Thursday, April 24, 2008

Mouse!

Last night about an hour into my gentle slumber I was awakened by a vigorous kerfuffle under, and beside, the bed. Usually during the witching hour Memphis is sleeping soundly, so I knew something was up. I popped out of bed to see what all the fuss was about, and just as I did she raced out of the bedroom and into the office and disappeared into the very tiny space under my very tiny desk. I pulled the chair out so I could watch the hunt (I'd already gathered she was chasing *something* and I hoped it was mammalian - I'd WAY rather be faced with a rodent than a roach). She was wedged under my desk, twitching, and finally emerged victoriously with the ass (and tail) of a mouse sticking out of her mouth.

Unfortunately, I didn't have a plan for mouse disposal. I thought about grabbing its tail and tossing it into the backyard, but I was suddenly squeamish. I tried to open the back door to, I don't know, chase it out there? "Mouse! Run! Be free!" -- yeah, not so much. I didn't even know at that point if it was still alive or if it had died of fright (or predation). I startled Memphis enough that she dropped it (uh, good move) and I think it ran behind the bookshelf in the hallway. Then I went back to bed to lie awake wondering if when I found the mouse again it would be alive or dead, and evaluating which would be preferable (I think dead, but only if it's in one piece).

Memphis stayed up to stare at the bookshelf.

4 comments:

Candace said...

Way to go Memphis!

Tavi brings animals into the house so I have a whole procedure for this:

1) Remove the cat from the scene, lock her in a bathroom.
2) Find Julian. If he's at work call him in a panic and ask him to come home.
3) Stand on furniture helpfully keeping track of where the animal is while Julian runs around trying to catch it with a shoebox.

Once with a rabbit in the basement I propped open the door and it hopped out on its own so that can work, too.

Elizabeth said...

yikes! maybe Memphis will grab the mouse again and take care of the situation once and for all.

montague said...

that's exactly why we have a cat.

Dawn said...

Whoa! I think Sister and Memphis were separated at birth. She caught a mouse on Wednesday!