Life or Death

He's kind of cute, isn't he?

Not in my book.

I have mice in my garage in an old bathtub that we used to store corn in that we used to heat our house with over the winter. They started nesting there and now there are about 15 of them.

My wife got close enough to their nest and was moving things around enough that she may have stirred up some dust. Some of that dust may have been inhaled by her. If it was, then she runs the risk of contracting Hantavirus. Hantavirus, if not detected early on through flu-like symptoms, has proven to be lethal. There is no cure for the virus itself but if doctors can treat the symptoms before they escalate then the patient can be saved. Of the last 6 cases reported in the state of Iowa only 1 person died.

We are waiting to find out if my wife will develop any of these symptoms or not but it may take 1-5 weeks for them to start manifesting.

So in the meantime, we've started leaving the garage door open so that the neighborhood cats can come in and kill these suckers.

This weekend, I can be found in my HAZMAT suit cleaning my garage.