Friday, January 21, 2011

A Mouse in my House

A day of surprise...

While sorting the clothes according to colors, before loading them in the washer, I heard the sound of a heavy fall! I was still holding this heavy denim jacket with my hands and look around to see if something fell on the floor and found nothing. Then I heard this tiny sound scurrying in the tub. A mouse jumps, trying to escape but failed. Oh no! A mouse in my house! My first thoughts were the words – hate, angry, and mad. I hate mouse, angry with mouse and mad with a cat. How can a mouse survive and exist in my house when we have two cats. I feel frustrated thinking it is the cats’ responsibility to keep mouse out of the house. Life is so full of surprises; I had an encounter with a raccoon too.

Finding a way out

At that moment, watching the mouse trying to escape was a learning lesson to me. The mouse see me eye to eye, must be wondering what a giant I was in size, but did not lose faith to escape. He sees the enemy in me and went around the tub to check if there is a way out. He stays still a few times, trying to think, to escape or to fight? He jumps as many times as he can and a few times landed on one arm rest of the tub, halfway the tub, jumps again for escape but ended up back on the bottom of the tub. Had the mouse jump from the higher end of the arm rest, he would have escaped!

My heart feels for the mouse

The mouse got my attention and felt sympathy. Maybe the mouse would be a good surprise to my daughter. The mouse changed my thoughts from anger to hmmm… might be a good idea to do something with the mouse, instead of spoiling my day because of a mouse. So, I went to look for a container to trap the mouse in. It took me a few minutes to capture the mouse. The last thing I would do is to let the mouse crawl on me and escape through me. Besides, I do not like the feel of a mouse crawling on me.

Capturing the mouse

I got this plastic container, 12 inch deep and 6 inch wide container and uncover it. Holding the container upside down, aimed for the mouse with the opening pointing down and trap the mouse, holding the container with one hand next to the bottom of the tub. I had a hard thick paper twice the size of the opening to slide it under the opening for temporary cover. What a perfect plan! I missed the first time and got out of the tub immediately for fear of the mouse. A giant fears a mouse? But is true! The mouse was smart too! So desperate to escape, he ended up hiding, squeezed into the jets! I needed a stick to poke him out but instead cling tightly. I have to change my plan and the second time, I aimed it with focus onto the jets, poke him with a stick and got him in, slide the thick paper under subsequently pick up the lid to cover the container tightly. I recorded a video to see what a mouse would do when caught. It was a desperate cry for escape.


Somebody got a surprise

Anyway, when my daughter came home, she was eager to see what the surprise of the day is, closes her eyes and waited patiently. The moment she opened her eyes, she was jumping with joy for she had been wishing to have a pet mouse. Ask her why, they are so cute is her answer. She named the mouse Brownie. We fed the mouse a spider and was happy to finish it all. However, the container turned blurry the next day and we decided to let the mouse go. The mouse was cute but needs to be in the right place. She had a full day of fun with Brownie and it was another day in the life of a mouse in my house.

Watch the video!