Catching Porky

Perplexed, yet relieved.

2005-11-29T15:04:00.000-05:00

I checked on my mousetrap again this morning to find it shut (finally!). I fully expected to feel something moving inside it when I retrieved it, but nothing happened. Dreading a repeat of Thanksgiving, I took it out to the back parking lot praying there was something alive inside to release happily back into nature. Like a total girly-girl, I unsnapped the lock on it, and poked at the door with my mittened hand hoping to open it and jump back before anything came running out. Luckily, and also unluckily and the same time, nothing surprised me. Not wanting to look, I tried shaking the contents out onto a pile of leaves, but nothing was budging. Finally biting the bullet, I looked inside to find it empty. So how did it close on its own?

I'm a murderer.

2005-11-25T09:11:00.000-05:00

I have been falsely assuming all along that the thing in my attic is a chipmunk since that's what I found running around my bedroom. On the off chance that it was something smaller (since the trap was never triggering), I set out a small humane mousetrap. After days of the food not being touched and getting nothing on video up in the attic, I assumed the guest was gone. I forgot about the mouse trap for a few days until Thanksgiving when I went to retrieve it only to find it shut and the thing inside not moving. Turns out, Porky wasn't so porky afterall.

I feel absolutely awful. I know people kill mice everyday and I was trying to do the right thing by using a humane trap, but it's only humane if you're responsible enough to check it regularly. I didn't and I killed a mouse. The mystery is solved, and I know what I'm dealing with, but I feel awful for forgetting about the trap. Now I check it every few hours and I don't leave it up there if I'm going to be gone for 24 hours or more. I haven't caught anything since, but that's because any other inhabitants of my attic probably know what happened to their friend.

Empty Nester?

2005-11-22T13:49:00.000-05:00

Either Porky is extremely camera shy or he moved out. I've been leaving my video camera running for 3-hour intervals in hopes of catching a glimpse of whatever is haunting my attic. I left more peanut butter and I even sprinkled some sunflower seeds on the floor outside of the trap. As of last night, he hadn't touched the food in about 48 hours. Maybe he left on his own. Maybe he was running through all of the attics in the building and one of my neighbors poisoned him.

Completely creeped out now

2005-11-20T14:10:00.000-05:00

After giving up on Friday, I left the trap shut with the Brazil nut still tied to the trigger inside. I went to bed that night listening to the pitter patter of little feet on the attic floor and the occasional sound of something bumping into the trap. I thought, "Serves you right. Can't get in there to get the food now, can you?"

So I leave Saturday afternoon and return today with the brilliant plan of leaving my video camera up there just to see what this thing is and how it's escaping every time. I find the trap, still closed the way I left it, but the string has been severed and the nut is now sitting free in the trap. The hole I nailed through it to run the string through has been widened by something, and the nut feels a bit moist like something has been licking it. What is this thing? It must have pretty long arms to reach inside the trap and get the food close enough to eat it at all.

Screw it

2005-11-18T22:59:00.000-05:00

After shoving sunflower seeds under the trap beneath the nut tied to the trigger, he finally set off the trap but there's nothing inside. I am so done. I give up. He can live here.

Plan B

2005-11-18T07:29:00.000-05:00

The sunflower seeds worked on one level: I got the trap to trigger. I heard it slam shut right before I went to bed last night. I skipped over to the attic door expecting to meet my roommate finally only to find an empty cage with half the bait gone. Encouraged, I tried this method again. Now it's morning and the bait is all gone with the trap still set. Porky is a smart one.

Plan B: Nailing a hole through a Brazil (?) nut and tying it to the trigger. If this fails, I'm thinking about super gluing the bait to the floor under the bait tray.

Sunflower Seeds

2005-11-17T18:48:00.000-05:00

I have reset the trap and shoved sunflower seeds underneath the bait tray and in the little hole on top. If he comes from under, hopefully, it will tip the bait tray enough to trigger the door. You're going down f*cker!

New Hope?

2005-11-17T14:17:00.000-05:00

I did some poking around on the internet at lunch and found this posting in Google groups about tying the bait to the trigger so they can't just walk in and out. Maybe if I wrap it around the bait tray, so no matter which direction he pulls, something will happen?

I found another posting about stuffing sunflower seeds into the tray and under it, so they may jar the cage more. I am armed with a bunch of shelled nuts and sunflower seeds now.

If that doesn't work, I'll glue the nuts to the bait tray. Then again, maybe Porky has become partial to peanut butter and won't like the nuts.

I give up.

2005-11-17T07:15:00.000-05:00

He has outsmarted me again. I just don't get it. I want to run an extension cord up into the attic now and leave my video camera to record just so I can see what the hell is happening everytime Porky does his eat and run routine.

Porky got cut off this morning. I didn't leave anything for him. I was too mad.

Desperate Measures

2005-11-16T22:35:00.000-05:00

Now I've enlisted the help of my boyfriend. Having come home from a long day of work and rehearsal fully expecting my new one-door method to have worked, I'm extremely pissed off and annoyed when I find things the same as always. The food is gone and the trap is still set.

