Stories From Your Techs – #2 “Do Not Open!”

This blog series captures the craziest, funniest, and most bizarre pest problems that your local technicians have encountered. This story comes from one of our most experienced technicians, Thomas Parkin, who began working with us at Pointe Pest Control in 2011.

“Do Not Open!”

A few years ago, we got an urgent call from a customer saying she needed immediately assistance. She had been a customer of ours for several years by that point and had rarely, if ever, called for an emergency. The job was added to my route, and I quickly made my way to her home.

She seemed frazzled when she answered the door and promptly led me to the kitchen where I saw that the refrigerator had been taped shut and adorned with a handmade sign stating in big letters: “DO NOT OPEN!” 

“So,” she began, “my husband went grocery shopping yesterday and after putting the food away in the fridge, he apparently forgot to shut the door all the way and…,” she took a shaky breath, “now there’s a mouse in there!”

I stifled a chuckle. “How long has it been in there roughly?” I asked.

She shrugged nervously. “I don’t know for sure. Maybe 10… 12 hours?”

“Okay.” I nodded. “Let’s take a look.”

I began peeling the tape from the fridge door, bracing myself for what might come next. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Would the mouse shoot out at me? Was there more than one? Had it made a complete mess of the fridge leaving behind droppings or chewing through containers so both food and liquid seeped out onto the shelves? The last strip of tape came free. I set it aside on the counter then, slowly, opened the door.

Nothing.

No mouse came bounding out towards me. No scurrying noises. No mess. No sign of a rodent whatsoever. I began carefully inspecting shelf by shelf, moving items around and looking for any signs. Still nothing. For a moment, I began to wonder if the customer was just seeing things. But just then, I saw a tiny flash of movement out of the corner of my right eye.

I turned to face the shelves on the door. Sitting there, on a jar of pickles, was a tiny mouse looking at me eye to eye. He had been so still, watching me the whole time. I slowly closed the door.

“Found him!” I said.

While contemplating how my plan would work, I retrieved a small box from my truck and returned to the fridge. If he was as still as before, I could scoop him right up, but that was no guarantee. I braced myself again. This time when I opened the door, the mouse immediately hopped down from the shelf and scurried across the floor. I lunged for him. Luckily, I was just quick enough, managing to capture him in the box before he could make his way out of the kitchen. The customer was so relieved, and I immediately took him out of her home.

As I walked the box back to my truck, the mouse’s furry little face was just visible, peaking out through a crack. He looked up at me as if to say, “thank you! It was getting cold in there!” I returned to finish up the visit with the customer, inspecting the area and discussing the next steps for mouse abatement. But, before I left, I made sure to take a picture of where I’d found the little guy with my mouse-shaped stress ball standing in for him.

True Story from Technician: Thomas Parkin

Written By: Katalina Dawson