As 2015 came to an end and a New Year began, a mouse took control of our Columbia home. He did not scamper across the kitchen floor or invade the pantry; neither did he attack our Holiday treats or incite panic in our guests. Rather, he simply died in one of our heating ducts, filling the house with the odor of decay.
Unable to locate his carcass by peering through vents or peeling back insulation, we tried in vain to locate a duct cleaning service that might come to the rescue; unfortunately, all were booked up for a week or more. Following the advice of one expert, we ran the heat continuously (to dry out the corpse), opened windows for ventilation and festooned the home with candles and air fresheners; 24 hours later, those efforts have been fairly successful though a whiff of the mouse is still evident near registers.
As we all know, mice have been invading human homes since the dawn of our species, raiding our food supplies and escaping inclement weather. Prolific breeders, these nocturnal "pests" have the upper hand, only partially impacted by our wide assortment of mouse traps. Indeed, there is every reason to believe that this lowly mammal will survive well beyond the reign of humans. Happy New Year to all!
