It’s been a cold winter, followed by a none-too-balmy spring. This has been difficult on the animals with which we share the swamp our town is built upon. It’s not been a good year to be a deer or a skunk. We haven’t seen our favorite ground hog (a.k.a. the little man who lives under the porch) in a while; we suspect he packed up and retired to Palm Beach.
We’ve had chipmunk and squirrel squatters before, but never mice – not until this year. In December, we discovered that someone had been nibbling at the groceries in our pantry. Whoever coined that phrase about not pooping where you eat was not a mouse.
We finally caught the miscreant with a combination of peanut butter and Gold Fish crackers. He and I went for a little ride. But I’m soft, so I let him go in a field where he could freeze to death, starve, found a flourishing rodent colony, or do any of a myriad things that were no longer my business.
I left the trap in the pantry, but didn’t catch anybody else. The signs of nibbling disappeared.
Last week, the boys and I were playing with the new train the big boy had earned for getting to the top of the color ladder at school (Go, big boy, go!), when the little boy became unusually animated. He pointed under the coffee table and let go a stream of baby talk exclamations. He can speak some English in quiet conversation, but not when he is whipped into a frenzy.
“You want me to catch what? Oh, you people crack me up!”
I peered under the table. All I could see were some wooden puzzles and other forgotten toys. Buster was adamant. Getting down on his knees, he pointed under the table, showing his alarmed face before morphing it into his scared face. All the while an unintelligible rant poured from his mouth, like from a taxi driver after a fender bender.
To assuage his misguided alarm, I reached under the table and pulled out a puzzle frame. We all jumped back as a furry lump scurried across the floor and into the entryway. The mouse hid behind one of my shoes. I grabbed the cat out of his nap on the couch and put him down within two feet of the mouse. As determined as Buster had been to find the mouse, the cat was determined to ignore it. I could not get him to turn his head in the right direction. He knew there was a problem that way, but if he didn’t see it, he couldn’t be made responsible for it.
While I went to retrieve a plastic dish cover, the cat tip-toed away to a different floor of the house. I had little faith in my ability to catch the mouse, but maybe this one had the rheumatism, because he was just slow enough for me to corral under the dish cover. This gave us leisure to have a family debate about our next move.
Snoozing on the Sofa 
I love the fact that the little fellow knew enough about vermin to sound the alarm. He’s a lot more useful than the cat.
He loves animals, but has a clear idea of which ones belong in the house. Children’s instincts are amazing.
Over 90 years ago a struggling commercial artist was staring at a blank sheet of paper. He looked away from his drawing board to see a mouse staring at him from the corner. So, he picked up his pencil. The rest, as they say, is history. If it worked for a struggling artist it might work for a struggling writer.
The mouse thing has probably been overdone….do a groundhog thing. Oh wait, that’s been done too.
I’m getting rid of the mouse first. My art can wait until the homestead is secure.
I’m on the edge of my seat…
Is the cable TV out again?
Stupid AT&T
When your cable goes out, you get excited about mouse blogs. When you get excited about mice blogs, you start shopping for Gerbils. When you start shopping for Gerbils, you spend a lot of money to make your kid’s room stink. Don’t spent a lot of money to make your kid’s room stink.
Love it!
I like to use poison pellets for these situations, unfortunately my dog also likes poison pellets. Dogs can be expensive when they eat poison.
We prefer to make it into a family fun event.
Oh, the screams that would echo in my house, if this happened there…
Funny, just before I set him free, the mouse mumbled something about starting a new life in South Africa. Keep an eye out.
You don’t understand…it’s mice and bats and spiders and anything else with more than 2 legs…they cause havoc in the house…
Well, we could probably send you a nice, cuddly skunk. We’ve got some of them in our neighborhood too.
Is there ever a bad year for being a skunk though? But more importantly your son reached the top of the color ladder!! Thats awesome! Please send over a digital high five. Now onto part two…
Yes, he rang the bell! And now he seems to be resting on his laurels. I will add your congratulations to those laurels, because who couldn’t use a larger pillow?
“But I’m soft, so I let him go in a field where he could freeze to death, starve, found a flourishing rodent colony, or do any of a myriad things that were no longer my business.”
Truly heartwarming…Sarcastic as it may sound, I actually mean that. You treated that mouse better than I probably would have.
It must be penance for the squirrel I shot with my BB gun when I was nine. I learned I was not a very happy hunter that day.