Rosebear
"Cornfounded"
First off...I'm extremely new at this. Second, I'm obsessive.
That having been said, since it's so darn hard here to get the right size feeder mice for my corn, I decided to raise my own. I'm willing to dispatch the bambinos humanely, and at the right time... I've only got one snake myself, but I have 4 friends/collegues who have plenty to warrant beginning a mice colony. One of us started, but....when ya gotta feed...ya gotta FEED! So...a few days ago, I picked up (after reading copious threads) 1 male and 2 female mice, a starter cage (with amenities) and extra bedding. Initially, I had a wee bit of trouble handling the mice...until the snot-rotten little s.o.b. BIT me! That ended our love-affair right then and there. Immediately and thereafter they became known as SNAKE FOOD.
But I digress...
Night #1...As I'm going to bed, I watch the first little mouse wedge his face between the wires of the cage and calmly remove himself from captivity. Curses. Yes...even profanity. Especially when I "rescued" the creature and it "thanked" me by taking a teeny hunk out of my thumb.
Morning-after #1...(We'll presume it was) the same creature, (whom I found it very difficult not to smack against the desk-top the night before...remembering this IS my "feeder project" after all) was found strolling amongst the lettuce plants on the desk surrounding the cage. Hmm...I snatched the wee creature up and replaced him in the cage.
Day #2...no further major events...although hubby witnessed one of the critters poking its nose through the wires....
Day #3...Did I forget to mention we have a CAT? A cat who ignores my snake and hermit crabs but not these mice? ?? ?? And so...the morning of the third day, as I lie...peacefully abed...not needing to get up quite yet.... Hubby mentions as he's dressing that the cat knocked some plants around on the desk during the night...I mumble something unintelligible. He departs... The house is dark...peaceful... Suddenly, the bedroom is a flurry of activity! The cat is scampering around the room...beneath the bed! Across the floor...doing that...chasing thing... No, please... Say it isn't so. The cat has a mouse under my bed. This is NOT good. I slip out of the bed on the side closest to the door and check the cage in the living room... *expletive deleted* There's only ONE mouse left in the cage. Where's the d*** cat? I find him in our bedroom lying on a pile of the master of the house's socks...with a small white mouse (slightly moistened about the neck, but not at all bloody) crouching just beyond his paws. I pick the mouse up by the tip of the tail. The mouse kicks, squirms, then appears to convulse. Another profane comment. The cat reaches for the mouse in my hand. Not once...not twice...three times. The moment of truth has arrived. Do I give the mouse back to the cat, or return it to the sanctuary of its cage? Thinking of the likelihood of discovering said mouse, 8-10 hours later...thank you, no. The cage wins. But...there were three? Where, pray tell, is the third mouse? I return to the bedroom...the cat is still in the same place, but he's pawing amongst the socks... Yup. Buried amongst the socks is one decidedly deceased mouse. One half of my females has succumbed to kitty play. We're pretty much convinced that since the cat has been so amused by the mice that he "helped" the mice escape their cage...and so our kitty is a fan of "take out" food!
Guess who bought new accommodations for the mice colony...
That having been said, since it's so darn hard here to get the right size feeder mice for my corn, I decided to raise my own. I'm willing to dispatch the bambinos humanely, and at the right time... I've only got one snake myself, but I have 4 friends/collegues who have plenty to warrant beginning a mice colony. One of us started, but....when ya gotta feed...ya gotta FEED! So...a few days ago, I picked up (after reading copious threads) 1 male and 2 female mice, a starter cage (with amenities) and extra bedding. Initially, I had a wee bit of trouble handling the mice...until the snot-rotten little s.o.b. BIT me! That ended our love-affair right then and there. Immediately and thereafter they became known as SNAKE FOOD.
But I digress...
Night #1...As I'm going to bed, I watch the first little mouse wedge his face between the wires of the cage and calmly remove himself from captivity. Curses. Yes...even profanity. Especially when I "rescued" the creature and it "thanked" me by taking a teeny hunk out of my thumb.
Morning-after #1...(We'll presume it was) the same creature, (whom I found it very difficult not to smack against the desk-top the night before...remembering this IS my "feeder project" after all) was found strolling amongst the lettuce plants on the desk surrounding the cage. Hmm...I snatched the wee creature up and replaced him in the cage.
Day #2...no further major events...although hubby witnessed one of the critters poking its nose through the wires....
Day #3...Did I forget to mention we have a CAT? A cat who ignores my snake and hermit crabs but not these mice? ?? ?? And so...the morning of the third day, as I lie...peacefully abed...not needing to get up quite yet.... Hubby mentions as he's dressing that the cat knocked some plants around on the desk during the night...I mumble something unintelligible. He departs... The house is dark...peaceful... Suddenly, the bedroom is a flurry of activity! The cat is scampering around the room...beneath the bed! Across the floor...doing that...chasing thing... No, please... Say it isn't so. The cat has a mouse under my bed. This is NOT good. I slip out of the bed on the side closest to the door and check the cage in the living room... *expletive deleted* There's only ONE mouse left in the cage. Where's the d*** cat? I find him in our bedroom lying on a pile of the master of the house's socks...with a small white mouse (slightly moistened about the neck, but not at all bloody) crouching just beyond his paws. I pick the mouse up by the tip of the tail. The mouse kicks, squirms, then appears to convulse. Another profane comment. The cat reaches for the mouse in my hand. Not once...not twice...three times. The moment of truth has arrived. Do I give the mouse back to the cat, or return it to the sanctuary of its cage? Thinking of the likelihood of discovering said mouse, 8-10 hours later...thank you, no. The cage wins. But...there were three? Where, pray tell, is the third mouse? I return to the bedroom...the cat is still in the same place, but he's pawing amongst the socks... Yup. Buried amongst the socks is one decidedly deceased mouse. One half of my females has succumbed to kitty play. We're pretty much convinced that since the cat has been so amused by the mice that he "helped" the mice escape their cage...and so our kitty is a fan of "take out" food!
Guess who bought new accommodations for the mice colony...
