The war on rodents

This is an old post that for some reason never was sent...As things are quiet on the home front, Tigger is still around and other than yours truly playing catcher at Tater's softball practice tonight, there is really nothing exciting to report.  Oh, 1 green bean plant is finally up and I did put in spinach and more beans with Tater's help, as well as a trio of acorn squash.  Think garden is mostly full, there's a little room in the middle, but I'm leaving extra vine room for the pumpkins I can't convince to grow outside the garden.  Bean's next surgery is a week from tomorrow and Dizzy finally got her grips, made it to a gymnastics practice and didn't get to do bars tonight.  Needless to say, she's not a happy camper!

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I sent Dizzy out to feed the dogs last night. 

A few minutes later I thought I heard someone yell so I checked it out.  You can just see our shed on the right-hand side of the picture and this is where we keep bikes, dog food and my gardening supplies.  Unfortunately, this is also where I put a bag of bird seed before the end of summer.  Not the best move, as we have had mice in the dog food barrel before...

So, the shed has a few mice enjoying the bird seed (it no longer resides in the shed) and evidently they attracted a neighbors cat who was lurking underneath the shed, hoping for a quick snack as they snuck out of whatever hole they were in.

So, I look outside and there is Dizzy, racing back towards the house, crying.  I was informed, in between sobs, that something had jumped out at her when she went to open the shed.  I held back the chuckle that threatened to erupt and went out to feed the dogs, where a rotten little mouse was sitting on the shelf right next to the door. 

Onwards to the next day...Trip to Walmart and purchased a pair of d-con boxes.  Put them in the shed, hearing the rustling in the old dog food bags we save for kennel clean-up when it isn't frozen to the ground.  Checked 12 hours later, no d-con left, but definitely some rustling going on.  I know this stuff is bad, don't slay me in the comments, but it works and with the nasty things the mice can carry, I wanted them gone and gone quickly.

Four more boxes of d-con and we had the shed rustle and gutsy mouse free.  I had to clean everything out (with a breathing mask and non-latex gloves) and found (without digging in some of the bags and some garbage that had accumulated) an even dozen. Also found some interesting tools and a sled.  Along with several old sprinklers, garden tools and an old hose.  Guess it was time to clean that bugger out!