Spasms of Sociability; also, Mice

[pameladean]

During the autumn, when I was regularly filling the bird-feeder with thistle seed, a gray mouse used to sit in the midst of the piled seed and eat happily.  There were some little black guys eating the thistle as well, but they would disappear in a flash when I came near.  I think they are probably voles.  They seem to live in the woodpile.  If they have any sense, they will stay there.  The gray mouse would sit in the feeder until I got quite close and then whip around the trunk of the mulberry that the feeder is tied to (no, don't ask) and peer out while I filled the feeder.  It got quite fat.  During our first major cold snap, my brother found the corpse of a fat gray mouse lying in the back hall in front of the cats' water bowl.  I haven't seen my fat mouse since.  I am ridiculously sad about this.  A few days later, Arwen walked into Matt's room and dropped a second gray mouse corpse at his feet.  Then the weather got warmer, and there were no more corpses.  Then it got cold again, and first Arwen spent hours staring intently at one corner of the doiwnstairs kitchen, and then I came into the upstiars kitchen and saw Aristophanes ensconced on the top shelf of the lower cabinet in the corresponding corner, staring intently into the depths of the cabinet.  Later, he was staring intently under a radiator in the library.  Raphael told me that he had been racketing arouind the library very late at night and had probably caught a mouse, at least for a whiile. In the meantime, our 23-year-old washer broke, and the nice man from Sears said that it was the gear case, which would cost $414 to fix.  So after a flurry of research and consultation, dd_b and lydy and I went out and bought a new washer at Best Buy.  When I got home I leaned my head into Raphael's office and said, "Washer!" to which Raphael immediately replied, "Mouse!"  Ari had left the mouse, not quite dead, but unbloodied, in the middle of the library.  Raphael put it outside where it could recover or not.  I hope there's a mouse grapevine and they quit trying to live with us.

On Saturday, whiile the intent staring upstairs was still going on, I went with David to Dreamhaven, which was hosting a tea to celebrate the release of Pat Wrede and 1crowdedhour's new book, The Mislaid Magician.  David and I were late and missed the readings, but we got to talk to people and get our copy of the book signed.  Elizabeth asked me to sign a pile of the reissued editions of the Secret Country books, which was gratifying.  She also made us take the leftover scones, clotted cream, and jams over to the Minn-Stf meeting at the home of cakmpls and Jonathan WINOLJ, where they apparently cut into the amount of chili eaten.  Carol had also made a really delicious vegetable soup, which had no leftovers. (It was lighter than the chili, admittedly.)  I very much enjoyed seeing people, but my conversational skills continue severely atrophied.

The book is getting back on track, though I need much higher daily wordcounts if it is to be finished before 2010.

In the meantime, I need to move almost everything except the dryer out of the laundry room, so that they can take away the old washer and install the new one.

I hope there aren't any murine corpses under the old washer.

P.

Comments

Oops

[davidschroth.livejournal.com]

I forgot to post the Dreamhaven event to the Events list. Darn.

Here's hoping your mouse problem resolves soon. We're hoping the recent success with a trap eliminated the problem at Harriet Manor.

Re: Oops

[pameladean]

I hope so too. We usually have a few corpses and then no more mice for the season, but I don't know if it's some territorial mouse thing or the mere presence of cats.

P.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this story.

I feel a lot of anxiety any time Nanook starts staring at something--last night she attacked the sofa, running along the back and what sounded like underneath it (it's a sofa bed so there is some room). But in his case, it's more likely to be a Very Large Cockroach than a mouse.

I'm not sure if he'd know what to do with a mouse.

In any case, the only "present" I've gotten from him is the occasional cat throwup on the rug. When he finds something to kill, he either kills it and eats it or leaves it where he killed it. The cats next door used to bring me the occasional gift, but not since Nanook moved in. I just think it's interesting that he seems to be missing that gene.

[kiya]

Speaking of reissues, I spotted what looked like a Tam Lin reissue in the new books section of our specialty bookshop. Whee!

[pameladean]

Oh, goody, I'm glad it's getting around.

The cover has a bridge and a building from Carleton on it, which pleases me immoderately.

P.

[pameladean]

Ari is missing that gene too.

It's awfully hard to say if any particular cat would know what to do with a mouse. Arwen is one of a pair of kittens we got from the city pound when they were about six weeks old, so I don't know if their mother had taught them anything, but she has an unerring paw. Ari was a stray and I don't know his history. Beryl, the upstairs calico, was a feral city cat and once (apparently, from its appearance) drowned a mouse somehow and put it in Raphael's show.

I should think that mice in your climate would have far less incentive to come inside, but it's hard to say.

P.

[pameladean]

SHOE. SHOE SHOE SHOE. What is the good of being able to preview comments if one doesn't?

P.

[lcohen]

heh. i inadvertently joined the mouse meme, too.

wait--it wasn't a meme?

Presents

[mrswebchik.livejournal.com]

I read often, and a Carleton Alum (met you briefly in '95-ish on campus), and just had to comment on the mouse situation.

Be happy you're getting them as you are. We have 4 cats. Dweezil (my first child) is the one pictured. He was taken to a vet's office in Des Moines, IA, when he was a few days old (litter found by the road). I adopted him at 6weeks old. He was fully declawed (he had a problem with retracting his claws and kept puncturing my waterbed) and neutered within the first 6 months. Spent his first two years as an apartment cat.

Once I moved back to Michigan with my family, he became the hunter of the neighborhood. I left him with my mother for a while because I couldn't have him in apartments I lived in. Finally I got him back because he got into a fight with a mole at my mom's house. He won, but the mole got him good. We now live in an 80 year old farmhouse in a rural residential area. Lots of mice and rodents. He and our 3yo female are amazing. We found deceased rabbits this summer (and my garden flourished while others lost all their tomatoes), birds, mice, and haven't seen a squirrel in the yard since we moved in 2 years ago. When the weather turned, the cats started going after mice in the house. I've seen 4 this season. I don't try stopping the cats, because by now the area mice should know to go to a different house. And besides, they're being cats. And with 4 kids ages 7 down to 10 months, I'd rather the cats get the mice than have them in the house. But man... I hate waking up in the middle of the night and having Dweezil attempt to bring me a present. I won't even go into the escaped hamsters... *shudder*

Fortunately, my children are growing up knowing what this is about and what the cats are doing, so no one screams and jumps on chairs when we see a mouse. I actually just let them be if I see them in the house, and look for the leftovers later.

Ah, the joys of country living with attack cats. The two new kittens we picked up this summer (Smokey and Bandit) are learning the trade from the older cats. I actually saw them all kind of watching as one cat was apparently stalking a mouse. It was interesting.

For your sake, I hope the mice vacate the area. I think we've seen the last of ours.

-Z