{The LiFe & Times of RaLphie the RodenT}

Once upon a time, in a lovely town in South Jersey, a young fieldmouse decided to go on an adventure into a nice, almost 100 year old house.  This was a great adventure since the large house had lots and lots of walls and closets and radiator connections to explore.  There even was a nice warm stove to crawl under and a turntable in a closet that held food!!!
Now the two ladies who resided in the house were not at all pleased with the mouse's {who became known as Ralphie} presence in their home.  For the longest time the ladies only saw evidence of Ralphie's existence and put up sonar devices in an attempt to convince him that he wasn't welcome.  Over time however, Ralphie became more daring----showing his nose and eventually his whole self to the ladies.
The ladies then declared war on Ralphie and the battle was on.  Traps were set in all the places were the ladies had seen Ralphie and he ignored them.  Obviously, he did not like the peanut butter that was left for him.  About once a week, the ladies would catch another glimse of him.  The ladies considered adding chocolate chips and/or mini marshmallows to the treats.

Then on Sunday, one of the ladies sealed up the opening to the water pipes in the bathroom closet{this was Ralphie's favorite spot to show his nose to the ladies} and the ladies could hear him inside the wall, probably wondering what happened to the hole.

When the ladies arrived home late on Sunday night, they could hear all these crunching sounds and soon found Ralphie in the large trashcan next to the buffet in the dining room trying desperately to "jump" out but not being strong enough to reach the top of the can.  The ladies saw this as their opportunity to get Ralphie out of the house.  After stuffing a bag of recycling on top of the can, it was whisked outside.  The recycling bag was removed and Ralphie continued trying to jump.  But a roller-coaster was his next adventure as the ladies used a broom to roll the can down the front steps.  Whether Ralphie flew out during the ride or took off immediately upon landing in the front yard, the ladies do not know.  Only that the trashcan was empty!!!

And while the ladies will remain vigilant, they hope that Ralphie has gone on to find another home {preferably one with a cat!} so that the ladies can live happily ever after!

Janet