9 dead mice, 9 dead mice, see how I run....

I promise she is usually much more stylish than this.. such a good sport!

So as long as I have lived in UT which ok, is only 2+ years (this is my 3rd winter here) there was talk of mice around the neighborhood, but none really to speak of in my house. We did catch one in the garage about a year ago. However, nothing could have prepared me for what I found this year! It all started when my mom was out here to stay with me. She was in the basement bathroom and saw a mouse run in front of her while she was on the toilet (hope she doesn't care I shared that bit) she came upstairs freaked out-- it was funny sight :). We put out a trap-- one of those metal and wood old fashioned kind. Well it didn't trip, but the mouse ate it CLEAN of the peanut butter I put on it. So then I ran out and got some more traps all different kind and placed those strategically around-- still nothing! Too smart of a mouse I guess. So we left town for Thanksgiving and came back to find food was gotten into everywhere in my cold storage room. I really didn't loose that much, a couple bags of chocolate chips and a bag of crackers. I went out and bought plastic containers to put everything inside of. The only thing out was a bag of wheat that didn't quite fit inside a bucket- it was in a burlap type plastic bag. I folded it up really tight and placed it on top of a bucket until I could buy another bucket for it. Well eventually did catch that mouse and disposed of it MYSELF, while on the phone and humming a primary song :). We remained mice free for a few weeks until all heck broke loose! I was walking down to the cold storage to get Sam some cereal he wanted. As we walked he said "Is there a mouse mom?" and I told him not anymore we had caught it, but a shiver kind of went through my spine, like "Um why would you say that Sam?" I opened the door and didn't even walk in because right in front of me is a TON of mouse poop trailing out from between two buckets, one of which had the bag of wheat that they had no problem getting into. I had left traps out just in case and decide to see why it hadn't caught these guys. I was about to go grab a trap and check it out when ....... (are you nervous).... I caught a glimpse on a lower shelf a sticky trap with mice on it. I ran screaming! There were two, a mom and a baby, whom she led to its death :(! The bit about the mom leading it to its death was a nice addition to the story from my friend. This is where my friend comes into the story. She is the one in the picture and she's awesome. I called her and said "Um, hi mam... Is this the mouse hotline?" She said it indeed was, so I shared my problem with her. Her service was good because she came quickly and dressed professionally, disposed of the mouse with great humor and stayed to visit with me as well! She also came later that day (each time wearing that snazzy mask) because I caught 2 more mice! I also called the mouse hotline next day when I caught one more mouse and it was still alive on a sticky trap! That was just too much for me to even think about doing myself! So we were at a mouse count of 5 now. A day goes by and now I'm out of traps. I finally got some more and put them out. I checked later nothing. Then I remembered I had put a sticky trap in the bathroom and decided to check if it caught anything other than spiders.... there were THREE more baby mice stuck to it! I disposed of those MYSELF while on the phone with the mouse hotline and singing 3 blind mice! Not one of my fondest moments. It was one crazy week, one mommy mouse and SEVEN babies, but we have been mouse free for a good few weeks now. I need to figure out where they are getting in!