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November 8th, 2010
06:52 am - Hey now, little mouse
I stayed up far too late playing Minecraft tonight. As I was getting ready to head off to bed, I heard a strange scrabbling sound behind me. There's a window behind and it's raining and windy, so obviously it was something brushing up against the window. Right?
Nope! It's a new friend! And he is one fearless little fellow. He's perched on the curtain rod directly behind me, watching me play. And he let me get very close with the camera.
Mr. The Cat spotted the mouse earlier this evening, but is still convinced it's hiding in the opposite corner of the room. He's also more interested in my breakfast on the desk than he is in the mouse (who, when I wasn't looking, managed to crawl across two curtain rods and one free-hanging curtain -- how did you do that, little mouse? -- to make it to the other side of the bay window.)
Now he's making friends with Gregor, the fellow who sits on ledge on the other side. Hi, you two! Can you get rid of the cobwebs while you're there?
I'd shoo the mouse out the door but A. it's rainy and B. it's windy and C. he'd find another way in anyway. He really isn't all that welcome a guest here and will soon have to go; right now his presence is more of a novelty than anything. I am guessing he'll eventually run afoul of the cat when he makes it back down on the ground, but I won't contemplate that scenario just now. I have some sleeping to do before I go to the dentist today.
Have a nice morning, little mouse!
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Is that an escaped pet mouse? I didn't think that wild mice had so much colour contrast. I think you might be right. Wild mice dodge for cover and darkness, and don't hang out comfortably in plain sight, like this one is doing. I bet this fellow escaped and is enjoying a day out. Ooooooooh! I'd let him stay for awhile, too. :-) Like any mammalian lifeform possessing even the most rudamentary of intelligence, this mouse senses the sheer, weapons grade awesomeness of Minecraft, and holds those who follow in the Teachings Of The Prophet Notch in the highest of Awe...er...some...ness.
![[User Picture]](https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/53378800/199726) | | From: |  oonh |
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| Date: | November 8th, 2010 12:36 pm (UTC) |
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scrabbling?
Squeak! "I have 'tranquil' on a triple word score!" He's a very clever mouse. I watched him climb across the vertical face of a curtain, and he stared down an unblinking camera eye. I'm sure he's the kind of mouse who'd continually get the 50-point rack clearing bonus. | From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: | November 8th, 2010 01:52 pm (UTC) |
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| | Good Looker | (Link) |
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I hate mice in the abstract, but I melt when face-to-face with something like this. Still, unless it's an escaped pet, where there's one mouse, there are usually more, so best to let Mr. The Cat get on the case ASAP, IMHO. | From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: | November 8th, 2010 03:02 pm (UTC) |
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| | Deer mouse | (Link) |
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It's a wild mouse - most likely a deer mouse, to be specific. They have great big dark eyes and white bellies, just like your little pal. They can also share hantavirus (not so likely in this neck of the woods) and Lyme disease (which is a concern.) So cute!! Based on how close he let you get and how not-scared he looks, I'd agree with the folks who think this is an escaped pet. ![[User Picture]](https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/36450870/8552408) | | From: | joyeous |
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| Date: | November 8th, 2010 03:30 pm (UTC) |
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This whole post is disturbing to me on many levels. | From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: | November 8th, 2010 03:56 pm (UTC) |
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| | It's wither a deer mouse or a white footed mouse | (Link) |
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Closely related species and both are sometimes domesticated, but they far more typically occur in the wild. Like all wild mice species in NA, there is some risk of them carrying deer ticks (which themselves may carry lyme desease) and hantavirus. Humans and cats can both catch hanta from rodents, btw.
I hate to say it, but you are probably best off killing him. Sticky traps are less trouble for you, but nastier for him. Traditional spring traps are ickier for you, but mean a quick clean death for the wee beastie.
If you leave him in your house, you *will* regret it. ![[User Picture]](https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/57750389/4432817) | | | Re: It's either a deer mouse or a white footed mouse | (Link) |
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I was guessing field mouse....
Glue traps are evil, evil things. Spring trap or have a heart....
(My co-worker's boyfriend started keeping them as pets. It went way out of control. Separate cages, but there were dozens of them anyway.... It's like they knew, hey he puts you in a cage, but you get fed all you want....) According to UHub, it's a deer mouse, which would explain the contrasting fur. Break out the Have-a-Heart! If it's as friendly as it sounds, a cracker in a shoebox (with holey lid) might be sufficient. ![[User Picture]](https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/71696365/2251477) | | From: | grumqa |
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| Date: | November 8th, 2010 06:05 pm (UTC) |
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Fieldmice! Scoop up, bop on head. Hee!
Now that song is stuck in my head, thank-you-very-much.... Very cute indeed! And I am fretting cuz I have some visitors again too. And the landlord will not be nice about this, I fear. But Cutey is being very cute! And mine never try to get above the floor, that I can detect. Cutey's got talent! It's very regrettable how cute indeed these mice can be, because they are horrible pests. He will get into your cupboards, eat half your food, and poop in the other half. Not to mention their disease-carrying potential.
At a nature center I used to work at, they did a little experiment one time. Every time they found a mouse, the live-trapped it, marked its fur with some non-toxic paint, and released it over a mile from the center. Soon enough, they were finding mice with paint on their fur back in the traps. Live-trapping and releasing far away will not rid you of the beasts, they will come back, incorrigible little buggers.
But gosh they are cute. Don't forget that it's Quite Fast. DON'T LET ABBIE KILL HIM!!!
You can let mousie loose in my yard. We have a garage he can winter-over in, with old furniture to burrow in and all the birdseed that falls from my feeder. Pleeeeeeeze no kill?? |
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