Eeeek! & Yheeew!

While resting and chilling on the shores of La Conner, Washington, we were lap-topping away on our respective blogs when a rumbling scratching sound came from the area where we have our trash can.

The sound had the ominous and distinctive signature of an animal roaming through the trash.
We both look at each other with the same expression:

-- OM F**** G -- How in hell did some critter get in there?

We went into DEFCON mode with some sticks and brooms in hand...prepared to open the door that hides the trash can and....

A little gray mouse jumped out. It was too small for all that racket, never the less, we started to chase it around the trailer, attempting to push it out of the door.
Eventually our three-stooges like efforts failed and the darn thing jumped into the main plumbing/electrical compartment behind the kitchen counter.

Well...
The good news is that there is only one way out of there as long as we do not open any cabinet or door.
The bad news is that there is only one way out of there as long as we do not open any cabinet or door.

At this point Vicky recalled and recoiled with horror while saying:

"Remember last night, when I woke up saying that I felt that something walking on my head, and you said...'Oh! It was probably a mosquito.' It was that darn mouse!!! Yheew!"

We blocked that access hole and I drove to the nearest hardware store in search of mouse traps.
With my trusty iPhone + GPS MotionX, I found a nearby ACE Hardware store.

There, I was presented with an array of choices for mice doom.
From the classic sprig loaded mouse trap, to boxes that looked like mice inviting condos with chemical poisons inside....hey just like human condos.

I decided to go classic with 4 loaded spring traps, and 4 sticky traps as backups.

Back at the trailer, we baited the traps with cheese and peanut butter (Vicky's Dad's recipe!).
We distributed the traps along the enclosed area behind the kitchen and...waited.

Within 30 min, the little SOB had fallen into one of the sticky straps. We heard the flopping and scratchy sounds right away.

We went to take a look and it was a sad, sorry scene. The poor little bastard was so cute, yet I hated his cute little guts for invading our trailer. And the darn thing was still alive and moving like crazy. I grabbed another sticky trap and put it on top of the mouse. Now it looked like a sandwich, but this allowed me to carry the sorry thing outside and put it out of its misery.

With a sigh of relief we went back to the trailer with plans to deep clean the whole thing with holy water for good measure.

But about 20 minutes later...."snap!!"
The snapping sound came from below one of the cabinets. Huh? Did one of the traps miss-fire or...No! another pinche mouse!

This time we went into panic mode.
Is the whole darn trailer infested? Where are these MOFOS coming from?

That night we peppered the trailer with more traps and slept with the bedroom door closed and sealed underneath with towels.
Vicky was freaked out...and as a joke, in the middle of the night, I ran my fingers over her hair and she jumped pretty good :)
The joke did not have the comic relief effect that I was shooting for.

But the next day, the traps were clean.
We proceeded to deep clean and exorcise the trailer and found no more traces of mice.

We started to figure out how they got in and recalled that we noticed that the Cascade National Park campground was filled with notoriously bad campers...the kind that have open food containers all over the place. In that place, we had a squirrel boldly jump on the steps and into the trailer looking for food. We figure that the same squirrel went and told the mice to come on in.

Anyway...lessons learned:

- Do not hold on to full trash cans inside the trailer for long. Empty them frequently.
- Sticky traps are better than spring loaded ones. You can move the trailer without triggering them

- Keep your trailer door closed, use the screen door.
- Do not be a messy camper. Keep a clean camp and a clean trailer.
- Keep food in plastic containers with lids rather than in boxes.

Sticky trap baited with cheese and peanut butter...deadly!