mouse

mouse: (n) any of numerous small Old World rodents of the family Muridae, especially of the genus Mus, introduced widely in other parts of the world.

Actually, "mice" would a more appropriate title for this post. For it is not a singular mouse that has frustrated me into taking up my blog again after 9 months of absence but rather, a colony of mice. However, the dictionary defines the word "mice" as "the plural form of mouse." And so here we are. No matter the word, this story is of the physical creature and its incredibly destructive tendencies.

For this up and coming Labor Day weekend, my cousin Jimmy is flying to Michigan all the way from California to visit our extended family. It has been at least 4 years, my last trip to California, since we've seen each other. To celebrate his reunion with the rest of our family, as well as the national holiday, the Klos family is camping out at Granny's. Though it hardly qualifies as camping. Grandma's 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath house is on small inland lake with a large, lightly wooded with great big pine trees, lot. "Camping" in the lawn is just a better way to enjoy the lake and prevent cramming everybody into one house.

In preparation for "camping" my father asked me to clean our pop-up camper and take inventory of the camping gear. This morning he popped-up the camper in the driveway and upon entering...

The only thing more appalling than the sight of our camper, was the smell. An entire neighborhood's worth of mice had made themselves very much at home in our Coleman Fleetwood camper. Within each storage cabinet were nests of sorts, constructed with bits of our chewed through game boxes, pillow cases, and dish rags. Mouse droppings dotted the entire interior like sprinkles on a cupcake. Stains and fur remained plastered to the canvas where deceased members of the mouse colony had been decaying for an untold amount of time. Of course today had to be the hottest September day on record in Grand Rapids since the 1980s. Need I say more?

It took several trips in and out of the camper while holding my breath to remove the accumulation of our family camping accessories from inside. In some places the Shop-Vac was the only tool able to reveal what was salvageable beneath all of the shredding and shit. There was not much left. Literally EVERYTHING had been contaminated with mouse feces. Anything that was worth keeping needed an extra long swim in a pool of bleach. What was left of the camper was not much better. The mattresses were stained and chewed, droppings were stuck in every crevice and fold of fabric, and the exterior canvas was chewed completely through leaving jagged and unwanted skylights above the beds. The smell alone was cause enough to call it quits on the camper all together. Unfortunately the company who manufactured this particular camper is no longer in business due to bankruptcy in 2008. There is no saving this camper. Amazing how a 3 inch mouse, and its friends, can completely destroy a 21 foot camper.

I'll be in the tent at Granny's this year.

If anyone is interested in camper parts for a Fleetwood Coleman pop up camper, please contact me.