> But as cute as they were, I did not want them in my grill. They were mice, and mice are pests. Ideally they should die, but I wasn't going to kill them by my own hand.
>

That's the problem with mice where they should not be - they're cute, but darned if you'll have them in your house! (Or grill, or whatever.)

One Christmas, my family was visiting my aunt in New Mexico. There was a serious cold snap about the time we arrived, and some mice decided to come inside to the warmth.

The house is small, so I was sleeping in a nest of blankets and pillows on the floor in my mom and dad's room. (My sister had to sleep with the 4-year old cousin, heh.) They had space heaters that ran along the sides of the walls, near the floor. My head was right next to a heater. A bit after the lights went out, I heard a soft *skritch skritch* noise and opened my eyes.

There was a mouse under the space heater, not one foot away. I was startled, so I of course screamed and jumped up. I spent the rest of the night on the couch in the living room, sleeping horribly because I could hear the mice running around. They had quite a party. My older cousin saw some mice stealing his vitamins from his nightstand. Throughout the next day, we saw mice skittering under the space heaters, around the presents under the Christmas tree, and in the kitchen. It was quite an adventure. Finally my uncle got fed up and bought some poison, and the mice either died or left. (I hope they left, because I hate killing things.)

The mice had revenge, though - my grandmother's gift for each of us consisted of a box of fine candies. We found each box with a nibbled hole and only half-eaten candies left. Darn.

Sosi"they were cute... but nobody messes with my sugar!"qui