ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 21, 1997 TAG: 9704210098
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: MONTY S. LEITCH
SOURCE: MONTY S. LEITCH
ORDINARILY, AT this time of year, I'm breathing a sigh of relief, for the mice are abandoning their winter quarters (in the walls and crawlspaces of our house) to move into their summer quarters (in the bright and broad outdoors).
It's a relief because: no more scratching in the walls at night, no more pitter-patter of tiny feet at any time of day, no more little "calling cards" left lying around the kitchen.
This year, however, there's no relief to be sighed, because apparently the mice never moved in over the winter. It's been a remarkably peaceful year. Quiet nights; clean kitchen.
Oh, sure, we've had the occasional pittering, furry scurry; the occasional snap of a trap left beside one of the holes. But no families, no communities, no conventions of mice this year, as we've had, more than once, in years past.
What gives?
The Man of the House and I were discussing this just the other day.
Our discussion ensued after we read the delightful column in last Sunday's paper by housing inspector Steve Elder, who'd had a close encounter, on one of his crawls through a crawlspace, with a rattlesnake. The homeowner had warned him of blacksnakes ("We don't bother them, because they catch mice," she'd said), but when he'd told her there was a rattlesnake down there instead, she'd replied, "That's odd. The blacksnakes usually keep them out of there. They're usually by the compost pile."
Now, we've had blacksnakes in the house before and - it's true - they do cause a remarkable decrease in a home's mouse population, and thus in a home's mouse noise.
So, we wondered, could we once again have a blacksnake under the house?
Possibly. But when we've had blacksnakes before, we've heard them, too. They make their own distinctive sounds: heavy, dragging whisks inside the walls.
No such sounds this year.
Or, there could be 'possums. 'Possums like mice, and we've had 'possums.
But 'possum sounds are a good deal more distracting than mouse sounds or snake sounds, either one. Also, 'possums smell.
No such sounds (etc.) this year.
Could there be a rattlesnake, then?
The presence of a rattler might, indeed, account for the absence of our mice.
But we've never seen a rattler any where near here. Likely, there are some, but we've never seen one (which suits me just fine), so it seems unlikely there's one living beneath our feet right now. (Which also suits me just fine.)
So then - what?
I have considered this carefully, and I have come to the following conclusion: I don't care what it is, as long as it's quiet and it doesn't smell and it finds mice essential to its diet. Blacksnake, 'possum, rattlesnake, Demon From Hell - as long as I don't know it's down there, it has the run of the crawlspace.
Yes, this is ostrich behavior - "What I don't know won't hurt me" - and potentially destructive: If I will ignore what's out of sight, under my house, might I not also ignore what's out of my sight on a much broader scale? War, for instance. Poverty, famine, plague. Homelessness, bigotry, abuse of every kind.
I promise to guard against this tendency.
If only that thing that's controlling the mice will continue to do so quietly.
MONTY S. LEITCH is a Roanoke Times columnist.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 linesby CNB