MOUSE WARS: AS DAWN NEARS

It is now 4:52 AM and things are finally quiet. For the past few days the small invaders had kept a very low profile, leaving no trace of themselves except for the occasional skittering noise and "presents." Then this morning happened and at around 4:25 I was awakened by some of the loudest squeaking I've ever heard.

I got out of bed, got dressed in anticipation of another pre-dawn disposal and checked all of my current traps. Of course once the lights came on the noise stopped, and I was perplexed to see that the traps were unoccupied. I looked them over thoroughly and figured that the mouse had escaped, so I went back to bed. About five minutes passed before the distinctive "I am trapped" screeching resumed and then I recalled that there may have been a trap left under my stove. Sure enough, I pulled back the stove and found not one, but TWO mice caught on the same sticky platform. In a trice they were bagged and added to the morning's garbage, soon to be hauled away by the city's sanitation officers.

As near as I can figure, including today's pair I have caught around nine mice in the past week. As an old cartoon character once said, "Enough is too much." My project for this week is to take everything off of three large bookcases, move them, gain access to the harder to reach areas of my apartment and hopefully locate the point of entry for the mice. Once found, I will plug the hole with soaped steel wool, seal it over with duct tape and block that over with something solid and heavy. Then I'll call in Father Merrin to perform an exorcism. I've absolutely had it with the little bastards and this verminous guerilla warfare simply must come to a decisive end.