Word is out
I moved into my present home in Nov 1999. I moved in with my daughters and our two cats, Muffin and KoKo. By the end of that year we had added JoJo and SouSou to the family. So for these past 19 years this home has always had cats in attendance.
Living on the edge of a state forest I have enjoyed the assorted bird and wildlife that wanders by. I've become comfortable with the variety of insects that can wiggle through the tiny holes in screens and want to stay. Mostly I capture them and send them on their way. If they we offering to chip into the mortgage payment I might be more welcoming!
I am also used to field mice looking to take up residence in the crawl space. Not at all welcoming there. Think they are a bit like rabbits and would soon have an army in possession of that space. So, not quite so kindly, I have an exterminator lay bait traps. Mostly the mice have been gracious enough to partake of the bait and wander elsewhere to end their lives.
Only once in these years did I have a field mouse inside the house. And I am pretty certain it hopped in when I would leave one of the doors ajar so the cats could come and go as they pleased. I became aware of it when, while watching TV, I thought, oh, how cute, all of them are playing with the same toy! Then "the toy" squeaked and I recalled, they don't have any toys that make "that noise". Checked it out, sure enough they were tormenting a mouse. Was able to capture it and set it free, far from my doors. That was over 10 years ago.
I have now been without any cats for over a week. Yesterday morning I came into the kitchen as usual, turned on the lights, and went to make a coffee. I glanced at my sink and there sitting upright, looking a little confused and concerned was a field mouse. In the sink!
Now, I happen to think they are really the cutest little things. Big pink ears, big pink nose and tail. This one was a brownish grey, hence the color "mousey brown". He just sat frozen watching me. I put a glass over him, slide some paper under it and took him outside and set him free.
As I was waiting for my coffee I thought, well, the word has gotten out to the natural world, no more cats in this abode. What they never realized is, mine were never mousers. Rather, if they found a mouse, or any other critter, they would have wanted me to adopt it also!!!!
Living on the edge of a state forest I have enjoyed the assorted bird and wildlife that wanders by. I've become comfortable with the variety of insects that can wiggle through the tiny holes in screens and want to stay. Mostly I capture them and send them on their way. If they we offering to chip into the mortgage payment I might be more welcoming!
I am also used to field mice looking to take up residence in the crawl space. Not at all welcoming there. Think they are a bit like rabbits and would soon have an army in possession of that space. So, not quite so kindly, I have an exterminator lay bait traps. Mostly the mice have been gracious enough to partake of the bait and wander elsewhere to end their lives.
Only once in these years did I have a field mouse inside the house. And I am pretty certain it hopped in when I would leave one of the doors ajar so the cats could come and go as they pleased. I became aware of it when, while watching TV, I thought, oh, how cute, all of them are playing with the same toy! Then "the toy" squeaked and I recalled, they don't have any toys that make "that noise". Checked it out, sure enough they were tormenting a mouse. Was able to capture it and set it free, far from my doors. That was over 10 years ago.
I have now been without any cats for over a week. Yesterday morning I came into the kitchen as usual, turned on the lights, and went to make a coffee. I glanced at my sink and there sitting upright, looking a little confused and concerned was a field mouse. In the sink!
Now, I happen to think they are really the cutest little things. Big pink ears, big pink nose and tail. This one was a brownish grey, hence the color "mousey brown". He just sat frozen watching me. I put a glass over him, slide some paper under it and took him outside and set him free.
As I was waiting for my coffee I thought, well, the word has gotten out to the natural world, no more cats in this abode. What they never realized is, mine were never mousers. Rather, if they found a mouse, or any other critter, they would have wanted me to adopt it also!!!!
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