Over the (H)edge - Conquest of the Verminators

I've been apprehensive about being at home the last day or two....knowing a mouse was probably watching my moves from hidden vantage points. Last night I knew from my dog (who has been sincerely forgiven), exactly where this rodent was hiding. This time it was behind the stove - the dog whined and sniffed beneath the oven. As I did the dishes, I heard the odd little shuffle behind there. I figured he was now probably amongst my baking pans in the bottom drawer of the stove. Ewwww. I supposed it was better than not having a clue where he was hiding. My husband didn't seem to want to tackle getting him out, choosing to rely on the mousetraps.

My daughter called me after 11 pm and I sat in the living room and chatted with her. My son, as is his custom at this hour, began to make supper all over again. He preheated the oven as I continued to chat with my daughter. Then he asked me what pan he should use. I explained he'd have to get one from the drawer below the stove, but to watch out for the mouse who would probably be feeling a little baked by now. I heard him slide open the drawer, then heard him loudly proclaim, "ITS A CHIPMUNK!!". I jumped up and by the time I reached the kitchen, the little critter had run through the kitchen and scampered under the couch in the living room. My daughter was laughing hysterically on the other end of the phone. I put the dog outside, informed my husband we had a chipmunk on the loose, and the Terminators (Verminators?) sprang into action. Hubby got the broom, baseball gloves, and some boxes; son got batting glove and camera phone. I ran around like a chicken, squealing every time this very frightened creature ran by me. My daughter continued to laugh. The game plan was to guide Chips out the front door. By this time he'd run back under the door of the closet (his personal dining room I had discovered... by all the sunflower seed shells I had cleaned out earlier in the evening). We made a wall of shoes and backpacks to prevent him from moving anywhere else, then shooed him out of the closet. So much for the barrier! Chips scaled the wall of shoes in a milli-second, missing me by an inch, and tore down the stairs to the family room. It was a little disconcerting how well he seemed to know his way around the house. I wondered if he'd already checked out the bedrooms, and perhaps explored the kitchen counters. It did explain why my African Violet had been knocked off the plant stand earlier that day! Well, the next half hour was interesting. I provided play-by-play entertainment to my daughter, while the other two tried everything in the book to catch a critter who can move at the speed of light. I had grabbed my camera and stood on the second step to the family room. I couldn't capture a photo as Chips would run from place to place in split-second intervals. Every time he ran by me, he would jump up to the first step and I would involuntarily scream. He would back away and be off to the races again. At last we agreed that since Chips wanted to go upstairs, we'd let him, and block off the kitchen at the top of the stairs. I laid an empty garbage can and a large water bottle in the path. In no time flat, Chips was up the stairs, whisked through my barrier and was back under the stove (as my daughter laughed)! Before long he was once again back in that closet and it was now after midnight. This time, we made the barrier higher and impenetrable with two of us behind it, and my husband scared the critter out of the closet. Finding no escape through the barrier, Chips quickly shot out the front door and off to freedom! I went out to say goodbye to him but he was nowhere to be seen. We were VERY relieved and I was so glad that 'no animals were harmed in this exercise'. I thought of my cousin's story of their experience with a chipmunk in their bedroom and remembering the critter had ended up on her husband's head and he threw it out of a two-storey window...I thought we got off pretty easy! Now the trick will be to find out where Chips got in and make sure he doesn't come back. I mean, maybe he liked it here. Plenty of dog food, water, birdseed, etc. Perhaps he watched TV and ate 'chips' while we were out. He could be telling his family and friends how cool it was, (of course he'll play up the story that he was the hero...) and maybe they are planning a vacation....over the hedge. I had been contemplating taming the other chipmunk, Chip, who lives in my front garden. I had tamed his mother, Chipper, last year and she ended up meeting her fate in a mousetrap in our attic! Maybe it's not such a good idea to be best buddies with wildlife. They just might want to move in permanently....and in that case, there would be no living with our dog!