Pets and Pests

Summary
There's a mouse loose in the Read home! And D.W. wants it gone…NOW! When traps fail, Arthur enlists the help of an expert mouse catcher…a fearless hunter who laughs in the face of danger: Nemo?

Plot
It starts with Dad enjoying the smell of the fresh banana bread he took out of the oven. Mom, Arthur, Kate, and D.W. are at the table. Arthur and D.W. are bickering over who gets the prize in the cereal. D.W. claims Arthur got the prize last time, but Arthur claims he didn't. D.W. says he did and it was a ring with a secret compartment. Arthur says he gave it to her. While they are fighting, a gray mouse smells the banana bread. Mom, who is feeding Kate, tells Arthur to give in, which he reluctantly does. D.W.'s prize is a small treasure chest. However, there is no treasure. Instead there is a fortune, which Arthur reads: a stranger is a friend you haven't met yet. D.W. thinks this isn't a proper fortune and gives the prize to Arthur. Dad then gives his family the banana bread, but the mouse is on the bread, eating it. All the Reads scream except Kate, who giggles, and Arthur, who pauses to wonder why people are afraid of them as there are plenty of fictional mice who are heroes like Stuart Little and Desperaux. He wonders if they don't like mice moving in with them. David had thrown all he was holding up into the air. Then, Mom, D.W., and Dad dash out of the room screaming, bringing Arthur with them. Kate points and giggles. Mom then runs and fetches Kate, still screaming. The mouse continues to eat the banana bread.

Then, Dad sets a trap, explaining that it catches, but doesn't hurt, the mouse. Arthur says that they will then let the mouse go somewhere far away from the house. D.W. wants the mouse to be set free far far away from the house as she doesn't want him moving back in with his family and mouse friends. Arthur says that the mouse will be gone before she knows it. At bedtime, D.W. finds the mouse in the bathroom cabinet and screams.

The next day, she is having a dolls tea party and the mouse pops out of her teapot. She screams again.

At bedtime, she is scared of a shadow, which is the shadow of Rapty, and then she screams for the fifth time so far when she finds the mouse by her alarm clock.

The next day, Dad is checking the trap, which is empty. Over the next six days, David tries a new trap each day, which doesn't work, so he eventually throws them all in the trash.

The next day, Arthur is visiting Francine, they are playing a board game, and he tells her about how the mouse eats the food and escapes, and wonders if he enjoys the challenge. Francine wishes she could help, but she doesn't know how as she never has mice. Arthur asks her why. Francine says she doesn't know but thinks it's probably because they are afraid of Nemo. She then points to Nemo, who is sharpening his claws.

Arthur and D.W. take Nemo home in a cat's travel box. Pal gasps. D.W. tells Nemo to go find the mouse and eat him. Arthur hopes Nemo will just scare the mouse away but D.W. doesn't care what Nemo does. Pal runs to Kate, who is stretching and tells her they have been infested by a "filthy scavenger". Kate thinks he is talking about the mouse and says he is not so bad. Pal says he is talking about Nemo and that he is downstairs. Pal wonders if Nemo is moving in; then the couch will be covered in cat fur and he would have to rebury all his bones, which he thinks is undignified. Kate says she's sure it is just for a few days. Nemo comes in, saying that it may be a few weeks and a year at most, depending on how long the job takes. He then wonders if the toy box is the litter box. Pal says it is not and they are D.W.'s toys. He then asks what Nemo's job is. Nemo says his job is to take care of the "mouse problems". He then shows off cat ninja tricks, but is scared by D.W.'s squeaky chicken toy. Pal wonders if Nemo really is moving in.

That night, Nemo tries to hunt the mouse, knocking all the fruit out of the fruit bowl. However when he does find the mouse in the bread bin, he gets a fright, and falls, breaking the fruit bowl and opening the dog food and the oven door by accident. Mom and Dad come in and gasp at the mess.

The next day, Nemo is talking about the way he perceived the mouse. He saw it as huge and mistook its claws for fangs. He wonders if it is not a mouse, but a wild boar or a deformed rabbit. Kate asks if it was a made-up creature: the Gabbernook. Pal joins in the game. Nemo thinks it was the Gabbernook and that you'd need a lion to get rid of it. He then asks what that is. Pal says that it was something Kate made up. Kate and Pal then laugh, but Nemo is not amused and wonders if he will sleep in the crib. He says he coughs up furballs at night. Pal wonders if he and Kate will have to take care of the mouse.

