One Persistent Hitchhiker!

Unbeknownst to me, I’ve been transporting a hitchhiker across state lines and international borders. Circumstantial evidence of this unwanted stowaway began to surface a few months ago, but hard proof would not reveal itself until recently.

It all began earlier this year, several weeks after my departure from my buddy’s place in Arizona…where I had been lodging for a couple months.  I was working my way through New Mexico, where I had camped out under the stars a couple of times.  It wasn’t until I stopped in Colorado to do a load of laundry that I discovered my first piece of evidence that something was awry.  I noticed while doing the laundry that the back of one of my undershirts had been chewed up—it was a mystifying  sign…one that I chalked-up to a mischievous varmint while camping.

A couple weeks later I noticed what would become my second piece of physical evidence… some strange dark specs on top of one of my cargo containers.  Not really putting the pieces of the puzzle together quite yet…I dismissed the signs.

I travel with a Rubbermaid-type container in which I store snacks, dried and canned food for camping, etc.  One day I went to retrieve an item out of my food cache and I noticed something very disconcerting…several of my food sources had been tampered with.  At this point I’ve put the pieces together… “I have a damned stowaway!  It must be a mouse…or worse, a rat!”  I deduced by the infractions that my stowaway was most likely a mouse.

At this point I took every single item out of every container in the back of my truck and searched thoroughly (in hindsight, it was clearly not thorough enough as you’ll discover) for the “Mighty Mouse.”

After looking through my belongings, and not seeing a damn mouse, I inferred that it must have left on its own accord.  After throwing away a good $75 worth of food, I neatly packed up the back of my truck and was on the road for my next adventure.

Two to three weeks later I went to retrieve something from my food cache…I was stunned to find that the little bastard was still hitching a ride—while at the same time, enjoying my tasty treats.   Once again I began the process of clearing out my belongings from the back of the truck…when all of a sudden, there he was! His beady little eyes staring straight back and me, like he was thinking, “damn, my three month ride is about to come to an end.”  As I made my move to capture the creature that had been wreaking havoc, he bobbed to one side of the truck, then weaved to the other…able to move right past me and down a crack between the truck bed and the tailgate.  I got a flashlight and looked for the little bugger everywhere—he had evaded me.

This was the first time I met my stowaway face-to-face…it was a confirming moment. At least now I knew he was not hiding in my belongings.  However, I was not convinced this resourceful creature was gone for good.  Until I saw his limp-less body, I knew there was a chance we’d meet again.

I once again packed up my truck, making sure everything was tightly secured so that if “Mighty Mouse” made his way back into the back of my truck, he’d find nothing to sustain himself.  After several weeks of seeing no sighs of my stowaway, my confidence that I’d lost him began to rise—at the same time, my vigilance in keeping my belongings tightly secured diminished.   I was at my folks’ place for a few days and was cooking dinner…I went out to my food cache to retrieve a needed ingredient and left my container ajar.  Two days later…it happened…”Mighty Mouse” struck again!  This time, the infiltration was much more severe.  Apparently I had come close to starving the little guy out.  I had a second food cache, a canvas bag with a lot of dehydrated food and some energy type bars…this bag was atop another container and the mouse chewed through the bag and wreaked all kinds of damage…eating his way through at least $100 worth of food.  I then noticed the bugger got back into my other food container…apparently for dessert!

Once again, I repeated the process of removing everything from the truck and searched every possible hiding place.  I found NOTHING but evidence of his existence…in various bags, shoes, etc.  This damn mouse had created his own food cache by placing items throughout the back of the truck and in my belongings. I had to wash and disinfect everything—a whole day lost!

I have yet to come face-to-face with this nemesis again…all that can be done is to pack up the truck once again and make sure everything is tightly sealed.  My father give me some poison, but what I really want is a mouse trap so that I can be assured that “Mighty Mouse” will no longer pester me.

Obviously the mouse has won the battle…stay tuned to see who will win the war.