I refuse to admit defeat....
But this mouse is really pushing me towards waving the white underwear of surrender.

I'm not there, yet. But I'm about to start looking for some tighty white-ies to wave in defeat.

Last night's plan was chewing gum. Yes, chewing gum. Here's the logic: Algernon the Office Mouse seems to love going to the trap in search of whatever meal I've left him for the night. We've not experienced a problem getting him to the trap. He's not missed a meal, actually. The problem lies in his ability to get the food off of the trap without springing the trap. Therefore, I reasoned that I needed something that would entertain him longer at the trap, causing him to work really hard to get the food from the trap, which would in turn spring the trap upon him while he works away at the food on the trap.

What is stickier and harder to work with than chewed up gum? Not much, my friends. Not much.

So, I chewed a piece of gum and mashed it onto the trap. Oh yes, I did. Well, I sprang the trap first, using my trusty poking pen. I was smart to use the pen, because as I poked the trap with the pen, the trap snapped onto the pen and broke it in half. IN HALF. Obviously the trap works, and I was very glad that the pen was not my finger. But I'm still completely baffled as to why the trap cannot do the same thing to the mouse.

Plus, now I need a new trap poking pen. Stupid mouse broke my pen......

Anyway, I mashed the gum onto the trap, then set the trap gingerly. And I mean, with great ginger. It was so precariously set that breathing on it the wrong way would surely have sprung it. I felt sure the gum on the precarious trap would catch the mouse tonight.

It had to work. But maybe I should stop saying that, as I do not think it means what I think it means. And I'm always wrong when I'm sure.

I left the 'dessert' poison packet in it's place beside the trap. I figure after a nice meal of chewing gum, the mouse will surely desire some dessert. If his head is still attached to his body, that is....

My final piece of the plan again involved a sacrificed M&M. I had dropped another M&M on the mouse-infested floor, so I again deemed that one as mouse bait. But instead of putting it on or near the trap, I set it in a special location at the edge of my desk. I wanted to see if the mouse would venture up during the night and steal an unattended M&M from my desk.

Research, you see. This will help me understand the mouse, and know better how to catch it.

So, I left last night with all these traps and research devices set, knowing that the gum would trap me a mouse and I would return today to be mouse-free.

But, the gum seems to be a flavor preferred by four out of five mice, as Algernon nibbled just enough of the gum to now have minty fresh breath, wherever he might be..... albeit not in the trap......

The gum was nibbled, but not gone. The trap was moved a bit, but not sprung. The poison was untouched, and therefore not doing anything useful. And the M&M on my desk was still on my desk, although I suspect Algernon climbed up on my desk and licked it, then left it just to torture me.

I can only hope Algernon messes up soon. The ones who think they are the sneakiest always mess up eventually.

Hopefully Algernon's mistake will involve getting stuck in the gum on the trap, causing the trap to trap him, while landing on the poison packet and absorbing it through his fur.

It has to work...

C.T.