Whose Afraid of a Little Mouse?

Last fall when Carl and I were putting away the last of lawn equipment we had a bit of a disagreement over what to do about two mice (that we knew of) that had taken up residence inside our barn. Knowing that the barn would be closed up for the winter, I told Carl that I didn't want the mice to be left in there all winter with friends they'd either create or invite during the cold months. Carl on the other hand, felt that it was "only two" and they should be allowed to stay, so I conceded.

Last week we opened up the barn and lo and behold, there were a few signs of the mice, but none were visible.

I was very much assured by Carl today that the barn was a mouse free zone!! Feeling that confidence, and having sent a couple of the dogs in ahead of me, I ventured into the barn to get out the rain-barrel that as you can see by the picture below was being stored right by the door.
When I moved the hoses that were stored inside the barrel, guess what? Yes, there was a mouse inside!! Okay, I'll admit that I'm not brave and I'm scared of mice and screamed like a little girl which caused our dog Carrie to run back to the house!! I had Carl remove everything, and this is what our little barn resident looked like. Hmmm, he really was much bigger and much more menacing the first time I saw him...

Carl took him over to the edge of the woods to release this little country mouse back into the wild--I sent Rudi with him to make sure it was sent on its way...

Carl said the mouse acted like it didn't want to leave the rain-barrel. I came over and took a peek and as I snapped the pictures he looked so scared and unsure. And, for just a moment I wasn't afraid of it and I thought that maybe I should just let him live in our barn and continue to be safe. But the feeling passed and he was evicted from his home--One down, how many more mice and "I told you so's" to go??