The Hunt

[vettecat]

As some of you may remember, we've had indications that we have a mouse in residence. The exterminator came and put down traps, and for a while there was no sign of anything. Well, the past couple days, our brave protector (i.e. Scheherazade) has been on Guard Duty in the kitchen again. We hadn't actually seen a mouse, but she's never been wrong before (albeit she usually tracks bugs, not mice), so we figured there had to be something there.

Tonight sdavido called me at work and told me he saw a mouse in the kitchen! It moved too fast for him to react, but that was the first actual sighting we'd had. (As it happened the cat wasn't in the room at the time.) There hadn't been any further sign when I got home, but during dinner Scheherazade was on full alert. We couldn't tell what she was reacting to, of course, but assumed that she'd let us know if anything happened.

While I was doing the dishes, I heard a squeak. At first I thought it was a cabinet door or something, and thought idly, "Funny, that sounded like a mouse." Then I realized it probably was a mouse. I'd never actually heard a mouse before... I couldn't tell where it was coming from, though.

Just a little while ago, SD- called out to me excitedly, and I ran back to the kitchen. The cat was stalking something under the table, and he said, "she had it! she almost got it!" Apparently she swiped at it and juuuust missed... I wondered whether my having trimmed her claws last night had made a difference. In the meantime, she was avidly watching a spot under the table. We looked, and there was a tiny grey mouse. My reaction to SD- was, "That's amazing! It looks just like a cat toy!" (She loves those.. she can play with them for hours.) She advanced on it, and it scurried into a corner. The corner unfortunately had a bit of debris in it that had fallen off the table (pens, receipts, etc.) so it was hard to tell exactly where the mouse went. After a few moments, though, Scheherazade seemed to lose interest, and went and sat in the hallway looking satisfied. We thought that must mean the mouse found a hole somewhere, and she was "off duty" until it reappeared.

I decided to clear out that corner, though, so the mouse would be easier to spot if it came back. I got a paper towel to put everything on and started carefully (in case something moved) lifting stuff out. Pen, receipt, business card, bottle cap, another pen, round plastic thing... um... "Honey? Could you come here a minute?"

I was holding some kind of small round gray object, but what had particularly caught my attention was the fact that there was a tail and two little feet sticking out of it. Apparently the mouse had crawled in there to hide and gotten stuck. Poor thing. After ascertaining that there was, in fact, a mouse in it, SD- told me what I was holding: An earphone case...

We aren't sure whether or not that was the One and Only Mouse (SD- thinks there's probably at least one more), but it seems we can count on Scheherazade to let us know if any more appear. In the meantime, this one appears to have been conquered by technology.

Addendum (9 a.m.): sdavido told me when I woke up that the mouse had wriggled out of the case during the night. Fortunately we had put it in a plastic bag, so it was still contained, but he put the bag in a plastic container to be safe. He also discovered that another mouse had gotten caught in a glue trap under the table, and he put that in a plastic container as well... so we now have two containers of mice. At least one of them is squeaking. I feel badly for them, but much as I'm tempted to let them out I know it's not a good idea. I left a message for the exterminator asking what I should do with them, but if he hasn't called back by the time I leave for work I might just take them out to the trash... no point to leave them here to suffer, and I imagine it would drive Scheherazade crazy, too. I wonder if there are more, or if it was just the two...

Comments

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

*snicker* We picked up Quantum because Becky insisted there was a mouse in our first apartment. I was disbelieving, but willing to go along. Then Quantum actually caught the mouse.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

It was quite interesting to watch her, she looked just like, well, a cat stalking a mouse... I guess they really do know how to do that by instinct. She's certainly never seen one before. (In the meantime there was another, see addendum...)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I remember watching Quantum torment hunt a mouse in your old apartment in Allston when she was still just a wee kitten. She chased it until the poor mouse's heart just gave out. She then picked up the ex-mouse and brought it to one of you and left it at your feet with a "My toy broke!" look on her fuzzy little face.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

I did wonder what would happen if Scheherazade actually caught it...

[gingicat]

That's considerably less gross than the last time our Mighty Huntress caught a mouse...

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

I was a bit torn, on the one hand I wanted her to catch it because she so obviously wanted to, on the other hand I didn't in case it was carrying something... (In the meantime there was a second, see addendum.)

[kressel.livejournal.com]

Ick. I hope you've got them all.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Thanks, so do we!

[joecoustic.livejournal.com]

Yay for having an intelligent cat who uses all of the new technological tools at her disposal ;)!

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

That couldn't really have been anticipated, though given which cat we're talking about, I do wonder... :-)

[pandorahunter.livejournal.com]

we have 3 cats and 2 dogs ( one of which aspires to be a cat)
they all catch critters
according to stripe the mouse lover the mouse face
is the yummiest part. she leaves
the rest for us.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

I've always had indoor cats, and never had mice before, so this is rather new.