Creature Feature

Given our recent acts of destroying the habitats around us, we should have expected this. But no one really expects to walk into their dining room and find a mouse just hanging out, not even attempting to run away. We've had uninvited creatures here before (see here and here for a trip down memory lane with past critters) but never with such an attitude.

This morning when Lucy and Carter and I returned from our walk, we came face to fur with this tiny little guy.

I immediately locked Carter in the bathroom, as I figured his prey instinct would kick in and we'd have a real mess (and traumatized child) if he was in the same room as the small, fuzzy creature. Lucy was delighted and showed the mouse her teddy bear. The mouse walked around a bit, but showed no signs of desiring to escape. I grabbed a glass bowl and put it over him, without much difficulty.

Lucy was thrilled to be able to get up close and personal with the mouse. She showed him her lizards and decorated his bowl prison with stickers while I hunted for the camera.

After a frantic phone call to Mom and then to Jake, I decided to take Lucy to school so that I could deal with the critter without her "help." She was very excited to tell her teacher about her new mousey friend.
When I got home, I slid a file folder under the bowl, then a cookie tray, and carried the whole mess outside. Here's what it looked like:

I took him all the way down to the bottom of the yard and let him loose. Here he is:

No, he's not dead. Just sleepy, apparently. He sat there for a minute, and then I shooed him off, and he ran for cover under some leaves.


That ends today's installment of All Creatures Great and Small of 83 Durant.