Got it!

Update on the pest wars.

1. It has been expanded from mice wars to being more inclusive. We have reason to believe that the mysterious little red itchy welts that occassionally show up on our bodies are the result of fleas. I killed two nights ago. I have reason to believe that they might be an associated problem. Once the mice are gone and that central transportation body dissolved, we will have taken care of the fleas.

3. We have determined that the mice in our neighborhood are smart. They can recognize the traditional snap traps and will ignore any bait we put on it (see earlier post for details of the various baits). They will even run all around the trap (as evidenced by the trail of poop that goes all around the trap) just to taunt us.

4. We tried the live catch trap, thinking that a new contraption would confuse them but they just ignored it.

5. We recently met with some success by using this different looking snap trap (seen on the left)- my faith in peanut butter is renewed. We killed on two days ago and one last night. The great thing is that these traps are reusable. Ahh, success is so sweet, especially when J is willing to clean up the dead bodies.

6. We scheduled to cat sit a pair of kitties for a local friends but are hopeful that these new traps will take care of business. Just in case, I've started taking allergy meds.

My favorite power point presentation so far.

In various cities all over the world, folks will get together to do power point presentations. The rules are: 20 slides at 20 seconds each. It's called Pecha Kucha. This was originally started by two architects in Japan who decided that they wanted to showcase the work of new architects in a format that would definitely engage the audience. By limiting the time and number of slides, you really had to integrate your visual information with your verbal information.

I had learned about this from J and had always wanted to see one. At my initiation into this, I got to watch J make a presentation on a subject near and dear to his heart- snakes. I think this is powerpoint presentation, or any presentation for that matter, at its best.

I'm inspired now to see if I can do something like this for my dissertation presentation. I might need more than 20 slides though. Or, I could try to convince my committee to let me do a 6 minute 40 second dissertation presentation.

Dangblast it!

None of the traps were triggered this morning. Upon closer inspection of the trap in the cabinet where I keep my pots and pans, the bait "tray" was EMPTY!!! Dang those little bloody sneaky critters! This was the bait tray that had the fish sauce soaked tofu. GRRRR!!!!

Peanut butter they won't take but tofu they will.

I am contemplating putting bait on a small piece of glue trap paper that I stick on the trap. Then the mouse is stuck and the trap goes off. The trouble is how to get the glue trap paper to stay on the mouse trap WITHOUT sticking me and thus triggering the trap.

I must also give credit where credit is due. My friend (who has her own stylish blog) gave me a good suggestion on how to set the mouse trap without hurting myself. Use a wrench to hold the metal arm back while you set it. THen slowly release the wrench when you are ready to set it. I have improved on this method with the assistance of a chopstick (when in doubt in the kitchen, I always refer to my Chinese roots). So while I hold the metal snapping arm down with the wrench, I position the trigger bar. I noticed that as I release the wrench the trigger bar would inevitably get shifted out of place. So I use a chopstick to hold it in place while I let the wrench go. I'll see if I can post pictures at a later date. I have a feeling I am going to have to re-bait and re-set the traps pretty soon.

sigh...

Science Experiment

We have seen evidence of mice in our house. A few weeks ago, J and I (on separate occassions) saw a mouse dart across our kitchen floor at 9ish in the morning. I think we spied it while it was on its morning commute to our pantry.

Well, I baited a trap and killed it one morning on its way to work. I have no qualms about pest control, especially since we had a mouse infestation (and I do mean infestation) in the previous house we lived in MD.

Well, that trap was baited with peanut butter and put along the wall where I knew the mouse was going to travel by. They have fairly regular commuting patterns.

A week later, I notice some mouse droppings on my kitchen counter. I clean those up only to notice some more the next day. Then no mouse droppings and then two or three days later, more mouse droppings for the next two to three days. And the pattern continues. After a while, I recognize that the droppings weren't due to our inability to clean up old droppings effectively but were actually new droppings of some other mouse (or mice). Well, we had put out two traps with the time-honored bait of peanut butter along the wall where we found the droppings.

Half a week goes by, no droppings and no triggered traps. By that point, I think the baits had lost their effectiveness. After a week, I notice more mouse droppings but no triggered traps. Droppings for about two or three days, then none at all. On the first day, the mouse droppings are fairly small and thin- I think evidence that they are hungry. Then by the second or third day, their droppings are round tubes- I take as evidence that they were well fed. Then there are no droppings. Also I noticed that the mice seemed not interested in the bait.

I saw fat mice droppings two days ago and none today. This should mean the mice are coming out either today or tomorrow. So, I am testing three different baits tonight- peanut butter, banana and fish sauce soaked tofu. I have to admit, I am not being thoroughly scientific here, as I am changing lots of variables- location of trap, bait, and number of traps. But I really don't think the location of the trap matters that much if the bait isn't attractive (as my earlier experience has shown). Another matter that I have considered and don't know how to deal with is that the mouse/mice might actually recognize the traps as a death machine and avoid it like the plague, regardless of how delicious the bait may be. I'll try the different baits for a couple of week. If that doesn't work, I might have to change my traps.

