Ugh. I’m originally from the suburbs, so when I lived at home, if you heard someone had a mouse or some roaches crawling around their crib, the perception was that your living quarters were less than clean and that you might just be residing in a space that looks like something off of Hoarders. Like I said, I’m from the suburbs–I’m just used to deer, crazy squirrels, murderous raccoons and even slimy possums, so until recently, if you showed me mouse poop on a counter I would have thought it was Oreo cookie crumbs. But I decided to move to the city. Sounded like such a good idea until I saw my first big roach crawling in a Popeye’s bag I left out right after I moved in. It got a whole lot little worse when after cooking chicken in the kitchen a mouse ran from underneath my oven. Like I said, moving in the city seemed like it should have been a good idea…

No, but seriously, even the fanciest places can wind up with mice–there’s just so many people residing close to one another in the city. If you’re like me and aren’t familiar with this hardcore form of pest and rodent (and spent many years getting over a spider fear–now they aren’t ish), then knowing there is a critter or two, or three in the your place is probably freaking you out and making you want to run out of the house. Don’t. As my mom said to me, “Where are you going to go!?” After contacting my landlord and being crafty with some ammonia and a few spare rolled up rugs, I got some help with my situation. I can’t say that I’ll never see a mouse in my crib again, but with all the steel wool and closed up holes around now, it will sure as hell have a hard time coming in.