Adding to my resume: Human Mousetrap

It was an ordinary day. I was about to make breakfast when I saw a tiny flash of grey go *hop, hop, hop* under the kitchen table. It was so fast I almost couldn't tell what it was but I knew it was a mouse, but not an ordinary mouse. It was a tiny, cute, little, adorable baby mouse with fur that looked as soft as a chinchilla and shiny shoe button eyes. As he scampered off to hide under a shelf is when I noticed the back screen door was ajar. Great.

When Fred came back inside for breakfast I said to him: There's a mouse in the house. His reponse? He laughed then acted as if I hadn't said anything. LOL. A while later he said he had some mouse traps, the snap kind that squishes them to death. I said no way, we weren't killing our baby mouse.

This is what I wanted. I had to run an errand that morning so I made two extra stops and a phone call looking for a humane Havahart Live Animal Trap. It turned out I could get a live trap sized for a rat, chipmunk, squirrel, rabbit, groundhog, opossum, skunk, raccoon, muskrat, beaver, fox and (I swear one looked to be) coyote sized but guess what's not available? The Extra Small MOUSE SIZED traps!

I came home emptyhanded. When Fred found out I had failed in my quest he got out the snap traps. The thing is they were so old one fell apart before he could set it up and another fell apart after he set it up which left one working snap trap. Fortunately, for George (my mouse), that only left one working trap. Fred set it up in the kitchen and went out to work on my studio.

I was sitting on the couch folding origami for ArtPrize so I took the extra piece of cheese (for the trap that fell apart) and set it in the center of the floor between the living room and dining room. I also grabbed the butterfly net I use to catch mosquitos when they make it inside. Then I waited and folded more frogs for ArtPrize. About an hour later... *Hop, hop, hop...* There he was!

He began to make a beeline for the cheese. I grabbed my butterfly net and chased him back and forth a good bit around the dining room. I tried to reassure him by repeatedly telling him I wasn't going to hurt him. Finally he zigged when he should have zagged and I was able to scoop him up in the net. Success!

I flipped the net over and took him outside to show him to Fred but before I made it out to the build site the mouse figured out how to crawl out of the net. I quickly lowered it to the ground so he wouldn't get injured because what's the point of saving his life inside only to let him die plunging 4 feet to his demise in the yard?

This is him high tailing it back to the meadow where he belongs. Literally! Look at how high his tail is! The picture is a little blurry because he was running really fast!

I figure out here in the country is where mice belong. No need to kill the little fella. There's plenty of room for all :D