6:30 AM. Time to start my day. Captain "Happy" Jack goes outside. I start the coffee. I am meeting the contractor today at 8AM . He is reconstructing my in-law apartment that was destroyed in the flood. The clothes for the day are laid out on my bed . Next stop is the bathroom. When I turn on the light, I see a mouse in my bathtub. The little thing is in a panic. She fell in and can't get out. (I know it is a female mouse, because when I was teaching nursery school, We had pet mice in the classrooms. Female mice are clean and sweet. Male mice stink to the heavens. We kept out male mouse in the storeroom. His name was Sam, but that is another story.)
How can I take a bath with a mouse in the bathtub? She wants to hide. The only camouflage she can find is the drain. Little lady mouse hides in the drain, but she doesn't fit. Her tail sticks out. If she was one of our pet mice, I would merely pick her up by her tail and let her sit on my hand ....her ride down the stairs and out the door.
This is a wild mouse. She will panic and bite me. I have no traps. I have no bait and I really don't want to kill it. They are so beautiful...perfection in miniature...tiny eyes and feet. Everything works. God is a perfect engineer. His works can be seen in this tiny little mouse.
I call Butch, my neighbor. He laughs at me. We decide that I need a heavy pair of leather gloves so no one can be bitten. Yes. Butch has the gloves. My neighbor comes to my house with gloves in hand. We ascend the stairs. There she is...looking at us from her drain refuge.
Only this time, the tail is tucked in. It takes some coaxing . She runs all over the tub. She runs up Butch's arm. He shakes her down. Lady mouse stops with tail straight out. I take a piece of cardboard and hold her tail down...cardboard on end. Butch covers her with his gloved hand. He slips the cardboard under her. The lady mouse is captured in Butch's hand.
Butch carries her between his hands and talks to her, telling her that We won't hurt her. Lady mouse is deposited in a pile of leaves outside. I hope she finds a place to stay warm this winter , but not in my house.
How can I take a bath with a mouse in the bathtub? She wants to hide. The only camouflage she can find is the drain. Little lady mouse hides in the drain, but she doesn't fit. Her tail sticks out. If she was one of our pet mice, I would merely pick her up by her tail and let her sit on my hand ....her ride down the stairs and out the door.
This is a wild mouse. She will panic and bite me. I have no traps. I have no bait and I really don't want to kill it. They are so beautiful...perfection in miniature...tiny eyes and feet. Everything works. God is a perfect engineer. His works can be seen in this tiny little mouse.
I call Butch, my neighbor. He laughs at me. We decide that I need a heavy pair of leather gloves so no one can be bitten. Yes. Butch has the gloves. My neighbor comes to my house with gloves in hand. We ascend the stairs. There she is...looking at us from her drain refuge.
Only this time, the tail is tucked in. It takes some coaxing . She runs all over the tub. She runs up Butch's arm. He shakes her down. Lady mouse stops with tail straight out. I take a piece of cardboard and hold her tail down...cardboard on end. Butch covers her with his gloved hand. He slips the cardboard under her. The lady mouse is captured in Butch's hand.
Butch carries her between his hands and talks to her, telling her that We won't hurt her. Lady mouse is deposited in a pile of leaves outside. I hope she finds a place to stay warm this winter , but not in my house.
Labels: Mouse In The House
posted by gardenbug at Monday, December 20, 2010
4 Comments:
Ah yes mouse in the house. Our house is old- built in 1857 and has all matter of cracks critters can find their way in. We have had: mice, birds, a squirrel, a chipmunk, and several bats. We have managed to escort pretty much all of them back out side alive but it can be quite an adventure.
It keeps you hopping, no? I have an ongoing battle with squirrels in my fruit trees, too.
It keeps you hopping, no? I have an ongoing battle with squirrels in my fruit trees, too.
We get rats and mice every autumn, and I've given up trying to be humane in their capture. There are just too many and they're good at hiding, so we leave bait out for them. It's good that I don't have small children or pets who will get into it.
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