Surviving the Pandemic and an Unexpected Infestation
A COVID Odyssey and Unwanted Guests
COVID-19 was announced on February 11, 2020, and the government shut down the entire country. From that moment on, our lives changed forever. We were introduced to social distancing.
My wife’s job was put on hold, and my son did not go to school and did his schoolwork online. After listening to all the information on what we had to do, we were advised by the media to stock up on food, toilet paper, and other essential items.
One day, we went to Costco to buy food that would last to have in stock in case of an emergency. I recall buying many items, including a 20-pound bag of rice. We went home and put all the food downstairs in the basement. We have a storage area in the furnace room with many shelves for canned foods, pasta, and other essentials.
I put the 20-lb bag of rice on the floor, leaning against the shelves. We never opened the rice in two years. It stayed in the furnace room on the floor.
Last month, my wife and I went down to the basement to take inventory of everything we had, and she pointed to the bag of rice. It was still standing up against the shelves but was empty. She immediately yelled out, “We have rats.”
Whatever you want to call them, something ate all the rice because the bag was empty. We went back upstairs, and I got on Google to research mice and what I should do to eliminate them.
The advice was to buy some mouse traps. I went on Amazon and purchased a six-pack of glue traps, and if a mouse got on it, they would stick to the trap and would not be able to escape.
I have never tried them before, so I bought some. I ordered them on Amazon, and they arrived the next day. The instructions said to put peanut butter in the middle of the trap and place it in the room where the rice was.
The following morning, I went down to the basement to see if I caught anything, and two mice were stuck in the traps. I was surprised, and the mice were still alive. I picked up the traps with the mice, went to my backyard, and instead of killing them, I set them free.
I returned an hour later, and one of the mice was gone, but the other one was still there. It was very sticky and could not move because it was covered with glue, so I put on some gloves, grabbed it, and put it into a bag. I went to the local library, took it out of the bag, and set it free in the woods. I hope he survived.
I realized that I did not want those sticky traps around my house and had to get something better. I returned to Amazon and found some inexpensive traps with five-star ratings. They are called Feke Mouse Traps, and they work unbelievably well. I bought a six-pack for $12.
When they arrived, I read the instructions right away. A small cup is underneath the trap to put some cheese or peanut butter into. Peanut butter works better because, after a while, the cheese hardens, whereas peanut butter is soft and has an aroma that mice can smell.
Once I filled the traps, I placed them in the furnace room. The following morning, I went down to the basement and saw that I caught two mice.
They were both dead; their heads were clamped into the trap, and they could not escape. The traps worked.
I got a plastic bag, picked up the traps with the mice, released them into the bag, and threw the bag into the outside trash can. Then, I cleaned the traps, refilled them with fresh peanut butter, and put them out again.
The following morning, I saw that three more mice were caught. I said to myself, wow, these traps work. The next day, I caught three more, which continued until I caught a total of sixteen.
I was amazed and shocked at how many mice we had in our basement. Of course, it was winter and cold outside, but how did they get inside? I will do more research outside when spring comes; in the meantime, I set the traps again. A week later, I caught one more mouse, which was the last one.
In about two weeks, I caught 17 mice. I would never have imagined that we had mice in the house, let alone that many. Since then, I have not caught anymore. The traps are still set in the furnace room, and I check them every day, but there are no more mice.
Of the 17 caught, one was caught in the garage. I will put some traps out there in the spring to ensure they do not get into the house.
You might ask why I am telling you this. After researching, I learned that over 25% of homes have mice in their basements, especially in the winter.
If you have mice or think you do, you must eliminate them, especially if you have children or pets. If you want to catch them, these Feke Mouse Traps are the traps you should buy. They are inexpensive, and they work.
I consider myself a student of life and like to share my experiences that work, and these traps work.
Getting back to COVID-19, my wife and I tested positive a couple of times last year. We had no symptoms, but the tests came back positive.
In June, we went to Europe and had to have a COVID test before we could fly. We had to have documentation and proof at the airport before our flight to inform them that we tested negative.
We took the test, drove to New Jersey to visit my sister, and flew from Newark airport to Europe. Nobody asked us for the test results at the airport or on the airplane. The only thing that everyone had to do was wear a mask throughout the entire flight. That was uncomfortable, but we had no choice, so everyone wore masks. However, we did not have to wear a mask back from Europe. I found that to be interesting.
Fast forward to today, on the TV news, they are talking about an updated version of COVID-19 called JN.1. They suggest that we all should be vaccinated again.
A lesson learned from all this: Do not buy a 20-lb. bag of rice and leave it on the floor in the basement, especially without a mouse trap. As far as JN.1 is concerned, I will wait to see what happens, but I have no intention of getting vaccinated again.