From now on...

... William's going to be checking

his shoes Before he puts them on!

You already know that I go out of my way every evening to Feed table scraps, leftovers and/or any culinary experiments that go awry, to the raccoon and Possum that live in our back yard... And, that we also run through fifty pound sacks of black oil sunflower seeds every couple of weeks because our Eight backyard bird feeders also serve as Grand buffets to more squirrels and Chipmunks than I could possibly count - but Love to watch! Indeed, nothing makes me Happier than to provide food and shelter and to be Surrounded by all the cute, furry and feathered Wildlife we have living here, out in the Country.

But now it seems there's Trouble... Because it seems that my Circle of furry friends is expanding without any deliberate Help from me. I mean, I don't do anything on purpose to Encourage the mouse population living on our property... It's not like I dump the boxes of old cereal outside for the Raccoon hoping that some of the cocoa-Puffs will be enjoyed by the mice too... Nevertheless, it seems the mice have been Helping themselves to the less obvious Foody things we have stored in the garage that is helping them live happily and Multiplying right under our noses. Yup! It's all that bird seed and Suet cakes we keep in the storage room off the garage... How do we know? Because we've recently been finding these tiny piles of empty sunflower seeds in the oddest places around the garage and well, Suet cakes don't unwrap themselves. Perhaps worse, we've found that old Stuffed animals, our ski pants, gloves and piles of knit Hats have also been chewed on by furries hunting for Cushy nesting material. Ut-Oh!

So last Saturday when I asked T to pull out our Luggage from the storage room in the garage and he discovered that his old Army field jacket was also claimed by a mouse, (or four?) for nesting Fluff, he said it was time to get Serious about wiping out this problem.

Wiping out, as in kill them? I asked... Yes! He said. But, don't they make those Live trap thingees that don't kill them? I wondered aloud... Rolling his eyes as he grabbed his truck keys, he answered, Yes, but then what do I do with them, Janet? Give them to You? Look! I'm not interested in starting a Mickey relocation program here, I want to Kill them! Hum... Obviously, someone was more attached to that Field jacket than he's admitting. 

Then maybe he should have hung it Up in the hall closet! I'm just saying...

So fast Forward 48-hours after that conversation to Monday afternoon when William rushes out to the garage to put his Shoes on for work. Yup! You guess it... One of T's tiniest victims must have dined on a bit of killer-mouse-bait before crawling into William's shoe for what turned out to be an Eternal nap! Because that cute little Mickey up there is the one William shook out of his shoe. Kinda looks like he just went to sleep... with his eyes open. Poor thing.

Now, if you ask me I would rather discover little piles of empty Sunflower seeds than to find a deceased Mouse in my shoe. But that's just me! The man I love however, says that when they finish Munching through everything in the Garage they might just Move into the house. And, while I love all God's furry creatures and think mice are kinda Cute, I don't love them That much!

Now, we don't wear shoes in the house, and I keep mine in my Gym lockers out in the garage... But William fell victim to this Unfortunate incident because he Refuses to pick up his shoes and do the same. And, I know that as Icky as finding a dead mouse in his shoe was, I know it's not enough to make William pick up his shoes and put them into a locker! Maybe one day when he's buying his own shoes... But not today.