Help Solve a Mystery, Please?

This morning, while I ate my breakfast, the younger boys went outside to warm up for the first day of soccer camp.  After a few minutes, they came inside, and Stephen waltzed through the kitchen and mentioned non-chalantly over his shoulder, "There's a rat in the trash can outside."

Insert screeching sound here.

"WHAT?  A...wha...a RAT?"  I gingerly opened the back door (the trash can was just outside it) and saw that yes, indeed there was a rodent in my otherwise empty trashcan, trying desperately and unsuccessfully to climb its way out.  Though, to Stephen's disappointment, it was a mouse, not a rat.  (Not as good a story to brag about at soccer camp, poor kid.)  Within seconds, my dog Ginger was out the door, cleverly knocking over the trash can and chasing that mouse right out of our yard.  Good dog. 

The whole thing happened so fast that it didn't register with me, until after the fact, what a mystery it is as to HOW this mouse got in the trashcan to begin with.  I realize there is war in Lebanon and soaring gas prices and all sorts of important issues in the world at this moment, but folks, I really MUST know how this mouse got in the trashcan.  Look at this picture, and you'll understand my head-scratching (a bad choice of words, perhaps, when discussing rodents):

Did the mouse somehow get up on the chair and leap into the trash can?  How would it even get on the chair in the first place?  Certainly it didn't scale the side of the trashcan, did it?  Because if mice are now scaling vertical surfaces, then my world is officially rocked.  But no, this can't be the case, because the mouse was unable to get OUT of the trash can, so clearly scaling vertical surfaces is not option.  There is nothing on the other side of the trash can. 

How, I ask you, HOW?  I need to know this.  I have never seen a mouse in our zip code, much less our yard--if this is going to become a regular occurence, I must begin to understand their behavior, especially if the mice in question are, as it appears, bionic.

Comments

[mopsy]

Mice are great jumpers. They are like little Kangaroos, minus the pouches and flair.

I bet it got onto the chair and leapt in the can---completely do-able for nearly any rodent.

Did you know a mouse only needs a hole the size of a DIME to get into a house? That's what the extermininator told us during a mousefest at our house during the winter of 2004.

[Kelly]

Check this out, as it may shed some light on the mouse thingy...
http://www.insectslimited.com/Issue%2058.pdf
Kind creepy what they can do.

[Antique Mommy]

You think you've got questions. Poor mouse was just out for a night on the town and ended up there and probably doesn't remember a thing. Or? He could have been hiding out under the eves. Is there a vent directly above?

[Jules]

Never sell a mouse short. BAH!

They are amazingly versatile little horrors and can get in your house through the tiniest of holes. Even though you don't see them in your yard, they're out there ...waiting ...watching.

Tip: If there's food waste in the trash keep the trash recepticle covered tightly. Never put unsealed food (even bird seed) outdoors around your home.

And, Mopsy is right. They are mighty jumpers. Mystery solved.

[Jennie C]

I was thinking that mice are great acrobats, too. Chair into can, but couldn't get back out again. If you are worried about them indoors, you can get some of those humane mouse traps. They can get in after that tasty peanut butter, but a door shuts behind them so they can't back out again. We once had a mama and four babies. We caught and released the mama, but the babies didn't know to go for the food. We ended up using that really sticky paper where we knew they walked. Unfortunately, you can't save them once they're stuck.

You want to hear something else yucky? Down here in Georgia, they have enormous roaches. They leave droppings that look alot like mouse droppings. I hate them. I dread using the bathroom in the middle of the night because I know there is one in there. Sometimes, when I'm really paranoid, I can hear the skittering of their abnormally large bodies on the floors, the walls, the counters....Ewwwww.

[Mary]

Jennie C- They are called Palmetto Bugs.
They LOVE moisture. The humidity here in the South breeds them.
I can walk on my deck at night and they are all over the place.
I have to spray once a month.

I find the occasional one in the house too.
They don't look for food like regular bugs- they look for water sources. That's why they are in the bathroom.

They suck!

Yes rodents can jump AND climb things that they can get their claws in.

I am not a mean person but we use the poison because when we first moved here there were mice and I couldn't stand it.

I put out the poison and never found a dead body and haven't seen another since.

You want to talk about the lizard thing in my garage last week?
It was almost a FOOT LONG!
What the heck is that about?

