Wild Animals

Oh man. So, we have two domesticated animals—our sweet kitties, Cosmo and Chloe. We have on the occasion had an encounter or two with some wild animals. (Sounds exciting, right?) (haha) There was the turtle that we found twice in our yard or near our house. Jeff ran over it with the lawn mower, thought it was dead, tossed it across the yard, and then it started crawling away. Apparently our mower blade was set pretty high, because it didn't do anything to him. Jeff tried to make peace by offering the turtle Romaine lettuce, but the turtle was not very forgiving. He rejected the lettuce and waddled off. Jeff saw him again later, and the turtle was still holding the grudge, because he gave Jeff "a look."

Then there was the lizard. Oh joy. If you don't remember that post, feel free to click the link and reminisce. Ha. (Wow. I really thought I spelled that word incorrectly, but it didn't get highlighted by spell check, so I guess I just made my HS English teacher proud!)

And tonight, we had the pleasure of adding a new buddy to our list of wild animals.


Jeff and I are in our bedroom. I'm responding to e-mails; Jeff is checking ESPN stuff. I heard a noise coming from the kitchen. I was surprised, because it sounded like someone was squeezing a squeaky toy, so I glance over to the bed to see if Jeff really is in here with me. He was. So I assumed I imagined it. And then I realized we didn't even own any squeaky toys.

Then the cats come running in: Cosmo, growling, and Chloe had something in her mouth. Oh, I thought, she found one of the mice toys. Then I thought about it and remembered that our mice toys didn't have little feet. They just were bodies with tails. Oh my gosh! It was a real mouse. I somewhat exclaimed to Jeff that Chloe had a live mouse! I meant "live" as in "not a toy." I assumed it was dead.

The cats raced back into the kitchen, where we quickly realized that mouse was actually alive, because Chloe kept dropping it out of her mouth and batting it with her paws while it tried to run away.

We hurriedly looked for gloves and came up with my winter ones. Jeff put them on and pried the mouse out of Cosmo's jaws (the mouse had switched tormentors by this time). We checked the mouse all over but could ascertain no damage. He was so cute!! I couldn't believe how cute this little mouse was.

In the end, we let him out into the yard. He'll probably die out there, too, but I hope whatever animal gets him does not play with him (or her) as much as our cats were. If we had a small animal cage, we honestly would have been tempted to keep him. Although, I couldn't help but think of The Secret Garden and the bubonic plague, or whichever disease that was . . .

So yeah. We had a mouse living in our house. Somewhere. I wonder if he just came in today or if he has been hiding really well.

Either way, it is somewhat gratifying to know that our cats are good mousers and predators in general. I am very glad to not have the dead lizard lurking and the mouse hiding somewhere in my home.

What will we discover next?

Please, friends, don't let this discourage you from visiting. We have a very clean home, and I am sure these are relatively common occurrences for older houses. Please still visit us! :) We love visitors! (Just not the wild animal variety . . . )

Comments

  1. ha ha ha ha ha ha.

    I can totally imagine Jeff telling you that the turtle gave him a "look".

    That does look like the cutest little mouse. I am sure he's harmless, how could he not be?

    I am going to imagine him nestling up warm and cozy and living through this winter.

    ReplyDelete
  2. lol, I love the "please visit us" comment at the end! My cat caught a mouse in our house when I was 16. I named the mouse Pop Tart, because I put it in an old spaghetti jar with foil over top (with holes poked in it) and he popped right out of it! And I had to catch him. Luckily, he jumped right into my lap. I then took him to the biology lab of the college I was attending (my old hang out spot) and fed him to our pet snake, Ka. :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's so funny! Some of our friends had a gerbil running around in their house--a gerbil, of all things. They think someone lost him and he wandered inside their apartment or something. I'm glad you did a catch-and-release before Cosmo and Chloe could really go to town.

    And in Secret Garden it was cholera, but I think you're thinking of the bubonic plague in the 1300s, which was spread by rats. Though you might also be thinking of hantavirus, which is most commonly associated with mice.

    And I'd stay with you even if you had a million mice running around in your home. One day. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. And p.s., I love the new layout! The background, pages, header, etc. It looks so nice!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your Mom was 4. I was teaching fifth grade at Central Elem. School in Pleasant Grove. My science project was to raise four white rats. Two received cereals, fruits, vegetables, water, and milk. The other two received candy, pop, white bread, cookies, and etc. We weighed them twice each week. By Christmas time two rats were healthy and fun to play with, and two were snarly and mean. (Difficult to weigh.) I was supposed to dispose of the rats quietly, during the Christmas recess. I took them home. A few days on a good diet, and the two small rats became friendly. The day after Christmas, your Mom was giving the rats a ride in her new dump truck. (She preferred boy toys.) The Relief Society teachers came for a Christmas visit. One asked, "What is your daughter playing with?" A helpful brother answered, "She's giving the white rats a ride." SCREAM ! Two ladies made a quick exit from our home. Your Mother was informed that she would not need to bring food to any Ward activities. One by one, our cat was able to play rough with our white rats, and after a week or so, we had them no more. Cats do like to tease, before they eat. Children have difficulty remembering to fasten the pet's cage door before letting the other pet (cat) come in the house. One of life's "learning experiences". Love, grandpa H.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh my goodness! I love the picture of Jeff with the mouse. I laughed out loud. He is holding it so close to his face. It's hilarious. We will still come visit, even more so now that I know we have two feline protectors on the job!

    You've had some exciting interactions with cute wild life. It seems like in Vegas all I run into are black widow spiders and huge cockroaches. Yuck!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am convinced there are and have been no mice living in your beautiful tidy home. No, Cosmo or Chloe carried them in the house and then let them loose to show off their amazing hunting skills.

    I love Jeff's enthusiasm for wild life.

    ReplyDelete
  8. lol we found a turtle in our backyard once! i brought it in and wanted to keep it as a pet. i called my brother cuz he loves turtles and asked him what to feed it. he said lettuce. then i asked if it was ok for me to keep it and feed him lettuce. he said "yeah but keep him in a certain area for when he poops." i said "turtles poop?" dave said "it eats doesn't it?" so i let it go.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

What's on your mind?