Several weeks ago, I realized that there was a mouse in my house. Well technically not my house, but my garage.

How did I know? The little devil had eaten through the bag of birdseed I store in my garage and made a huge mess. The bag was in a small room in my garage. It looked like he had been at for some time, the bag was decimated and there was birdseed everywhere!

At first, it seemed almost cute. I imagined this almost Disney-like mouse so happy and almost in a birdseed coma as he feasted on 20 pounds of birdseed. I cleaned up the mess and Googled a natural way to get rid of mice. I am an aromatherapist so I knew that there would be a natural way.

Sure enough, I learned that peppermint will deter their presence. So, I made up a bottle of peppermint oil and water and sprayed it everywhere. Things seemed calm for a few days. I was so proud of myself.

That feeling was soon erased when I found that the mouse had gotten into my protein bars. He ate four of them. I now imagined he was mighty mouse. The war had begun.

I went to the hardware store and bought traps that the mouse would go into and never come out. Weeks later they were empty. I wondered, did the mouse get my hint and leave? Then the mouse ate into a bag of peanuts I had bought for the squirrels.

If only we could communicate. I don’t mind feeding the animals, I just don’t want them to eat my food. Also, the thought of a mouse creeping around my house while I was sleeping was creepy.

I called in to the program sponsored by the Big Blue Bug on WPRI, one Saturday afternoon. They told me to go out and buy the old-fashioned snap traps. He said they are tried and true and will work. So off I went, back to the hardware store. This time, it was me against the mouse!

I bought 10 traps. With some help from my friend I set four of them. We used peanut butter as the lure. I put them where my little mouse had been.

The next morning, I went out to look. The difference between these new traps and the first ones I bought was that with the snap traps, the mouse is on the trap, not in a little box. Much to my dismay or delight, the traps worked.

I found out that there were two mice, not one. I ran back into the house. Armed with rubber gloves and a dish towel, I picked up the traps. Clearly rodent control isn’t the job for me. I was grossed out and freaked out!

Now I need to figure out how they got into my house. I’m going to continue to put out traps until I can figure it out. So please, mice, find a new place to live … consider yourselves warned!

You can contact me at SixtiesAndSexy@gmail.com and follow me on www.SixtiesAndSexy.net.