Hey now, little mouse

[spatch]

I stayed up far too late playing Minecraft tonight. As I was getting ready to head off to bed, I heard a strange scrabbling sound behind me. There's a window behind and it's raining and windy, so obviously it was something brushing up against the window. Right?



Nope! It's a new friend! And he is one fearless little fellow. He's perched on the curtain rod directly behind me, watching me play. And he let me get very close with the camera.



Mr. The Cat spotted the mouse earlier this evening, but is still convinced it's hiding in the opposite corner of the room. He's also more interested in my breakfast on the desk than he is in the mouse (who, when I wasn't looking, managed to crawl across two curtain rods and one free-hanging curtain -- how did you do that, little mouse? -- to make it to the other side of the bay window.)



Now he's making friends with Gregor, the fellow who sits on ledge on the other side. Hi, you two! Can you get rid of the cobwebs while you're there?

I'd shoo the mouse out the door but A. it's rainy and B. it's windy and C. he'd find another way in anyway. He really isn't all that welcome a guest here and will soon have to go; right now his presence is more of a novelty than anything. I am guessing he'll eventually run afoul of the cat when he makes it back down on the ground, but I won't contemplate that scenario just now. I have some sleeping to do before I go to the dentist today.



Have a nice morning, little mouse!

Comments

[phonemonkey.livejournal.com]

Is that an escaped pet mouse? I didn't think that wild mice had so much colour contrast.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Ooooooooh! I'd let him stay for awhile, too. :-)

[tonysalieri.livejournal.com]

Like any mammalian lifeform possessing even the most rudamentary of intelligence, this mouse senses the sheer, weapons grade awesomeness of Minecraft, and holds those who follow in the Teachings Of The Prophet Notch in the highest of Awe...er...some...ness.

[oonh.livejournal.com]

scrabbling?
Squeak! "I have 'tranquil' on a triple word score!"

Good Looker

[(Anonymous)]

I hate mice in the abstract, but I melt when face-to-face with something like this. Still, unless it's an escaped pet, where there's one mouse, there are usually more, so best to let Mr. The Cat get on the case ASAP, IMHO.

Deer mouse

[(Anonymous)]

It's a wild mouse - most likely a deer mouse, to be specific. They have great big dark eyes and white bellies, just like your little pal. They can also share hantavirus (not so likely in this neck of the woods) and Lyme disease (which is a concern.)

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

So cute!! Based on how close he let you get and how not-scared he looks, I'd agree with the folks who think this is an escaped pet.

[joyeous.livejournal.com]

This whole post is disturbing to me on many levels.

It's wither a deer mouse or a white footed mouse

[(Anonymous)]

Closely related species and both are sometimes domesticated, but they far more typically occur in the wild. Like all wild mice species in NA, there is some risk of them carrying deer ticks (which themselves may carry lyme desease) and hantavirus. Humans and cats can both catch hanta from rodents, btw.

I hate to say it, but you are probably best off killing him. Sticky traps are less trouble for you, but nastier for him. Traditional spring traps are ickier for you, but mean a quick clean death for the wee beastie.

If you leave him in your house, you *will* regret it.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

According to UHub, it's a deer mouse, which would explain the contrasting fur. Break out the Have-a-Heart!

[grumqa.livejournal.com]

Fieldmice! Scoop up, bop on head.

[kissoflife.livejournal.com]

Very cute indeed! And I am fretting cuz I have some visitors again too. And the landlord will not be nice about this, I fear. But Cutey is being very cute! And mine never try to get above the floor, that I can detect. Cutey's got talent!

[luckimunki.livejournal.com]

It's very regrettable how cute indeed these mice can be, because they are horrible pests. He will get into your cupboards, eat half your food, and poop in the other half. Not to mention their disease-carrying potential.

At a nature center I used to work at, they did a little experiment one time. Every time they found a mouse, the live-trapped it, marked its fur with some non-toxic paint, and released it over a mile from the center. Soon enough, they were finding mice with paint on their fur back in the traps. Live-trapping and releasing far away will not rid you of the beasts, they will come back, incorrigible little buggers.

But gosh they are cute.

[dskasak.livejournal.com]

*clears throat, hums note in key of S*

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

DON'T LET ABBIE KILL HIM!!!

You can let mousie loose in my yard. We have a garage he can winter-over in, with old furniture to burrow in and all the birdseed that falls from my feeder. Pleeeeeeeze no kill??

[iheartoothecae.livejournal.com]

ZOMG YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIE of cute

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peromyscus

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, our cats kill these things before I ever see them alive.

Usually. Sometimes... kitty wants to play.

[geekchik.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit late to this party, but we had one of these in my house about two weeks ago (close to Ball Square). Despite two cats, he/she managed to evade us until a spring trap was set. Then, it was only a matter of time.

Mouse?

[xojmo.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

I thought that was a hamster at first. He's so cute!! I wouldn't mind having him as a little friend!