Hell hath no fury like a pissed off family of Mice

Ok, I'm loathe to admit, but for the past month, what I originally thought was A mouse but has turned into a gaggle of mice has put down roots and settled into some place behind my dishwasher and kitchen sink. At first, the mouse/mice were respectful of my kitchen needs and only scurried around in the dark. I have to say that more than once I have turned on the light and caused the little creatures to scurry into that little gap between my little pantry and the dishwasher.

But of late, they have been MUCH more brazen. It's as if they decided to see what boundaries they could push and have promptly done so. I went so far as to go to the hardware store and peruse the mice entrapment/killing devices and settled on, at first, these three plug-in things that emit a high-pitched (we humans can't hear them) that apparently drive the mice insane. At first, I could discern a distinct decrease in scattering of little feet and I was hopeful that my fortunes had taken a positive turn. But immunity to the sound emerged and the little ones were back in greater force and brazenness.

So, in talking to my Mom the other day, she reveals to me that the favorite food of mice is rice. UH OH. Guess who has two large bags of rice sitting on the second shelf of his pantry? I first succumb to two or three days of denial and let the situation remain as it was. Until last night. I came into the kitchen and was doing my dishes and then heard the pitter patter of little feet running down the pantry door into the little gap. Enough!!

So I went to the pantry and sure enough, it had been rice buffet for the mice for who knows how long. Just like the vermin that they are, they also used my pantry as their restroom. I took their bottomless treasure trove of rice, tossed it into the trash and then cleaned things up. I then, in a moment of pure spite, tossed a layer of Comet cleaning powder all around the places they would run and where the rice was.

As I hunkered down in an adjacent room, I heard the pitter patter of feet again and probably because I was trying to hear them, it sounded like they were stomping. After a couple hours, I went to the kitchen and on the ground was scattered at least three or four pieces of insulation that the mice must have left as a message for me. So, this morning, I finally set out the traps with peanut butter and declared all out WAR!!!