mice

A few weeks ago I found that mice were visiting my apartment. The landlord has had a pest control person come in and set up traps to catch the critters. That as Friday of last week. Its not the first time since its happened before but likely not the end of it unless the landlord makes attempts to plug the entry point that allow mice to enter the building in the first place. All this has been an issue since the boiler on the main floor was upgraded to make it more efficient. I have my doubt on that but that's a totally different problem.

When we first came to Canada in 1957 and settled in southwestern Ontario, we were living in an old farmhouse outside the village of Hensall, near Zurich, northwest of London. I remember getting up one morning and seeing the kitchen full of mice. They were everywhere, on the counters, on the floor and so on. I vaguely remember bring this to everyone's attention.

I don't recall this but my mother told me about my pointing out some lizards in the yard. They were yellow with black spots. Did I say we lived in the country? Its perfectly normal to see such critters when living in the country as opposed to the city.

My mother was a city person born and raised in Berlin, Germany. What finally made her decide that we needed to move was the encounter she and my older half-brother had with a bull while taking a shortcut through a farmer's field after shopping in the village. They ran and jumped over the fence, groceries and all, with the bull in pursuit. I don't know what possessed them to make such a decision of taking a shortcut but the end result was we ended up in London, Ontario.

Anyway, back to the mice. The last home I lived in back in London, Ontario never had mice or any other rodent in the house and that was since it was new in 1968. When I sold the home in 2005, it still hadn't had any rodent issue, so when I have someone tell me that its hard to have a building completely rodent free, its total nonsense. I know otherwise. There's a lot to be said in having windows screened and screens on the chimney flue to prevent animals and birds from getting in the house through falling in the chimney! What are your thoughts? - V