When You Give A Mouse A Nut....

You Get Fleas?

Our neighbors decided to plant lots of ground nuts this past rainy season so they could have some extra income after the holidays. Their plan: plant a little later in the season, harvest, dry and store them and wait for the price to go up. Good plan, actually a very well thought out plan. The only issue, you have to find a place to dry them and what better place than the entire compound grounds. It really isn't an issue; they made sure to keep walk ways clear from the doors to our kitchens and bath area. 

The only real issue …. critters who love nuts. 

3 am one morning Ashley wakes up and hears a rustling noise, repeats again the next morning. Two days later Ashley wakes up with bites on her shoulders and arms. First thought….bed bugs, but we haven’t had them at our house before. Next morning there are more bites this time on the legs, there is something in the bed and of course as always Matt has no bites. We decide to go on a cleaning frenzy, all the cushions, the mattress and the rugs go to bake in the sun. The clothes and sheets are all put in basins out in the sun to soak. While we are taking things out of the room we notice some nuts in the corner of the room…. Yes there was a mouse. Then we move some clothes from the bottom shelf of our wardrobe and what did we find… a stockpile of nuts and a little nest made out of some socks. Confirmation we have a new roommate. 

So what happens when you put a treasure trove of nuts outside? You get mice. And what if your door has a nice size hole under it? You get mice living with you. And only what we assume, those mice bring critters and those critters bite Ashley. So what do you do? Finish cleaning every inch of the house and prevent the mouse from coming back. Mission accomplished and no more bites. 

Nuts on the compound grounds

Our attempt at keeping the mouse out