Susan
Go Ahead, Make My Day!
No, it's not a snake. It's not even a reptile. And it's not a dog or a cat. I'll start by giving a little history.
I keep my rodent feed in a shed off the side of the house. Two weeks ago I noticed that a critter had gotten in the shed and had a small meal of some sunflower seeds that had fallen on the floor. Not a big deal. I know the shed isn't critter-proof. We had a family of flying squirrels in there several winters ago when the shed was basically left alone and thought maybe one was just passing through and couldn't pass up a free meal.
The next week, whatever it was had found the bag of sunflower seeds, gone in through the opening and had a larger meal, leaving a good handful of empty shells in the bag. Okay, now I to make things a little more secure, at least as far as my feed was concerned. Bags were closed well and placed inside a old garbage can. I figured whatever it was (and I'm thinking mouse now), wouldn't be able to get inside it.
My next trip into the shed to get rodent feed showed a hole chewed in the side of the sunflower seed bag while still inside the garbage can, another handful of empty shells, but not critter. Silly me had forgotten what I now remember from my childhood on the farm...mice get into everything, even the apparently impossible. I'm mixing what I need to feed my rodent colony for the coming week, thinking about where I was going to have to put the rest of the feed where it would be safe, when I notice the pile of thoroughly ripped up paper towels mixed with hair and other fibers on a ledge near the ceiling. I had found the nest and proceeded to take it apart to at least annoy my sunflower seed lover (it did leave every other type of feed alone).
As I was brushing wads of paper towel shreds into an empty feed bag, I felt a "heavy" (for paper towels) thud in the bottom of the bag. Feeling around, I find a fuzzy mouse, gray with a white belly and feet, eyes just barely open. I go through the remainder of the nest carefully and end up with a total of 5 cute fuzzies in a plastic margarine tub I use for scooping.
I'm just finishing cleaning up and am filling the small container with feed to do the days rat duty when I notice the typical squeaking of mice fuzzies in the tub has turned into a solitary repetitive kind of a mouse bark. At about the same time, I see a pair of big ears and large eyes staring at me from where the nest used to be. Before I could move, Momma mouse was down her power cord ladder and running all around the shed, over all the stuff stored there, in and out, up and down, and around and around all the secret routes she knew so much better than I. She honestly didn't care if I was there, she was trying to find her babies come Hell or high water! Actually thinking for a moment, I got the feed bag with her destroyed nest in it, placed it on it's side on the floor, put the tub with her babies inside the bag near the bottom and made sure it would be very easy for her to climb in the bag to get to her babies. After a few minutes, she was on the floor, ran about 6 laps around the bag (and over my feet) and into the bag she went! Quick as a flash, I grabbed the bag and closed the opening. Of course, while watching her almost frenzied attempt to get to her young, I decided that if I caught her, I would keep her.
It didn't take long to get an old small critter carrier ready for her and as I scooped her up out of the bottom of the bag with that margarine tub, her babies were already attached and nursing as she was quickly deposited in her new home. I took these photos about 2 hours after I caught her. She was more curious than anything (last photo, she was actually cleaning her face) and I was able to identify her as a deer mouse. With luck, I can start a small colony of deer mice with her and her babies as founding stock. And it can never hurt to have an alternate type of food to use on problem feeders. And naturally, hubby wants to see if they will hybridize with the "regular" mouse species I already have. And I will be watching her for any signs of fleas, ticks and other pests plus will deworm her and her babies for everything I can when the babies are eating on their own.
I keep my rodent feed in a shed off the side of the house. Two weeks ago I noticed that a critter had gotten in the shed and had a small meal of some sunflower seeds that had fallen on the floor. Not a big deal. I know the shed isn't critter-proof. We had a family of flying squirrels in there several winters ago when the shed was basically left alone and thought maybe one was just passing through and couldn't pass up a free meal.
The next week, whatever it was had found the bag of sunflower seeds, gone in through the opening and had a larger meal, leaving a good handful of empty shells in the bag. Okay, now I to make things a little more secure, at least as far as my feed was concerned. Bags were closed well and placed inside a old garbage can. I figured whatever it was (and I'm thinking mouse now), wouldn't be able to get inside it.
My next trip into the shed to get rodent feed showed a hole chewed in the side of the sunflower seed bag while still inside the garbage can, another handful of empty shells, but not critter. Silly me had forgotten what I now remember from my childhood on the farm...mice get into everything, even the apparently impossible. I'm mixing what I need to feed my rodent colony for the coming week, thinking about where I was going to have to put the rest of the feed where it would be safe, when I notice the pile of thoroughly ripped up paper towels mixed with hair and other fibers on a ledge near the ceiling. I had found the nest and proceeded to take it apart to at least annoy my sunflower seed lover (it did leave every other type of feed alone).
As I was brushing wads of paper towel shreds into an empty feed bag, I felt a "heavy" (for paper towels) thud in the bottom of the bag. Feeling around, I find a fuzzy mouse, gray with a white belly and feet, eyes just barely open. I go through the remainder of the nest carefully and end up with a total of 5 cute fuzzies in a plastic margarine tub I use for scooping.
I'm just finishing cleaning up and am filling the small container with feed to do the days rat duty when I notice the typical squeaking of mice fuzzies in the tub has turned into a solitary repetitive kind of a mouse bark. At about the same time, I see a pair of big ears and large eyes staring at me from where the nest used to be. Before I could move, Momma mouse was down her power cord ladder and running all around the shed, over all the stuff stored there, in and out, up and down, and around and around all the secret routes she knew so much better than I. She honestly didn't care if I was there, she was trying to find her babies come Hell or high water! Actually thinking for a moment, I got the feed bag with her destroyed nest in it, placed it on it's side on the floor, put the tub with her babies inside the bag near the bottom and made sure it would be very easy for her to climb in the bag to get to her babies. After a few minutes, she was on the floor, ran about 6 laps around the bag (and over my feet) and into the bag she went! Quick as a flash, I grabbed the bag and closed the opening. Of course, while watching her almost frenzied attempt to get to her young, I decided that if I caught her, I would keep her.
It didn't take long to get an old small critter carrier ready for her and as I scooped her up out of the bottom of the bag with that margarine tub, her babies were already attached and nursing as she was quickly deposited in her new home. I took these photos about 2 hours after I caught her. She was more curious than anything (last photo, she was actually cleaning her face) and I was able to identify her as a deer mouse. With luck, I can start a small colony of deer mice with her and her babies as founding stock. And it can never hurt to have an alternate type of food to use on problem feeders. And naturally, hubby wants to see if they will hybridize with the "regular" mouse species I already have. And I will be watching her for any signs of fleas, ticks and other pests plus will deworm her and her babies for everything I can when the babies are eating on their own.
