Winter Mouse Gives A Spring Surprise

Posted on May 26, 2015 Updated on August 25, 2015

Happy Post Memorial Day Week! This past weekend was the official unofficial start to summer~FINALLY!!! For those of you who live on the East Coast you know that we had a HARD winter and I think we will be savoring every moment of warmth! I think with the first sign of spring we may have still had a small amount of snow in the driveway that was still melting from the plowed piles, but we couldn’t wait to pull out the patio furniture and get outside! We live in a suburb and our backyard is surrounded by a fairly wooded area. We certainly get our fair share of animals: fox, deer, hawks, chipmunks, raccoons, mice, skunks, possums, rabbits, coyote, bobcats…well you get the picture. The mice always seem to be the most bothersome though. They like to nest in the winter any place they think they will be warm and comfortable and they will go to extreme measures to help themselves to any and everything to do so. In the past, they have made their winter home in my central air conditioning unit, munching through wires and pulling insulation out. This year, I thought we were in the clear. Last spring my son and I made a birdhouse out of wood that he had broken during karate tests. In the fall, we discovered that a mouse had made it’s nest and home in the birdhouse. Fine with me, it was away from my house! With spring fever, we pulled all our patio furniture out from under the deck, cleaned it off and set it up. Then we went into the storage box we have had for two years to get the cushions. SURPRISE!!! Upon opening, a sheet of mouse poop. Okay, a mouse was in there, no big deal. We will just clean it out. So we start pulling cushions out and one by one we find they are chewed into and the stuffing is pulled out. Cushion after cushion into a black garbage bag. Then the biggest surprise when I saw a hole on a cushion and poked the outside just to have the mouse come running out and scare me half to death. NOT HAPPY! What do we do, now we are left with four out of ten cushions to put on our outdoor sectional couch. Would you believe it took me a ton of time over a week to figure out what the solution would be? I was ready to buy a new couch, but didn’t want to spend the money again since I just got it three years ago.

I consulted cushion making people and every website that would carry cushions just to find out that there was nothing to match or that would fit or that had the special corner cushions for the sectional. Just as I was about to buy a new set, I decided to order a pair of cushions I’d seen on Lowe’s that has a stripe design. Even though the cushions are slightly smaller than the original, I think it works. We split up the sectional and the original cushions blend well with the new ones. So, here’s to the mouse who cost me $150+ for new cushions. I will enjoy them this summer, I hope you enjoyed your warm home, it was a horrible winter and I’m glad I could provide it for you.