Eeek

Easter at Pt Hughes was a little different this year to those gone by. Normally, we along with our families, friends and acquaintances occupy about 7 or so sites at the caravan park and of course contribute significantly to the population of the park over the Easter Weekend.

This year, we may have been outnumbered and all because of the rain. After several years of drought, there’s been quite a bit of rain in the last 12 months or so and this has meant that the crops are doing well, the insects are doing well and of course there’s plenty of food around for mice. The mice are doing particularly well.

Apparently they were about last year, but we were traipsing around the USA, so didn’t have to worry about them. This year, as dusk fell and we sat about having a quiet drink, they quickly became apparent as they’d hop along under the cars, or dart about seeking a bit of sustenance. We didn’t really worry about it much until the morning following our first night of cards. We’d left a pack of Cheetos in the annex (unopened) without really thinking about it as we stumbled off to bed. That following morning we found the bag of Cheetos and it had been substantially attacked, the foil wrapper nibbled through in several places. That certainly put us on alert.

Over the course of the weekend, we discovered just how pesky the little blighters could be and it was with much mirth (on my part at least) that you’d hear the occasional screech as one of the women in the party would discover a little field mouse somewhere unexpected. Michael and Sam weren’t particularly enamoured with them either given that they were sleeping in an extension of the annex and had quite a few visitors.

At one point I decided that we needed to clean up to ensure that they weren’t getting to cosy with us and lifted up the flap of the annex. Well, bugger me if 8 of the little blighters weren’t having a quiet little rest under there. You should have seen (and heard) Caroline as they all scrambled for another place of safety! Almost every single one of them seemed to runs straight for her.

Even our kayaks weren’t safe as when we unrolled one to put it in the water, there was a dead mouse in the bag. That meant that the second one needed to be unrolled the following day to be sure that we weren’t taking any home. Imagine my surprise when four were discovered.

When we packed up, we were very careful to shake everything and inspect it closely (not always sufficient as I found one morning after shaking Caroline’s shoe violently – nothing came out, but when I stuck my hand in, there was indeed a mouse clinging to the lining!) so that we could hopefully get home mouse free.

Well, boy did we fail that little test!

The morning after our return, Caroline informed me that the kids had left some bags of lollies in the car overnight and that it was very clear that mice had been at them. The holes in the bags were a definitive clue. I suggested that some mouse traps might be required and they were subsequently set. Over the course of the next 3 days, we managed to trap 9 mice in the car! NINE! Bloody ridiculous, but we got them and now the car is significantly more pleasant to be in than it was for a couple of days.

So far, there’s been no sign of any in the caravan and I sure as hell hope it stays that way!