Mouse Mode

Yesterday Muncie was in the "Mouse Mode".



She focuses in on a spot and doesn't deviate. Her leg shakes, her back quivers, her whole being is on guard. It's never a good thing.

"Honey, she's in mouse mode again, can you set some traps?"

Here at the zoo, we only use live traps.

Several years ago, despite the 6 cats (well, I guess at that time we only had 2), we were having "Mouse issues." This happens periodically every since my mother (Eleanor/Grandma) built on her little haven, Maine Woods.

(Side note: She calls her room Maine Woods because when her 5 children were teens and preteens she always wondered if she ran off to the woods of Maine, would we be able to track her down and find her...But now that we're all grown up she likes us better, so I think the room on the back of the house is as far as we have to worry about her venturing).

Where was I?

Oh yes, the mice issues.....

So, this particular spring, we collected several mice which we would release into the wilds of the city. We made a big deal of it with the kids.

"This looks like a city park mouse."

We would take it to the city park and release it.

"This definitely is a bank mouse."

Bank mice usually showed up in the traps about the time Prince Charming would need to run to the bank. Interesting coincidence, don't you think?

This particular Saturday, it was a Dental rat. There happens to be a dental office at the entrance to our neighborhood, and this particular day we were off to the Big City to do some site seeing, thus, thought we would release the mouse on our way out of the neighborhood.

The children were with us, saying their good-byes as we drove down the street. I know this sounds unusual, but you have to understand that with our mutant animal gene, often I would come home to find that Prince Charming had set these captured mice up in style until an opportunity for release came. This meant their own palace complete with food, exercise equipment, water, etc. The whole enchilada. Sometimes they would spend a few days with us until being re-released into the wild.

So, there we are, releasing Mr. Mouse at the Dentist office.

"Let's drive around the corner and watch him run into the woods."

We ease forward slowly, not wanting to scare or frighten Mr. Mouse. We turn the corner just in time to see the unimaginable....

Mr. Giant Hawk sweeps out of the sky, plucks Mr. Mouse up into his razor sharp talons, and carries him off into the distance.

We still have not recovered from the trauma. And no..... life will never be the same again.