Saturday, August 07, 2010

Fright NIght

Have you ever had something happen that woke you up at night and you were absolutely terrorized with fright? Last night it happened to me . The frightening thing was a mouse. Now I HATE mice-especially at night. They are actually kind of cute looking in the day. At the zoo. But I have an absolute phobia about one running across my body.

We have had signs of them at the trailer at the lake. Earlier this year, Jody saw one run in the trailer by cute little Tate, of all things. In the daylight. I bought a trap and we caught one and I thought that was it. Then we saw a dead one in the bathroom. Oh no, there were more! Must have eaten the poison I had hidden. So I've been suspicious there were more.

Well last night at the trailer I was awakened to the sound of a mouse at 4 in the morning. I sat up straight in my little bed (table that makes into a bed). I turned on the light expecting to see nothing and that it was all in my imagination. Suddenly, a small flash of brown raced from my edge of the sink to the stove area. I gasped. My heart stopped and I was paralyzed with fear. What should I do? Flee? But it was dead dark outside and I didn't want to drive home in the dark two hours away. I threw some sunglasses and chapstick in it's direction that were in reach just to scare it and thought of my options again. Finally I opted to go to the top bunk at the other end of the trailer and wait until daylight. I carefully checked the bunk for mice friends, took my lap top and jumped in. I was way too scared to sleep so I played solitaire till dawn and then went into the tent to get a couple hours of sleep. I woke up at 8:00 and went in the trailer to clean up so I could head home. Nervously, I opened the door. My heart started pounding. I had to do my dishes from last night and put away food on the counter. (Hence, my mouse problem-leaving food out). I was nervous about a mouse running over my feet (talk about heebie geebies!!) so I put my shoes and socks on and because I was scared of touching one, I got out some large tongs that I used to move things around, making sure the villian was gone. I even turned on all the burners of the stove trying to burn him out since I thought he'd headed to the stove area. After getting things ready to go home and, thankfully, seeing no mice, I headed into Weaverville to get ammunition. I got a few mousetraps and some poison and headed back to the trailer. I set out 5 traps and 4 poison boxes. I looked at what I was wearing. I had camouflage shorts on. I laughed-the war was on and I was dressed for it!!

Things I learned:
1. I can't wait to get a new trailer next year.
2. Never, ever leave food out on the counter or leave the dishes to do the next morning.
3. It is amazing how totally frightened, scared to death, a phobia can make you, even if it is super tiny and this one was definitely a baby mouse.
4. Daylight makes things better and makes you braver.
5. I'll be sleeping in the tent the rest of this year and making lots of noise when I am in the trailer.
6. There is a sonic mice repeller that you can order that emits soundwaves that people can't hear but repels the mice. I've ordered two.

Night frights. I hate them.
Mice. I hate them too.

7 comments:

Lindsey said...

mom you are so funny! I'd be freaked out too though.Go pammy, i sure hope you win this war!

Aubree said...

Ew! Toni told me this story yesterday! She knew I would appreciate it because I have a major phobia of mice and rats! Yuck!

I don't blame you for sleeping in the tent the rest of summer!

Jami said...

eeeek! Creepy! Good thing you were in your camos!

Bev and Roger said...

pam, you are so brave! i hate mice too. when we lived in texas and the kids were teenagers we had little micers...my two boys wouldn't even set the traps for me and they (the boys)would run the opposite direction when i had to retreive a dead mouse. i guess they didn't like the thought of killing 'mickey'. i loved reading your post...not that i liked the thot of you being scared, but that we share a'micer' connection

Kasey said...

Mom, that is hilarious! I can totally picture it all. I am so impressed that you set the traps yourself! Go you!!

Rene said...

Pam, after my long day of driving, interview, and a few more "stressers" I had to laugh out loud. Your story also reminded me of a time during grad school when I had a mouse "attack," yes attack my housemates and I in the kitchen one time and we all ended up on counters and tables. It is amazing how scary those little things can be!

Julie said...

Pam even though you told me about it, I loved hearing it again. We are definitely sister cause I would be the same way. I hate mice and frogs like you. I am even scared of dead mice and rats.