Thursday, November 11, 2010

Mouse in the House is Not Just a Rhyme

Tonight, I was totally going to blog about this awesome Christmas tree our friends Meghan and Andrew brought Meg.


Black celebration, I know. The best part is Target carries them in hot pink and baby blue too! I had just written that line in the blog that would have been, when I saw the little furry bastard. It ran from behind the couch, past the fireplace, and behind the "entertainment system." At first I thought it was our cat, Olive -- that's how big it was.

When I saw the rodent I was enjoying an evening alone. Ryan had taken Meg to the school play and I was sitting around in nothing but socks. Andrew and Meghan came over to drop off the tree, so I had to put on a bra, but the evening was still pretty chill. Seeing the scurrying mouse though, ramped it up to full DefCon 4: with socks tucked into sweats, and oven mitts and wine sleeves on the hands. Yeah, I looked pretty.

I tried to call Ryan four times. I called my parents. They asked if I was playing Mousetrap. I remembered why I don't call them for non sarcasm related emergencies. They said to just leave the doors open. I reminded them it's 3o degrees. They hung up.

When Ryan and Meg got home I tried to play it cool. Well, as cool as I could with a wine sleeve on one hand. Ryan told me not to worry, that whatever it was, if it was anything, would probably run out the way it came in. Then, he saw it, and confirmed my suspicions. It wasn't a wayward kitten, but a mouse. Since he grew up on a farm I had to trust him.

We moved the couch. We moved the coffee table. We moved the bookcases. We saw it run down the fireplace ash chute, so we sat there waiting. I shined a flashlight down there and didn't find a mouse, but found Sally's tennis ball, and Meg's rolly ball. Yes, I got them out. I figured if nothing else it would scare the furry Jerkasaurous.


I thought that the fight was over. That the mouse would sleep in the hole until it either got out, or we found it eviscerated by one of the cats on the floor. I had started writing this new blog, about how the mouse was still in the house, and how reaching down the ash chute made me look like I had given a hand job to Dick Van Dyke. And then? I saw it again.

I have never been quiet, and I have never been graceful, yet I was both as I crept into the corner and picked up the little visitor. I called to Ryan to open the door -- and take a picture.


All quiet is now on the Libby front. Yes, the cats are still hunting for the ghost mouse, but I think that's humbling for them. I can go to sleep without worrying vermin will nibble off my child's toes. And the mouse? He will live to fight another day. Oh, and hopefully remember I saved him from a gruesome death at the hands of overfed cats.

I just hope the raccoons don't show up again.

22 comments:

Riot Kitty said...

I hate to say it, but that picture is so cute!

Not kidding - we just finished watching a movie called "Hickory Dickory Dock."

Wanna Bee said...

love the mousie! Super cute - go you! but what is a wine sleeve, all of my wine bottles are shirtless . . . have I missed a wine fashion trend?

Jody said...

Well done you for catching it! But I have to agree with RK and WB, that mouse is super cute (and very big!). I'm glad you opted for putting him back outside xx.

PS, your baby girl is growing sweeter ever day xo

Liz Woodbury said...

that mouse is freaking adorable.

Kelly said...

Mack and I lived in a small house that had a breif field mouse problem. At the time, the landlord was supposed to get somone out, but our cats got to them first. Rather then just kill the mice, they just played with them to death. Pure torture for the mice, and me. There were only 2, I got one out. The other one was hiding. When I woke up the next morning, the cats had gotten that one, and put it in my bed. You know, to show me what a crappy hunter I was or something.

BugginWord said...

I actually sucked in my breath and then cooed at that picture. Look at what a softie you're turning me into.

Anonymous said...

He is a cute mouse.

Sorry!

Samantha said...

Okay, I am freaking out. You were able to pick up the mouse??? More to the want, you WANTED to??? Also, that mouse? The biggest thing I've ever seen. We had a mouse in our house last summer about the size of that mouse's HEAD.

I now think of you as the bravest person EVER. Also the nicest.

Lisa said...

I'm not a rodent expert, nor do I play one on television. In my non-expert opinion, I don't think that's a mouse. I think that's a gerbil? Or some other domesticated rodent?

What do I know, though? really. It is cute, I'll agree w/ the other comments.

What did you do w/ the oven mitts? Fiery death or hot water laundry?

mylittlebecky said...

THAT'S THE MOST HUGEST MOUSE I'VE EVER SEEN! i caught a parakeet the other day. not to brag or anything but ya know, they like fly and stuff.

Leslie said...

That mouse looks like it is plotting your death.

MJenks said...

Dick van Dyke was apparently once saved by a pod of porpoises (but I still got the chimney-sweeping reference).

You should have Ryan check how tightly the dryer vent is attached to the house. They like to get in via that route quite often.

And be aware that, often, where there's one, there's two (or more).

Jen said...

So now you have to get the Mouse books to read to Meg. For some odd reason, E loves these books. I cannot fathom why. "If you take a mouse to school" is currently in the rotation.

Carlea said...

Jeebus, that is a huge freaking mouse.

VEG said...

HA! Now I know where my mouse went to. Although dude...that is one humungus mouse. He could eat a horse.

LL Cool Joe said...

That would have been one dead mouse if it had been in our house!

justmakingourway said...

GAH! I'm not bad about bugs and spiders and such - unless they are really big. Or silverfish cause I hate those fuckers. But I'm preeeettttyyy sure I'd never pick up a mouse.

Impressive.

Jill VT said...

YECH! I would have had the cats all over that thing...cannot STAND mice.

Unknown said...

He looks a little scared of the crazy lady with the gloves. Thanks for saving him, Libby. He is kinda cute.

Me, You, or Ellie said...

Dude, that's not a mouse. That a possum. A big one.

Ellie

Granny Annie said...

Just hope the cute little mouse did not leave behind a passel of naked pink baby mice that will be discovered at a later date. (my word verification is "later".)

Gina said...

The first time we had a mouse & my cat didn't catch it, I ridiculed the cat and told him he was the world's worst mouser. He shaped up after that.

Sadly, now both of my mousing cats are gone and I am left with a fool who only hunts moths and stinkbugs, so I have to catch the occasional mice myself. I get the cat back by putting dresses on her and taking photos.