King sat or lay down on guard duty for two weeks. He wouldn’t budge for anything except his meals and going outside for a few minutes to do his business – then he’d be right back on guard duty. The poor boy knew something was going on under our dishwasher. He knew something we did not know. A mouse (or mice) was busy underneath and along the sides of our dishwasher pulling insulation down to build a NEST!!!!
To add insult to injury, said mouse (mice) was chewing on the drain hose. Unbeknownst to us our dishwasher was silently leaking through the floorboards underneath and down to the basement below. Fortunately, my husband went down in the basement to check on something (not done, too often by either of us), and saw the drip, drip, drip coming down from the floor above as I was running a full load of dishes.
Urrgg! Out came the dishpan to hand wash the load already in progress and continue hand washing throughout the weekend with company on board. (Things like this never happen during the week when a service call can be made!)
We have a terrific appliance man. For those living in the Northampton, MA, area, it’s Besko Appliances in Easthampton, owned by Chris. I have bought every single appliance from Besko’s for the past 34 years, simply because when there’s trouble with an appliance, Chris comes out right away, and if it’s at all possible to save an appliance, he’ll do it. For years, he resurrected my dryer – even, after a while, I secretly hoped for a new one! He’s old time service…. so hard to find today! So, Chris came right away on Monday morning, and with King sitting over his shoulder, he exposed the damage that had been done. King observed as I used the Shop Vac to quickly vacuum up the nest and mouse droppings, leaving the area under the dishwasher empty and clean.
King is now relieved that his family is rid of the invasion only he knew was happening. I’m relieved for him because his 24/7 vigil has come to an end and he’s back relaxing in his favorite spot on the couch. The new dishwasher will be delivered next week. No hope for the old one…. Mice are so destructive!