France in Focus

I have been walking through the kitchen for the last couple of days. What was that smell? My nose isn’t too accurate after a long stint of chemo so I couldn’t really work out what it was.

It has got more pungent today and I finally worked out where it was coming from. The electrical panel in the wall. I keep a mousetrap in there just in case and this one was a whopper but very dead.

Ahh yes, the smell of a dead animal/rodent. At least your trap put an end to it. AND, you managed to find it.

I was asked to install a new lighting circuit and do some fault finding for a client some years ago and when I opened the distribution panel I found three dead mice. They had taken a liking to the insulation and decided to set up home in the box. Yukk!

OH thought it was quite amusing to see a Mickey disappear into the garage when he opened the door the other day. Coincidence that the following day my car developed a fault with the reversing lights? Mickey's days are numbered!

I have tried lots of ordinary traps with mixed results. Then I bought a battery powered one from The Big Cheese range. Brilliant results. Baited with a dab of peanut butter they can't resist it.

Even found one in the back of a microwave we had in for repair, dead of course.

We once had a bad smell in a spare room. Couldn’t find the source until eventually I traced it to a pocket of an expensive leather jacket of my wife that was hanging in a wardrobe. Yes it was a dead mouse and my wife refuses still refuses to wear the jacket.

We share our house with all sorts of little beasties - there's nothing we can do about it, it's so old with various cracks and holes in the stone work. As long as they stay out of sight, it's not a problem - I've even got used to the sound of tiny feet above my head at night! It could be mice, lizards, and I'm pretty sure there's been a slithering of a snake in the tiny space between the kitchen ceiling and first floor during the summer!

We do draw the line at anything that frequents the kitchen though, and sometimes set a trap by the place they usually make their entrance. Sometimes, one of the cats will bring in a live mouse and let the ruddy thing go - so that's the opposite of pest control isn't it?

Possibly worst incident so far, I went to put a piece of bread in the toaster and a mouse jumped out - phew! Didn't fancy toasted mouse for breakfast! Quick shake out, and clean off the crumb tray, and we're good to go!

As for the gassy smell of a rotting little critter, thankfully we haven't had that for years.

OH went to put a boot on and couldn't get his foot in properly. Found a dead mouse inside.