You Can Never Have Too Much Duct Tape!

Ok, so home ownership is not all that its cracked up to be. Over the course of the last week or so, I've noticed (what a Google search confirmed to be) mouse droppings. Ugh! I swear this is a boy job! I can change a faucet, put in a dimmer switch, and even hang drywall, but the thought of mice just creeps me out!!!!!

So Friday, I went to Home Depot in search of mouse traps - the humane kind that don't kill the mouse, but just trap it so that you can take it outside and set it free. Well, Home Depot only carries killer traps. But I was desperate after reading about the breeding cycles of mice online (trust me, you don't want know) and I bought them and tried to psych myself up that I could do this. I cleared out the cabinet and set the trap.

Apparently I'm quite the pro. It's always nice when you wake up on Saturday morning and the first thing you see is the successful mouse trap. I've spared you the pictures. The problem remains though of how to keep the mice out in the first place!

It seems that when my kitchen was renovated, and the pipes that lead to my garbage disposal had to be lowered, the plumber didn't plug the hole from where the pipes used to be. (My pipes connect to my neighbor's house.) In addition, the openings for where the pipes are now are rectangular, when the pipe is round - leaving lots of extra space for a mouse to climb through to my cabinet. I'm surprised its taken me a year and a half to see my first mouse!

So now the dilemma of how to patch the holes. Home Depot doesn't sell scrap wood anymore and I didn't have any laying around. But my mom had a brilliant idea - Duct Tape! What can't you do with duct tape? A little creativity involving disposable plastic plates and LOTS of duct tape, and wa-la! See for yourself! If this doesn't work...I don't know...I'm moving out. Or at least going to Europe!

Do you think this will pass a home inspection if I ever try to sell the place? :-)