Of Mountains and Mice

A couple of years ago, some friends of ours introduced us to Mt. Adams. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, this is a mountain you've heard of.

If not, you're missing out.

Mt. Adams is not for the faint of heart though. It is for the strong. It is for the brave. It is for the back-to-nature people who detest shaving. And soap.

Trust me.

There is no electricity. Or plumbing.

But it is my favorite place on earth.

The lake that we camped at is stocked full of beautiful, high-mountain, rainbow trout.

They don't know what pollution is.

News of our arrival travelled fast.

Somebody forgot to tell this 3.5-pounder.

Lucky for my Mister.

And that's what it was.

See, I caught the first fish, on the best fly. Then the kids got hungry. Because that's what they do. So I went to shore to create a meal from twigs and berries, because that's what I do. My Mister decided to "borrow" my new fishing pole and my best fly, just to see how well it worked.

It worked.

But I'm not bitter.

One of my favorite moments of our little trip was this moment.

See the kids on the shore?

I was in the boat.

All by myself.

*sigh*

After our long fishing adventure, (we caught 27 trout on the first day, 25 the second), we were beat. With the kids safely tucked in their tents, my Mister and I headed for the camper. (Because we're old and require mattresses.)

Seconds after crawling into bed, we heard funny little clicking sounds. After making the flashlight dance around the campsite, we determined that there was no bear or mountain lion waiting to consume our children, so back to bed we went.

Then it happened again.

This time, we knew that it was coming from inside our camper.

I should probably tell you now that I am not a brave person. In fact, my idea of bravery is hiding under the covers and humming "What a Wonderful World" until my Mister comes home.

But I married a brave man. He peeked out from under the covers long enough to see a mouse staring back at him from on top of our stove.

I think it was rabid.

Okay, maybe not rabid, but it was suffering from something rodent-like. Which is just as good as rabid.

Being 34 miles away from civilization and a paved road, does not allow for a quick jaunt into town to pick up mousetraps. So my Mister had to get creative.

This is the "Dine & Drown" method that has been scientifically proven to be 99.9% effective.

Don't worry, I thought he was nuts too.

In order for this to work, you'll need a small garbage can and a bag of over-priced salted peanuts. You will also need a piece of bark and about 2 quarts of water in the can.

Set the bark in the water and top with peanuts. Three or 4 is a good number. Place the can anywhere you see mouse "droppings". Then wait.

And you should probably start humming "What a Wonderful World".

I felt a little guilty when we heard the first scamper and splash. How could we (I mean, he) murder a tiny little mouse?

By the third scamper and splash, the guilt was gone.

What do you think? Should we patent the "Dine & Drown"?

Personally, I think it needs more scientific testing.

Maybe I should head back up to the mountain...

...all in the name of science.