Something is in the basement

And I am not amused.

I went downstairs with my laundry basket to throw a load of colored laundry in the washer. Had my iPod and buds with me because I figured that while the washer was running, I could hit the treadmill, then throw the laundry into the dryer and finish up on the treadmill. I do that quite often on weekends.

Anyway, I was scrubbing some Wisk into the collar of a white mock turtleneck that has a tendency to get a little dingy sometimes. Figured I'd let it soak in the detergent while the colored load was in the washer. So it was fairly quiet. And I heard rustling over in the corner where we keep the Chrismas stuff (Rick hasn't gotten around to putting the totes back up on the racks). I stopped dead. And listened. There it was again. There's definitely something in the basement. 

Came upstairs and awakened dear Richard, who said, "Yeah" and rolled over and went back to sleep. Brat. So I opened the bedroom window and hit the elliptical instead. 

He finally got out of bed and he's going to go downstairs and see what he can find. We were in and out of the basement yesterday with the recyclables and we think maybe a bunny got inside. But we have to find him, although even when we do, I don't know how we're going to get him back outside. We do have an animal trap that we can set, but that doesn't mean we'll catch him. If it is a bunny. And if there's really something down there (and I know there is!), I'd rather it be a bunny than a possum (they can be evil creatures when they're cornered).

I hate it when stuff like that happens. Totally makes my hair stand on end. Like you, I hope it's something easy to catch and remove.

Problem solved. We think.

A mouse fell into one of our rain barrels that we have stored down there for the winter (we put rain barrels at our spouts at the corners of our house; that way, we're not wasting the rain water from the gutters. We use the water to water the flowerbeds and the gardens). Anyway, Mr. Mouse was trying valiantly to jump his way out of the barrel...he would have never gotten out as the barrel is too big. Rick took the rain barrel up to the back end of the property and dumped Mr. Mouse out. He scurried under the pine trees. 

But where there's one, there are usually more. We'll hit Lowes tomorrow night for some mouse stuff. (And meanwhile, I won't be using the treadmill for a while. Mice give me the creeps.)

Glad that the problem is solved!

Oh, yeah - I love when one of my cats goes to a corner in the basement (unfinished) and stares underneath a shelf or boxes.  

Poor Mousie!  I'm glad he is out of there!  But I wouldn't have touched him either!

A few years ago we were at my Grandparent's staying in the basement and I thought I saw a mouse running around a few times!!  I was not impressed!!  My nearly 90 year old Grandfather had to get it... It turned out it wasn't a mouse; another kind of small rodent like thing. I can't remember what he called it.  I think it was a young one.  There was a small hole in the screen of one of the basement windows inside a window well.  We think he got in through there.  There haven't been any other critters in their house since.  Or before really.  Except the occasional bird in the fire place.  DH and I had an adventure getting one of those out for them before.  I don't remember why DH wasn't the one going after the little thing.  He's usually doing some sort of minor project for my Grandpa.  Grandpa may have just been down there with  us when it came out again...

Years ago, when my son was 7 or so, I was in the basement doing laundry. I was going through jeans pockets (it's truly amazing what one can find in the pockets of a 7-year old little boy sometimes). Stuck my hand in a pocket and felt fur. My not-so-darling son had a dead mouse in his pants pocket!   I don't like mice. At all. I don't hate them, but man, I don't like them. Rick and Graham said they could have heard me screaming on Pluto. And they swear that I cleared the basement steps in two leaps to get back upstairs. Graham said he didn't do it on purpose, he just saw it and thought it was "cool". (Why is a dead mouse cool? Why?)

Anyway, I got upstairs and told Rick there was a dead mouse in Graham's pocket and I WAS NOT TAKING IT OUT! He went downstairs and put said mouse into the trash can. I told him to put the pants in the trash can, too, but he said that was overkill. I disagreed.

And from that moment on, there was a new rule in the house: You check your own pants pockets before you put the pants in the laundry basket. Mom does NOT do pockets. NO way. NO how. NO pockets. (And I kept that rule for years.)

My darling son is now the proud father of a darling son (and darling daughter). On those days when his children have been particularly trying, he has come to me more than once and asked me how I managed to deal with him. I just chuckle and give him a hug.   (But when I'm down at their house and I'm helping out with the laundry....I don't check pockets. It's not in my duties.)

:lol3::lol3::lol3: I love the mouse in the pocket story!

We get mice in the cellar all the time - DH often leaves the door open when he's working in the garden, and "stuff" gets in. The worst was a ball python that got in through a hole in a front window screen. We think somebody dumped it in our cul-de-sac. I didn't know what to do with it, so I put it in a cat carrier and called the police. The poor thing ended up in a shelter in another county. I never did get that carrier back.

Winchester said:

 
Problem solved. We think.

A mouse fell into one of our rain barrels that we have stored down there for the winter (we put rain barrels at our spouts at the corners of our house; that way, we're not wasting the rain water from the gutters. We use the water to water the flowerbeds and the gardens). Anyway, Mr. Mouse was trying valiantly to jump his way out of the barrel...he would have never gotten out as the barrel is too big. Rick took the rain barrel up to the back end of the property and dumped Mr. Mouse out. He scurried under the pine trees. 

But where there's one, there are usually more. We'll hit Lowes tomorrow night for some mouse stuff. (And meanwhile, I won't be using the treadmill for a while. Mice give me the creeps.)

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Maybe you should adopt a cat or two. 

A dead mouse in his pocket!?!  Don't scare me Pam!  Just last week I found a piece of a hot dog in the rubber ring of our front loading washer!  I saw something brown and round and immediately I thought it was a kitty present that had miraculously survived washing.  I was somewhat relieved to find it was a hotdog.  My theory is it came out of the top pocket of DS's overalls.  DH said "So our clothes have now been marinated in hot dog?" 

My friend's mother used to keep a jar with all the money she got out of her son and husband's pockets!  I used to go to their house before and after school while my Mom worked.  I vividly remember the time she found a $100 bill in her son's pocket (There was about a 12 year age gap between my friend and her brother I think.).  You would think after losing that he would have learned to check his pockets.  Nope.  My friend and I volunteered to do some laundry after that.  I think we only ever found some quarters and nickels.

SwampWitch said:

Maybe you should adopt a cat or two. :lol3:

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Just love your comment!!! I am still laughing. Just what Pam needs - another cat or two! (maybe three?)

SwampWitch said:

 
Maybe you should adopt a cat or two. 

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I told Dear Richard what you said. He was not amused in the slightest.   He said that the cats we have now don't earn their keep!

I was in the basement on Monday morning on the treadmill and didn't see anything. Didn't hear any rustling either. But I was looking around very warily the whole time.   And as soon as I got off the treadmill, I hiked myself back up into the living room.

We get mice in the basement often....they're the little field mice that come through the smallest holes. We thought we had things tightened up in the basement, but evidently not. Although we still think he came in on Saturday when we were messing around, taking the recyclables out to the truck. Rick said he had seen tiny paw prints in the snow on the basement steps, so it was probably the mouse. I'm just glad he got out alive.

On occasion, the mice get upstairs into the house, but we haven't had a mouse upstairs in years now (probably because of the cats). Hydrox, The Old Coot, was famous for his mouse adventures and I can tell you some stories about that boy and his mice. Oy. The cats we have now, I honestly don't know what they'd do if they found a live mouse. I'm sure that between them, they'd be able to catch it. But the way the girls are, they'd spend their time arguing over who was going to catch the thing and, meanwhile, the darn mouse would be looking for the best place to hide!   

The neighbors would have heard me screaming. :nod: I can't stand mice or snakes.