Thursday, October 29, 2009

Eek! A Mouse!

We've been very lucky never to have mice in the house. Or, if we have we don't know it and I, quite honestly, prefer it that way. There are some outside, along the foundation. I doubt I'll forget the day I was sitting on the front porch step, looked down into the mulch, and saw two little eyes looking back at me. I'm happy to say I didn't freak out. Since we've had hamsters I'm a lot less squeamish about rodents in general, though rats may be a different story. And yes, I know they make great pets, are highly intelligent, blah, blah, blah. It's the tail. I can't get over that darn tail.

This past weekend I was on a layover in Atlanta, coming home from the Deadly Diva tour in N.C. (pictures on the fan page--of the tour, not the layover). I was at my departure gate, sitting, rereading Sara Rosett's Moving Is Murder (just as good the second time around!) when an older woman rose from her chair in two rows in front of me, grabbed all her belongings and came and sat next to me.

"I had to move," she said.

"Why?" I asked.

"The mice."

Then she pointed. Two little mice (their bodies no bigger than two inches) were scurrying along under the row of chairs, picking up little bits of crushed potato chips and bits of dropped bread (some people are slobs, no?). From where I sat, they were adorable, full of adventure and mischief. But if I'd had the woman's seat, I'd have been out of there faster than you could say "Mickey and Minnie".

Every time someone sat down and were told about their companions, they bounced right back up. The gate was packed--the flight completely full. Those seats were a hot commodity. Finally, one middle aged woman sat down, heard about the mice, and then simply held her legs aloft until boarding was called.

Those two little mice provided so much entertainment that I kind of hope the airport has mercy if they finally catch them (they'd been trying for over a week, apparently). But really, I don't want them to come home with me.

8 comments:

  1. Unfortunately the mice don't want to stay out of my basement, and for the life of me I can't find where they come in. I always have humane traps out and just let the little buggers out in the backyard. They are very cute, but very destructive. My mom is the same way, she can't stand to look at their tails LOL

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  2. They're sneaky, those little mice! And they can squeeze into the tiniest of places. Glad to hear you're using humane traps. Though, I have to admit, if they were running freely through my house all bets might be off!

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  3. I locked myself out of my apartment one day because all I saw was that tail and knew who it belong to. I made the maintenance crew come and remove it before I would let myself back into my place. The next day they came back and patched up every hole within my place.

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  4. Dru, I probably would have done the same exact thing!

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  5. This summer a mouse HAD A BABY in my office. No, I wasn't thrilled, charmed, or joyful about the new birth.

    Eeek! on the Mice in the Atlanta airport. Love Atlanta, hate that airport!

    Shelley

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  6. A few weeks ago I found evidence of a mouse in my supply closet down in the basement. Chewed on paper towels and the little sucker gnawed the bottom of a bottle of Coke. I can handle the the chewed paper products but my Coke...not so much. Hubby caught him and I am back to enjoying my Coke.

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  7. That blasted Atlanta airport! I had to laugh at this. I got stuck in a rare ice storm in Atlanta in Jan. 2005 as I was in the process of moving to Illinois. We made CNN - not that it was any consolation after changing gates no less than five times. I would have welcomed mice for distraction at that point, LOL.

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