amazing job catching the mice, and then I go and release them in the woods a few miles from my house. Now, either we have a horrid mice infestation OR these guys are coming back and find this to be a little game. I actually hope they are coming back, and we don’t have a whole colony of mice living under our floor boards. However, I can’t imagine them hanging out in the woods thinking: “What! Kick me out! Who do you think you are? I’ll show you.” And then scurries back to teach me a lesson. Perhaps I should tag them. I find that my bleeding heart only goes so far. The first time I let one go I felt awful that I was taking it away from its family, that it would starve or die of thirst. I felt it would be lonely or scared.
After the NINTH one I am less sympathetic and less ceremonial about it. “Get out the cage. Go. Git. Scram.” I went from being a fairy godmother to Tom from Tom and Jerry
The mice have gotten me thinking about what will one go through for their ethics? Now, mice carry diseases. Lots of them. The worst, of course, is the hantavirus which, according to the CDC is 38% fatal. I obviously would not want Cody to catch that, nor would I want my husband or me to catch it. So at what point do I say, “enough is enough”, and let my husband use poison? Exterminator are expensive…so what are our other options? The idea of using poison is stomach turning to me, but is it a small price to pay for the safety of my family? What about other “pests”? What about the ants that come into the house? Don’t they deserve life? Yet I have no problem, not one, setting out ant traps at the first sight of one. So where do you draw the line? Or is there no line? If I had a house full of diseased rabbits, would I use poison? Of course not! So why a mouse?
Obviously, I am the only lunatic to lose sleep over the well-being of a field mouse.
I just read an article on binkybunny and one of the users suggested peppermint essential oil – which I have…so I might try placing some around perimeter of the house. Fun fact, ants also don’t like it..so win-win.
Moose isn’t a fan of mice situation. Speaking of moose…
I haven’t had a chance to take him to the vet, so his nails are in dire need of a good pedicure. I plan on doing it during spring break. He is becoming a little more friendly with me, would probably be more so if I stopped trying to pick him up. I got to cuddle with him a little the other day. Sleepy bunny.
Not a moose story, but a friend of mine told me a story about her rabbit and how her husband stepped off a ladder and well…the rabbit happened to be right where he stepped. 😮 Poor Pumpkin (that is the rabbits name). They rushed him to the vet, and thankfully he is okay. Probably will stay away from ladders now. I think her husband was more upset than Pumpkin was. But the moral of story is, rabbits are quiet, small and like to be underfoot. I am constantly tripping over Moose, I can’t imagine if he was any smaller. They are quick, so one second there is nothing in front of you and the next, boom! Bunny! So, as I always tell my ten-year old, be mindful of your surroundings when your fur friends are out and about.
In Cruelty free news – Lush
I praised Lush over Christmas and got a lot of my friends various items. I tried a few more that I want to report on.
My husband is currently using their beard conditioner – Kalamazoo – and he loves it. He said it makes his beard nice, soft and shiny. No more hermit of the mountain look. I got a sample of their Ocean Salt face and body Scrub and now I am going to get more because it is amazing. I really feel like all the dirt, oil, and dead skin are being washed off. I will probably only use it once a week though.
We got the Bubblegum lip scrub, that I like…not sure that I would buy again, but it is nice. I follow it up with some chapstick and go to sleep so it works over night. What I am super crazy about though is the Ultrabalm – my sons lips looked so rotten. Chapped, red, peeling, just awful and painful looking. I started using this at night for him and his lips look fantastic. They are pink again which I honestly didn’t think would ever happen. Now, if I keep him from biting them ever again, hopefully they will stay this way.
So, there you have it, meeces, a rabbit with extra long (and painful on bare skin) claws, and some cruelty free items to try! Happy Hopping!
Little moose baby picture! Aww
My Giant Adventure 