There's a Mouse in the House :(

Its seems we have had a visitor.  Katie had been interested in the drawers a bit ago, but that never panned out. I put out the traps, and nothing was ever caught.  Then last night - gang busters!!  It sounded like large rats on the roof - or above the ceiling, I wasn't sure which - but the scurrying footsteps sure were loud.  

Then suddenly there was the same noise coming from inside the refrigerator wall by the entrance steps.  Up and down - loud, up and down - really loud!  I went over and banged on the wall a bunch of times.  The noise stopped.  Then started again, so I banged again.  Then the noise came from the stove side of the refrigerator wall.  I banged on that wall.  The noise stopped.  

Then I heard little noises and put my ear to the wall.  Frantic scratching sounds.  BANG!  Quiet.  Frantic scratching noises.   BANG BANG BANG!  Quiet.

I don't know if they got out, but it sounded like they were trying very hard to get out. There weren't any more noises for the rest of the night.

This morning when I raised my shades, there was a furry critter scurrying around right outside the rig in the dried cactus - I grabbed the camera and got one good shot of our visitor.  At least I think it was probably the critter:

I think this is the mouse - and I think he's gone.

I went all over the rig, looking for nests and openings outside the motor home, everywhere but underneath the motor home.  I didn't see anything suspicious.  One of these days I'll crawl under with my steel wool and stuff it into any holes I find underneath.  In the meantime, I think I'll crawl up on the top of The Palms tomorrow in the morning when it's calm and look for any tiny openings that might have been the entry spot last night. 

Site O has been open for a few days, and I packed up and drove back to that campsite - hoping the rodent stays up in Site 3 and won't come down the road.  Luckily the hummingbirds seem to have followed me - I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the mouse didn't.

Late this afternoon Hazel reminded me about putting peppermint extract on cotton balls and I remembered I had both items from a previous mouse scare.  I got them out, poured the extract on some cotton balls and started opening up drawers and threw them behind all the places I could find.  I opened up my "pot drawer" and this is what I found:

Mouse nest in drawer under the oven.

I had previously checked under the kitchen sink and behind the drawers, but not the drawer under the oven.  And that's obviously where he was.  

I carefully cleaned everything in the drawer, threw out all the napkins, and pulled out the drawer.  There was another chewed up napkin behind the drawer, and I cleaned up that area, too.  There was also a bunch of pieces of that grey "blown in" hole filler material around one of the pipes coming in from under the floor, so I think that's how it got in. I stuffed steel wool pieces into all the places I could find that might have been entry points.

Hopefully all will be quiet tonight.

Last night when the mouse was making noises, Katie kept barking.   I was trying to hear where it was, and yelled at her - sternly - more than once.  She went on the couch and just sat there.  Later I put a blanket over her so she would lay down.  And she just sat there.  Such a sad baby.

I was yelled at.  :(

We all had horrible winds and dust storms again a couple of days ago.  It started out as a beautiful, calm, clear morning, then the winds began.  Once the wind started and the thick dust was in the air you just stayed inside.  They closed the highways down for four hours.  When taking Katie out for a potty break, I wore a dust mask, but worried about all the dust Katie was breathing in.  She refused to go potty until the next morning.  The wind/dust kept up until around 9 pm. 

On a clear day I can see miles and miles to the far mountains.  This day I could hardly see beyond my campsite.

The next morning it was calm and clear and this rising moon was in the sky around mid-morning.  So clear and pretty.

I had planned on going out to dinner at a local Brew Pub in Deming with  friends Jim and Gayle, and Debbie, and also Jim M., whom I had just met.  The wind was so bad, we rescheduled to the next night.  The dinner was good and the company was great. Thanks for inviting me along!

Then the next day Hazel drove over from City of Rocks to have lunch with me.  We had a nice visit while eating our sandwiches and fruit salad.  Her greyhounds are so well behaved.  The weather was nice and we were able to eat outside with the dogs all sitting nearby.

The other day while walking Katie, we ran into our friends Gayle/Jim/Debbie/Jim M and stopped to chat for a while.  Jim M. recently adopted a new dog, Chica, and Debbie recently adopted another dog, Rupert.  Katie and Elliott, Debbie's other dog, had so much fun running around and playing chase when we were all in Colorado, and Katie seemed fine with the two newbies, too.

Elliott, Chica and Katie

Chica and Katie

Elliott says, "Hey, I want to sniff Katie, too!"

Our 14 days are up soon, so we'll be leaving Wednesday morning, if not before.  I really like this park, and have had some interesting times here.  This is a park I'll definitely visit again.  Now, if we can only keep the winds, dust storms, and mice away until we leave, that would be just fine with me!

Welcome to our newest Follower, Jim!  Jim's blog is Jimbo's Journey, check it out.   I just met Jim M. through my friends Gayle and Jim, and Debbie, all Lazy Daze owners, and Jim also has a Lazy Daze motor home.  He recently found a tiny Chihuahua who he named Chica, and she is pictured above.  She's a darling little girl.  It was nice meeting you, Jim, and joining you all for dinner.  I've added your blog to my blog roll, so I can keep up with your adventures. Thanks for following along with me and Katie!   

From Me and My Dog, have a good Saturday night, everyone!  :)