(Some people think glue traps are inhumane, but the way we do it, it's very humane indeed. After the mouse is stuck in the glue, you take him somewhere far away, put some olive oil on his feet to loosen the glue, and let him go.)

However, after a while of trying to take care of the problem this way, we had an infestation. I think it was because we lived in a townhouse and even if we got rid of our mice, our neighbor may not have. These mice were soon coming up onto the counter, and of course that totally freaked me out. One night, I put a glue trap on the counter behind my new coffeemaker, and in the morning when I went to make a cup of coffee, it wouldn't work. I looked behind the machine, and there was a mouse, stuck to the glue trap, chewing through the wire. I started to get mad.

I had tried to be humane about it, because I don't like to see anything die. But these mice were soon becoming bold. I would come into the kitchen and there would be three of them, sitting on my counter, eating my food. And when I would come near, instead of scurrying away, one would flip me the bird and the other two throw mouse droppings at me.

It was obvious that soon they would start setting traps for me. They had no respect. And sadly, I knew that it couldn't go on like this. There were so many of them, I had to call an exterminator.

I was very happy to move from the townhouse a year and a half ago. And there were no mice in this new house! That is, until recently. I saw the dreaded mouse droppings on the floor of my cabinet under the sink. And then, I noticed that my secret stash of chocolate had been infiltrated. Little mouse-sized bites taken out of the choclate bar, and little shreds of the wrappers all over the place, mixed with droppings.

This meant war.

This time, I wasn't going to mess around. I put a couple of glue traps under the sink. And yesterday, there was the culprit, stuck in the glue, scared to death.

But...when we looked at him, we just couldn't bring ourselves to sentence him to a slow and terrible death on the glue trap. So Jason took some olive oil and went to the 7,000 acres and let the little dude go.

I know, I know.

I'm just hoping he was the only one. I'm hoping we don't have a reputation in the mouse community as the people who not only will not kill you, but supply you with chocolate, and take you in their car to a bright new world.

I'll let you know what happens.