Saturday, November 06, 2010

So...we have a mouse

First time that I can recall that I've had one.  I think there was one time when I was a kid--I remember traps, but that may well have been wishful thinking on my uncle's part in regards to lowering the snakes' food bill.

Anyway, I was in the bedroom last night and saw something smallish and dark go running from behind the dresser to behind the bedside table and back a couple of times.  One thing I have learned we have to deal with on the East Side are giant cockroaches (the ones that are called palmetto bugs in an attempt to make them sound innocuous).  Rarely saw the damned things in the trailer park, but encounter about one a week over here.  And I'm terrified of them.  So I saw this thing out of the corner of my eye and thought "Dear God I hope that is a mouse and not just a huge cockroach."

Eventually I didn't see it anymore, so I forgot about it.  Until about 6 or 7 this morning, when the older two girls ran screaming into our bedroom, where Esther was sleeping with us. 

"A mouse! A mouse!  Mommy, there's a MOUSE!"
"Yeah.  We heard something rattling and so we turned on the light and there it was!"

Mind you, this is said in that high pitch that only prepubescent girls are capable of making.  Being a concerned mother, I said what I always say in these circumstances.

"Well, don't eat it.  Now go back to bed."
"But it's a mouse!"
'I heard you.  Don't eat it."

At about this time, Esther sat up and once again proved why she simply must be my uncle reincarnated.  "A mouse?" she said "I wanna see it!"  And then she ran to the other bedroom.  While her sisters were still standing over me jumping around and squealing.

We finally got them all back in bed, though Esther was rather disgruntled that she didn't get to see the mouse.  She has named it--Meecie, of course--and is determined that we must capture it so that it can be her pet.

3 comments:

Groundhog said...

You only have a mouse? Just one? Lucky you! We got a whole stinkin' heard of them tromping in our attic. Oh, and we had a snake in the pantry the other day!

peter said...

This is the time of year we get mice coming in out of the cold. Last night our cat had one he was playing with for awhile. He'd catch it, walk to another room, drop it, and start the chase again. I found it dead in the hallway outside our door at 2:30 this morning. Also heard one up in the attic above the wall between the living room and kitchen this afternoon. Cracker catches a good half dozen every winter.

Sabra said...

I don't know if there's one or more than one--just that we've only seen one.

It's weird, because we never had mice when we lived in a more rural area, but now that we're within a few blocks of downtown, we have a mouse. And since we don't have central heating, or heaters just yet, it's not really any warmer in the house than outside!