[Shannon @ Rocks in my Dryer]

Okay, the discussion on this post is going downhill FAST!

[Nikkie]

My partner has informed me, much to my horror that mice can indeed climb up walls. I'm not sure I believe him though, and I'd think they'd have a hard time with plastic which is likely why its still in there! I think its more likely that it jumped in from the chair!

[Laura]

when i lived in hawaii for a short stint, a mouse and a rat invaded my house. the rat, took to eating the bananas on my countertop at night while i was asleep. i couldn't figure out how the nasty thing had made it to the top of the countertops but they do indeed jump - rats and mice. ugh.

[bretta]

I'm thinking you should look for a spoon on a spool or something...there could've been another mouse in on the plot and they made a little "mouse-a-pult" and one jumped on one end of the spoon while holding a brick and shot the other mouse into the trash can...

[Paulette1958]

OH YES they climb. My friend called me a while back and screamed into the phone at 1 in the morning that she was awoken by a huge rat under the covers with her in the middle of the night. She has a HIGH bed. When she called the exterminator out he said they can clib anything!!!!
They would have to commit me for sure if that happened to me, I am so paranoid of rodents.

[Kelli]

In my never ending "find a silver lining" journey- I say, get more trash cans and chairs, collect a whole set - and start a circus!

Little trampolines, little acrobats, bare-back rat riders on chipmunks, clown mice stuffed in a HotWheels car ... you could be the next Barnum and Bailey!

[Pass the Torch]

Ever heard of the Magic Kingdom? Guess who's the sorcerer there?

Yup, a big old rat. Mice are magicians.

[Sheri]

Mice are disgustingly good jumpers. My bet is it scrambled up the chair leg then jumped into the can.

[Phyllis]

Looks like your mystery is solved...

PS~ In FL we have those same Palmetto bugs. They are easily as big as a Lincoln Town car. Yep, I feel your pain Jennie C.

[Faith]

I don't know but- If I were you, I would be very, very scared! Very scared indeed!!!

[Diane]

I have known cats to leave mice for their owners in conspicuous places - alive. Is there a cat who could have dropped the mouse in?

[Heather]

Yup, I have your link in my bookmarks. Always good fora giggle before heading out to work. Mice are adventurous little things -- and the chair would make a perfect launch area right into the bottom of the can. Sides being slick and a much further jump to get out and he was out of luck.

Have a great afternoon!

[MomInTandyLand]

We live in the country, surrounded by fields and cow pastures, so we are constantly plagued with mice. Little ones, big ones, mamas, nests full of babies... You name it, I've found it in my house. My solution? A good ol' Red Rider BB Gun. Works every time. Unless you miss, then you have to beat it to death with the butt of the gun. I have no mercy for mice.

[mimi2six]

Now I'm going to dream about jumping mice and crocodile-size roaches tonight!!!

[Rebecca Mielke]

First off, I say, "ugh!"

Then, I'm picturing someone sitting in the chair helping the mouse (my kids are older, a teen or pre-teen boy would definitely do it), maybe a cat?

Finally, yes mice do climb. We have found them in traps in our attic, but not since we put out poison. The grossest night ever was hearing the mouse in the cardboard box under my dresser, chowing down on the poison. But we have never found any "remains".

Hey, you brought it up.

[Jan]

EWWWW. Mice. Rats. Roaches. Water bugs. Palmetto bugs. Any kind of creepy-crawly. Now where did I put that can of Raid?

[chilihead]

If I see him up on the hill, I'll send him your way! ;)

Ewww. And all this info? Ewwww.

[Shannon in Arizona]

Yes they can jump..........they can climb..they squeeze through anything. I wasn't surprised to hear you found one....it has been unseasonly warm there and he was prolly trying to find a cooler place. I am right up there with you in the freak factor....my husband went to our pool and pulled the filter out and there layed a dead mouce in the filter....it was hard to swim for awhile without checking the pool and the filter......

[Rebecca]

Mice used to accidentally (or maybe it was on purpose. How fun can it be to be a mouse?) drown themselves in my parent's toilet. En masse. You'd unsuspectingly enter the bathroom first thing in the morning, and joy and bliss, there would be six or seven dead mice.... . They lived out in the country and would get serious mouse infestations every winter.