The smell became overwhelming. Every time I walked into my house I smelled them. I didn't actually notice the stench anywhere else in the house, just the entryway. Friends thought wet basement. Parents thought stinky garage smell seeping in. I knew. The mice were back and they were living in the crawl space below the entry way. Once you've smelled them you don't forget. The deployment curse strikes again and this time it cannot be ignored.
My parents unscrewed the plywood wall my husband had put up between the closet and crawl space. Whew! Knocked over by the smell. Yup. Mice. My dad saw seeds stockpiled for winter. I saw droppings from their months of late night parties. The crawl space used to have standing water, but my husband fixed the leaks. Now it is a dry, warm party room for a colony of mice. They had gone undisturbed for many months. I hadn't heard them or seen them. They stayed out of my sight. The plywood wall worked so well they hadn't even traveled out into the closet. But then the smell hit and gave them away.
I called the exterminator. He came today and I signed a 3 month insurance plan. Usually its a one time visit and then return visits only if needed. He'll be back.
He looked into the crawl space a little more thoroughly than my parents and I did the other night. He stepped back in amazement. Then he took pictures to show the other exterminators. Seriously. Pictures of the scene might be posted on their website. You know its bad when the experts are taken aback.
He set many snap and glue traps. I vacuumed out the whole crawl space. Then I bleached my vacuum. I am ready for the battle. Or so I thought.
Tonight I returned home to find a mouse in one of the traps in the garage (yup they're in there too). It was still alive and struggling to get out. Not the image I needed to start this battle. Now I'm feeling sorry for them. I wish they could read an eviction notice or peacefully agree to my terms (move out and you don't have to die). I don't want to be a soldier. I hate deployment.
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