On another note...

Progress INSIDE! Fantastic!

The wildlife in northern Ontario is certainly somewhat different from what it is in southern (southwestern) Ontario.

Mice are not restricted to northern Ontario, but I've encountered more here than in Sarnia for sure. We are not in a subdivision in Parry Sound, living one kilometre outside the town proper, and surrounded by woods. So...

We had a mouse - evidence of a mouse (singular?)- over the winter, and I cleaned that up. I filled every nook and cranny under my kitchen sink with steel wool, and we saw no further evidence of the mouse. Until...

A few days later, while sitting in the living room, I saw a shadow rush past, along the wall. Did I see something? Confirmed, when it raced past in the other direction, towards the corner of the fireplace! Then, it disappeared. We thought it was just hiding there. We watched. Saw nothing more...

But we had a trap in the kitchen. A few minutes later, off went the trap in the kitchen!!!

How did the wee creature get past us without our seeing him? Odd. Strange. We figured this was a mouse that had come inside, then had been prevented from going back outside when I stopped up all the spaces under the kitchen sink. Success! Excellent!

Then, as I'm away in Sarnia for two weeks, Sir R tells me that he's caught 4 mice! Four mice? How is that possible? We had solved the mouse problem! Evidently not...

On my return, a trap was set on the fireplace hearth. Caught a mouse. So, we got steel wool and placed it round the fireplace (it's a propane insert) to see if that would help. Set a trap. Next morning, we'd caught a mouse. Well, check for more holes.

Another hole that we thought had been filled with foam was revisited and filled with more steel wool - actually Brillo pads. (Steel wool is hard to come by. :) )

And this morning - there is no little gift on the fireplace. The trap still sits there, and we'll leave it for a few days - but I have high hopes that we have solved this problem.

I don't have the same soft spot for mice as I do for the raccoon. Is it the soulful eyes?