The Mice Are Back

In my last house, in Hackney, we had a mouse problem, for most of the year. There were droppings everywhere, and if you stayed up late you could see the little bastards scurrying around out of the corner of your eye. And no matter how hard you are, how rational you are, or how used to them you are, you still jump and shriek when one catches you by surprise.

By the end of the year my flatmate had killed about six in traps overnight. There was also an 'incident' where we saw one in daytime, and spent half an hour frantically chasing it round the house trying to catch it, like something from an old comedy. Eventually, it ran under a loose bit of carpet, and so we were able to bash it out into a trap which we'd cunningly placed by the opening. Unfortunately, it didn't die as only its leg was trapped. Despite having already killed several mouse in traps, we weren't brave enough to bludgeon its brains out with a rolling pin, so we went for a walk down the round and let it free, where it hobbled away, hopefully to soon die.

Anyhow, I'm in a nice new flat in Kentish Town now, and I thought these problems were over. But in London, you're never far from a mouse, and being in a basement doesn't help. My flatmat first saw a mouse a few days ago, and had a few sleepless nights watching it climb over his bed and up his net curtains. Last night we caught our first mouse, but there's probably more, and this story isn't over yet...

Bastards...