Pal digs in the bushes, not wanting to sacrifice a piece of salami. He gives Nemo the salami and says it is for a trap. Nemo does an evil laugh. Pal copies it, which Nemo doesn't like.

That night, Pal and Nemo set their trap on the front steps. Nemo tells Pal about his siblings, which Pal doesn't like. The mouse then eats the salami and they shut the door. They then sort of hug each other to celebrate, which they don't like. The mouse then reenters the house via a hole in the wall, scaring Pal and Nemo.

The net day, Nemo and Pal are telling Kate about the mouse, and they think it teleported. They wonder if it is a Gabbernook. Kate says there was an "important meeting" at breakfast.

The next morning, at breakfast, Mom had said the exterminator was coming that day to take care of the mouse. D.W. had said that she didn't want him to take care of the mouse, but to get rid of it. David had said the exterminator will. D.W. had asked how, to which Dad was awkward. Mom had mentioned that the exterminator had a special potion that he sprayed the mouse with, and then the mouse went to sleep. Dad had said it went to sleep forever. D.W. had said she wanted the exterminator to come soon, and didn't like her prize: a pirate mouse toy.

The doorbell rings and Arthur answers the door. Ladonna, introducing her smart friend who can do tricks, is on the doorstep. Arthur interrupts her, saying he needs to find Nemo and bring him back to Francine. Ladonna says she is great at finding cats as she once found a cat that had been lost for seven weeks as she had a tuna fish sandwich in her pocket, but she didn't know because her jacket smells funny anyway. General Higgins then jumps out of her bag. Meanwhile, Pal is telling Nemo to come out of D.W.'s closet as if the Gabbernook can appear anywhere, what makes him think he's safe in there? Nemo says he doesn't know, and maybe the Gabbernook will mistake him for a slipper. Pal says that if Nemo doesn't come out, he is going to hide his catnip. Nemo comes out and Pal tells Nemo there is nothing to be afraid of. General Higgins comes in, asking for water. This scares Nemo down the stairs and into his cat box. Arthur says that was easy. Pal thinks that General Higgins is the Gabbernook, having changed size and colour. He hides under the bed and says "What do you want with us, Gabbernook?". General Higgins doesn't know what a Gabbernook is. He introduces himself and Pal asks if he is the mouse pest. General Higgins says he is not a grey mouse, but a white rat, and Ladonna's pet. Kate says hello. General Higgins then asks if he should talk to the mouse. Kate nods.

Ladonna then introduces General Higgins, but he is missing. In the kitchen, General Higgins tells the mouse that Nigel Ratburn's House has cheese. The mouse asks if he has any Camembert. General Higgins says yes. The mouse runs off. General Higgins reminisces on his childhood, spent travelling. D.W. then comes in, holding a broom and screaming. She believes he is the mouse, gotten bigger from eating their food. Ladonna interrupts, telling D.W. to be careful, telling her he is General Higgins her pet rat. D.W. asks Ladonna why she has a pet rat.

General Higgins then jumps through a hoop, impressing D.W. and Arthur. D.W. pats General Higgins. The doorbell rings. Ladonna and General Higgins plan to leave, and General Higgins says goodbye. Arthur then takes Nemo home and the exterminator arrives. The mouse is in the garden.

Major

 * Arthur Read
 * D.W. Read
 * Kate Read
 * Jane Read
 * David Read
 * Nemo
 * Pal
 * Mouse

Minor

 * General Higgins
 * Ladonna Compson
 * Francine Frensky
 * Exterminator

Cultural references

 * Arthur mentions ' and ' as fictional mice heroes.

Episode connections

 * Arthur and Francine play a game which appears to be Confuse the Goose, which is a bit unusual as Arthur normally dislikes Confuse the Goose. Perhaps it was another board game concerning a goose, or maybe it was Francine's idea.
 * Pal tries to join Nemo in evil laughing, as he did in "Pet Projects". He wasn't very good at it this time, either.

Other

 * D.W. calls pieces of eight "pieces of six".