Critter Caper Update II

I should probably mention that the mouse in our house met an untimely (or was it perfectly timed?) end in our kitchen. We saw him again as he dashed out from under the oven. After inspecting behind the appliance, I discovered an enormous hole in the wall. So, I duct-taped the space between the floor and the oven so he couldn't get back there. I knew he was now behind the dishwasher, so I taped off all points of escape leaving him only one direction--out to the living room near us. I placed the "traditional" mouse trap near the hole between the wall and the dishwasher, the "lethal-but-humane" mouse house trap behind that, and a Tide detergent box trap of my own creation behind that.

A word about the Tide box...

I really should have taken a picture of this thing. It was a simple contraption, but elegantly effective. I basically ripped the lid off of it, looped a string around two slits in the top, laid it on it's side, and ran the string back to a dark spot in the corner of the living room. I then taped the bottom of the box to the floor and put a gob of peanut butter inside the box. The idea is that when he ran into the box, I'd simply pull the string, upending it, and have myself a captured mouse which I would then deposit, intact outside.

Good idea in theory. But I waited silently until two in the morning waiting for the little guy to choose his fate. He out-smarted me, though.

At five in the morning, the question of how long this would go on was definitively answered.

Oh, SNAP! went the lethal trap. Grace grabbed my arm, and I ran out (read: stumbled groggily) to the kitchen.

Poor bastard. I'd really hoped it wouldn't come to this, but the trap had done it's job perfectly. In a way it was almost comical, but this was no cartoon. The little guy wasn't running around with a U-shaped torso, and he didn't have a giant lump protruding from his head, throbbing red in tempo to his heartbeat. No, the trap came down on his neck. His big, black eyes held surprise there, as though his last thought was "Wow, free peanut butt--"

Sigh. Circle of life.