We look at this thing again. Could he be reaching over the bait tray and licking off the food without putting any weight on the trigger? I set it again with the back door shut, and this time, I put the peanut butter on the bread and shove it all the way to the back of the cage by the back door so this thing will have to make two trips over the trigger. It has to work right?

Starting to Become Discouraged

2005-11-16T07:30:00.000-05:00

I find once again that the trap hasn't been triggered and ALL of the peanut butter has been licked clean from the bait tray. And what's even better? He has left me a big pile of poop right on the bait tray. Clearly, he was standing right on the freaking trigger. That's his little calling card. He's all like, "Thanks for the food beotch! You just keep trying to catch me!" I now fondly refer to my furry friend as Porky, because I'm sure he's going to be getting a little bigger with all of these high calorie meals of peanut butter he's getting. I'm starting to get angry.

I think, "Why am I setting this thing with both doors open? Why not close one, and make him come in from the side that more easily triggers?" I do just that, smothering the bait tray with peanut butter again. I test it out several times so I know I'm not crazy and leave it in the attic once again.

I can't lose? Yes I can!

2005-11-15T17:30:00.000-05:00

My brilliant idea wasn't so brilliant afterall. I come home to find the peanut butter half gone and each and every almond slice has been carefully picked out leaving little holes. I analyze the trap to see what could possibly have gone wrong. Having since found additional instructions that were on a printed piece of paper inside the box the trap came in, I'm sure I'm setting things according to the directions. However, this doesn't make sense to me. This way, it takes a lot of pressure to trigger the trap and the animal would really have to come in from one particular side. I reset the trap my way, which is a slight variation on the right way which seems to require less pressure to trigger. My violin lesson calls, so I have to leave and check it later.

Drive Through Food

2005-11-15T07:30:00.000-05:00

I check the trap first thing in the morning. It hasn't been triggered, so I think my new friend has gone away. Upon looking more closely, the bait is completely gone. Not a crumb is left. O.k. I can't be craftier than this. I smother the entire bait tray with peanut butter and shove some almond slices into it so this thing will have to dig and put pressure on the trigger. I can't lose right?

You've got to be kidding me.

2005-11-14T22:35:00.000-05:00

I'm enjoying my rodent-free bedroom and watching some quality reality-TV programming when I hear something skitter across the ceiling above my bed. My cat hears it too and follows the sound with her eyes. Without a properly working flashlight, it takes a phone call for some encouragement and some nerves to open the attic door and pull down the stairs to take a look. I set the new trap with bread and peanut butter and leave it by the attic opening.

Dad to the Rescue

2005-11-11T21:00:00.000-05:00

After calling my father hysterical that this thing has gotten in and out of the trap and is now running around my room, he comes over and spends 2 hours of his day off from work trying to catch this thing. Turns out, the trap is the wrong size. The hardware store exchanges it and gives us the next size up. My dad catches my new pet in 15 minutes with this new trap and sets him free in the back parking lot. My house is safe again. :)

Hopes Crushed

2005-11-11T12:30:00.000-05:00

I come home at lunch to see if I caught my critter. At first glance, the trap has moved and the doors are shut so I'm thinking there's something inside. But no. The food is gone, and the chipmunk is nowhere to be found. There's this sinking feeling as I realize that it could be anywhere in my room. Anywhere. I'm standing there wearing nothing on my feet but nylons and I start imagining this thing skittering out from under my bed and attacking my toes. Not long after, that particular fear is replaced with a more horrible and jarring reality when I part my window curtain only to meet my friend at eye level as he freaks out and scurries along my window ledge to the other side away from me. After screaming and almost peeing my pants, I calm down and take a good look at him.

He's cute....when he's not moving.

Trap is Set

2005-11-11T08:10:00.000-05:00

I decided to buy a Havahart trap at the local hardware store. Mind you, I had to look up their hours on my computer while this chipmunk was about 3 feet from my legs still hiding behind the desk. Luckily, it was too scared to budge. I purchase my trap, and take it home with high hopes of solving my problem quickly. Problem Number One: The printing on the box is such bad quality that I can't really see how to place the rods to set the trap. I figure it out on my own and test it a couple of times. I lovingly smother some peanut butter on some bread, and place it on the bait tray. I put the trap in my room, shut the cat out, and leave for work feeling very optimistic.

Addendum

2005-11-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

It's not a mouse like I thought. Upon looking at it curled up, it's a chipmunk. Even more gross.

Why is my cat going nuts?

2005-11-11T06:30:00.000-05:00

After spending all night waking up to loud noises and shooing my cat out from under my desk (thinking she is trying to sleep on my powerstrips where it's warm), I wake up enough to realize I hear a squeaking in my room. My cat, undeterred by my reprimands, is glued to a spot under my desk. I finally get down on my hands and knees (like an idiot) with my flashlight and run it under the heat register only to find something peeking back out at me. Gross.