Gnarly Dan goes trapping with Scurvy Al (part II)

Scurvy Al opened a large can of chili and set it on the stove to warm. He filled the coffee pot with water and grounds and set that next to the chili can to brew. Gnarly opened a new deck of cards and set the cribbage board on the table. The two men were settling into what would become a standard evening ritual for the rest of their stay in the cabin -- all except for the chili. Gnarly found out about four hours later that chili and Scurvy Al were not a good mix in an enclosed environment!

After splitting a couple of games, the men decided to call it a day and turn in. Gnarly was the last one into his bunk and turned out the Coleman lantern hanging from a ceiling pole after adjusting the damper on the stove. He snuggled deeply into his heavy-duty down sleeping bag on the top bunk, trying to avoid the unpleasant odors emanating from below. Scurvy was already snoring in the lower bunk.

As the lantern light faded into darkness, Gnarly heard the scurrying sounds of hundreds of tiny feet on the cabin floor. Gnarly Dan was tired from the last two days’ activities including getting the supplies unloaded, the water hauled, and the myriads of other chores readying the cabin for his and Scurvy Al’s planned one-month trapping expedition stay. Despite the scurrying sounds he heard after turning off the lantern, he quickly dozed off and was soon in a deep, dream-filled sleep nestled completely within his sleeping bag.

Scurvy Al, in the meantime, was a light sleeper and, between his own flatulence from the previous evening’s supper of chili and the sound of mice moving around the cabin floor, was wide awake and began formulating a plan. Apparently, having the cabin heated for the past 24 hours had awakened the mice living underneath the cabin’s floor. The smell of food, and perhaps Scurvy Al, also contributed to the mice’s instincts to explore the cabin, but being the cautious creatures that they are, only after all the light was gone.

The sounds of plastic wrappers being clawed and chewed quickly had Scurvy Al on the defensive. He instinctively knew if the mice ate or fouled their precious food supplies, both he and Gnarly Dan faced a slow and painfully lingering death by starvation! The war was on! This was about the survival of the fittest – life itself was on the line; one would live, and one would die – or they would have to snowmachine back out the next day for some fresh supplies!

Scurvy grabbed his heavy, aluminum 4-D-cell flashlight and quietly tiptoed to the pantry. He pointed the light toward the food shelves, turned on the switch and took a swing. The mice were moving as the light came on and all Scurvy Al managed to hit was a bag of beans and a flour sack. The foodstuffs exploded from their bags with the impact and scattered throughout the pantry – talk about a mess!

Gnarly Dan stirred at the sound of exploding food bags but quickly rolled over and was soon snoring again. Not wanting to awaken him and face his possible wrath at the mess, Scurvy Al decided to put the flashlight away and work by what moonlight was entering through the one small cabin window and an occasional lit match, if needed. A side benefit from the matches was the covering of Scurvy’s unpleasant emanations.

Scurvy was on a quest for survival! He mumbled something about “those @%#&* mice” as he remembered the box of mouse traps near the front door. He quietly retrieved the traps and returned to the pantry. Using a spoon, he began baiting the traps with peanut butter. Once finished, he began setting the two-dozen traps all around the floor of the cabin, with a concentration in the pantry, amid the loose flour and scattered beans. Before the last trap was set, the first three traps snapped!

Gleefully chuckling to himself, Scurvy set the remaining traps and checked the ones which had snapped earlier. The first three mice of the evening were his! Al let out a muffled cheer that sounded something like “Hooaa, take that you little &*%@#,” and rebaited and reset the traps. He laid his first victims on their backs on the table and sat down to wait for more action….

Conclusion next week….

Don’t forget the gun show at Wasilla High this weekend.