Mouse

We have always had a problem with mice in our house. We live right next to a big field which I'm sure has something to do with it. For the past few months, we have heard the mice running around in our basement ceiling. We have set snap traps and sticky traps which have worked in the past but I think the mice are getting smarter and learning to avoid them!

Yesterday, I was about to wash a load of laundry when I saw this in our washing machine.

Yikes! I felt dirty even looking at it. Obviously the laundry had to wait until someone braver than me could get rid of it. [Thanks Josh!]

Later that day, I was hanging out in our family room when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. You guessed it! A mouse ran out from underneath our couch, and yes I screamed which caused it to run back under the couch.

That night, Josh was laying in bed and saw a mouse run across the floor and go underneath our bed. He called for me and we cornered it behind the nightstand. Josh grabbed his blowdart gun and aimed at the mouse. It jumped away just as he shot. It ran out from under the bed and hid behind the dresser this time. Josh reloaded and aimed again. This time his hunting skills came in handy because he shot it right through the heart/lungs area.

I was hoping that was the same mouse I saw run under the couch, but it's hard to be sure since I heard another one running through our ceiling last night! I would like them gone, but we need a better trapping method. The washing machine doesn't really work for me as a trap. :) We don't want to use poison because then they would die in the walls and stink up the house. A cat might help, but we have cats around our house all the time. I don't really want one inside especially since we already have a dog that hates cats (he barks at them from the front window all the time). Is there another method out there other than those 2 that we could try?