Eek...It's a Mouse

It's the day before Thanksgiving and I'm in my usual pre-holiday cooking frenzy since I traditionally host dinner at my house. About mid-morning, my daughter noticed that the side of the refrigerator was very warm to the touch. Then we noticed that the inside panel between the fridge and freezer (it's a side by side) was really hot. Why is it that a major appliance will give you problems during a holiday?

I'm thinking it might be a dust build-up on the coils since heaven only knows how long it had been since I cleaned behind the refrigerator. So my daughter and her friend who was spending the holiday with us pulled out the fridge, cleaned up the dust bunnies, vacuumed everywhere they could reach, and even mopped the floor behind the fridge. But the refrigerator was not cooling down at all. This meant a qualified technician was needed, and I saw dollar signs spinning in front of my eyes thinking I was going to have to replace the compressor or endure some equally huge repair bill....

My trusty appliance repair company was booked solid, so it was off to Google to find someone else who was available. Success, and a technician was on his way within a few hours. So the repairman shows up on time and looks the refrigerator over and then tells me that the panels are very hot. Well, yes...that's why I called. So he slides the refrigerator out and gets behind it and then proceeds to take off that panel on the back so he can see if the compressor fan is working. (Who knew? I didn't even think of that!)

After a minute or two, he squeals like a little girl, jumps out from behind the fridge, points and says that there is a rat caught in the compressor fan. Seriously? This couldn't possibly be the first time a small rodent or reptile has met his doom this way. The guy obviously had a real problem with rodents. I volunteered a pair of cleaning gloves and some long tongs. He looked so grateful as he pulled on those bright yellow rubber gloves and carefully pulled out the rat with the tongs while holding it at arms length.

It wasn't a rat! It was a little tiny field mouse; not more than three inches including the tail. Poor thing had gotten his head caught in the fan, and when the compressor kicked on and the fan started, his fate was sealed. After the mouse was removed and I was charged $80 for 10 minutes worth of work, the repairman couldn't get out of my house fast enough.

It's terrible to find humor in someone's phobia and we tried to be adult about it, but found ourselves giggling anyway over his dramatic reaction to this tiny little mouse. I would hate to see what would happen if he ever encountered a real rat that would have been many times bigger.

As to how that little mouse could have gotten into the house? We have three cats and they are mighty hunters. So it is fairly common for one of them to bring one of their "toys" into the house through the convenient pet door. We've had them bring in live birds, mice, lizards, and more....only to let them go. Then either my daughter or I have to chase around and catch them. This poor little mouse was obviously one that got away....but not quite.