Why my house is NOT going to catch fire imminently...

I've had a worrying few days in a house where the lights near the front wall have been going out one by one without explanation. The worry upgraded to paranoia when the veterinary nurse up the road reported that she was now homeless, on account of her house burning to the ground a couple of weeks ago. Mice are suspected.
Now when the house is quiet, i.e. when I turn the TV off and carry on tinkering at the computer until the wee small hours, I hear odd noises from above. Nothing specific like a squeak, but something with legs scratching their way between floors, horror-movie style. Junior dog snapped up something in the hall the other day and when he eventually dropped it, I saw it was a mouse, albeit with some inpromptu piercings but a mouse nonetheless. Further investigation revealed some droppings and suddenly, the lights going out brought me to a horrifying conclusion - the house was riddled with a mouse invasion and my wiring was chewed to bits and about to ignite.
At one thirty today after a tense morning on the first day of a course, I rang my electrician. At two thirty, he rolled up. Ah, the recession has its advantages ocassionally. By this time I had crow bar'd half the inside wall down in the hall but found everything to be intact, ditto the attic.
After taking the switch apart - power still on, but I presume that he knows which bits to touch or not - and looking thoughtfully at the no-longer-working lights the electrician decided that the fault lay in the switch. Five minutes later, everything was working again. I was so relieved I over-tipped but at least he is more likely to drop everything and turn out again in the future. Now all I need to do is repair the wall I knocked out...

As for the mice - they haven't got off the hook yet. The pest control man is coming round tomorrow evening. *evil laugh*