Wardrobe refresher

Instead of working on my dissertation this morning, I opted to think about my wardrobe. I am about to go to a bat mitzvah for J's cousin and was contemplating what to wear tonight. I have worn most of my dresses many times in the past few years (several weddings, events, etc). I am a bit poor and busy these days and can't even go to a thrift store to get a new outfit. But I just realized: I have this great dress I used to wear that I haven't worn in this crowd nor in this city before! Whoo hoo! One doesn't need to change one's wardrobe, one just needs to change the people! I'm not really sure which is cheaper or more time efficient. As much as I dislike shopping I also don't really like having to pack, move and make new friends.

Different stages of life

It's interesting to revisit things I favored when I was younger. I notice new things about that old favorite and gain insight into my younger self. Tonight, I was listening to a Veruca Salt cover of a song I used to like at lot- Somebody by Depeche Mode. It's your basic cheesy love song with an acoustic piano. But, somehow parts of this song redeem itself to me.

(The lyrics are below if you are interested in it)

I recall in middle and high school being hooked on to the line "I don't want to be tied to anyone's strings. I'm carefully trying to steer clear of those things." Of all the lines in the song, this was the one that resonated with me the most.

I still find a lot of resonance with that line today but upon listening to the song tonight, the earlier lines in the song had a stronger resonance. The lines about hearing me out and understanding me but not necessarily being converted to my way of thinking, in fact often disagreeing and the lines about helping me see the world differently. I was surprised that I didn't notice them so much before. I guess I was at a different stage in my life and was more concerned about other things.

Somebody
Written by Martin Gore of the band Depeche Mode

I want somebody to share
Share the rest of my life
Share my innermost thoughts
Know my intimate details
Someone who'll stand by my side
And give me support
And in return
Shell get my support
She will listen to me
When I want to speak
About the world we live in
And life in general
Though my views may be wrong
They may even be perverted
Shell hear me out
And wont easily be converted
To my way of thinking
In fact shell often disagree
But at the end of it all
She will understand me
Aaaahhhhh....

I want somebody who cares
For me passionately
With every thought and
With every breath
Someone who'll help me see things
In a different light
All the things I detest
I will almost like
I don't want to be tied
To anyones strings
Im carefully trying to steer clear of
Those things
But when I'm asleep
I want somebody
Who will put their arms around me
And kiss me tenderly
Though things like this
Make me sick
In a case like this
Ill get away with it
Aaaahhhhh....

Repellent

According to dictionary.com, repellent has four meanings:

1.	causing distaste or aversion; repulsive.

2.	forcing or driving back.

3.	serving or tending to ward off or drive away.

4.	impervious or resistant to something (often used in combination): moth-repellant.

I had always associated insect repellent with the second and third meanings. Apparently, when you apply insect repellent on one such as me, who has super bug enticing blood, you really only get a mild version of number one. In fact, the bugs will just land on me and walk around sniffing until they find that one tiny spot that I didn't cover with insect repellent and bit away.

I went camping this weekend. On the first night, I put on insect repellent that was about 35% DEET. Apparently, I missed a one inch square on the top of my left hand and a quarter inch square on my right hand. Give you one guess how I found out so much detail about those missed spots.

Then I went hiking on the second day with friends in the surrounding woods. Mind you, this was not at all rustic camping and hiking. I had covered myself with 98% DEET that day. After that first night, I wasn't taking any chances. Well, that evening, a friend warned us that he found a large tick (it was wood tick and they typically do not carry Lyme disease) and that we should do a check when we get a chance. Well, I went to the bathroom and "Hello there stranger!" I find a little one attached to my lower abdomen. Hmm, whatever happened to 98% DEET and being repellent? I distinctly recalled putting this stuff on my mid-section.
My friend helped me remove the little sucker. It now sits quietly (and quite dead) in a ziplock bag.

Well, when my spouse helped me with a more extensive check a few moments later and we found two more wandering around on my mid-section! They had yet to attach to me. I think they were searching for the spots on my body that wasn't covered with DEET. So, repellent just means "diverts them to some other spot"- at least when it is in the context of insect repellent on me. After screaming some (from me), we were able to place those two into another ziplock baggie.

My spouse eventually found one attached to his ankle and another friend found one attached to her as well. They did not have any DEET on them. The other friend who also went hiking with me a lot that day didn't have ANY on him.

I think I am just really good insect protection for everyone around me. I'm like crack for tblood suckers. You have me around and I just mesmerize them. I got me some special powers.