Little Visitor

I’ve decided that maybe I should be a Buddhist. Lots of people ask me if I am due to the fact that I just find it totally impossible to harm animals.

I’m the one in the family who will actually take a cockroach out into the garden, so when I saw a little field mouse walk into the house the last thing I thought of doing was setting a trap……a killing/maiming one.

I was sitting on the deck, minding my own business and having a morning coffee when I saw this cute little mouse come from behind the broom that’s up against the wall and just duck inside.

I named her Millie. Now, of course, she could have been a Mickey, but I preferred the idea of another female. So Millie took up residence behind the fridge. She was exceptionally clean, never saw any sign that she was even in the house, in fact, we (my flatmate and I) actually thought she’d gone back outside. However, the clue was all the little dog biscuits that we saw along the side of the fridge.

Now the dog is old, blind and deaf and although still with a good sense of smell, she had no idea that someone else was dining out on her food. In fact, Millie really was living the high life….where else would she be warm, safe and buffet-styled fresh food right on her doorstep?

But it was time for action.  After searching the net I came across a humane mouse trap ideal for trapping and releasing.

The trap duly arrived, and after putting a little peanut butter on the end it was set right next to the fridge.  It did go through my mind that maybe Millie, with a stock of food already, may not be tempted.

The idea of the trap was that Millie would run into it, go to the end where the food was, the door would shut, and the trap would tip. So quite when Millie got in there is anyone’s guess.  During the day, I did hear little clicking noises, checked the trap but it still looked like it was in the “set” mode, and hadn’t tipped at all. It wasn’t until later in the evening and on closer inspection I realised that she was, in fact, in there. Design fault! There needs to be a sticker on the door so you know that it’s shut – where’s the paintbrush, I’ll put a dot of paint there.

Well, there was nothing else to be done….I mean, I had no idea how long the poor little thing had been in there, but she just had to be released regardless of the fact that we were now in the P.J.s.  Into the car we hopped (dog and all) and off round the corner to the reserve next to the beach.

Millie was released right next to the trash bin….well, got to give a girl some hope!!!