Mysterious Chew Marks

When we put an offer in to buy our house, we also had an inspection done. The man who came to do the inspection was an energetic fellow, and we found it difficult to keep up with him as he burrowed through snowdrifts and scurried up ladders to inspect the place. While he was in the attic, he noticed the signs of "rodent activity" amid the insulation. He recommended that we look into it, to see if these signs were current, or from previous years. That was nearly five years ago.

A few times in the last few days, we've heard the sounds of little feet scampering around in the attic, just above our bedroom. This served as a slightly more pressing reminder of the advice we had received from the inspector. Still I didn't go up to investigate.

Perhaps I didn't bother going up there because I don't have a step ladder, or because I was already in bed and I'm lazy, or because it's dark up there and I'm a wuss. Whatever the reason, I had not bothered to take any action yet.

That is, until we found the mysterious chew marks this morning.

As I was leaving for work, R grabbed a box of her trademark Bite Size Brown Sugar Frosted Mini Wheats from the cuboard next to the fridge. She noticed that something had been chewing on the top of the box, leaving a mess of cardboard in the cupboard.

For someone who freaks out about spiders, R handled it rather well. Mainly she just grimaced and threw furtive looks at the cupboard door. Then she poured herself a bowl of Mini Wheats and ate her breakfast. The "rodent activity" had not progressed far enough to compromise the quality of the cereal. Perhaps it was repelled by the BHT which was put into the packaging to ensure freshness.

I put the cereal boxes on top of the fridge for safekeeping, and we resolved to go to Canadian Tire after work to buy something to defend our foodstuffs. I have little experience with mousetraps -- except for snapping my fingers in one I found at my grandpa's house -- so we asked for some help.

An employee, who looked too young to speak so authoritatively on the subject, walked us through their extensive inventory. He recommended a glue trap, in which the glue is mixed with a scented flavouring that acts as bait. There were two sizes available, but I decided that the mysterious chew marks only warranted the "mouse" version, instead of the "mouse, rat and snake model".

I placed the trap in a strategic location, between the spaghetti pot and the Belgian waffle iron. I did this because I saw a few mouse droppings back there, as well as some more mysterious chew marks on an oven mitt nearby. I think this mouse doesn't stand a chance, unless he was around when I was laying the trap and figured out what I'm up to.

Since the package we bought comes with two glue traps, I decided to climb up on a stool and stick one up in the attic.

You see, this rodent activity has gone too far. You just shouldn't mess with R's Mini Wheats.