a mouse in my house
there is a mouse in my house
there may be many mice in my house
but that does not rhythm, so I say house rather than hice
and mouse rather than mice

how do I rid my house of this mouse?

with children and dogs I had to think what I could do?
snap traps, live traps, poison, or repellant
pet snake or pet owl as the dogs are clearly useless on this one
oddly I opted for poison rather than traps
banning children and dogs from the basement
the boys are quite clear that there is poison in the basement
even if it is hidden and tucked in little holes
the boys are banned from the basement

the mouse activity had decreased
several oif the mice are now deceased
found one dead... tossed it in the trash
seems like I can smell one dead... can not locate it as of yet
and
last night I managed to catch a little mouse with a dust pan and a broom
as I moved out the back door to the alley I weighed what to do
lisa and the mouse squeeked in harmony
the boys chimmed in with interest and delight
I ran up the dark wet stairs on the back deck
with the dust pan in one hand
a small hand broom in the other... pinning the little mouse to the pan
in an effort not to crush the little mouse as I aimed to let it be a mouse relocation plan to my trash can
I dropped the little guy in the back yard headed to the alley
hope he does not find his way back into my house

that said....
what is the ethic?
no matter how it is done
I want that mouse out of my house
not that I want the mouse dead
but
I do not want the mouse in my house
if the mouse were to be killed, I would want no blood on my hands
I did not want to crush it with my bare hands or the even the broom
but
had a toilet been closer I would have flushed it
for some reason the swirling water seems like a painless way for them to go
less audible squealing I guess

well...
now it is time to clean the basement and patch the mouse holes
hopefully I have cleared my house of the mouse problem
at least for this winter